New Year Resolutions

Every year i make a lot of new year resolutions. Some are absolutely stupid like to try and make the world a better place for everyone to live in or to make my first million. Some are more practical like quit smoking, have a proper girlfriend, start wearing underwear, etc. So this year, with the new year looming round the corner, what are my resolutions?
The very first resolution i will make is to not be late again. EVER! I am horrible at keeping track of time. I can lounge and laze around even when its time to go for class or work and then rush out of the house and look for a cab when i finally realise i'm terribly late. As a result, i can proudly announce to the IRS this year that approximately half of my monthly expenditure was generously donated to the Comfort and City Cab Taxi Charity.
My next resolution would be about a proper relationship. All my relationships in 2004 have been spectacular failures. Love seems to strike at the right time but choose to leave just when the pot is hot and boiling. To say my heart is shattered would be a big understatement. Whatever is left from those broken pieces would probably not even make a whole again. Anyhow, i hope to be able to find a proper girlfriend in2005. Or turn gay trying.
There are a couple more resolutions that i would make but then again, this is just an ideas journal. I would probably write more in my own blog though. Anyway, Happy New Year everyone.

Artificial Intelligence.

There is now a robot in Japan who can run and walk as we do. It can recognize speech and react accordingly. It responds to commands and can even avoid obstacles. The first reaction people normally have is one of amazement and wonder. Technology has got to a stage where the difference between us humans and God is beginning to diminish with alarming swiftness. Very soon, there will be robots like those in AI the movie. Robots that bears uncanny resemblance to humans physically and even emotionally. So the question now is, "Will robots finally take over the human race?"

Many of us would have caught the Terminator franchise in which the end of the world has arrived and robots ruled over humans. Those who have caught the Matrix franchise would also be familiar with this theme. Robots with artificial intelligence taking over the human race is not something to be laughed at -- it is frighteningly real. Robots are getting more and more advanced. Artificial intelligence controls a big part of our everyday life now. We rely so much on technology to get on with our everyday life that i can't imagine how i am going to survive on an island without any technology at all.

However there is this one story that i recall that somehow puts me at ease whenever someone brings out this discussion. It begins with this group of scientists who have somehow managed to cure every imaginable disease and clone every single living thing in the world. They feel that there is nothing left in the world that they can't do, and so they challenged God. God accepted the challenge and said, 'Why don't we have a competition to see who can grow a tree the fastest?' . The group of scientists agreed and proceeded to dig a hole in the groud. God immediately said, 'Get your own ground.'

My opinion is that no matter how advanced technology will be in the future, mankind can never be replaced or controlled by what we created. Unless of course, someone were to find a way to create the one thing that will forever seperate us between robots -- our soul.

Should drugs be made legal?

There are many arguments as to whether drugs should be made legal or not. Of course by drugs I do not mean medicine, but designer drugs such as Ecstacy and Ketamine and hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
Personally i feel that they should be made legal, though access should be restricted only to those above age eighteen. Why? Well, I feel that like clubbing or having a holiday, all of us need an avenue to de-stress ourselves from the rigours of work or everyday life. Drugs provides an outlet for us to relax our senses and to detach ourselves from reality for an hour or two. Drugs are also relatively cheap and they can be enjoyed within the comforts of your own home. Cheap, convenient and fuss free, drugs actually offer fast relive of pressure for those constantly on the move. Professionals, middle class workers, even housewives would all have a benefit from use of drugs to help relieve themselves psychologically. Of course there would be abuse and the effects that drugs have on the user psychically is something to be worried about, but i feel the pros outweigh the cons here. Even if the cons outweigh the pros, i still can't see why smoking and alcoholism which kills more than 3 million people every year all over the world is allowed while drugs which definately does not have as high a killing ratio as the two, is banned.
Drugs should be made legal, albeit with some restrictions. Most of us just one a moment or two of paradise in this hell we call life. Drugs will provide the solution.

What is life?

What are we here on earth for?
I sometimes wonder aloud to myself whether everything I see here on earth is worth more that just its face value. Many of us stumble through life not knowing what we want or what the whole point of even existing is for. Some of us focus on our careers and families; some devote their whole life to religion, but many bum around in life, going in and out of jobs without much ambition at all. Most of them end up slogging through the most part of their lives for their families without giving a thought really to what their true calling in life is.
I really do admire monks sometimes. At least they have found what they wanted in life. They desire to serve something they believe in with all their heart, and they are willing to give up everything on Earth for what they believe in. How many of us can afford this luxury? All of us seems to have endless responsibilities and commitments to attend to. The amount of time we set aside to attend to out own needs, interests and beliefs is astonishingly small. How many of us can confess that we are doing something that we really love to do?
So what exactly are we here on Earth for? Is it mainly to slog, a prolonged punishment for something we did before...before whatever is before life? Or is life paradise in disguise, hidden away for only the enlightened few to find?

first posting for ideas journal

Is school really necessary for the imparting of knowledge?

School has been the main medium for the imparting of knowledge for generations. The norm is for kids to go through pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary, and then on to university.That has basically been the template for the education system for modern society since god-knows-when. The average person would swear by this tried and tested systemfor producing the leaders of tomorrow. Most people here in Singapore would not even conceive of learning through any other way.
But many societies have survived well without school also. In Britain, for example, there are families employ a governess to teach their children. So instead of sending them off to school, their child's entire education is taught within the comforts of their own homes. Many of them have done well and gone on to have successful careers.
There are, of course, many advantages and disadvantages of studying in school versus having an entire education based at home. One big factor is, obviously, peer pressure. Other factors include costs, quality, recognition by society, etc.
But would the pros outweigh the cons? Can an education at home really take over the school? Those are questions that are certainly worth thinking over.