Random Thoughts
This is a chronological list of random thoughts that I keep writing off and on. Some time later, I intend to write some organized thoughts containing results that I might be able to deduce from different combination of random thoughts inshAllah.
The "The" problem. Every group thinks of themselves to be "The" group solving "The" problems. Many issues might get solved if they start considering themselves just "A" group solving "A" problem (Respecting the others who are solving other problems).
Humans tend to formulate opinion about people rather than what they are saying. We should analyze “what is said” instead of “who is saying”.
New opportunities are often created if existing opportunities close (Provided one remains positive).
People tend to confuse reference and preference (i.e. favoritism). Almost all of my batch-mates got first job because the CEO of that company was our teacher and he knew that we fit his requirement. I consider it a reference.. He taught us and we got the job through that reference. In that sense reference is very important as it’s a source of information about an individual as CV is not a very reliable source. On the other hand Preference (or Pawa) is something clearly wrong. It is sort of an illusion. Ideally in an open market if preference is a practice in a company A, there would exist another company B that would produce the same product in a more cost effective manner than A. In longer run company B will be able to capture the market and company A has to wrap up and so goes the job taken on Preference. Real life is not that ideal but I think our nation is in disadvantage because we tend to prefer our groups (i.e. relatives, party members and friends in case of Zardari, sects, even religious jamaats) over others, while most of established countries are very clear against favoritism. Collective growth is a function of choices of individuals.
Being conceptually strong is directly proportional to straight forwardness and inversely proportional to Hypocrisy. Admittance of a weakness is first step towards improvement. But its just the first step.
Success is an illusion. Because pleasures are relative. Success is relative. A needs to be above B to be successful. So success of A becomes failure of B. Success of few in humanity becomes failure of many putting an extra pressure over them to perform better. So that B comes above C making C a failure. Redefining success on absolute basis might lead to better results (This might lead to Idleness).
People argue that they shall not be able to make any opinion if they start critically analyzing the correctness of every information they get (e.g. through Media). Its like signal to noise ratio.. If you make decisions on noise you will probably miss the signal. Maximum likelihood estimation assumes prior knowledge (i.e. bias) about input.
The essence of analytical ability:
a) To remain in the inconclusive state, if the information is not conclusive
b) Not to remain in inconclusive state, if the information is conclusive
A good example is a really precious thing in teaching.
As a teacher one has to make sure that the student takes example as an instance of the phenomenon, Not to bound the phenomenon by the example.
Student tend to be more interested in bonus assignments then actual assignments.. May be bcz "Zar se ziada sood piara hota he" or may be because they feel more confident as there is nothing to loose or may be because it sounds more challenging.
To end the Jhaaka (Hesitation to start something) is very important. If someone does something without anyone else's help, this builds the confidence that he might be able to do it again.
To minimize context switching time one can use available tools to save the context on his behalf. E.g. One may use Hibernate and "Save and Quit" option in Firefox to minimize the context switching overhead for the next day. Its like keeping the active processes inside memory.
To understand the depth of a concept instead of focusing of "How things work?" one should focus on "Why things work?". One should consider himself to be the designer and try to make things work. This will enable him not only to appreciate the findings of others but also to know the circumstances in which the "Hows" can be modified.
Differential Learning: Our mind has a tendency to forget. If the information we want to process is more than what we can grasp in one go, we have to go through it multiple times. In subsequent go, if we only focus on the difference from previous concept that we developed based on first go it will significantly decrease the amount of information to process. So we can accelerate our learning this way. This can be helpful in many cases for example memorizing words for GRE, memorizing a tables of grammar for a language or reading papers and books to get new concepts. (It sort of correlates with the prototype/rapid throw away model of software development as well).
In our deeds, Spirit is more important than Cosmetics. An example for those who have worked on image processing; Spirit is more like low-pass part of an image (coarse) and cosmetics are like high-pass part (detail), The low pass part is much more important information about the image. The high-pass has its part to further improve the image quality. Without high-pass part the image is still reasonably there, without low pass part, the image is lost. (A look at any example of applying wavelet tool box on images might help). As an example, if we read a hadith that there is no Namaz without Fatiha.. One way to look at it is that one should necessarily move his lips to recite Fatiha no matter whether in Jamaat or Individually. There can be other related discussions like Imam should keep quite after Fatiha for some time to give muqtadi a chance to recite Fatiha. What we should have inferred from the hadith is that it is utmost important to be mentally present and feel the meaning of Fatiha. Whether to move the lips or not is of secondary importance.
As we humans are limited by time and space and just one brain, we can only address a subset of the individual and collective problems that need to be addressed. In deciding which problems to address, the main questions to answer are "What is required?" and "Where can I be most useful?". One can make two independent lists of activities based on these two independent variables and then try to find their joint maximum to select the activities top of the list. And then indulge into those selected activities keeping in mind our scheduling constraints (i.e. there are only 24 hours a day)..
Scheduling of tasks in life can be analyzed like scheduling concepts in Operating Systems. For example Multi-level-Priority-Queue based scheduling can be used. And if one wants no task to be starved then random schemes like Lottery Scheduling can be a good option to apply as well.
Watching this video “Shoe Bombers, crotch bombers, 9/11 and Israel” and thinking on how even in a democratic system at least 80% of Pakistani elected representatives are corrupt, I think there are few things that need to be addressed in the democratic system. The voting part makes sense, but the sort of projection that is needed by a person to have a good contest in elections needs “Funding” and that’s where this system gets exploited either by the Jewish Lobby or the Land lords. A simple Muttaqi person who can be a very good Ameer finds it hard to leave whatever he is doing and start a campaign for him. So whoever contests for elections gets strings of “mufadaat“ of the funders already attached to him whether it end ups in creating jobs for PPP members or following the Jewish expectations. I don’t have a solution, but there should be some practical way to modify the democracy system to somehow allow even ground for a funded criminal and non-funded straight forward person.
There is a general rule that one should verify and listen to both sides before making an opinion about anyone. But practically there are scenarios where we agree to general perceptions if heard from multiple sources e.g. corruption of Zardari, MQM's misuse of Power in Karachi. What should be the criteria to evaluate whether such perceptions should be accepted or rejected? Because similar perceptions are generally claimed as propaganda if they are regarding the groups we like.
If we shed yellow light on a red rose it looks black. This is because the light source does not possess the component of light that the object was capable of reflecting. When something looks black, carefully assess the source of your light before declaring it black. Merely because the object is not reflecting your source of light does not mean that it does not reflect light at all. Bias often becomes really hard to overcome. Many differences are based on the band limited light sources that we possess. And we are taught to consider the light sources as untouchables, even though our light sources themselves are often a colored reflection of the white light who never claimed to be white. And there might be Infra Red and Ultra Violet light that can be seen even by animals but not us.. Allah is Diverse and Aleem.. And we are too limited and ignorant..
You need to stretch to know your limits.
Considering the strange way our mind works, a specific concept may be clear to the most dumb person in the world and unclear to most intelligent of scholars.
A complex problem is a set/sequence of simple problems. To figure out the set/sequence of simple problems is a complex problem.
Often the “difference of opinion” between two fair persons is rooted in some assumption that they make on their gut feeling at some point in their thought process. Example
A complex problem can become simple if viewed in a complex number system or in a transformed domain. This is shifting the complexity from the problem to the number system. One example is how convolution becomes multiplication in frequency domain. Generalizing this if we encounter a complex problem, we can always try finding the right transformation to a domain which simplifies the solution.
Importance of accepting I Don't Know.
Concepts are like buildings. The height you can achieve depends on the depth of foundation.
“It’s easy to point out problems (or object on existing solutions), but it’s difficult to come up with a practical solutions.” Unless one has to give a solution, he can enjoy a safe position from where he can simply object on existing solutions without giving a solution (a relatively holier position). This is a position that often the parties not in government, anchors, column writers or people being part of some movement (like Hizb-ut-tehreer etc.) enjoy. When asked for proposing a solution or when given the driving seat, the weakness of analysis is exposed. Quite often, the same people when put on receiving end of objections can react severely.
Does there come a time when our brain reaches (may be at a certain age or at a certain amount of information) its capacity (may be some specific capacity among a set of capacities) from where we can't really increase our breadth of knowledge? All new knowledge actually overwrites some existing one automatically selected (may be least important one based on some algorithm) by our brain. Do we start to forget more because of reaching the limits of our brain capacities?
The body of knowledge is so vast that a person can sample only a subset in his time constrained life.. But if he remains focused there is enough time for him to extend the existing body of knowledge in that subset..
If there are N total problems and an individual can work on solution of only 1 problem, N individuals are required to solve the N problems. If an individual can not solve even 1 problem but can just solve 1% of 1 problem, 100N individuals can solve all the problems. Lets say our nation has 100 serious problems, then we require just 10,000 people to solve 1 percent of each problem.. Quite often I see people focusing on all the problems at the same time, considering the task of solving them so big that eventually they end up in just talking about the problems for hours instead of spending minutes on solution of one problem. We just need to realize that there are enough concerned people around (most of people are as much concerned as we are), we just need to fix 1% of 1 problem and leave the rest for others...
We often use N to denote a number.. Sometimes a threshold.. These thresholds become interesting especially when one is evaluating the right thing to do between competing objectives. A few examples are:-
How many lives (N) at stake would allow killing of one civilian.. 10, 100, thousand or million..
If Israelis say that they owned the land 1500 years ago, are they justified.. At how many years (N) such claim become unreasonable..
After how many years (N) should we forget an aggression and move on.. like in case of Kashmir, Siachin or Accepting Israel as a state..
At family level we go against the "free will" of a child (most children don’t want to go to school) and force him to go to school. Is there a specific age (N) before the right to free will should mature?
Very often I have found that while people are merely trying to find "Justifications" for the stance that suites them, they seriously believe that they are "objectively analyzing" things.
Typecasting Void Pointers: In most of things there are a few "unexplained" parts. Even in Quran Allah tells as that there are clear as well as "unexplained" verses. Same goes for events like 9/11, any assassination like that of Benazir, Liaqat Ali Khan, Suicide attacks etc. that there are a lot of "unexplained" things . Whenever something bad happens, a lot of people go into state of denial and they want to find some scapegoat to put the blame to. If there aren't any proofs, The "unexplained" part of events are ideal targets to be used to put blame on the scapegoat (mostly the enemy of our liking). The state of denial and animosity helps people believe that the "unexplained part" is a "conclusive proof" that enemy is involved. I call these "unexplained" things as "void" pointers that people typecast into "meanings of their likings" (Mostly enemies like America, Israel etc. in Pakistan, but its more generic concept, some westerners/indians puts things on Muslims, sometimes people put blame on supernatural things UFOs, taweez etc). Islam sets very high standards of justice. Unless we have "conclusive proof" we can not even declare our enemies as guilty, This is emphasized at various places like [4:135],[5:2], [5:8] and [57:25] etc. Just pasting [5:8] here "Believers! Be upright bearers of witness for Allah, and do not let the enmity of any people move you to deviate from justice. Act justly, that is nearer to God-fearing. And fear Allah. Surely Allah is well aware of what you do." Our own bias is one of most difficult things to overcome while analyzing events.
We can not use means that take considerable innocent lives to achieve the objective of stopping others to use means that take considerable innocent lives.
Focus requires privacy. Closing the windows and doors of your brain for unwanted thoughts is important.
"Keeping the gaze down" is one of attitudes among broader class of "abstaining the vain" that can help in focusing.
Don't chase the ball: It is very common in team games like football and hockey, that individuals leave their positions and start chasing the ball. This creates openings for the opponents to counter-attack and find empty places in the field to attack. It is important to appreciate that responsibilities of your own position are mandatory while any further help near where the ball currently is optional. Identify your role.
Focus on the ball: When I used to feel distracted (by game situation, previous points or audience etc.) in playing table tennis (or cricket), one way to get focus back was to keep watching the ball and ignore everything else. In real life one can just keep focusing on the "primary problem" at hand to avoid distractions. Keep focused when your role is clear.
Fight point by point: One thing I have seen in people who beat the odds (e.g. Nadal in tennis) is that they fight point by point. So they neither loose focus based on how tough the situation is nor based on the points they have lost or won. This applies in other domains as well e.g. on how you manage your time. We can fight time-wasting temptations hour by hour.
Seek Allah's help: The most trustworthy and countable source that my lazy procrastinating self has ever found to get out of the mess (I often create due to my laziness) is sincere begging in front of the Creator. He somehow always gets me out of the mess in unexpected ways. Each such instance when I deeply ask for His help and He helps acts as an empirical evidence of His existence to me strengthening the initial conviction about His existence based on analytic reasoning.
One thing to keep in mind while defining a process/system/criteria is that it almost always closes some doors. E.g. generally for the betterment of education a criteria of "being at least a Masters/PhD Degree holder" is generally in place to be able to teach a CS/Engineering student. This means that a cheat from a substandard institute will be eligible for teaching a programming course, while Bill Gates/Steve Jobs wouldn't be. A similar criteria in religion, a scholar (who could be a sold soul) would be eligible to give a fatwa, while prophet's companion might not pass the criteria (Some may fail article 62-63 because of their past lives). This does not mean that we should not have processes/systems/criteria, but we should realize that "No process/system/criteria can be ideal". Side Note: We might use fancy words with the systems like "Islamic System" to lure people into buying the idea, but if one goes a bit deep its generally merely a person's/group's own understanding that they are selling (sometimes trying to enforce) in the name of Islam.
There is a difference between "Knowing", "Understanding" and "Embedding" concepts. Knowing deals with "Hows", understanding deals with "Whys" while embedding requires repetitive practical application till it becomes a habit or second nature. Interestingly it is possible to know without understanding and without embedding but more interestingly/dangerously it is possible to "embed" without "understanding".
While designing we often have doubts on certain things that could cause problems in future while testing. It is a good idea to allocate a page and write down such potential bugs while designing. When we reach testing phase we can consult that write up first and see whether the source of problem is one of those issues or not. This can help reduce debugging time.
If there are N tasks all necessary to be completed in K days and they are doable if you work on them, then the only time management required is not to waste time.
Better "Generalization" inherently has to be slower (cooked on low flame) which is generally at the cost of learning "Specificities" at a fast pace.
Lesson from Neural Nets: Our eyes are merely a tool to sample reality in 3D that enables us to generalize rules for our much higher dimensional intellect.
Life is soul's gym.