Sunday, 17 July 2022

THOUGHTS ON INNOVATIVE THOUGHTS

 

My experience with blogging/writing down my thoughts here has been quite interesting. I guess this is a level up from journaling. Journaling used to be, for me, a way to clear up my head, to have my thoughts sorted out, but blogging is on another level. When you leave your thoughts out to dry (for others to read and relate with gentle correction, which is always welcomed) is terrifying and also exciting...

So here is to more entries coming, some may be innovative and some may not. Some may be a longer read if I am feeling a little braver. Some may be a little depressing if I'm stuck in a loop. Either way I'd like to continue letting it out here. Whether or not anyone reads it. 

While the break comes, I'm going to focus a little more on phenomena's, maybe on shared experiences and culture (where ideas are formed). 

But I also believe that nothing is new under the sun,

The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

 Ecclesiates 1:9

Anyways, thanks for sticking around. 



METAVERSE

 

Digital Reality

Ok, so I grew up in a time where a time without google was a blur to me. To fairly say, my generation is tech dependent. More specifically, internet dependent. So the metaverse is fairly new but the concept or idea on it's own is not unexplored. 


In books and movies of sci-fi, a few has done their share of imagining in these scenarios, as such for author Neal Stephenson in his book Snow Crash. In Snow Crash people use digital avatars of themselves to explore the online world, often as a way of escaping a dystopian reality. Similarly in the matrix, people are plugged in physically into a digital world where their avatars are manipulated into thinking that it has the actual consciousness in an actualized world. Well in both novel/movie I'd like to think that there is more cons then there is to pros but this is what we humans do, is it not? We fear the unknown. 


Should the unknown really be feared in this case?


Deserving Reality?

Maybe the right question to ask here is "Do we actually deserve this unknown?", that question in itself has different meaning depending on the inflection you're projecting onto it. While we are here, let's try for both. One on the optimistic end and one on the pessimistic end.

Do we, as humanity, actually deserve this advance in technology? To have an alternate reality in a universe that is virtual. Humbly, we can use this opportunity in advancement to reach so much further than ever before, show much greater scenes and understand much more feelings. For now the metaverse is mainly in the realms of Facebook for the use of social interactions, improving our current mode of socialization and connection. Of course with the acceptations of the gaming VR realms of this aspects as entertainment and leisure outlets. Do we deserve this? Are we ready for this?


Well, if you are a fan of the Black Mirror series, similar to the Twilight Zone, which I watched quite religiously whenever its seasons were released and eventually, I had to take a break after every release because of how depressing things can get... you should watch
 Series 4; Episode 1 . This episode, even though with a relatively acceptable ending, 
was really terrifying to me.  

Of course, The Black Mirror series like to go into things of the human consciousness but in this episode they show us how VR, when used unethically, is honestly terrifying. Getting addicted to an alternate reality while the actual reality continues on, stunts you as a person and also your morals. Morals because in a VR world that is made for you and catered to you and your needs leads you to end up with no option but to be selfish, self centered, self glorifying and, in short, delusional. You start playing God and that is never good...



Living Reality

At the end of all these, I would like to believe that we, as humanity, are capable of being merciful. To ourselves as well as to others. No doubt we are constantly on a path of self - destruction verses self - actualization but, as with all new unknowns that we have encountered as humanity, we will embark it will caution and grace, selfishness and generosity. Progressing with time. Time will tell all tales and ,time, is our greatest keeper of our temporal reality.





Saturday, 16 July 2022

THE COMPANY - TERENGGANU

 

The Company



There's a weird effect when travelling. Especially with the same bunch for 3 to 4 days. It makes you feel like a unit. Having each others back. 



I can only imagine this being one of the very last class trips I would ever experience. Making things a little melancholy as the days past. A little harder as the end comes. Maybe this is going to be a sadder post but I promise that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.



Sense of Belonging

Even if you choose to resist it, a class trip does encourage a sense of belonging. Whether you are waiting on each other to move to the next destination or ensuring everyone is present in the moment, the shared experience can never be repeated with the same accuracy. I also believe that this opportunity to travel and bond with one another was within the good intention of Dr Zaky who saw the importance of this. Thank you Dr, if you're reading this.



Everlasting 

All good things must come to an end. "Nothing lasts forever", as I grow older I am grateful for this quote. Everything has an end, everything needs an end. Before it gets too depressing, I would just like to remind us again how endings make the journey so much more colorful, exerting the right amount of pressure on us.

Finally I would like to quote a cliché from Mr Pooh,

“We didn't realize we were making memories, we were just having fun”

 - Winnie The Pooh


Here is to growing up and growing together.




TELEPORTATION - TERENGGANU

 

Travelling 




A 5 hour trip to Terengganu from UPM Serdang was a very long ride. Having gone through 2 years of Covid-19 lockdown, a sudden 5 hours trip was a real shock to my senses. 

I have never been a fan of traveling, mainly because of the commute. I love seeing new places as the next person does but unfortunately, I get carsick with a hint of claustrophobia. 

So one can only imagine how this 5 hour long trip played on my mind, no amount of motion sickness pill could've saved me. Which led to the imagination of, not time travel but, teleportation. 


Teleportation 

Now, this is purely for fun (secretly I wish it exist), teleportation. In the case for teleportation, in the TechnologyReview states that Teleportation Technology has become a standard operation in quantum optics labs around the world. The technique relies on the strange phenomenon of entanglement. This occurs when two quantum objects, such as photons, form at the same instant and point in space and so share the same existence.

So far only information has been able to be teleported. How that happens is when Data is split into smaller bits called packets and transported trough microwaves which are high-frequency waves that travel through the air. There is a process of Data being broken down, going through the motions and being built back up.




If applied directly, I think the human body would not be able to withstand this phenomena. I can only imagine our guts spilling out, bloody splatters all around, eye balls and veins with our bones. Or maybe if we are broken down to atoms and fibers we can travel through the waves. Well, EVEN IF the breaking down process is possible, the building back up of our being would take stitches and surgery. Not a good idea... 



Reality - Metaphor

Another way of looking at teleportation, maybe this "breaking down, moving through the motion and building up" process, if you are willing to be as optimistic as I am for a moment, is already a reality. Metaphorically. 

I think motion sickness is how I am being broken down, taken with motion sickness pills to be even more "broken down", at least in consciousness, while the driver brings me through the motion of the commute. When reaching and standing on solid ground is where the building back up happens.

This metaphor is also very much true whenever going to new places, teleportation bring you to a fresh new place building you back up with even newer pieces with new perspectives.



At least this is what it is for me. A comfort for myself through long and unfamiliar travels. A metaphor I remind myself, that I am Teleporting. I am being b
roken down, going through the motions and built back up in even greater places. Teleportation.




*ps. I realized I have an amount of readers... say hi when you read this :) Would be nice to know who is reading my deep and wacky thoughts. Take care reader.

Sunday, 5 June 2022

Work on the Earth, Rest When Below, Live when Above - TERENGGANU

 

Life After Death



There is always more to what meets the eye. With the discovery of how timber can be life giving in so many ways, even after it has lost its roots. In Terengganu, timber comes in forms of homes, mosques, furniture, decorative elements, sculptural displays and even boats. It is interesting to see how a tree that gives life when living continues to give even after it is harvested. Serving as a source of livelihood as much as an identity to those who have chosen it. 


Perseverance of Passion



We've met plenty of advocates of timbre along our journey in Terengganu. From many conservationist to businessmen, most notably is of Mr Alex Lee, the founder of Terrapuri Heritage Village. He started with how his background, growing up, actually shaped his perception of business first and then proceeds to ignite his passion for the preservation of the Rumah Melayu that is what Terrapuri Heritage Village is today. 




 Patience in Pursuit 



Langar Rindu Mosque is as poetic as its builder, Pak Su. In his devotion to God and in waiting of the time he can be reunited with his beloved wife, Pak Su is putting his all into serving the community, the cause and, very importantly, God. He has opened up during our visit as to why he is passionate and relentless in his pursuit of his projects for the community. He sang songs and poems form his soul, touching our hearts in the short moment that we were there. From his purpose to his sorrows and joy, Pak Su has lived very richly and is not afraid to show it. His bravery through his vulnerability is thoroughly admirable.


Death After Life



The philosophers Soren Kierkegaard and Martin Heidegger each discuss death, in their own ways, as a horizon that implicitly shapes our consciousness. It’s what gives future times the pressure they exert on us. 

Eventually, there is rest for the resources we exhaust as the sawdust shown above. But at what cost? Life is fleeting just as it is for the decisions we make and the things we do. The beauty in ephemerality proves to serve a greater purpose than we think. It pushes us to think and aspire for greater things that has brought humanity further than even the greatest predictions previously imagined. Hence, I am grateful for the death and the rest that serves so much as a time keeper, advancing our growth and development in, hopefully, the best possible way. 

On this trip, I understood most importantly, the art of sharing ones beliefs and ideas as humanity continues. In which the passion and perseverance in the act of sharing is relentless and, most importantly, an act of kindness. To pour out ones devotion over and over again, is very much vulnerable and selfless serving the greater good. In remembering, even subconsciously, that we are not alone; not when we're living, not even after we leave. Our expressions and beliefs that keeps us going, so generously taught from those before us, we should receive in humility and also pass on with an even greater generosity. 


Week 8 - Finalizing


 Introducing Astaka, Discover one pavilion at a time. In celebration there is discovery and through discovery there is knowledge. 

Astaka is a pavilion derived from a specific joinery of the traditional Malay House, Rumah Melayu. Tanggam, which is a jointing system that provides sustainability, durability and dynamic stability. This type of joinery, Tanggam, is less complicated and more durable.

The pavilion is modelled in a modular repetitive form which is made of simple mortise and tenon joint connecting two pieces of wood. Rotating the joint along different axis allows each joint to connect with each other in a unique way which creates the structure of the pavilion. 

This approach overcomes the use of steel in timbre joints which does not sit happily over time, rusting & capturing moisture.

This form, being made modular, allows it to be interactive, and easily available for any individual, to own, to experiment and to discover. One pavilion at a time.


https://groupsem222.wixsite.com/timberastakapavil 

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THOUGHTS ON INNOVATIVE THOUGHTS

  My experience with blogging/writing down my thoughts here has been quite interesting. I guess this is a level up from journaling. Journali...