Your Alien Brother from Another Mother

Tag: meaning

  • Making Sense of the Pareto Principle

    The Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule, where 20% owns 80% of the wealth. The idea in itself was supposedly applicable in other areas like efficiency, where 80% of the output comes from 20% of the workers.

    While this is applicable to certain scenarios, using it as a catch all can be detrimental. My though about this is, in this world we were meant to serve each other and the higher up we are in the chain, then we have a bigger role to play. To be called “vital” should not be self serving rather it should serve the interest of the people. The world really isn’t in an ideal place right now, arguably people shift things towards their advantage. In this world, certain things are needed in order to move things properly and accordingly, this hurts because often times the interest of one view does not justify the interest of other another’s view. This is similar to what I wrote about earlier in the “Trolley Problem“. The “vital few” often times need to take care of the own tribe first which can be contradicting to the bigger picture. Power and control also play a part, because often we can be persuaded by different things depending on the situation that we are in.

    What happens if we are on the other side of the Pareto principle. Do we just stay still and wait until the 20% dictates what should be done? Maybe yes, if we believe in them even if it complicates all the things in our lives. Maybe no, if we want to move on our own way. In life there are certain boundaries, and we don’t necessarily have the means to cross those boundaries, I mean chance happens to all of us after-all. I think what matters is what we do with what we have, it doesn’t mean we don’t try to broaden our horizons, rather it just means that we hold on to the 20% so that we could better serve the 80%.

  • Reconciling Destiny

    The thought of destiny can be very beautiful, the thought that we somehow we are meant to be where we are. Is it a random chance? Is it so that we can enjoy life as is? If that is the case, how much control do we really have? What if we were born in the slums or a child from a poor family much more an orphan? Is it still destiny?

    Suffering is usually caused by our own mistakes and/or the actions of other people imposed on us, I mean no one wants to suffer right? In life, we don’t need much, if we have clean water, food and shelter then we are good. It is might not be much of a life, but we are living and we could work our way up towards something better so long as we have a choice and say on it. The problem is when we don’t have a say or we are limited by situations, it maybe economic, skills, circumstance or access. The problem lies in the part where people impose or force us to move a certain direction I think suffering is part of discontentment of people. Either we think things are unfair, unjust or we think lowly of other people.

    I struggled and wrestled with the idea of the unfairness of things, I couldn’t think clearly on how I would react if I was in the direst of situations. I mean would you blame an orphan about their current situation, and about not doing enough so he/she could get out of his/her situation? Rather we shift the narrative towards ourselves, our own control on things, how can I help, how can we create an environment that help foster a culture of uplifting. Often times we find ourselves powerless and lacking in options even when the intentions are there. Do we just move along and accept that we cannot do anything about things? Of course not instead we take charge of what we can do on our own and progress in our own ways, like joining a group, volunteering, making donations, etc..

    So what do you tell an orphan about destiny, I think the right answer is to be prepared. Foster that orphan and tell that orphan that it was destiny that lead you to me. Because something has tugged my heart strings to move in order for me to bring you home. I won’t have all the answers and I can’t save all orphans, but I can at least do one small thing in the hopes that others would follow.

  • The Paradox of Efficiency At Work

    As things get more automated and tools lean towards AI, I was wondering earlier there is something we lose in the process. There is no something for nothing in this world and as we move forward in advancements, what was the price that was taken.

    I then looked back at how ineffective work turned out for me in the past. These created a lot opportunities for improvement but most of all it created something that we could strive for. Going through processes gave chance to get to know working on the other side. Getting a chance to chat about the work, the trouble of how to get things to move. Asking for small work favors in order to get done in a timely manner. Having heated discussions about how bad current process is and what we could do afterwards. I did grow a lot through the years though, I matured to a point where I came to accept certain things while trying to grasp everything that is still under my control. The thing with effectiveness, is that systems become easier and people come to accept status quo. We find little to nothing to improve thus we become relaxed deferring improvement to the hungrier generation. Often times we neglect the fact that the guidance would be coming from us anyway and most of the time the younger generation still looks up to the ones before.

    Work becomes stale, lacking the connection from chance encounters and small talk from asking small favors. We do not get to know the people we are working with and trust fails as soon as we encounter problems. Intention gets misinterpreted and we become more defensive, which causes more disruption than work.

    While the results sound so dire, being effective is also part of who we are. Striving and finding ways to make things easier and effective can help us cause less friction in work and creates better opportunities for people inside and outside the company.

  • Knowing Someone When They Refuse to be Known

    We all hide behind walls, this is especially true in the day and age of the internet. Identity and hiding behind anonymity gives an edge, much like not showing cards during a poker game, we can bluff, lie and even lead someone on. Although, the knowing that I am talking about here is different, it is when we simply refuse to show our true selves.

    It is funny that we often hide ourselves in our emotions. Emotions are for sure part of our personality, but it rarely is who we really are. Think about it, when we speak with someone in anger, what shows up is the spirit of anger. We convey things in a fiery manner and utter words that we come to regret later, but what if we come to a conclusion that anger is part of our personality. It becomes deeply ingrained that we don’t even notice it. It becomes a justification, that creates a different persona from who we are normally. Severing the connection from our higher self, the one that sees everything from a wider view.

    Conversation happens two ways, its either we keep a higher trail of thought or we devolve into the same level as the other. Like water trickling down, we fill conversations with thoughts that helps the discourse to bloom into a meaningful garden of words. It tries to link both head and heart together so we could speak freely and openly about things that satisfies our needs. It gives and it takes, so we do not feel taken advantaged of and we do not feel heavy afterwards. To be lifted up instead of being brought down.

    Though as I was thinking through this, I realized that sometimes we also need to go down to the same level in a conversation. A heated discussion can bring out deeper thoughts and concerns that normally won’t happen in a objective talk. Balancing out the fire with an arbiter and or rules can probably help us create a healthy space to speak out. However, this depends both people respect the rules and bind themselves to them.

    Overall, hiding oneself is a defense mechanism… We just need to learn how to uncover, hidden things or concerns that we have. Being direct requires trust and a certain degree of understanding, knowing who you are speaking with and being attune to certain realities can help build either a beautiful garden or a cold chat.

  • Dreaming of a Different World

    What do you tell a child dying of cancer about this world? What do you tell that child’s parents? Do you give them the canned response of “everything happens for a reason”, or just stay silent until the grief has passed or the pain is through, should the answer be in the form of statistics or math? That the child is but a number in the passing of time? Is it right to show them dreams to numb the pain or rather what kind of truth do you show them? Surely we can tell them that soon we will have a cure for cancer but what if that child is dying tomorrow?

    Escaping from the reality of this world, a comfort of things unknown. A child-like fantasy of a world beyond this one, from Peter Pan to Beauty and the Beast, tales create in us a kind of hope that can only be in our imagination, a path forward that never be closed. Somehow, some way this imaginary world provides a direction that goes beyond the time that we have in this planet. When someone is at death’s door, some would say it is cruel to give them false hope, because this world does not work for people in that way. Maybe if given that one dose of virtual reality, it would given them supernatural strength. That little voice of positivity might just be the one thing they need to move forward and be strong for a miraculous come back.

  • Are You Awake Yet?

    Hello, greetings to you. It seems that you woke up or was forcibly awakened by some event or circumstance. This post is for you, because now that you are out of your slumber, you might have seen the current state of this world and questioning yourself, “What now?”, “Why even bother?”, “What do I do?” or “Should I even care?”. Maybe you experienced untethered freedom where you can bend and break the rules, following the ethos of “Rules are meant to be broken.” only to then be at the tail end of that very belief. If this all sounds and feels familiar, welcome friend, you have come far and might be seeking for answers.

    The objective of this very site is to find a way to reach and connect with people that might be feeling lost or just looking for a brethren or a kindred soul. Maybe you have found a secret or gained a unique gift that you want to share with someone. If you have winnowed through different places, websites and people and still couldn’t find the right connection then this site might just be for you too.