Re: Sex Sells, Part Two

Okay, going to take a second crack at this. 

Wouldn't It Be Nice If Race Didn't Matter? But It Does

I feel that this issue with race shares something with gender issues. The truth is that a person's gender does matter in some things, even when it would be better if it didn't. It also seems true to me that while we wish to discuss this matter, the sensitivity of the topic makes us reticent to speak our minds. 

When I was doing Dan Ariely's Coursera series on irrationality, we were told about how people have difficulty conceiving of large numbers. This causes situations like people empathizing for one starving girl but not having as large an emotional response when confronted with the plight of a million people. There was research showing that the effect occurs even when the subject increases to just two people. I have a feeling that this effect also creeps up when we talk about sexism. It is difficult to connect with the concept of women being doused with acid for purposes of restoring honor or whatever; it's much easier to take one incident then make it representative of the whole struggle.

Still, I think there is value in the discussion generated with stuff like this, this, and this. So long as we don't get blinded to the forest the trees are part of.

...That turned out better than expected. But I think a third crack is in order. Watch for it.

My Zhan Zhuang

I am now consistently able to reach one hour of standing practice.It's been more than a year since I started studying. Health-wise, I've found my digestive system to have become more stable. My right shoulder and right leg also seem to be stronger, whereas before starting standing they were quite weak compared to my left side.

There's a key to being able to last so long in a Zhan Zhuang posture. I've found that it's good to remember to always stretch the head upwards; as you do so imagine the upper body drooping down like taffy into your waist. Push down with the feet and the C-back will be perfectly created. Try to keep your chest concave, and if the shoulders still hurt try to make sure the hands are shoulder-width apart and parallel to the shoulders.

Standing practice also helps create a mental/spiritual "space." When you have this space all the day-to-day stresses seem to pale. They are not so important as maintaining alignment during the session, and unpleasant/unnecessary thoughts just flow away. They enter the mind easily and are just as easily flushed out.

There are other benefits. Ever since I started I have not lifted a single pound for weight training. And yet now I am really much stronger. My arm muscles have also gotten noticeably bigger. I don't slip or trip over myself anymore.

Re: Sex Sells

Sex Sells, Drawing the Line Between Classy and Raunchy

The above piece is an interesting opinion on one aspect of the great Hallyu invasion we are experiencing right now. As Kpop gets more and more exposure all over the world it's inevitable that people will start to evaluate it according to their own groups' mores. There will be those who will take issue with how this genre celebrates youth, beauty, and empowerment. 

I'm aware that South Korean broadcast media is strict with its guidelines on what can be aired and that the companies behind Hallyu do want to project the best side of their country to foreigners. However these same companies are in a race to survive and thrive - the competition is quite fierce. Sex does sell, but in the case of Kpop it has to be tempered otherwise a big chunk of the older demographic gets lost. But things aren't simple - there's considerations of appeal and image to think about. 

I am sorry if I'm not as coherent with this post; I am not entirely clear about how I feel about this kind of thing, you see. I believe it's hard to quantify "classy" versus "raunchy." The image that comes to mind is that of female beach-goers being accosted so the length of the hemlines of their swimsuits could be measured; too short and one can look forward to being arrested. I understand that there is an imbalance when one gender predominates in positions of authority and that judging a person by their physical assets does diminish them. On the other hand, I recognize that judging people this way is something that we do all our lives - we think of people in terms of how they affect us, what they look like/sound like/etc, how they are in relation to us. Nobody really takes the trouble to research someone thoroughly to the point that they know more about the latter than she does herself. People just go for satisficing.

There's a part of me thinking that having beauty and sexiness are assets just like having intelligence or riches. Those who have them are well within their rights to exploit what they have to get ahead. Falling in love with someone who is beautiful, falling in love with someone who is rich - what's the difference, really?

But there are things that disturb me. The extreme dieting, the cosmetic procedures, the excessive expectations everyone has of these artists - it's like trying to maintain the illusion of being young and dependent for as long as possible. And I hesitate to think that I could even begin to empathize with the situation of those who are oppressed by this. 

And there's another thing to consider: that maybe the view the author is talking about could be the seed of a moral panic.

I also reflect a lot on Sandara Park. I've researched her prior career in the Philippines, it's interesting how she's an international star now when her career stagnated in that country.  I wonder if the author considered her before writing the op-ed.

These ideas hover around me like flies when I come across things that invoke the issue. Perhaps I'll write about this some more someday, when my views have become more stable.

The Power of Standing

If I had the chance, I would love to meet these folks. I'm convinced they are the secret masters of Mind Fist.

Texas Senator's 13-Hour Solo Filibuster Kills Brutal Abortion Bill

The Standing Man of Turkey

Nassim Nicholas Taleb once made a distinction between those in professions that are relatively stable ("Mediocristan") versus those that can be volatile ("Extremistan"). His point, broadly summarized, was that while a baker could expect gains proportional to the effort put into the work, someone like a Wall Street trader could find himself gaining and losing millions within a single trading day for reasons completely unrelated to his skills. 

There are many types of work out there where this applies. In the recording industry, the popularity of a song could depend on so many factors outside the artist's singing skill. In acting, consummate chameleons rub elbows with purveyors of cheap fare. Everything takes a second seat to the question of whether the audience likes you.

In Extremistan survivorship bias lives and breeds. How many people out there go follow their dreams in these professions every year, and of these how many are able to derive a good living off of it? For the winners, dreams do come true - but for the losers, they don't even register. 

I think it's the constant risk of going belly-up that prompts companies to become so restrictive with their talents. In K-pop companies for example, the contracts can be positively draconian while the training is extremely rigorous. 

Check out the video above at 4:22. The chart shows an Internet ranking of K-pop idol groups. Out of so many groups at the time of the airing of this program, only 16 can be said to have a hold in people's minds. And of those sixteen, only two are at the very top. This ranking is obviously very volatile, but the top groups are very comfortable in their position. For the others, they have to hustle because the competition is very fierce and tomorrow they could slide down from their current position. It's not a very objective example, but for illustrative purposes I think it serves the purpose.

Why should we care? Because when people are in desperate situations where they don't know what to do to get ahead, they end up willing to do anything to get ahead. Like getting minors to work in conditions that would be unacceptable in other countries. Or getting them to be of the mindset that doing stuff like this is appropriate.

Privacy

Ernest Hemingway survived war and many other privations. He thrived in adversity and conflict, that would lay other men low. And yet it seems that in the end he was unable to prevail against his own government watching him. Then again, it's very hard to fight against a shapeless, vague threat as compared to, say, a plane crash. In the latter one's priorities are clear.

Scrutiny does change how people behave - you only need to look at all of those fallen stars that litter every country's social scene. Being looked at is disconcerting - many convince themselves that it is a good thing just to escape from the unease. Ultimately, they try to dull their senses or withdraw. Anything to keep away from the eyes.

There are good arguments out there for protecting the right to be left alone. We are prone to biases; we think that such surveillance won't really be directed at us. Or even if it were, that the authorities will not find something. To that I say - the determination is not up to us. More to the point, them knowing so much about us makes it so much easier for them to use us however they like. 

But perhaps greater than all these arguments is that our privacy is fundamental and inalienable to our psychological make-up. We need that space to share only the parts of us that we want to share; and it shrinking can only bode bad things for our future as a species.

If one could have a soundtrack for one's life, I want this to be mine

Too Good Too Bad

I can't help visualizing this set to the music above.

Hacking and Writing

I'm not the only one that has noticed the overlap between coding and writing. The difference is mainly in the audience and purpose of what is written. In fact, code is categorized together with literature in terms of intellectual property. The article below riffs on a lot of concepts - definitely worth a reread... or ten.

Learn language

Boxing Wisdom

I'm a big fan of articles like these. Wisdom should always come in small, testable nuggets - nuggets hard-won through experience.

Twelve things maybe Cus d'Amato only knew

The world of martial arts that has long since passed

Get health and fitness tips at Greatist.com

Flow

Canabalt

If you've a couple minutes to spare and you were so inclined, please try out the game above. It's free and simple to operate. At first you won't be any good; the game though is addictive and you will soon last longer.

As you try again and again, you notice that your avatar goes faster and faster the longer you survive in the game. This is dangerous because it leaves you only a split second to assess the distance to the next platform, detect any traps, and press the control properly. It's much wiser to slow down by hitting the chairs and boxes that litter your path. However, every time you come back to the game the conviction that this thinking is wrong grows. You want to last. You want to be pure. So you might choose to jump over the obstacles, sort of another challenge to yourself.

As the distance of your avatar's run increases you begin to feel pride in what you're doing. You also feel, in a detached sort of way, that you won't be able to maintain this for much longer - you'll misjudge a leap, or your character will slip, or he'll hit a trap. But you haven't failed yet, and it's a thrill. You're not being bogged down, nor are you stalling. You have built, and continue to build, momentum on your run. You're soaring.

This must be a fraction of what masters feel.

On letting go

On awkwardness

This article got me to thinking not about intelligence, which was the actual intent of the piece, but rather about clumsiness. If all intelligence is situational intelligence, this means that being in a less than optimal situation is a result of not being able to shape the situation to our advantage, even with all the talents or advantages we were blessed with starting out. Shaping the situation jumps out to me because it's precisely what we do in the martial arts - we take a bad situation and somehow turn it into one that favors us. This means that shaping things to our benefit is a skill that has wider implications than was previously thought. It also means that starting out in a less-than-ideal situation is the norm as well as the consequence for failing to reverse things.

A skill is proficiency and artistry combined, that is being able to do what you want and being able to think of novel ways to apply what you know. To gain skill one starts out clumsy, but through long and intensive refinement one moves away from always being clumsy to being so less often. Skill also takes focus, and if focus wavers even the most skillful can look like amateurs.

Nothing in life is always clear-cut, and perhaps recognizing this is why we derive enjoyment from media that are vague or ambiguous. Things that don't have neat endings engage our imaginations, and things that don't go smoothly are more interesting to see. Perhaps there's an element of schadenfreude there as well. We hate awkwardness within ourselves though, and despise it in others. This is why it is so important to have one's grand achievements seem effortless in execution.

I think we tend to equate effortlessness with familiarity of something, the opposite of being clumsy. After all, back in the early days of our species' evolution a clumsy situation was more of an annoyance - do something wrong and your people could be wiped out. 

And I don't know how to render a proper ending to this train of thought, so in honor of the subject I'll be tabling this as it is right now.