Of tools and men

A year ago when I was graduating high school, during my English exam warm-up phase my teacher asked me whether internet is a rather good or bad invention. I answered that internet is a wonderful thing and it is for the good of mankind to have it. Since we had discussed the dangers of internet during previous lessons, my answer surprised him. But it was due to lack of time, that I couldn't express myself thoroughly. What I would have said is that internet itself is just a tool and its qualities depend on people using it. Exactly as a knife can be used in making a delicious meal or become a murder weapon. It depends on the person using it.

For me it's the tools we use and brain involved in manufacturing that separate us from other animals. We have various tools for just about everything. The main reason we have those is to make our actions more effective so that every minute spent gives us larger payoff. Some may see it as becoming lazier and lazier until we become the people shown in the movie "WALL-E". Unfortunately this is partly true, also. Still, I see tools as a way of getting more done with the time given to us. It takes less time to move around, so we see more world around us. We can build bigger buildings quicker than we used to. Now, some may point to the great pyramids of Giza and say that nowadays something like that can't and won't be built. I don't believe it and if I am ever going to be rich enough, I'll prove those people wrong. That's a promise. Until then, though, we have to be content with skyscrapers and mansions. The rule, however, stays that with the same amount of time we get a lot more done and seen.

Since now I have plenty of time I get to take a glimpse to the possible shadowy future that may await us and our mighty tools. The way we evolve to be more effective also means that every action we take has bigger consequences. For example: Stone age hunter had to go through a lot of work to get near the prey and throw a spear but now we can use our powerful guns and optical sights to do the same thing without breaking a sweat. But accidents happen and when our African Bushman sneaks slowly and needs time to prepare for the throw then seldom during a hunt does he throw his spear into the back of his fellow tribesman. But during an average American hunting season things like that happen. A lot. It's the same situation whether you bump into someone with your shoulder or with a speeding and fully loaded truck. Only some pushes of buttons can eradicate human species. That is essentially why we have the saying: "With great power comes great responsibility." But what happens when humans get hold of such power that they can't possibly be responsible of, like for example Matrix?

As we look our world as it really is then we see, that the increased effectiveness and power is used to transform natural resources into trash with exponentially growing speed. It is quite worrying. Unfortunately, there is practically nothing that one man could do, since a collective action is required due to the selfish nature of man.

I consider myself to be an optimist and I believe that one day we can turn this down-slope progress around and take the best out of the tools we have. Until then we should be a bit more like jolly Bushman and less like a Texas redneck.

Path to happiness

Note that the title does not say path OF happiness, therefore do not try to find the definition of happiness nor the requirements of it. You should read about it from my earlier post. I, of course cannot force you, my dear reader, for anything, but take it as a friendly suggestion.

Now, that you know how I define happiness, we may continue. Since now I have only described the path of happiness theoretically, giving no clues or examples of how could we see it in our everyday life. I will try to give some guidelines that have worked for me. I will not promise that they will also work in your case, but as there is the possibility then the least I can do is try.

As I am writing this, I feel myself quite near to the true happiness. The feeling will probably be long gone by the time you read it, but I am giving you heads up in case you find the following too optimistic and naive. So, having proved before that reaching true happiness is quite impossible, then how could I be feeling it right now? It is actually quite simple - all you need is warm day, a hammock, a music player and an activity. Sounds a bit too easy? The thing is that it's all I need to forget that I have any needs at all. For the moment, for me, there is no world apart from my small reality of two trees and a hammock. By reaching such state one can feel almost truly happy. Of course there are other ways of reaching the state like for example good books, MMORPGs and alcohol. But one of the most important aspects is the isolation and not only mental but also physical. At the moment, I for example am in the middle of nowhere, next to nothing, which is crucial to hold my little sanctuary together.

Previously described method is good for understanding the meaning of true happiness, but it is something one shouldn't cling on to for too long. It is because the outer reality still exists and sooner or later you have to return to it. If we only could somehow prolong and maintain these moments for a lifetime. Perhaps like they did in the Matrix?

Coming back to reality, then the real moodkiller for me are all kinds of problems. Having a problem troubling my mind is one of the worst kind of feelings I know. Unfortunately, problems stay until they are solved. We can forget about them for a time, but as soon as the effect wears off they are back to make us miserable. Therefore we need a strategy to get rid of them. I imagine a problem as a dark hole filled with angry little goblins screaming and swearing so one cannot ignore them. Some people prefer to sneak around the hole, scheming and waiting for the opportunity to kill some of the nasty goblins. I, on the other hand dislike this kind of action, therefore I jump right into the hole killing anything coming for me. The advantage of my strategy is the time, it is hell of a lot faster, but the damage is also greater, which may require some time to heal from. But as I believe myself to be stronger than any problem I happen to face, my method always works and helps me go on with my life. Still, what I have learned lately is that fighting the problem-goblins may sometimes take time and then I can allow myself to rest a bit and continue as soon as possible. Additionally, for me the first method is exceptionally nasty when you happen to be the source of someones problem. As I am still promoting my method of dealing with problems, then I assure you that whoever you are, you are always stronger than any group of problem-goblins you happen to face. If you are still unsure, grab a friend and jump the hole together if possible.

I hope you found something that could help you make your life happier. Things described above have helped me on my path to happiness, so I am hoping that they can pave the path for others, too. Have fun finding a sanctuary of your own and never lose faith that you are, indeed, strong.

Patriotism

In connection of me going to military service, I've started to think of whether or not I am a patriot to my country. As I discovered, it divides into two components - first being the love for my country, the people who live here  and our culture, second the loyalty to the institution of the country aka the government.

For the first aspect I can truly say that I am a patriot. I love the freedom we have, the food we eat, the lack of natural disasters, that we can live quite comfortably and still have a little change in our pockets and much more. Every time I travel to a different country, I still discover that Estonia is the best place on Earth to live in. This is the country I was born to, therefore making it my home. If there was a crack in my home wall and as long as it doesn't affect my health, it wouldn't even matter to me, because overall it is the best place to be anyway. From time to time I may have illusions that some other country is way better but every time I look closely I see that it isn't. The indescribable feeling I get every time I return from abroad is good enough of a proof for me that I still love my country.

However, the second aspect is the one causing troubles. Every now and then I happen to notice the foolishness spreading among the representatives and that makes me kinda sad. Whether it is wasting of tax-money, corruption or anything of that kind, I feel like they are trying to hurt something I love - my country. So in terms of loving the institution of the country named Estonia, I am not a patriot. That could also be the reason I am not the model citizen they would love to see me as, obeying every rule no matter the stupidity of it.

Therefore, for me our government is the crack in my home, in my country. As I see myself unable to fix it alone, I either have to live with it and still keep on trying or leave my home behind. I see many of our best minds already going for the second option. Perhaps the crack is too big for them and affecting their "health" already. At the moment I still have hope that things will get better and someday I will be able to help the people of Estonia without the middle man working against me I don't want to leave things dearest to me behind, but I would also like to see, that this is something our government also wants. By the latest actions it seems quite the opposite, like the government is trying to drive smart people away by not caring of the things they want and need. Instead we are doing everything we can to help those who doesn't care about themselves nor their country. Actually, that is already entirely different topic. What I am trying to say is that people wouldn't leave this country if government managed to show them that this is something they also want.

The military service is exactly the kind of I-don't-care-about-you-just-do-what-we-ask-of-you message I've been given. Anyway, there is nothing I can do about it even though I could have had the chance to wiggle away, but I was just too lazy and adventurous to go for it. That means I'm stuck with it, but still optimistic.

I've also started a new blog dedicated to describing my life and thoughts in military service. You can find it from the side bar under Captain Taavi. The name is just for humor, even though I am going to the navy, I will never be a captain (although I would love to be, just so I could stress it every time I am being addressed to)

Do you really want to live forever?

Who of us hasn't dreamed of immortality? Ability to live forever until the end of world. On first glance it does seem attractive - to see the future, to have time for everything, to be never afraid of death, to be forever young. This is exactly I thought at first - the best superpower one could have. Although, after familiarized myself with Wilde's  idea of immortality in his "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and giving it some thought myself, I've started to doubt. Would immortality make us happy?

In my earlier post Path of happiness I claimed that one would need infinite amount of time to be happy. That is theoretically correct, although not applicable in practice, even in case of immortality. It is because many of our needs are periodic and maintaining each of them would be impossible. Also, the number of unsatisfied needs tends to grow exponentially as we satisfy them. That is exactly what happens - you want more and more until you don't have enough time to hold all your needs satisfied, but having those makes you unable to be happy.

Say we could hold the number of our needs under control, could we then live happily forever? No, because our needs are not object specific and the joy we get using one tool devalues over time. It means that a joke is only funny once or twice it's being heard even though the need for joy and laughter remains the same. This is exactly what happened to Dorian - he ran out of tools.

There is another, quite trivial aspect to being immortal. It is the losing of everyone you love and hold dear. They haven't been granted the ability to live forever and are therefore bound to die sooner or later. Neither can you linger around for too long or else they get suspicious and threaten to blow your cover of being 'normal'. This constant change of evironment can get quite depressing.

People are meant not to live forever. We should just eat, have kids and die. The world cannot offer limitless ways to make yourself happy.
Being immortal is a burden I hope we are never made to carry.

Thoughts about education

I have always idolized the way ancient Greeks studied. So, one day I discovered myself thinking of how we could establish a school like they used to have, but with a couple of changes of my own.
First of all, only the most fundamental subjects would be taught. Philosophy, important languages according to the location of the school,  combination of math and physics and PE. This school wouldn't be meant to give one a chance to go learn any desireable subject, it would be more of a branch-school, but more on that later on.

Philosophy is something that teaches us to think, so this is required to study any other subject. Students would be taught the ideas of greatest thinkers of history with the purpose of helping students to induce their own. Biographies would be left out due to their meaninglessness, because it's the ideas that matter, not the man. Main method of teaching would be of course, the discussion.

Languages are also needed, because socializing with foreigners is inevitable. Nowadays, the teaching of languages would be quite good if it weren't to the faulty method. In every other subject the structure must be taught first, gradually filling it with facts, but not in languages. It just doesn't work. Language  must be taught the other way around by letting students see how it's spoken and learn to do it as good and only then gradually letting them know why is it done so. Perhaps it works better, because that is how languages were born, words first, rules later whereas other subjects were developed rules first, facts later.

Next on the list is the combination of maths and physics. They should be taught together, because math is the system physics is based on. For trying to understand our world, math alone is insufficient and becomes inconceivable later on. The method of teaching should be that whenever taught new mathematical method, one will also be shown how to use it for solving problems in physics and vice versa - whenever a new physics problem occurs requiring a new method.

Anima sana in corpore sano. I also believe in it and that's why PE is also a must. In addition, healthy people live longer, therefore increasing the probability of inventing new ideas. Still, my idea of a good PE lesson is quite different from the one we have now. Instead of doing big bunch of useless exercises like jumping over a stick or running in circles, practical techniques like hunting, countrywork and martial arts should be taught. These all include exercises we do nowadays in PE, but they are also put into good, practical use. It helps to reduce the vulnerability, we, humans have, that even though we are on the top of the food chain, we are physically inferior.

One day includes one subject only, because it is more efficient than reminding students what page they should be on at the beginning of each fraction of a lesson. Also, this way the students are fully focused on only one subject, without others troubling their mind. It keeps them in the "spirit" of the subject for whole  day making it easier to acquire new knowledge.

Now that we know what and how should be taught, we need to know who are the students expected to study there. This school would be limited to those of higher talent, motivation and interest in real subjects. I wouldn't limit it to men only, like it was in ancient Greece, because I believe that even though the school is based on rational mind and men are, on average, more rational and less emotional, women should be given fair chance to prove themselves. The process of choosing the students involves series of tests of will and ability of derivation, rather than the ability of remembering facts, like we have now. Physical abilities and health are also important due to the demanding PE lessons. Healthy body is something ancient Greeks worshipped by carving statues of gods in perfect human form.

The students would, indeed, have less knowing of history, chemistry, biology, ... - everything being taught to us nowadays. But the students of this school would have much more complete vision of life and world overall. They wouldn't have to know large amount of facts, because the ones they have would be connected to each other a lot better. As the school would be on the same place as our gymnasiums on the education ladder, it gives excellent base to anyone interested in further studies of science.

One class would include a maximum of 10 students, any more would mean that a student would be given too small amount of attention, less would reduce the efficiency too much. In addition to students self motivation there would be competition with other classmates and classes as whole, too. Competition is one of two forces driving evolution and in the process of developing ones skills. The second one is cooperation, which is covered by full-class competition, where classes that support their weaker members, prevail.

The teachers would need to be the best to be able to teach a bunch like the one described. The school would concentrate teachers that love their job and are competent to teach their subject. Unfortunately, nowadays we are mostly to find the ones teaching because it is only thing they know or they are doing it just for the money. Teachers would rather get paid less and teach less-motivated students who won't question. There are exceptions, of course, and I am happy to have met and taught by some of them. Teacher must be an authority to hold the group under control, but aswell their friend to be warm and believable. Kind of like a good big brother.

The last and somewhat less important element of a school is the environment. It must provide the peace and tools for the students. I can imagine for example an old renovated manor with a clean and beautiful park, where the students walking along the teacher could learn and discuss different ideas.

Many claim that "elite" schools are bad, that they reap the cream and somehow see it as a bad thing. I think that we should have even "eliter" schools, because we have enough students with a special need called talent, but nowhere to put them, where they could show their real potential. I believe that my school would do exactly that, helping talented rise higher rather than dragging them down, because others are incapable of keeping up.

This is my idea of a perfect gymnasium along with other thoughts regarding teaching methods. I hope that someday a school like this will be possible.

Pain

Rational mind is something we are proud to have. Though, yet again it has proven itself being insufficient: when it comes to emotions, it's a pathetic coward. The moment we are struck with one it's nowhere to be found.

I have already discussed why we could need emotions and intuition as whole package. Also I'm not going to talk about emotions overall due to the diversity and complexity of it. This time I'm going to focus on one which I believe to be the most destructive of them all - the pain.

We are ready to do almost anything to avoid the feeling of pain. I'm glad that modern medicine has it covered as long the pain is physical, so I'm not going to stop on that. What interests me more is its mental form. Why do we need it? Why is it so powerful and long-lasting? Could we someday eradicate it?

Why do we need such self-destructive emotion as pain? It can shut us down completely, taking away any hope we might have left and draining away every bit of happiness. They say: whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. That's true all right, but it's not the whole truth. The strength we gain from pain is temporal or perhaps in worse cases permanent numbness. Is it the strength we want? Or perhaps it has exactly the same purpose as Its physical counterpart - signaling us of an dangerous error? But how could it be applicable in case of a broken heart? The error of choosing wrong mate? For all we know the one left with pain is also the one truly believing that the match was a good one. Or perhaps It's something else rationally useful backfiring at us? What then? Seems like I'm unable to answer what is pain good for.

Another thing I find curious is why does it have to be such a strong emotion. Wouldn't a lot less be enough to let us know that something is not right. Maybe this is something that the first question should also cover. Still, I am amazed by the destructiveness of it. To be able to maim somebody like that is truly extraordinary. Rare aren't cases when the pain has driven people suicidal, therefore maiming one for eternity. It also tends to have the ability to recreate itself from even the smallest incident that's related to the source of the pain giving it the resilience. However you look at it, the potential destruction it can cause to a human being, is immense.

Be it useful or not, dosed correctly or not, one thing is for sure - large majority of us doesn't want it happening to themselves or to their dearest ones. Could we get rid of it someday then? Yes, but the method could be compared to nuking a city to destroy the rats living in it. I believe that in the future a pill could be conjured, which upon using results in complete numbness of emotions, therefore also eradicating the pain. But this wouldn't be the solution we want. I don't believe that we will be able to remove any specific emotion, ever. There won't be painkillers for soul, so to speak.

In the end, the pain is just an enemy we are bound to flee from until struck, then we either fight and survive, therefore getting another chance or give up by killing the pain along with yourself. The last one is something I wouldn't recommend, however. I would also like to believe, that one could get stronger with each fight, without becoming numb, but better in avoiding and relieving it. However, I don't.

Sorry for ending with such hopelessness, but that's exactly, what the pain does.

Path of happiness

Note that the title doesn't say path TO happiness, so don't expect to find any guidelines on how to be happy, if I knew that I'd be filthy rich and probably wouldn't be writing this. What I am going to write about is what I believe is the mechanism of happiness. What are the requirements of being happy?

I think that happiness is based on our needs and whether they are satisfied or not. A person is truly, absolutely, 100 percent happy when all of his or her needs are satisfied. When some are and some aren't then the person is partially happy. Now, there are two possible ways to achieve this theoretical complete happiness. One is by satisfying your every need one has and the other is getting rid of them.

Nowadays, people living in developed countries have almost infinite number of different needs, but they also have the same amount of possibilities and means to satisfy them. But what we don't have is infinite time. Therefore it is impossible to reach complete happiness in our society this way. However, partial happiness is achievable by satisfying the most important needs we have, such as hunger, tiredness, comfortable life, feeling of belonging and of course, love. After satisfying the important ones, surely secondary ones will be brought up to make us miserable, but as they mean less to us, we can still feel ourselves at least a bit happy.

Now, the other way achieving complete happiness is to reduce the number of needs to absolute minimum until the need of existence. I believe that is something Indian religions call nirvana. This, however, requires enormous amount of dedication and willpower and even then, reaching the result is not certain. But the idea of reducing the needs stays.

What could the practical approach be then? As neither of the options alone is unreachable for an average joe, then what about combining them into one? We should satisfy the needs which are quite impossible to be free of. We should eat, sleep, love each other and satisfy everything else, which are very important for our well-being and for which we have time, meanwhile trying to get rid of the secondary ones, which would otherwise stay preventing us from being happy. I believe that by applying this idea, one could live reasonably happy life.

This has got me thinking, whether it wouldn't be better if I was born in some of the developing countries, where I would never have many of the secondary needs I have here, like the need for internet and everything it contains, television, tasty food and so on. It would be much easier for me to be happy, since huge amount of my needs never existed and the number, which I would have to be dealing with is much smaller, wouldn't it? No, because I could lack the means for satisfying my main needs, which would make me far more miserable. So it's a beak down, tail loose situation, where neither one has an easier way of reaching happiness than the other.

As I said in the introduction, this is not a guide on how to reach happiness. It lacks direct instructions and doesn't count in the difficulties one might have during the process. But it is a general idea of what happiness could be and what it takes to be happy. Something thoughticious for a day.