Absorb what is useful,
Discard what is not,
Add what is uniquely your own.

Bruce Lee – The Official Website

To counter one’s arrogance or pride,
you need to reflect upon shortcomings in you that can give rise to a sense of humility…
From my own personal experience,
whenever I have a little tingling sense of pride,
I think of computers.
It really calms me down!

Training the Mind: Verse 3 – the Dalai Lama.

Boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Boy: There is no spoon.

The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix – There Is No Spoon: Video

You can reach
But you can’t grab it
You can hold it, control it
No, you can’t bag it

Pop Album(1997) U2

U2 – Discotheque: Video

If God has a master plan
That only He understands
I hope it’s your eyes He’s seeing through

Precious by Depeche Mode.

Depeche Mode – Precious – in Smallville: Video

A strange loop occurs when you move through the levels of a hierarchical system and arrive back where you started.

Douglas Hofstadter uses the concept of self-referential strange loops to explain the emergent property of consciousness in the books – Gödel, Escher, Bach and I Am a Strange Loop.

And yet when I say “strange loop”, I have something else in mind — a less concrete, more elusive notion. What I mean by “strange loop” is — here goes a first stab, anyway — not a physical circuit but an abstract loop in which, in the series of stages that constitute the cycling-around, there is a shift from one level of abstraction (or structure) to another, which feels like an upwards movement in a hierarchy, and yet somehow the successive “upward” shifts turn out to give rise to a closed cycle. That is, despite one’s sense of departing ever further from one’s origin, one winds up, to one’s shock, exactly where one had started out. In short, a strange loop is a paradoxical level-crossing feedback loop. When a system evolves to a certain level of complexity, we have the emergence of a new system that cannot be reduced to the sum of its parts…the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I think therefore I am…more than a neural network.

I see the Tao symbol (Yin Yang symbol) as an example of a strange loop. We see self-reference because there is Yang in the Yin (white in black) and vice versa. A circular motion is suggested by the symbol which represents a never ending loop of transformation.

Strange loops links:

In 1906, an Italian economist observed that 80% of Italy’s wealth belonged to 20% of the population. The Pareto Principle is known as the 80-20 rule, because 80% of the output results from 20% of the input. For example, 20% of the customers create 80% of the revenue. This is an example of how most systems are not distributed evenly.

This has been used as a rule in everyday life, including an individual’s output. If you paint a room in your home, you can cover most of the wall with paint relatively quickly using a roller. The smaller area near the edges requires more time and preparation – applying masking tape, carefully manipulating the paint brush. Also, if you try to do a “perfect” job it can take more time and effort – applying the paint evenly, getting edges straight, applying more than one coat of paint. In this case, a good strategy would be start your day with the paint edging, if that is when you are at your peak energy level.

Can you identify other ways of applying the Pareto Principle in your everyday life?

The notion of multitasking is derived from the apparent ability of multitasking computers to do several things at once. However, to complete a task properly we must concentrate on it fully. What is going on in your mind while you are combining activities such as watching TV, listening to your iPod or using the computer?

A state of happiness is the benefit of being able to focus on the moment. If a task is complex , it is best to break it down into mini-tasks that can be completed before moving on to the next task.

Extreme relaxation achieved by meditation requires the mastery of abilities that can be seen as the total opposite of mental process of multitasking.

How can we be more creative? How can we learn to think outside the box?

A good way it to vary our daily routine and try new things. Doing this will help to remove the auto-pilot on our mind. Some examples of things to do:

• Drive to a usual destination by a new path. Can you plan a trajectory using online maps?
• Go to a restaurant and have something you never tried before.
• Ever taken a lesson of Tai Chi, Qi-Qong, Yoga, Taekwondo?
• Listen to a genre of music that you don’t usually like. What is the top hit this week?

Any suggestions?

This a method of attaining quick relaxation.

1. Rub the palm of your hands together very quickly to create heat from friction.
2. Close your eyes and place the palms of your hands over your eyes.
3. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth slowly and deeply three times. Imagine that as you breath in that a balloon in your abdomen is filling up. Count with each expiration…1…2…3.