Lincoln: the Constitution and the Civil War

There’s an excellent exhibit traveling around the country. This month the exhibit arrived at the local library. The exhibit is about Lincoln. A series of seminars are scheduled at the library to coincide with the exhibit. I attended 3 seminars so far which were great. I learn more about Lincoln with the exhibit and listening to the talks than in reading about him. I had a chance to borrow some movie like ‘Gettysburg’ to supplement the experience. It’s a great way to learn about history. What is interesting is the question and answer session after the talks. Everyone gets to say what he or she thinks including uncomfortable questions about the civil war. This is more poignant being in the deep South in an election year.

Last night the talk was about presidential speeches. The talk before that was a visit by Lincoln himself – actually a professor who was re-enacting the former president. So one gets to see Abe himself in the flesh although he was way too short compared to the real person. The kids liked the show I think and the hall was full with some students in the audience. Like last night’s talk, there where prickly questions asked; especially being in the Southern state that started the secession that ignited the Civil War itself. The wounds have not healed yet it seems though these folks where in the minority. I guess from the reaction of the audience most of the folks have accepted the result of that war.
 

On the way to the library I saw some pretty young ladies waving the flag with some placards. I was not able to read what was written but I heard later that they were actually protesting the talk. This gave the evening a tint of drama and expectations of dread. One person in the audience questioned the right of Lincoln and the federal government to wage a war on a secessionist state. I guess this boils down to the old argument of state versus federal rights. The speaker deftly answered the question in my view by evoking the sin of slavery. The war was God’s punishment to both North and South for allowing the sin of slavery to fester. So the war was a sort of redemption for the country to renew itself and the union. According to the speaker, that was the content of Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural speech.

The vocal opposition or perhaps the remnants of the Confederacy speak about the numbers of people who have died in the war. I can’t help but think of the millions of people who died in the Philippines during the Philippine – American war (or the Philippine insurrection as some here would state). I guess it’s a matter of perspective on who is the victim or victor and who writes history. Perhaps the wars of foreign intervention in places like the Philippines or Vietnam still needs to be paid back and the resulting ‘blowback’ is penance again this infractions. But one cannot help but feel the growth of a great country trying to find its way like a bull in a porcelain shop. I read somewhere that one knows the greatness of a country by its civil wars.

This reminds me of China where literally millions of people have died in its many internal wars. This is why I don’t believe the nay sayers who predict the coming self-destruction of China who will collapse on its own contradictions like the former Soviet Union. It’s a country revolving around its own orbit – unaffected by what other people or external forces would like to inflict. Not even the rise of India will ever reach what it has achieved today. It will always be the ‘middle kingdom’ surviving midway between Heaven and Earth. But this does not mean the exclusion of others because there will be other ‘middle kingdoms’ as well in the Americas and Europe. I guess too much high minded talk can get one loose in his head after attending these talks.  

Segway to Novel Writing

In the past weeks I have attended 2 writing workshops. I plan to attend more. I used to scoff at the idea of workshops, preferring the romantic picture of a lone writer genius, slaving away at work. This is the illusion one gets reading Hemingway. In fact, Hemingway was a working journalist who crafted his style with day to day journalism. Following the 10,000 hour rule, Hemingway would have gotten the required allotment in his newspaper work and his creative writing work. He also had good mentors or guides like Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound and Maxwell Perkins – the legendary editor who also helped writers like Thomas Wolfe and F. Scott Fitzgerald. So Hemingway was no lone genius but someone who had actual writing experiences plus a host of gifted writers who helped and guided him.


The romantic notion of the writer is debunked by Ayn Rand in her series of essays on fiction writing. Ayn Rand is often called the mentor of the far-right, extolling ideas like objectivism or capitalism in its most extreme form. Not someone I would normally look up to. But her experience in collectivism has brought her to the point where romantic notions like communism could never really work in real life. So she can be seen as a realist and so she brought her steely eyed, unblinking look to novel writing. She had indeed written some good books of fiction which I confess I have not read. The books are well regarded by some and she serves as the inspiration for gifted people like Alan Greenspan – the musician turned economist turned consultant turned presidential adviser turned Federal Reserve chairman.      

Ayn Rand seems to be the guiding light for the current libertarian movement. “I am John Galt’ signs appear in Tea Party gatherings (where John Galt is a hero in one of her novels). Anyway, it is her insight on writing that I particularly like. It’s a no-nonsense hard look on the art of writing that has cured me of my romanticism. But after that insight, I find that I am unable to move forward. So here comes the great event – one’s discovery of writing workshops. Workshops are everywhere here, offered at different budgets. I am glad to have reached here at the time of my reflections on writing. It has come at a right time as I seem to be turning into myself, becoming neurotic and self absorbed. Workshops allow you to go out of yourself, where writing exercises – doing them and reading your work – feels like being at play. One realizes that writing is a joyful experience and not some angst-filled endeavor.

It feels like being on the speedway to become a novelist. I was so proud or arrogant or even naive to reject all sorts of help that I rejected workshops or enrolling in creating writing courses. One has missed the mark of youthful achievement – writing the great books in one’s twenties or thirties. Unfortunately, one heads to middle age having done nothing except writing journals and blogs and discovering workshops. But all is not lost because one is in a land where one can start anew. It’s a birthright in this country and one is like a child ready to try out the latest new thing. It’s this extraordinary ability for renewal that is unique. Everyone has a second chance no matter his age or education and I am glad that one would discover the joy of workshops even at middle age.

Transformation via Facebook

There is an article in ‘Wired’ magazine on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) that attempts to explain the organization’s success from a scientific perspective. Another article in the magazine questions the relevance of the usual method of science inquiry. These days with data seemingly in abundance, the scientific method is turned on its head. According to the writer, instead of making a hypothesis and then undertaking an experiment to prove (or disprove) a thesis, one should in its place amass large data sets and determine associations or patterns from the data, thereby proving or disproving or even creating a new thesis. This method is made possible where organization like Google have access to large amounts of data. New companies like ‘23 and me’ have the ability to amass large data sets for precisely this reason. See: https://www.23andme.com/

It’s an interesting argument that remains to be proven. But it’s a paradigm shift that could result in speedy development of medical cures as well as radical changes in technology. It’s the rapid development of so-called crowd sourcing where the web facilitates massive participation. This was put to good use in the recent election with the use of Face book to help elect a new administration. Social media is the new thing and new ideas like ‘socialnomics’ attempt to explain this phenomenon. The book’s second title states ‘how social media transforms the way we live and do business’. Looks like an interesting book that tries to exploit the current trend. See:  http://socialnomics.net/ .
    
Nowadays social network sites like Face book or You Tube have a large number of users that are bigger than the populations of some countries. It is these web-based social network applications that are used more today than ‘Goggle’ or ‘Yahoo’ or Windows or other such famous application in the recent past.

Web-based social networking is increasing in usage not because of the prevalence of computers but other new gizmos. Mobile devices such as smart phones or devices that carved out  new niches in the market like iPads or devices like Sony Dash and even television sets including gizmos like Boxee, Roku, Apple TV or Google TV, widen the ability to access the Internet and it’s social networking applications. I guess this is the next revolution driving innovation. The computer in its usual form may have reached their apex of innovation. Only the software and the Internet is driving change. Perhaps the only thing left are incremental changes like touch screen, wireless connection to television and so on. The action is happening in mobile devices and other gizmos that widen the gateway to the Internet. It’s this new wave driving mobile software like location driven social networking.

The ‘Wired’ article that interested me was the piece on AA. The AA sessions sometimes reminds one of Toastmaster. Both organizations rely on a group setting that help transform individual members. The trans formative event occurs when the group is actively helping one to transcend his or her limitations. Similarly, this is the value of writing workshops – a group setting that helps you become a writer. I guess this proves that no one is an island and one is really a social animal and needs ‘psychological’ or ‘spiritual’ nourishment in a group setting to grow. Isn’t this social networking in action? I guess self-help organizations are really social organization where the group to helps the individual. Social networking is really technology facilitating group interactions. Perhaps one feels less alone in the world when one sees his friends (new and long lost) in Face book, for example, that he is strengthened to move on with his life. It’s the feeling that his life matters and that his progress in life is a source of wonder for his friends and relatives watching his growth in Face book. I guess social networking is the true redemption or saving grace of technology.

Project Work

Yesterday I attended our monthly Toastmaster meeting. For the first time, I felt relaxed and confident. Usually in public settings, one’s has normal feelings of insecurity and awkwardness. But now I felt I was among friends who accept me for what I am. But it was also because one has found himself more since coming to a distant locale. I know who I am and it is usually in a foreign place that one discovers who he is. One understands the differences in one’s culture and upbringing when compared to the local born. For instance, I have purchased more books by Philippine authors since my days in college. It’s also the Toastmaster experience where one needs to have an image of one self to be able to communicate sincerely. I guess I have reached that stage in having formed a self-image adapted to local circumstances.

It is not that one has to form a ‘mask’ in order to face others. But one should seek a compromise that would fit the ‘stereotype’ that local born folks have of someone from Asia. At the end of the day, it’s an open culture with a mix of heritage although more of the European one. So ones need to assert his identity but not to the extent that it would prevent assimilation. It is seeking this compromise of retaining one’s identity while accepting the local perception of one’s culture that one avoids the chest-thumping chauvinism present in most immigrant experiences. It is this journey and eventual acceptance that is the subject of most migrant movies or of moving to a new neighborhood or school and so on. In most cases, it is not only a voyage for work but also of self-actualization.

In my vocation, I get to do what I usually do in the past but with different actors in a new culture. It’s intimidating because one needs a level of self-confidence beyond one’s usual capacity. But that is self-doubt because the job is not new except for the people and place. Instead of working with software developers in the Philippines or India, one is now working with developers from Cleveland, Ohio. The culture and pace of work plus the sensibilities are a lot different. The culture of working in the South is also a whole different encounter. It’s more delightful and relaxed as compared to the hectic and delirious pace of Asia. But it’s the same project based work with the same methodology and milestones. One is just applying the same principles that have helped me in the past: using visual techniques, consistent follow-up and attention to details.

The key anywhere in the world is interpersonal skills. In my case, it’s getting close to the folks but with the risk of losing sight of the big picture. So using visual techniques is a way to see the big picture as attention to details forces one to focus on the trees (not the forest). Visual techniques are especially good when working with remote teams spread out all over the country or the globe. I feel that it’s coming together and the Toastmaster experience has helped me in my new job by helping me think on my feet and speaking in front of people. It’s as if all the threads of my past experiences are coming together in a tapestry that is me; evolving to meet the current environment and achieving a sort of transformation. Writing workshops may be the final step in helping round out one’s experience and understanding. Being a writer is not only about one’s skills but also one’s growth as a person in his milieu.

Writing Workshops

I attended my first creative writing workshop last Sunday. It was a revelation to me because it was so easy. One could think too much that one has gone beyond realistic expectations. This is the same ‘over thinking’ problem. It seemed to be like a game where one could sit down and scribble a scene or vignette. It seemed like a joke but in fact the joke was on me. It’s like one has been looking far and wide for a secret when in fact it was right in front of you. One always thought that writing was a gut wrenching exercise, filled with angst, suffering and, eventual, revelation. In reality, it is as simple as biking or swimming if one has contributed sufficient time to practice.

The effect of attending creative writing workshop is similar to Toastmaster. It allows you an opportunity to speak in front of people. Overcoming shyness and awkwardness of public speaking is the first step. The writing workshops allow you to read your work in front of people and hear your own words spoken publicly. It also allows you to measure your words with others who are also first time writers who are scribbling as well. The unintended comparison give a gauge on how you have developed or how you rate with fellow first time scribblers. I think I would not have the confidence of attending writing workshops without my experiences in Toastmaster. The learning experience now seems to go hand in hand

Are creative writing workshops a natural next step after Toastmasters? Or is this the natural progression for ‘self-taught’ neurotic, part-time writers like me? Firstly, I think the experience is revelatory in that it removes the mistaken impression that writing is a mysterious and mystical experience. It’s the lesson Ayn Rand tries to teach in her book, ‘The Art of Writing.’. The writing workshops are like ‘baby steps’ in the same way that Toastmaster is a way to develop one’s speaking skills. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent organization for writers like Toastmasters is to speakers. Both experiences provide a venue to express oneself: one in speaking and another in writing. But the road for the writer is much more difficult.

These avenues remove one’s delusion and over thinking tendencies. The experience brings one back to a realistic frame work. Back to square one or back to the drawing board. There is too much mental ‘noise’ that one has to get rid off. Speaking in Toastmaster allows you the opportunity to get rid of the noise when speaking in front of people. It’s the noise that contributes to self-doubt, anxiety and fear. Writing workshops also provide you that opportunity to reduce mental noise. It’s a way to gain experience before stepping into the real arena. This ‘actual’ experience with fellow travelers is the real education that one gets. But it’s only a modest education considering what real experience one would get as a teacher or journalist, for example.

So venues like writing workshops and Toastmasters are a minor substitute in getting real world experience. It’s a training ground for the battle ahead. Also, it’s only in modern countries that one has access to reasonable writing workshops. The sensibility, maturity and accessibility to English speaking writers are unavailable in developing countries. On the other hand, Toastmasters has perfected a club method that can be replicated anywhere in the world and so one has access to speaking experiences almost everywhere. But one has to prepare and understand what these experiences can provide so one can benefit from them. One has understand the limitation and be open to all that the experience can provide; to intelligently grow from that ‘meager’ but useful practice.

Game Theory in Dating

John Nash, the Nobel Prize winning economist who expanded the literature of game theory, adding the notion of equilibrium to the original work of John von Neumann. In the Hollywood movie, John Nash played by Russell Crowe formalized his theories based on a social problem – dating his female college mates. If the movie is to be believed, he needed a strategy to date girls. So his game theory was fed by his social awkwardness as he needed a way to successfully date girls. I believe his ideas were successful in getting more dates. So game theory has every day social applications, not only in high level endeavors like planning for nuclear strikes or in high level negotiations. In You Tube, there is even a video in using game theory to get a raise.

It’s a good framework to analyze every day situations. It removes the emotional content inherent in interpersonal relationships. One transcends the normal ego-related reaction and instead goes above to a higher objective level. It’s the level of a ‘game’ similar to sports like chess, basketball and so on. Without the ego, thinking is calm and controlled - with an emphasis on strategy instead of getting ahead over one’s ‘enemy’. It’s not really a strategy of getting an upper hand but deciding on a course of action following your opponent’s choice. A good example was the tobacco companies’ decision to follow the government’s request to stop tobacco advertising. It is the famous prisoner’s dilemma where staying silent is not the best option (even if it’s the best return) and, instead, confesses to the police and gets a lesser prison sentence.

The decision is made based on the reaction of the other party. From this perspective, it is making a decision based on getting the better deal for all. So the basis of the decision is not constructed in isolation but in how the others react. The benefit may not be as great as you would have wanted but based on the best outcome considering the reaction of the other party. Applied to dating, I believe the movie suggests asking the 2nd or 3rd best looking girl (or guy) rather than the best looking one. The best looking girl (or guy) will likely get a lot of offers from other suitors and the chances of John Nash succeeding is remote. At the other end of the scale, choosing the least attractive girl (or guy) may provide the best result but not the best return to the suitor.

It’s a wise course of action but for some folks who have an intuitive sense of game theory, perhaps like the Chinese who have centuries of experience, it would seem like common sense.  Game theory is a way to create a dynamic technique to reach a wise decision. It’s been around for some time but not well understood in its day to day application. Today, one has a sense to raise one’s thinking and decision making skills into a higher level. New technology is changing the landscape of everyday life. It’s a new world that one has to adapt to. It’s an incentive to change one’s mode of thought when faced with a changing world. It reminds one of the changing landscapes like in the movie ‘Inception’ – with buildings crumbling or folding upwards to the sky, shorelines collapsing or gravity suddenly suspended that one walks on ceiling or walls – but still working towards a goal and changing tactics as the situation changes.

It’s a way of acting or making decisions in a fluid situation. Perhaps it is like playing multi-level chess. Game theory give one a foundation for thinking – like kindergarten – and one should scale up to more difficult problems as one lives his life. One always wondered about the decisions of people like Henry Kissinger or Mao or Deng – who seem to follow the beat of a different drum when making decisions. Reading their works or biographies one detects a high level of strategic thought that is beyond the layman. Perhaps game theory is a way to match wits with grand thinkers or strategists. It’s no longer a matter of following one’s values or beliefs or gut reaction in making strategic choices but following a mechanism that incorporates the situational reality. Hence, one is playing a game with other players.

Game Theory

Can social interactions be quantified mathematically, in an elegant equation that can help guide human beings? This is the question that game theory tries to answer. Like all science, game theory is an exercise in trying to explain reality. An intriguing concept if one really understands what it means. The most famous proponent of this theory won a Nobel Prize and his life was a subject of a famous Hollywood movie. But the brilliant scientist was also confined in a mental institution and classified as a paranoid schizophrenic. Does it mean that game theory is really a lot of hogwash and trying to understand it may seriously cause you to be insane? Nowadays the application of game theory resides mostly in the military and economic realms – the remaining preserves of high minded egg heads.

Intriguingly, is it also something that can help guide one’s relationships? For instance, improving one’s interpersonal skills? One does not think so because one is always emotional but I guess it’s a framework where one can remove emotionalism and participate in any social situation as a form of a ‘game.’ This allows one to rise above the circumstances and think in terms of a chess match, where one needs to react or make decisions interactively as the situation unfolds. Usually one goes into meetings or social situation with the motivation of being the smart one around, of having all the answers, or being cool and collected and calm – all attempts to project whatever image one has in the mind. But game theory removes the ego and transforms the interactions into a ‘game’.

Game theory is often called strategy theory in some books. Perhaps it’s also a way to make decisions in the economic, political and military sphere. Can we say the game theory is the modern equivalent of medieval works like Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’ or Niccolo Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’? In some ways, perhaps in can also explain some of the questions raised in behavioral economics. What is needed is a simple explanation of game theory – a sort of ‘Game Theory for Dummies’. The topic can be translated to broader use like in debate and argumentation, cases argued in the Supreme Court and in improving social skills. So the trick is not to give a great and brilliantly argued speech for example, but to estimate the behavior of the other players in the game.

Game theory can possibly be used to explain historical episodes where great or infamous leaders make seemingly disastrous decisions but whose result seem to justify the chaos. For example, Mao Zhe Dong when he started the ‘Cultural Revolution.’  One cannot attempt to understand the reasoning behind such decisions, so instead one labels such actions as dictatorial or delusional or megalomania and so on. The reason is that the motives behind such decisions are not known so one uses the stereotype explanation existing during that period. Game theory provides a new alternative way of thinking and allows an opportunity to deconstruct history. For instance, was Mao a simple dictator or a sophisticated thinker instinctive applying game theory in his decisions?

It maybe silly but one can experiment by applying game theory at work, at home and other social situations.  But one needs to understand how it works. I just read a section on game theory that states that the sentence, ‘if all men are good, then society will be a better place’ can be proven to be a fallacy. If such is the case, the rationale for religion and morality no longer exists. Game theory is the new religion where one’s actions can only be guided by considering the actions of others not in convincing others of a noble goal. Perhaps this is the next level of evolution brought about by social networking and computer games and the Internet. It’s the mathematical proof of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution where the survival of the fittest will prevail. In other words, it’s not one’s education or intelligence that one has but in the way one will survive against all the other animals or humans who are trying to survive as well. Applying game theory is a tool that can be used to be the fittest person in the room.