Desert BODMAS

Once, a long time ago, I went to a survival camp and was taught to do things in ways I would normally not even consider. But most of them made sense.

For example if someone is drowning in a river, the last thing you should do is to jump in to save that person. There are many other reasons why a person could be drowning, including cramping, rough under current, poisonous snake or other animal, weed entanglements, and other possibilities. All of which would also kill you the same way even if you're a world champion swimmer.

Then it was getting lost in the desert. The question was: If you're lost in the desert with no sense of direction and only a 600ml bottle of water, what would you do with the water and how would you try to survive?

Understand that when I was going for these courses, Bear Grylls was still learning how to eat goat testicles.

They said that I should immediately drink all of the bottle's contents and try to use the little time of complete clarity to find a way to get myself out of the situation. Yea right. How many would, being lost in the middle of the desert, choose to gulp down the entire bottle of water in one go? Even if you have complete clarity, you could only do something given that you know how to do anything at all under the circumstance.

If you know how to dig a hole under the sand, place a plastic cover and a pail to catch the condensed air to get water for consumption, then good for you. What if then you have no equipments, no substitutes and no idea what to do? Would you still drink all of them in one go, or would you ration them as much as you could in hopes that rescue would come to you before you die?

In essence your answer to these questions will reveal what kind of person you are, how you approach tasks and handle danger, and what you expect from life and others around you.

For example we can all agree that a person who jumps into troubled water to save the damsel is god damned stupid, and he's got balls where his brains should be. But what if your own wife/mother/sister/brother/son is the one in there calling for help? Would you keep telling yourself to remain calm and try to find alternative ways to save them without harming yourself?

And what if you took the guide's advise and drank all the water in one gulp, but you can't figure anything out despite your mental clarity because you don't know how to deal with these kinds of situations in the first place, then you die of dehydration just minutes from rescue's arrival?

What if you watched Bear Grylls eat that dead zebra, did the same, and died of dehydration caused by diarrhea just hours before some 4x4 crashes through the dunes and could have discovered  and saved you had you not tried to be smart?

Shit happens. If you have to die then let it be. Ultimately we are just numbers in the world of statistics, nothing more. If millions can die of car crashes, cancer and cigarettes why can't one die of an extraordinary cause? 

Why I Believe in God: An Atheist's Point of View

Some may think I am disrespectful some may think I am uneducated some may think I am lost in the sea of sins. Some may think I will be struck by lightning. If you cannot accept criticism, stop reading. If you don't like religion to be questioned, stop reading. If you love reading my stuff and could never take my work seriously, do continue.

God is the Almighty. God is the Maker. God is The Universe. Gods are those who received exceptional credit as humans and deserve the ascension. Gods died for humanity and their rights. 

Gods are a myth. Gods are a figment of humanity's imaginations. Gods are how people explain the unexplained. Gods are how people control the savage. 

Gods are what people use to rule other people. Gods are what people use to kill, massacre other people. Gods are what people used to conquer lands, cut the men, rape the women and burn the children. 

I personally don't believe in God. I believe we are all here due to some coincidence, not even the least bit miraculous. The fact that we think it's miraculous is just because it's beyond our intelligence. And how arrogant are we to assume that we are the most intelligent? How arrogant are we to assume that we deserve to be made in the image of God? 

The universe is an intricate math of balance. Theories meet with each other and they create a harmony. Our existence and the existence of everything around us is the result of this harmony. And that is all there is to it. 

But as an atheist I believe in the need for a God. Humans are barbaric, humans are savage, humans are stupid, arrogant (some may say my article here is proof of the arrogance, and I agree). Humans tried for centuries to control themselves and each other. We teach our ways, and when it is not accepted we 'cleanse' the world of these pagans. God is here as control, direction, the true path. 

The knowledge of God keeps a person's conscience in check. The knowledge of God leads a person to the right direction. God creates a community, God creates a world, God creates a Utopia. A place where everyone would love each other and do no harm to each other. God tells us how to treat our wives, husbands, children, neighbors, friends. 

So we love each other, share with each other, be nice to our families friends and neighbors. But only if we have one thing in common; we believe in the same God. Pagans are ignorant, anti-believers are the hands of the devil. Homosexuals are blasphemous animals and spastic people are punishment for their doings in the past lives. Tree and stone worshipers are uneducated and shallow minded. As long as these people do not believe in the same God as us, the same way as we do, we push them aside. We label them as lesser, we tell them they will all go to Hell. We cry for their ignorance and hope they change their ways. Then when they become a little bit more influential, we take God's task and cleanse them from the face of the Earth. We do that because we want to protect others from the brainwash that may lead them to the highway to hell. 

God is important because God is the only figure that could keep the world together from all the ego and stupidity humanity was molded from. Yes millions and millions died in the name of God, but that was the people misinterpretation of what God stands for and what God teaches. People can control cars, aeroplanes, their handsets, chickens, dogs, cows. But people can never control each other. The lack of this control scares the people. Billions were saved in the name of God. Humanity is where we are because we believe in God what what God stands for. 

People Will Kill People

Convenience has made people impatient. Rather than having to go to something, things now go to them. Roads span the entire world, endless information available with just a click and have groceries delivered to your doorstep. People do not need to wait for anything anymore. Everything waits for people now. The lift hovers in mid air, waiting for someone to summon it. The escalator runs round and round, waiting for someone to get on it. Cable TV boxes record movies and series, waiting for people to watch them. Pirated music and software hiding behind the veils of the lawless developing nations, waiting for people to download them. Internet speed is so fast people don't have to wait for anything to dial 1511 anymore. People get everything so instantly waiting becomes tiresome and annoying. People don't even want to travel anymore. People are just waiting for the teleportation device to be invented.

Complacency has made people lazy. People start comparing themselves to everyone around them. They start to question their desires and dreams. They start thinking that it's not so bad being where they are. They figure that if everyone can do that, why must they struggle to achieve their dreams. People think being ambitious is equivalent to being naive and childish and stupid. Then people stop striving. And people start settling. And when people see other more successful people, they get jealous. And people start coming up with excuses to make themselves feel happy. They are struggling. They've got no money. They are not happy. They come from rich families. People give themselves excuses for not trying, for not fighting, for not sacrificing.

Education has made people stupid. Boxes were made to be analysed, not entered. Lights are meant to illuminate, not prevent darkness. People learn. People learn what other people taught. People learn the mistakes from their past fathers. People learn not to repeat these mistakes. People know that cats are furry and walk on four. People know sharks are dangerous and should be eradicated. People then know that fake food is good. Then people start growing enhanced food for people to consume at a high price. Then people say organic food is better. And people revert to naturally grown food. People start growing these food for people to consume at an even higher price. People lost the ability to think. People forget how to change a light bulb. People do not know how to partition hard disks anymore. People forget how to write with a pen and paper. People will forget how to use a mouse. People will forget how to talk to people without the use of a keyboard.

Simplicity has made people rude. No need to proper introductions. People do not dress well anymore. No corsets no hoops no make up no lipstick no tuxedo no shiny black shoes no clean-shaven face. People do not greet people properly anymore. People do not know how to ask questions in a full sentence anymore. People are not bothered to be polite and proper anymore. One word if possible. No word if possible. Wave the finger. Raise the eyebrow. Telepathy. All the better. Art becomes an empty shell with few strokes of laziness. Buildings are built to look like factories. Cements are never covered with paint. Tables look like four sticks with a board on top. People replace heavy chandeliers with round paper lamps. Phones lose its ergonomics because people would rather hold impossible objects than be comfortable. People are so rude they are not bothered to name people by names. Just people.

Cleanliness has made people weak. people used to eat next to rubbish dumps. People used to drink off the tap and wells. Washing food before consumption was never a necessity. People never needed water filters. People never needed air filters. Those days are gone. Now there are cleaners that kill 99.9% of all germs, and they are in everything. People never need to get sick anymore. People never need to eat synthetic anything anyore. Water becomes near distilled, food becomes near sterile. But people keep dying. People die from pesticide that protect their food. People die from lack of strength. People die from air from water from beds from masturbating too much from being in the sun from being in the rain. People die from the drugs that are suppose to keep them alive. People die from music from consuming a little dirt from screwing their distant cousins.

Protection has made people ignorant. People used to know how to protect themselves. Not anymore. People now fall from the stairs and break everything they have. People are so protected now they don't even know trouble when they are slapped in the face with them. People forget how to cross roads. People forget how to swim. People don't know how to avoid dangerous animals and poisonous food and deadly plants. People get so used to eating all sorts of shit because they know they are insured. People do not know how to control themselves because they know they are insured. People do not avoid danger because they don't know how to avoid danger.

Immortality has made people dread life. Life used to be sacred. Life used to be cherished. People would wake up every morning being glad they are able to live one more day. People forget that now. They forget the beauty of life. People take for granted the blessing they have. People go about their boring lives they just want everything to end. People hate life and everything it represents, but people are too afraid to kill themselves. People are afraid of uncertainty afraid of pain afraid of failure. People avoid adventure and risk because it reduces their chance at immortality. People eat all sorts of crap because statistics show they are suppose to life until the age of 80. Everybody does. So people are not worried. But people are rarely actually happy. Because people do what they need to stay alive, they never know they've been dead for a long time. People forget what it means to be alive. People stay within that little comfort zone, as long as they have immortality nothing else matters.

To Each His Own Shit

To each his own shit. I use the term 'his' but I also refer to the female gender. So to each her own shit too. We are all born into different parts of the world, into different families and cultures and traditions. Into different castes if you may.

Some excel at the very only system they are forced to be apart of, not because they are better but because they are lucky enough that it works for them. Others either spend their entire lives convincing themselves it's the right thing to do or fuck it and pursuit what they believe is right for them. That is provided they know what they want in the first place. Most spend their entire lives doing what they are suppose to do that they die never knowing what they actually wanted for themselves in the first place.

Man was never a race of settlers. We were suppose to be hunter-gatherers who move on to other spots when game become scarce in one. But over the years we have learnt to accommodate each other and tolerate being in a society. We learnt to farm and rare domesticated animals for food. What followed over the generations was a shift in our focus and aim in life, and ultimately what it all means to be human.

Hunter-gatherers are nomads. They travelled in small groups, families mostly. Their main goal was to find a spot where food was abundant, settle for a while and move on to better places when food dwindle. Being so, their aim was always to rebuild their homes, hunt and gather. They were always on their toes so when the place start to feel uncomfortable due to weather and disaster they could quickly pack up and move on. Change was not only acceptable, it was the very essence of their daily lives in such they would definitely perish without first having to embrace it.

They have seen more of the world, met more different people and made more friends randomly than settlers. They learnt all areas of survival, from bushcraft to spontaneous barter. They change themselves according to places and situations more easily. None of them own lands and rivers and islands because none of them would ever think of staying longer than they should. When the time arises they would move on and allow the Earth to replenish what they took, and hopefully other groups of nomads would have more resources to harvest when they arrive at the spot.

But they will never learn to thrive. They will never move up from what we now relate to as Maslow's Pyramid. There would be no technology and science and economics and currency and the Olympics. No countries no Comparative Advantage no established culture and tradition.

So humanity decided to settle. We built cities and had kings and elected governments and started specialising in fields. We now have education systems, democracy, trade centers, currencies, fisheries departments, Euro 2012, organisations and giant monuments to give thanks to those who excelled in each of these areas.

But humans will never change one thing embedded deep in their instincts. No education and refinement will ever change this barbaric urge. It is greed. Greed is both good and bad. Without greed humanity would never survive this long. But greed was what caused wars. Some may disagree and claim it was religion, but religion was misused by the greedy in the first place.

The nomads would never have been greedy. They would never have moved up Maslow's Pyramid to the point where they start being greedy. It would have always been the issue of survival for them. They would never get comfortable and start comparing the size of their land to that of others, and therefore would never have thought of conquering other lands. They would not have built high-tech machinaries that made their lives better and gave them more time to hate other people.

Now all people are thinking of is moving up the society-ladder. From posh mansions to fancy cars to expensive clothing they honestly don't know how to appreciate. Everything becomes something they can have to fit into a society they desire to be a part of. They then get greedy and want more, always to the extend of taking it from others. Because the idea of being better than someone is only possible when there are people worse off than you. And what better way to do that than to take from everyone else.

Change becomes a foreign language, unnecessary and always avoided when possible. People do not know how to adapt to situations because there are so many machines now being created to adapt to us. We get comfortable with our surroundings so much that the thought of change becomes scary, the idea of uncertainty is undesirable and nobody take risks anymore. Life then becomes an endless cycle of familiar routines.

People stop moving out of their shitty situations because they get comfortable and keep convincing themselves that it is not that bad after all. They stop thinking and acting out of the box because after awhile they forget how its done. They secure stable jobs because they don't see the fun in tackling the unknown anymore. But every once in a while a small percentage of them would rise from all these complacency, and tell themselves "Fuck this shit, I make my own destiny." These are the people who shape the world. These are the visionaries who make a difference in everyone else's lives. So to each his own shit.

Sports: Risks and Retributions

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Bicycle_traffic.png

There were recent campaigns halfway across the world urging all road users to be considerate to cyclists and to allow them a 3-feet radius for safety reasons. This is all beautiful and responsible and First-Worldly, but sadly we don't even have proper pedestrian awareness in KL, and I think this takes precedence before that of cyclists.

 I was a cyclist before it became a hipster sport. I used to ride to school and back using the 90s Old Klang Road, and I respected the hierarchy on the road. Cars and trucks first, then motorbikes, then bicycles. I would use smaller roads whenever I can, and would plan my route to minimize the use of major lanes and junctions. I knew I didn't have 50bhp engines between my feet and that I couldn't accelerate as quickly or evade other vehicles as efficiently as others, and ultimately I was a nuisance on the road. So I had to stay out of the way

Cycling is a sport, and like any other sport in the world it involves risks. When you take your cycling to the streets you should be well aware of the dangers involved with portholes, messy roads, motorbikes and cars. Some roads are so cramped and abused, cars and motorbikes don't have the time to be looking out for everything around them including flies, cats, and yes, bicycles. Dangers can include serious injury or even death.

I am a sport climber and I am a Crossfitter. Whenever I go climbing in Batu Caves, I don't go filing a lawsuit to the government or the bodies operating the climbing site whenever a rock falls and injures me.  I kayak and raft, I camp, I trek. I know that whenever I go for these trips I am well aware of the risks involved and I am educated enough to know what to do in the face of danger. And I don't go blaming everyone else whenever things go wrong.

But that seems to be the case with everyone these days. A few of us were just talking about this over dinner last night, that people are so ignorant now they start pointing fingers at everyone else whenever something goes wrong. This happens in the work place, in organizations, and also in the case of citizens vs governments. Nobody ever look into the mirror and try to figure out what was wrong with themselves. It's always their bosses' fault, that other driver's fault, the government's fault.

You still wanna cycle on the roads? I'll teach you a few simple rules to follow when on the road, and you'll be sure to get home safe. Every. Single. Time.

1. Plan Ahead
If you don't have an engine between your legs to keep up with traffic on the road, you're automatically a nuisance to the flow of the road. Everyone travel within a set speed range to minimize accidents caused by super slow vehicles. Plan the roads you're about to take, and try your best to avoid major highways and busy intersections. Yes because you don't pay road tax, you don't get a say. That's the hierarchy on the road and you'll do well to remember.

2. Motorbike Lanes
I know sometimes motorbike lanes are dodgy and dark, and filled with puddles of rain water and unsuspecting robbers. But try your best to use these lanes. Emergency lanes on roads are suppose to be empty for the reason it was named: Emergencies. If motorbikes use their own lanes, why do cyclists think they're special enough not to? Sure roads are wide and cars don't usually use up the entire width of the lane, but remember also the width of your bicycle is not the same as the width of your wheels.

3. Play Far Far
Putrajaya is a good place for cycling, and if Malakoff Duathlons can plan out 80+km routes within its vicinity I don't see why you can't cycle your hearts out within Putrajaya itself. Don't be smart and go cycling along Jalan Tun Razak or Persiaran Surian during rush hour la.

4. Too Risky?
Here's a thought: go cycle in your gym. If you want a change of environment, buy some big flat screens and switch DVDs every now and then. Every sport comes with its risks. If you can't accept those risks, stay home and do Sunday Morning Aerobics in front of the TV.

Seriously people need to stop blaming everyone else for everything that goes wrong in their lives. We are living in a First World Wannabe City in a Third World Country. Keyword: Third World Country. Stop selfishly asking everything from everyone around you, and start giving to the less fortunate in other states. Just because cycling is becoming a popular sport doesn't give you the right to go raging onto the streets and expect the whole world to look out for you.

If you're a tree-hugger, buy an electric car. If you can't afford a car, take the train. If you're so kiasi, go to the gym. Don't like the hierarchy, go live in China