There is a wise saying; a Pen is mightier than a Sword. With a
Sword, you can start a War and kill millions of people. But with a
Pen, you can sign a Peace Treaty and save billions of life. As War
doesn't determine who is Right, War determines who is Left. I guess
that is the reason why I am willing to spend a hundred dollars on a
Millennium Space Pen instead of spending it on a Japanese Samurai
Sword. If the pen can let you write on any surface, in any extreme
conditions and the ink can last you a life time without refilling,
it is really quiet a good deal when you think about it.
This reminds me of a story about Space Pen which I had read on the
Internet a few years ago:
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they discovered that
ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this
problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 million developing
a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on
almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from
below freezing to over 300C. When confronted with the same problem,
the Russians used a pencil.
This Space Pen story also reminds me of another story about Chicken
Gun:
Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch dead chickens
at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space
shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity. The idea is to simulate
the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the
strength of the windshields. British engineers heard about the gun
and were eager to test it on the windshields of their new high
speed trains. Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the
British engineers.
When the gun was fired, the engineers stood shocked as the chicken
hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield,
smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console,
snapped the engineer's back-rest in two and embedded itself in the
back wall of the cabin, like an arrow shot from a bow. The
horrified Brits sent NASA the disastrous results of the experiment,
along with the designs of the windshield and begged the US
scientists for suggestions. You're going to love this. NASA
responded with a one-line memo: "Defrost the chicken."
Actually the solutions to the problems in both the story are
actually very simple; in Engineering we call it Trouble Shooting.
It takes years of experiences to develop a skill for basic Trouble
Shooting, like it will take years of experiences for a doctor to
diagnose the symptoms for a sickness.
There is another wise saying; an Empty Vessel makes the most Noise.
People who talk much doesnt think much, while people who think
much doesnt talk much, and people who doesnt talk too much and
think too much is most likely insane. Somebody once told me that I
had a foul mouth, I told him that it is because my mouth is an
enclose space. As a Marine Engineer we have to complete a Safety
Checklist for Enclose Space Entry to ensure there are no toxic
gases before it is certified safe for entry. It is not me who is
having an attitude problem; it is just you having a perception
problem.
The famous Albert Einstein once came up with the brilliant
Relativity Theory, now the not so famous Alex Chase came up with
the not so brilliant Reality Theory. The idea just happen to struck
my mind like a big sledge hammer while I was playing an old Super
Nintendo game named EVO, I happen to be a very safety conscious
Marine Engineer and was wearing my Safety Helmet instead of my
Thinking Cap, and so the impact just didnt manage to kill me
instantly.
The game was all about Evolution and I manage to complete the game
till perfection with evolution of six super cool creatures in just
two boring night at sea. From Fish to Reptile, from Reptile to
Dinosaur, from Dinosaur to Bird, from Bird to Mammal, and finally
from Mammal to Human. In between, I also manage to transform into
three awesome creatures of Eel, Dragon and Bat with the help of the
Red Crystals, and manage to evolve into a Mermaid during the
process of the game too.
What makes the game so interesting is the ability to make your own
choices about what you want to become in your journey through
Evolution. You have to find a balance between Strength and Speed in
order for you to beat the harsh reality of survival of the fittest.
You have to keep improving yourself to adapt to the changes of the
environments around you so that you can ensure that your future
will be secure.
When I saw Monkey learning how to use a Tool, it reminds me of the
Chinese Novel of Journey to the West. The Monkey God manages to
steal all the Fruits and cause the other Deities in Heaven to
suffer from Constipation. All the Deities were not in a good mood
and Buddha had to subdue him by holding him under the Five Finger
Mountain. With the Rule of Thumbs for Evolution, Buddha would only
need to use one finger instead of five. I guess that really define
the wise saying of let the Finger do the Talking.
I once attend a Management Course which teaches me about Management
of Subordinates by catering to their basic needs of life to get
optimum work output from them. You need to satisfy their basic need
of Foods and Rest, then go on to satisfy their more sophisticate
needs of Mental and Emotion. If the company going to pay Peanuts,
it is going to get Monkeys, and a Peanut cost Sixty Thousand
Dollars in Singapore after the famous NKF incident.
That is where I realized that Evolution had been going on
throughout the ages and is still going on around us as we speak. It
doesnt only apply to all living things, but it also applies to all
matters in the universe too. Now I am starting to sound like the
famous Albert Einstein already, and I can assure you that the
simple formula for explaining the same complicating theory is still
E equal to MC Square.
Still here with me? Good! Because you are going to pursuit on an
amazing journey of Modern Evolution with me in time to come. Now
this is where I collect my thoughts and think about where I should
really begin to guide you through this amazing journey. Let us
start from the basic of things where every things use to be so
plain and simple when we were still young.
I once study the art of Fortune Telling through Palm Reading, and
through my life line I knew that I am going to live a life of about
seventy years. Since now I am already thirty plus, I can gladly
tell you that I have already lived half my life. So you are
actually learning from my years of experience through my years of
learning, traveling and painful mistakes which I had made
throughout my life.
When we were young, life is so simple, even the choices we made are
simple as compare to the choices which we made now. We are only
concern about the basic need of life, foods to fill our stomach and
clothes to keep us warm. We are not much different from the other
living things on this Planet Earth, without much worry about our
future or our life. But things just have to change, because that is
the rule of Evolution as we experience a change of
environments.
I remember when I was still very young, I saw my cousins playing
around with a very simple radio. That is when you realize what
desire is all about, but all you wanted is just a simple radio
only. As I grow older and see the people around me having a
cassette player with radio, I start to set my goal to having it.
Then came Walkman, Mini Compo, Discman, Hi-Fi System, Mini Disc
Player, MP3 Player and the list just getting better and
better.
What about the time where we are still using a normal House Phone?
Then it slowly became from Cordless to Pager, from a simple Cell
Phone to sophisticated Cell Phone with all the gargets like Camera,
MP3 Player, PDA Function and much more. Evolution just doesnt
restrict to living things, it also apply to Consumer Electronic
Goods too.
Another very good example is the simple Black and White Television,
then came Color Television, Flat Screen Television, LCD Television,
Plasma Television and more. What about Computers? From 486 to
Pentium, from DOS to Windows, from XP to Vista, from Desk Top to
Lap Top, from Centrino to Duo Core. And from the normal Compact
Film Camera to SLR Professional Camera, to the Digital Camera with
auto white balance and anti shake function.
The lists of things can just go on and on, and we have to come to a
conclusion of when enough is enough? There is a wise saying that a
Content Heart is always Happy, so are we going to keep on being a
slave to our desire or are we going to break free and go back to
the plain and simple life? The Reality of Life is often cruel, even
if we know that we are bound by our own desire, not many of us can
really be free. Only the wise choose to improve their mind instead
of their body, only the smart survive the trials of times.
Singapore Girls once set a Five C Criteria for choosing their
future husband, Car, Condominium, Career, Cash and Credit Card.
Later they manage to upgrade it to Five B, BMW, Bungalow, Bachelor
Degree, Billionaire and Body. Now I guess they have again upgraded
it to Five M, Mercedes, Manson, Master Degree, Multi Billionaire
and Muscle. You can really predict that it will be upgraded into
Five P in the future if you think hard enough, Porsche, Palace,
PHD, Prince and Physically Fit.
In Singapore, the definition for Simple Living is having One Wife,
Two Children, Three Bedroom Condo, Four Wheels Vehicle, and Five
Figure Salary. While the people in neighboring country definition
of Simple Living is having Five Children, Four Wives, There Figure
Salary, Two Wheel Vehicle and One-Storey Link House. The Truth to
Simple Living is that you tell me what you need, and I'll tell you
how to get along without it.
Yes, Upgrade is the new name for Modern Evolution, and you hear
this word being spoken every where you go. If at first you don't
succeed, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.
Quitters never win, winners never quit. But those who never win and
never quit are idiots.
When you are young, you got all the Energy and Time you need but no
Money. When you grow up, you got all the Money and Energy you need
but no Time. When you grow old, you got all the Time and Money you
need but no Energy. So lack of Time, Money and Energy are always
the reasons people give as an excuse for not achieving anything in
their life.
So the big question now is what is the E equal to MC Square really
mean in this Reality Theory? The answer is actually really simple;
Energy is actually equal to Money multiply by the Speed of
Light.
Blue Water,
Alex Chase.
