Friday, May 30, 2008

How I Became Healthy Update Part 3 - Transformation

It has been about three months since I started to change my eating habits in accordance with my self-designed Seemingly Useless Diet and I have decided to provide yet another update (The first and second update and the Seemingly Useless Diet FAQ can be found here).

I have lost about 20 pounds (12% of my body weight) and I am definitely much leaner. I have managed to lose mostly body fat without sacrificing muscle strength. This is confirmed not only by the physical appearance of my body but also the fact that I can lift more weights and perform more intensive cardio workouts than before I started this diet. I still have not had any problems staying away from deep fried foods, junk foods, pork and candy. I believe this is due to the psychological approach mentioned in the Seemingly Useless Diet article.

Also my yearly checkup has shown that I am the healthiest I have ever been with very good levels for cholesterol and blood pressure. I was initially afraid that I would not get enough nutrition but I am actually at healthier levels for the necessary bodily vitamin levels.

I think the key point is focusing on what you CAN eat rather than what you CAN NOT eat. It is much easier to compile a list of things you should stock in your fridge and pantry and then stock only those things than to always have to choose and put your willpower to the test. Any food that is not on the "approved" list, should not be considered as food anymore. Would you put anything but gasoline into your car?

Dieting is not hard and I think there are many ways to get there. The key point is do you really want to get there.  


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

The Big Secret: You CAN Achieve More by Doing Less

Recently I stumbled upon an interesting book by Tim Ferris called The Four Hour Workweek. With such an inviting title, how can I resist? In his book, he touches upon Pareto's Law or what is more popularly known as the "80/20 Principle". This principle was founded when Pareto noticed that 80% of a country's wealth was owned by 20% of the population. The interesting and most important aspect of this principle is its widespread presence over a variety of matters such as: 80% of all sales revenues come from 20% of the customers, most people spend 80% of their time with 20% of our friends, 80% of gains in a stock market portfolio comes from 20% of the stocks in that portfolio and etc. To encompass the infinite other examples (I am sure you can think of a many examples of your own), here is a basic definition of Pareto's Law or the 80/20 Rule: "In ANYTHING, a FEW (20 percent) are VITAL and MANY (80 percent) are TRIVIAL".

Here is a graphical representation of the Pareto Effect:
This Pareto Principle has been used heavily and effectively in business management (online resource based on Richard Koch's The 80/20 Principle) and quality control (Six Sigma) but many people rarely apply this rule to their own personal lives. In the work place, one can use Pareto's Principle to work "smarter" and more effective by focusing on the 20% of the work that is truly important. Another way to use this rule is to use it like Ferris did in his book by evaluating your life. He did so by asking two Pareto questions:
  1. Which 20% of sources are causing 80% of my problems and unhappiness?
  2. Which 20% of sources are resulting in 80% of my desired outcomes and happiness?
Take some time to answer these questions on your own, you might just surprise yourself and find out that you're a living example of the Pareto effect. Many people tend to associate being "busy" or doing more as being productive, but if many of things (80% to be specific) that you do are trivial, how productive are you? It is important that you BE SELECTIVE with your time and efforts. Find out what things in your life pull the most weight and focus on those things while deemphasizing things that do not have much effect in your life. If you can't differentiate between what is vital and what is trivial, start by making a list of your day to day activities and evaluate each activity and its "real" importance. The hardest part about this is being honest with yourself because contrary to your own belief, you will probably find that you do spend most of your time doing ineffective things. When I mean ineffective, I am not referring to hanging out with friends or doing things you enjoy but rather activities such as checking email every 15 minutes or spending 5 hours preparing for a minor meeting.

Here are some quotes that might inspire you to perform a self-Pareto evaluation:

"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing" - Brian Tracy, Self-Help Author

"Short as life is, we make it still shorter by the careless waste of time" - Victor Hugo, Author of Les Miserables

Lastly, the 80/20 Rule is a great way to get rid of the clutter, not only mentally but physically, in your life. Most of us wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time, so why not clear up some closet space by donating your unused clothes to the local church or Salvation Army. Your trivial clothes can become part of someone's vital wardrobe. Cleaning up the clutter in your life will definitely reduce stress in your life and invite clarity into your thoughts. Give it a try! (Check out CutterClarity's 21 tips to removing clutter)

Feel free to leave personal experiences and ideas on the Pareto Principle in the comments section below. Achieve more now by doing less today!

Recommended Reading: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferris and The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch

Monday, May 19, 2008

Can We Really Trust Ourselves? Monkey See Monkey Do

I'm not a proponent of evolution but maybe we have more in common with monkeys than we would care to admit. When imitation occurs as a result of conscious thought it can represent the sincerest form of flattery but more often than not people are actually "victims" of unconscious imitation.

Innately, humans have a strong tendency towards imitation. Just look at children - they were never told to imitate but they just do - it is the way they learn and it's natural. As we progress in brain development and age, we have had enough experiences to generate "unique" behaviors and outwardly cast off "child-like" imitation behaviors (this is especially prevalent in the Western hemisphere where individuality reigns supreme).

Like all natural urges, what may be suppressed in the conscious mind (ego) may not necessarily be restrained in the unconscious mind (id). This is the reason why we have so many fads, fashion and partners that are beyond the comprehension of reasonable thinking. One example of imitation gone wild is the popularity of faded designer jeans. These days, jeans that look like they would have normally been thrown out due to extensive wear (stained and faded with holes) are being sold as new and bought at ridiculous prices. Despite our common sense (jeans do not cost over $100 to make), we can not help but to imitate everyone else and buy these jeans or at least have the desire to buy them.

Another interesting example of unconscious imitation is the "groupie effect" (For more on human attraction, check out Like Dissolves Like). The basic premise for this effect is that men/women are attracted to women/men that other men/women find attractive. This is why musicians and celebrities "seem" attractive and have groupies despite their actual physical appearance. So for anyone that is single, a good way to increase your chances of success in meeting someone is to have an "opposite-sex" wing person. This effect can be explained by what scientists call "mate choice copying". Finding a suitable partner is time consuming so taking cues from other is an effective mating shortcut. This also explains why women view men who are married or have a girlfriend more attractive than men who are single.

The last example that exemplifies unconscious imitation, desiring what others consider desirable, can be found in free capital markets. In the year 1634 in Holland, the price of tulips (yes, the flower) traded higher than the price of gold. This occurred because people wanted tulips for the sole reason that everyone else wanted tulips. They disregarded their common sense, much like we do with "holey" jeans, and prices for tulips sky rocketed. As with all fads, the demand for tulips faded and a panic ensued causing the price to plummet and financial ruin for many. Now tulip mania or tulipomania is used to refer to any large economic bubble. In hindsight, one can almost laugh at the absurdness of the Dutch, but with many brought to financial ruin when the tech bubble burst and many suffering through the bursting of the current housing bubble, are we that much different?

Unconscious imitation can certainly be dangerous but it can also be helpful. One way to take advantage of your natural desire to imitate is to surround yourself with people you want to be like. If you want be a better basketball player, play with people better than you. If you want be more religious, surround yourself with religious people by consistently attending religious services and events. Unconscious imitation requires no "work" on your part but this can be a double edged sword. Since you can't help but be affected by those around you, it is important to evaluate the people and media (visual- television, audio- radio/mp3 and print- books) that you surround yourself with.

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends." - Japanese Proverb

Recommended Readings: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay

Friday, May 16, 2008

NYC Water Board Approves Major Rate Hike in WATER

The New York City water board just approved a 14.5% rate hike, the second double digit increase in the last year, in WATER.

It has already begun...the Impending Water Crisis

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Warning: Relieving Stress CAN Hurt - The Cost of Stress Relief

The recent unfortunate disaster in China's Sichuan Province awakens us to the power of Mother Nature. Most living things, especially humans, are "Earth's surface-centered". There is usually a disregard to happenings beneath the Earth's surface and a general disinterest (when was the last time you heard from NASA) in occurrences outside of the Earth's surface (outerspace). That is until something, such as yesterday's destructive earthquake or the impressive 1833 Leonids meteor shower, reminds us that there is more to the Universe than the surface of the Earth.

Earthquakes are characterized by tremors in the Earth's crust. Seismology, the study of earthquakes, attributes naturally occurring earthquakes to movements of tectonic plates, located in the lithosphere, that "float" on the athenosphere (thick liquid layer above the upper mantle). The boundary where these plates meet are called faults which are categorized into three categories based on "sense of slip": normal faults, thrust faults and strike slip faults (see picture to the right courtesy of USGS). The plates creating these faults are pushed together very tightly which causes them to lock due to friction. As pressure mounts, the force of the friction is surmounted causing fast and abrupt slippage between the plates. This quick displacement of the Earth's crust releases energy in the form of seismic waves that are responsible for the physical manifestation (vibrations) of earthquakes. Basically, earthquakes are the Earth's way of venting and releasing pent up stress. Despite greater understanding about earthquakes, they are still unpredictable. Although some areas (major fault lines such as the San Andreas Fault, New Madrid Fault or Great Sumatran Fault) are more susceptible to earthquakes than others, the exact timing of when an earthquake will occur still remains a mystery.

Thomas Homer-Dixon, in The Upside of Down, makes a very interesting analogy between earthquakes and social breakdown. He insightfully states that "population, energy, environmental, climate, and economic stresses affecting our world are just like tectonic stresses: deep, invisible, yet immensely powerful; they're building slowly; and they can release their force suddenly without warning." Much like earthquakes, social stresses can be released quietly or catastrophically. When societies' institutions and systems (political/economic) become "rigid" and "lock up" (read articles concerning Complexity), pressure escalates until something finally gives (example: the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe). Social breakdown is also similar to earthquakes in that "stress triggering": stress release in one area can "dramatically" and "often unexpectedly" increase stress in other areas leading to a devastating domino effect (example: the 1997 East Asia financial crisis that was triggered by Thailand's currency devaluation which culminated in a default of Russian sovereign debt which led to the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management). The characteristic that makes both earthquakes and social collapses dangerous is the unpredictability. Although "foreshocks", minor tremors that precede an earthquake, do sometimes occur, they do not happen consistently enough to predict quakes. Earthquakes, geological and social, can change our lives and our way of thinking because it shatters the very foundation we build our homes and lives upon, respectively. Terra firma and one's society are both suppose to be stable entities, so when its strength fails, one can not help but be terrified.

Here are some notable facts about earthquakes (full list can be found at USGS):
  1. The hypocenter of an earthquake is the location beneath the earth's surface where the rupture of the fault begins. The epicenter of an earthquake is the location directly above the hypocenter on the surface of the earth.
  2. Mountains and Volcanoes are created by tectonic plate movements.
  3. Each year there are 500,000 detectable earthquakes in the world.
  4. The world's deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1556 in central China. It struck a region where most people lived in caves carved from soft rock. These dwellings collapsed during the earthquake, killing an estimated 830,000 people. In 1976 another deadly earthquake struck in Tangshan, China, where more than 250,000 people were killed.
  5. You can track the latest Earthquakes with a 5.0+ magnitude here.
  6. According to the American Red Cross, the best thing to do during an earthquake is: Drop, cover and hold under a sturdy piece of furniture (table or desk).
Seemingly Useless Commentary:

So what are the major "faults" (some pun intended) of our society today? The energy crisis and the scarcity of natural resources (oil and precious metals) are definitely one of the major faults where pressure is building (price of crude oil hit $127 today). The battle between capitalism and the environment is definitely another major fault. Heavy industries are causing irreparable damages to the world's water (water crisis article), forests, air and land. Changes in the global ecosystem will increase the rate of species extinction and these shifts in the environment will cause climate to change dramatically. Economic faults such as the widening wealth gap and the subprime mortgage debacle are also creating pockets of dense pressure. Much like Monday's earthquake in China, the mounting pressure of any one of these faults may be released at any moment and unfortunately it is almost a certainty that there will be casualties.

As always, feel free to comment with your own ideas and opinions concerning earthquakes and/or social breakdowns. With all these pressure points, is a collapse inevitable?

Recommended Readings: The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas Homer-Dixon

Useful Websites:
USGS Earthquake Website

Friday, May 9, 2008

The One Skill Everyone Should Use


The more that you read,

the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go.


(by Dr. Seuss from I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!)


Living in the era of the Internet, it seems that reading has become somewhat obsolete and drab. There seem to be less and less people picking up a book to read and compare to the glitz of television and countless online media, a regular book seems to go the way of vinyl records and Commodore 64s. Although it would be hard to argue against this popular technologically driven trend, I would still like to propose reasons for the usefulness of reading for this current generation and for many generations to come.

Why We Should Continue to Read

1) Reading Uses the Brain - Our brain and its network of neural processors are still far above and beyond the best supercomputers out there (Computer vs. Brain article). Like most parts of our body, the brain strengthens with continual use and exercise. When you read, the brain will automatically access your imagination and conjure up images to the words you are reading. When you watch videos or other visually intense media, the brain is actually becoming less active because it no longer has to create images but rather just passively observe them. The more dependent one becomes on visual images as opposed to those the brain creates, the weaker the brain's imagination becomes. It is similar to someone attempting to gain driving experience just by sitting in the passenger seat of the car. For those who watch movies of popular books (Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The DaVinci Code, Chronicles of Narnia, 21, Jurassic Park or Harry Potter) instead of reading the actual books, you don't know what you are missing. I have personally never watched a movie that was better than the book.

2) Stand on the Shoulders of Giants - Most material from the great people of history are chronicled in books. Reading their stories will not only advise you on what to do but also on what not to do. Many pitfalls common to the human race have been written about countless times and those who have read such stories are able to avoid the "hard way" of learning life's lessons. Secondly, there are books about every subject out there. If you want to learn more, reading is a must. "Don't follow your mentors, follow your mentors' mentors" (David Leach)

3) Successful People are Avid Readers - On almost every list describing successful people, reading seems to be a prerequisite to success. "Leaders are Readers" is a popular slogan amongst motivational speakers and it is not hard to see why. Reading is perhaps one of the best (simple, effective and cheap) ways to broaden our horizons and to expose ourselves to new thought patterns. These new thought patterns are then fused with our current patterns thus expanding the capabilities of our mind. It is no coincidence that noteworthy CEOs (Steve Jobs - Apple, Phil Knight - Nike and Dee Hock - Founder of VISA) have libraries proportionate to their success.

If you want to make a positive change in your life and break out of your current state of affairs, I recommend picking up a book to read to stir up your thinking. Most people that want to change their lives usually pick up "self-help" books but again you fall into the trap of becoming passive and simply following instructions. Read books of all genres and pick something you enjoy. Sometimes if you want to change your circumstances, you don't need a change of environment but rather a change of thought. Although you can certainly find things to read on the Internet, books, especially time tested classics, are held to a high standard as oppose to some information on the Internet, which is largely unregulated. Don't get me wrong, the Internet has made access to quality information a lot easier than before but the "uploaders" of content are not screened and misinformation is easily guised as expert commentary.

Perhaps my elementary school librarian was right all along: Reading IS Fundamental (RIF)

To make things easier, most libraries have upgraded to systems where books can be requested online to be sent to a library location convenient for the patron. If you are not sure what to read, check out the Seemingly Useless Recommended Readings or the NY Times Bestsellers.

Recommended Readings: Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence and Rubáiyát by Omar Khayyam

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The Truth about Complexity - A Necessary Evil

In my previous article (The Fall of Rise and Fall), I cited complexity as a main reason for the Fall of the Roman Empire. It seems that any growing society is eventually going to become complex. According to Joseph Tainter (author of The Collapse of Complex Societies and Complexity, Problem Solving and Sustainable Societies), there are four basic premises needed to understand the reasons complex societies arise and why they collapse:
  1. Human Societies are problem-solving organizations.
  2. Sociopolitical systems require energy for their maintenance.
  3. Increased complexity carries with it increased costs per capita.
  4. Investment in complexity as a problem-solving response often reaches a point of declining marginal returns.
So based on these concepts, Tainter suggests that societies become increasingly complex as a solution to unmet challenges and problems. When all the simple and most effective answers are exhausted, complex and less effective answers are used. The issue with complex answers is that cost is directly proportional to complexity but the effectiveness of complex solutions declines with increasing complexity. Initially, small investments in complexity produce great benefits but due to diminishing returns, larger and larger investments yield less and less benefit. Eventually, costs and complexity rises without any increase benefit and more energy is required to merely sustain the status quo. It is at this point that a collapse becomes likely because any crisis can be the proverbial "straw that breaks the camel's back" due to the decline in the society's resilience.

When complex solutions are first applied it is believed they will only be for the short term but inevitably they perpetuate and the long term costs compound. A great example is the current energy crisis. With crude oil prices at all time highs, more complex but less effective alternatives (ethanol, solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear power) are gaining momentum. In addition to alternatives, more complicated and expensive methods for oil extraction (oil sands extraction, deep sea drilling and Fischer-Tropsch process) are also being used.

So are we all doomed at the hand of complexity? ... maybe

Society can avoid collapse by getting control of a new source of energy, either by technical innovation or by conquest. Eventually, however, it becomes impossible to maintain this because of diminishing marginal returns on any strategy that is pursued. The good news is collapse of complex societies does not always equal Armageddon. It usually results in a return to simpler times and a lower level of complexity.

It seems that increasing complexity is a necessary evil for societies dealing with unsolved problems. This complexity increase will eventually crescendo and fade back to a simpler time. The problem is a return to simplicity from complexity is usually preceded by a collapse which affects all parties negatively. The perpetual cycle of societies going from complex to simple is reminiscent of the Yin Yang balance (read Yin Yang Markets) found in Chinese philosophy. Just as night is darkest before dawn, so a society is most complex right before reverting back to simplicity.

It is important to understand that complex solutions are unavoidable in an energy scarce society but individuals need to prepare themselves and increase their own resiliency as complexity increases and society as a whole becomes less resilient.

Recommended Reading: The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph Tainter

Friday, May 2, 2008

Why the Rich is Getting Richer

"The rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer". This statement accurately describes the economic situation for every country in the world. In 2005, the top 1% of Americans accounted for 21.8% of the total reported income for that year with the top 10% collecting about 48.5% of total reported income. Some say this disparity in wealth is due to technological advances that reward the untaught skill of a select few (Bill Gates and Steve Jobs) and others attribute this to the fact that personal finance and money investment is not a strong suit for most Americans. Although both of these are great reasons, I would like to explain the widening wealth gap as a function of disproportionate population growth.

The wealth gap widens when wealth is concentrated with a small group versus the masses. This widening is occurring not only because the "rich is getting richer" but rather because the "poor is getting bigger". Statistically, the population growth rate of the poor is far outpacing that of the rich. According to Keyfritz (1989), the ratio of poor people to rich people has more than doubled since 1950 with an extra 50% increase in this ratio by 2025. This rapid increase in the poor population will make wealth seem even more concentrated in the hands of the rich thus widening the wealth gap without the rich making more money.

So why the dearth in population growth for the rich? Population growth is determined by birth rates, death rates and demographic momentum. Here are some speculations for the disparity in population growth rates between the rich and the poor:
  • Those who have high incomes generally have higher education and advanced degrees (doctors, lawyers, pharmacists) so many of them start their families much later than their lower education counterparts. As age increases (especially for women), it becomes more difficult to have children.
  • Wealthy people are generally busy people who are constantly working so they have no time to have families and those who do have families usually hold off on having kids. They usually place their careers as one of their top priorities.
  • With the proliferation of better health care and medicines to the poor, the population of the poor is living to an older age and there is a decrease in death rates.
  • Lack of sex education and ignorance to teen pregnancy amongst the low income population results in a much younger "fertile" population. Similar to the baby boomer effect, this will lead to a drastic increase in population growth.
I hope this article was able to show that the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is not all about money. The greater the population of poor people the wider the gap is going to seem if all else stays constant. So for those who wish to narrow this disparity of incomes, it is not only necessary to talk about money but also about population control. This gives new meaning to "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the Earth" (Matthew 5:5, The Bible).

Recommended Reading: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter

Bibliography
  1. Keyfitz, Nathan, (1989). Population and Development Review 15, No. 2, 359-362.
  2. Demeny, Paul (2003). Population Policy Dilemmas in Europe at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century. Population and Development Review 29, No. 1, 4