stargazing at night

Adding on to the list,

1. Scorpius (Antares' so yellow)
2. Ophiuchus
3. Lyra
4. Aquila
5. Hercules
6. Corona Borealis
7. Virgo (again)
8. Centaurus (again)

Thanks Daniel Lim for bringing his binoculars down... it's been a real eye-opener... We've actually seen effectively the whole Hercules with the binocs. Power man.

Thanks Aaron and Wenjie too for ACJC astrochallenge... Don't blame yourself for the 2nd place finish... if anything, it's my lack of knowledge of pic id (smiley face) that led to the result. And I'm not even sore about it.

Thanks anyway for the hard work. 1 Friday night and Saturday on planning, 1 weekend for the model building (thanks shaun ee for coming to support us too), 1 Saturday of mugging and 1st round games, another Friday night and Saturday in preparation of presentation... It's been long and hard, and you guys deserve it.

We had fun anyway... Little Fighter 2, Excalibur, shopping, eating, google chat frenzy with Wenjie posing as Aaron and Aaron as Wenjie (no guessing who the victim was, and what transpired), stomachaches, Hawker Centres, gossip, talk of JC life, other talk, Westlife, Leona Lewis, Celine Dion (yongsheng!), falsetto singing of the Prayer and other songs leading up to a sore throat the next day, sofas which could be converted to beds (but someone slept on the sofa without opening it), waking up late and procrastinating, playing with Furball (the dog), taking photos and acting lame, talking about life and ambition.

It's been a meaningful experience... I'm so glad that I've wasted so many weekends for this :)

Crossroads

Disappointed.

Spent time; put in the necessary effort (hopefully); sacrificed other prospects in other CCA; sacrificed rugby; and things didn’t work right.

Here I am, again. Yet again aware that I’ve blew my chances.
Oh well.

Thanks Nigel for advising me at the start. Really appreciate it.

Thanks Zhao Yang for the advice. I’ll heed it… if I have the time.

Thanks Kevin Kwek for your consolation. (:

I wonder why people are “avoiding” me, as if not getting it is such a painful thing that mentioning it makes things worse. Talk about it if you are a friend; there’s really nothing wrong about discussing. It has been cast in stone already; might as well tell me how I can do better the next time round.

I am learning. I am moving on.

I’ll end off with this video, which represents the best frame of mind I can have, that of acceptance and doing my best.

degrees of geniuses

Cornell University mathematician Mark Kac once made a well-known distinction when he describes Feynman:

"There are two kinds of geniuses: the "ordinary" and the "magicians". An ordinary genius is a fellow whom you and I would be just as good as, if we were only many times better. There is no mystery as to how his mind works. Once we understand what they've done, we feel certain that we, too, could have done it. It is different with the magicians. Even after we understand what they have done it is completely dark. Richard Feynman is a magician of the highest calibre."

To some, this distinction hits the mark. For them, the ordinary genius is an understandable genius whereas the "magician" has an unfathomable mind.

I have not gone that far. From my experience, there are 2 types of geniuses: reachable geniuses and unreachable geniuses. Reachable geniuses are people whom I can strive towards. They are role models; my best possible outcome, attainable only if I put in the extra hours, the extra effort, and possibly giving everything else up (e.g. other commitments, CCAs, interests). I may or may not be able to achieve their level of practice and mastery, but my "infrastructure" is there. I can actually become like one of them, though it is likely that I cannot achieve this eventually.

And then there're the unreachable geniuses. These geniuses are totally out of my league, way above my maximum potential. Even if I give everything up, strive to achieve what these geniuses have achieved, I can never ever do so. In terms of understanding and applying newly-learnt concepts, they require just a click or a brainwave, but I would have to mull for days on end on what the concept is about and how it is used. These people are fundamental betters; trying to catch up is futile.

It is when we recognise all these that we realise the realm of competition. When we compete against others, we only pit ourselves against reachable geniuses, not unreachable geniuses. Ignoring the rest, we try to outwit, outperform, outlast our "equals". We are only minions, clawing and gnawing amongst our puny, Laputian selves, amusing the Brobdingnagians who stand, laughing, at our over-inflated pride and contemptible character. 勾心斗角。Even if say, I win, I'm only the winner of that narrow spectrum, myopic, ignorant of the larger world, the bigger picture. This is the nature of competition.

But it is this realisation of the nature of competition that leads to the transcendence of competition. There is no more incentive to compete. Then comes the drive to enrich oneself, to have fun, to share what one has learnt. There is willingness to view the world larger than oneself, and not oneself larger than the world.

Competition fades into the background, the humdrum of the modern existence, like the constant whirr of a ceiling fan-- observable but hardly significant.




The following text has nothing to do with the above text. non sequitur.


Math soc presentation was great today. Our PTM (peer teaching module) group had 6 people, but 4 didn't come i.e. wasn't involved, leaving Ding Feng and I to scramble to find a suitable topic and present it to Math Soc in 4 days time. We contemplated doing many, many topics, but in the end, decided to do Philosophy of Math, something no one would have expected or have experience in. The presentation was smooth. Apparently no one was listening, but Ding Feng and I talked and talked, telling lame jokes, alluding to the Math pros, asking for participation in discussions. Great job Ding Feng for coming up with the powerpoint and the entire "beauty in mathematics".

Astro club had Amyas lecturing. After that I went for dinner with astro people, talked about KI with Amyas (philo of math :), sang a bit of chinese songs. Jie Liang, Daniel, Kevin and I. We were sitting around talking about random stuff. Aaron got tickets for drama feste so away he goes..

I realise that Ivan Loh is actually very nice and helpful if you ask him about Math, and if you're not deterred by his fast explanations. He didn't mind my incessant "obvious" questions, answering and rephrasing again and again until I get it. Perhaps he might be my "confidant" in Maths in the future.

stargazing 2

Dummy's guide for sure-fire sure-succeed stargazing:
step 1. Get a laptop/ tablet pc.
step 2. download and install "stellarium"
step 3. Find a day with no clouds, no haze; find a place with no/ less light, no noise (save two noisy companions of a brother and sister)
step 4. take a compass, the laptop/ tablet with "stellarium", and perhaps a mat to lie down on. Head down to that place.
step 5. using the 3d star maps of stellarium, match them to the stars you see, aligning with the north/ south poles.
step 6. bingo! you are successfully identifying stars. You've now upgraded to a true blue stargazer.



Precisely what I did. This time round, the sky was extra clear, and I added constellations after constellations into my "life list". This was what (confirmed) we saw:

(seen before and again)
1. orion
2. Gemini
3. canis major
4. Auriga

more seen today:
5. canis minor
6. Puppis
7. Vela
8. Hydra (1 star)
9. Leo
10. Lepus
11. Perseus
12. Taurus
13. ... saturn!!!

So thrilled. Really can't believe the sky today man!!!! Going to sleep now. Still have rugby tomorrow.