Multi-Tasking, adapted from Slaces to Multitasking by Tan Seow Hon
When I am teaching and my students are typing away on their laptops while smiling at the screen in front of them, I know that they are more likely to be on MSN than to be with me. Every few minutes, their eyes would dart up and they would nod their heads as if what I had just said needed their approval
Why do people bother to come to class if they are intent on doing a half-dozen other things at the same time- playing Solitaire, checking out MSN, e-mailing, Facebooking and writing out a last-minute answer to an assignment question they should have done weeks ago?
Our multitasking habits are a bane indeed. I can no longer have a cup of coffee without feeling as though I am contesting for time. I have dinner with Aileen while Candace calls me on my cellphone and Aileen takes the moment that I am on my phone to SMS Val, as Val feeds her daughter while working on her computer. How many times have you excused yourself to go to the restroom, only to return to a friend busy SMS-ing, and then wondered if he preferred to be elsewhere?
It is not a crazy thing to meet friends, then spend half the time on the cellphone with someone else? When I point out to friends that I have better things to do than to watch them SMS, they assure me they can multitask, not knowing that I do mind waiting - and they do not multitask well anyway. In this day, we can no longer get the full attention of people even when we meet them face to face.
Our multitasking habit creeps into other areas of life. Because we are not accustomed to concentrating on a single task for an extending period of time, books today are different in layout from the books decade ago. The young today can no longer read the good old courier font. They need a snazzy layout, headings in bold Comic Sans every few lines and cute balloon columns with fanciful bullet points. Depth of analysis is lost on this generation. What they want are bite-sized pieces of information - like how the Time-Out chocolate now comes in convenient popcorn-like pieces.
We have also lost our ability to make simple commitments. We play it by ear when we want to meet. We know we can reschedule the appointment because the other person is always contactable via the cellphone. Gone are the days when we woukd mark our diaries and expect to keep our appointments because there was no way to change them at the last minute. And whatever happened to waiting to speak with someone? A decade ago, when I wanted to call a friend, I would wait for her to get home. The waiting would allow me to process my thoughts. And when we talk, I would be sure she is not also playing with her cellphone. Now, if I am irritated with someone, I would just shoot her a rude e-mail, delete it from my trash can and pretend I have not done anything bad. Postmodern connectivity facilitates an instant torrent. I have lost the character building habit of being forced to cool down because someone I am angry with is not within target range.
With MSN, IM, ICQ, SMS and Blackberry, the line between acquaintances and friends have blurred. We find it easier to use these modes of communication than to call someone up. While we would not have contacted someone we were not so familiar with on the phone, these alternative modes facilitate superficial social contact. So we end up with breadth in our relationships but little depth.
A decade ago, I was learning how to e-mail on an ugly black screen. Eight years ago, my mom got me a pager. Growing up without postmodern connectivity, I am troubled by the different world the young grow up in. What I have mentioned are little things in themselves, but if we continue in theis way 24/7, the effect on us would be insidiously greater than we realise.
Have you not realised only too late when your computer is hit by a virus, and you lose all your e-mail addresses, that your reliance on the e-mail address function on your computer has robbed you of the ability to recall addresses? We used to remember people's telephone numbers, now we are totally dependent on our cellphone's contact list. And our reliance on the calculator means we cannot do mental sums when splitting a restaurant bill. So what else are we allowing ourselves to be robbed of?
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{5/2 signing off!} Created at 10:19:00 PM
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String Theory | Wednesday, June 23, 2010
String Theory
(Warning; high physic content, u hate physics don't read on)
Now, where did it come from?
Right about 1900-today, the quatum theory holds true for all matter. It describes how atoms (that makes us up) can act like waves under certain conditions. That itself is a momentus discovery!
Scientist then began doing all sorts of experiment which eventually make up today's quatum theory.
However, as we go into the very small; smaller then the atoms, quatum theory is just rubbish. The math disintergrated; the theory just doesn't make any sense.
In fact, atoms are made of sub-atomic particles known as quacks. And these quacks are made of something which scientist are trying to prove; strings of energy. These strings are approximated to be at 10^-12 m.
Imagine if the string theory is true. Then all matter as we know it are fragments of energy of different frequencies which difine the very nature of that matter. (E.g a Carbon atom may have strings of frenquency x while a hydrogen atom may have a frenquency y in their strings)
Now that's the theory of everything! It explains why phenomenal like the big bang could have started. In fact, string theory states that it is the collision of two stings which cause the big bang. Which means, there was something before the creation of everything.
However to prove the existence of strings, we must first find 7 new dimensions. If strings ever exist, there will be new dimensions. Today, we know there are 4 dimensions, the time dimension and space in its x, y, z direction. If string theory is true, there will be a total of 11 dimension! That's pretty pausible if we try to relate stuff like Dark matter and Dark energy.
Dark matter is a unknown substance only known with gravitational properties. We know it there by seeing how it interact with stars and galaxies. Perhaps this dark matter transverse along one of the new dimensions?
Then there's the Dark energy. Scientist discovered then the universe is actually expanding at a accelerating rate. So space itself is expanding way faster then the speed of light now. That's the only thing that travels faster than light I guess... The cause of this is really Dark energy and this would fit in nicely with another dimension. Well, 2 down 5 more to go. All the best scientist!
Note: This entry is based on what I think is true. The string theory is currently been worked by numerous scientist. If you are interested about this, search youtube for it. There's a documentary which explains it.
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{5/2 signing off!} Created at 1:02:00 PM
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