Identity

Are we meant to be individuals? Or are we to be some part in a greater existence? Should we remember where our roots were sown, or should we keep forward and never look back? Who are we, really, and how important are these questions?

Do successes become greater with context? The story of adversity overcome, of tenacity and grit in the face of all odds, is an appealing one. If the New York Times bestseller list is an indication of anything, at least. But where does identity lie - in the journey, or in the destination?

I've seen both ways of looking at identity. It is necessary to move forward without looking back to escape an identity we do not want to be associated with; living in a mixed-income neighborhood has shown me this. But, to never look back is to spurn those who have brought us where we are, losing important perspectives on our lives - something which can be more important than any achievement. A new perspective allows you to see things from a new light; which is sometimes all you need to see.

It is nice to think that there might be simple answers to these questions; but sometimes these questions prefer to stay unanswered. The only thing we can hope to do is look inwards and define these things for ourselves, defining ourselves in the process.

A More Sane Update Schedule

Updating every weekday is more insane than it seems. Please suggest to me a new update schedule. I'm thinking Monday-Tuesday-Thursday with special features occasionally on Friday.

More thought poking will continue tomorrow.

Norman Plays Grieg

This reminds me that I need to get hotlinking up. Here are two of my favorite pieces, played by yours truly.

Grieg Elegy Op. 38 No. 6
Grieg Waltz Op. 38 No. 7

Clarity

Words of five lack size
Ideas are best uncovered
Practice with few words.

Minds always wander
They travel any which way
Limits clear the path.

Guinea Pigs and Argument

Well, let me explain to you one thing: any post you see with the tag "essay" is written in 25-40 minutes; after this time period, I allow myself only minor edits. It is a self-imposed limitation, but a necessary one; I am a terribly slow writer, and fumble around with the English language often. One of the goals of this blog is to keep my essay writing sharp for future use. So congratulations, you are all guinea pigs. That being said, I encourage you to comment; not just to help me hone my writing, but also to serve another purpose.

"Nerds", in lieu of a better word, may at times seem overly harsh towards one another - especially those of us who have grown up with the polarizing influence of the internet, there seems to be no end to our arguments. This is neither a sign of harshness nor disrespect. We do not argue to be right, we argue for the sake of arguing, whether we notice it or not.

It has been said that it is only when a person takes a stand that their morals become evident; this is no less true for argument. When taking sides, the side we are defending becomes plainly evident to us. When we attempt to assert our opinions, we learn what our opinions truly are, exploring them in ways we have not before, and exposing them to perspectives we have not seen them from before, perspectives which we assimilate.

This is a very personal process, and is hard to relate with salient examples; but think of every time you have argued with a more experienced person, and discovered a flaw in your understanding - I'm looking at you, every single high school physics student ever. Or think of every time you have argued with a less experienced person, and had to strengthen and improve your knowledge in order to explain things clearly - try explaining the high school experience to a younger peer, and you find yourself consolidating your knowledge and truly noting what is important and what is not.

Experienced people understand this, and use it to their advantage; but the key is humility. To quote politics, "don't get mad, don't get even, get ahead". Do not argue to try and convince the other person of the rightness of your position - rarely, if ever, does this happen. If you attempt this in every argument you have, then you will find that nobody is better off for it. Argue to bring your point across, and see your opponent's point. Argue to argue, and if you keep your head down, you might just discover something unexpected.

The Illusion of Hard Work

Hard work is hard work. Let me expand this simple statement: hard work is not a function of how long you have spent doing work, it is not a function of well you have completed your tasks; it is a function of how hard you work. Hard work is an illusion; and to overcome this illusion is to understand the true value of work.

You may be led to believe that hard work can overcome any obstacle - it is a fundamental tenet of nearly every ethic, and seems like sound advice, if only we had the patience to follow it. But to follow this "wisdom" blindly is not wise at all. The key to success is not hard work, but smart work. The key is to cut as many corners as allowed, and effectively use your time - if you can finish 90% of the work in 70% of the time, why bother with 100% of the work in 100% of the time? We grow up in grade school striving for that 100%, but we are then thrust into difficult situations, and we find that we have never learned how to rush and prioritize.

Perfectionism has its place. But efficiency is far more important. Hard work is a means to an end; but it is not an end in itself. Spending hours studying in the library is not noble - far from it. The mark of a successful worker is not how long they need to work, but how long they choose to work. Be sure to always be aware of that difference.

(P.S. Yes I realize this essay sucked.)

Spark of Genius

I was considering a subtitle of "How to Reliably Screw Yourself", but I prefer a little bit of subtlety.

It's been said that it requires 10,000 hours of effort to become a master of something. Although modern life may give us a semblance of control, everything still boils down to cause and effect. We are not necessarily any more in control than mice in Skinner Boxes. Yet every now and then, we see through the code. We have an idea, or a breakthrough, that's bound to change ourselves and the world. We find the last little piece of the jigsaw, and our plans are set into motion. All that separates us from our goals is hard work, right?

To think that an idea or a breakthrough might just change the world implies that we have more control of the world around us than we actually do. The world is not built on ideas, it is built on hard work and progress. Take the building you are currently in - did someone at some point have the brilliant idea of designing the exact building you are sitting in? Or was it something more mundane?

There is a conception that there lies a barrier between the mundane and the enlightened. Those with the idea and those without the idea; that we are separated by nothing more than jigsaw pieces. Many times I've seen people who complain that they just do not get "it". That perhaps, if they had that one little piece, they would be better off. Entire businesses are built around this idea - that all you need is tax counseling and you'll become a better buyer, or if you purchase turf your lawn will become beautiful, or if you buy GenericCorp Product™ your life will suddenly become better. Unfortunately, the world does not work like that - and to think that it does is a surefire way to screw yourself over.

Ideas are like lighthouses. They shine brightly against dark backgrounds, making them clear to us. Yet to navigate by lighthouses is to miss the features of the land around it - that is, when you emphasize that one idea or that one breakthrough or that one item, you will always lose sight of the bigger picture.

When you're learning a difficult school subject, by concentrating on the concepts but not the problems, all you learn is meaningless drivel. Too often people forgo problem sets because they feel they need to only learn the concepts before they're home free - which might work for the kind of shallow learning we do in grade school. But to truly navigate the land, or to truly learn a subject, you must learn to navigate by the land, not by the lighthouses; it is an exercise left up to the reader to figure out what this means.

Genius does not rely on the spark of genius - quite the opposite, in fact. True genius relies on being able to trail-blaze; to be able to walk the land without any guidance, and move forward, with or without "the idea".

Announcing Project: A Rustle in the Leaves

Hello World!

I'm now unveiling a project I have had planned for quite some time now - a personal blog to serve as both a soapbox for my views and a snapshot into my life. While I get the rest of this site in order, I suppose it's time I introduced myself.

My real name is Norman Mingchen Cao (or in school, Norman Cao); or 曹明晨 (pinyin: cáo míng chén) in Chinese. I've gone by multiple aliases in the past, but generally speaking I like to call myself Normandy in these waters. Don't bother searching for me - my alias is drowned out by references to a certain city in France.

But what's in a name? How well do you know me? In this initial post, most of you reading this now probably happen to be my friends - but past my handle, how well do you really know me? Can you name my favorite color? Do I prefer rice or noodles? What do you know of my hopes and fears? How about my motives, and my aspirations? Truthfully speaking, I am probably one of the most opaque people you have ever met.

Join me then, on this journey. Who knows? Perhaps you'll see a rustle in the leaves, and uncover something new. After all, a lot more is in a name than you might think.