CSI Lessons: Anatomy is Destiny

It’s not all the time that you pick up something interesting or good in whatever you are watching on the tube. Conservative and traditional parents would often say that watching too much television is not good for you; it corrupts the mind and pollutes it with nonsense and violence.

I admit I have been watching way too much CSI, but I did pick up a couple of “learnings” in some of its episodes; which for me is not nonsense at all. Thus, I would like to share with you…

 

Anatomy is Destiny - Sigmund Freud

 

Sigmund Freud was a neurologist who was known to have developed theories about the unconcisous mind, a person's dreams and ego, and created the discipline of Psychoanalysis or Psychotherapy. In one of his works, it was mentioned that Anatomy is Destiny, that one's personality and behavior is determined by the gender.

Do you believe that your personality, character traits, and behavior in Life, is all determined by what your gender is? Basically this is the gist of Freud’s theory.

So as a male, I am expected to be like a brute or a caveman. To mention a few things:

• Men don’t cry
• Men do not watch movies like The Notebook
• Men do not hold hands with other Men
• Men should not get a manicure or pedicure
• Men don’t dance or sing
• Men are fearless
• Men will never ask for directions
• Men don’t wear pink or tight jeans

If I am really lost and would not ask for directions, what destiny awaits me? If I cry, does that really make me less of a man?

Now of course, this is just a theory. Do you think the culture or environment around you plays a role? I believe it does. Take for example; if you send a woman to military training, no matter how feminine she may be when she was born, she will be disciplined and battle-hardened into a soldier.

But there are indeed certain things that men can do and women can't, and vice versa:

Men can:

• wear a beard
• go topless in public
• pee while standing up
• sleep around and be called a player

Women can:

• get pregnant
• flirt with the bouncer when trying to enter a club
• can wear men's clothing
• can dance together on the dancefloor

I am not quite sure how genetics would affect one’s personality or behavior. Genes will possibly affect the physical attributes but definitely not one’s character. I have even read stories of physically challenged males that achieve feats that other able bodied men have not. That’s because their behavior in life probably revolves around perseverance and commitment, a behavior which most likely was cultivated through the years and not because they are born as males.

I guess this is what Freud's theory speaks of, when there are certain things that men and women were gentically meant to do and live by. Where it is the law of Life that you need to follow, thus might affect one's personality and behavior.

When the Guilt keeps us Sharp

We have encountered so many mistakes and failures in our lives, but for some reason, we are able to pick up the pieces and keep on going. Quotes such as practice makes perfect, try and try until you die, or as Yoda said “do or do not, there is no try.” Of course failure is always not an option, but from these failed experiences we actually learn and adapt.

Now there are the usual mistakes in Life, which is easy to rebound from. Then there is what we call actions triggered by bad faith or the impulse to commit something that we know is wrong but we still do it, or worse, plain stubbornness and negligence. Thus, we are guilty of such actions; and why should this be a good thing to happen?

Well, for one, it’s not for us to do it again. But the guilt of committing the said action, prompts us to change our ways, be alert and vigilant in ensuring it does not recur.

Although it is quite honorable or commendable that you take accountability for your actions, but if you keep committing the same thing over and over again, taking accountability will already mean that you are confirming to your superiors that you are not competent enough to address the problem and just keep acknowledging that it is your fault. This is where the guilt should be used to keep ourselves sharp.

We are guilty of some shortcomings and on rare occasions, totally being neglectful of what is expected of us. We are told that this is how things should be done, but we do it differently. (Probably because of familiarity, when we are not used to something being done a particular way, we seem to stick to what we know and resist the changes being suggested) because our belief is that at the end of the day, what matters is the output; if I am able to deliver, then you should no longer question how I brought it there.

But if we are fully aware that we employed a particular tactic or process that is quite unusual, guilty as we are, we should use this as an opportunity to inspect what we expect on how things should be properly executed.

Now here is a dark and evil perspective to this. Of course, when an individual knows that his or her actions are purely criminal in nature, the guilt of doing the said criminal acts makes them sharp in a sense that it keeps them on their toes so as not to be caught. They become very methodological, develops an obsessive-compulsive behavior, and tends to have unbounded attention to detail.

But who says that it only applies to criminals. One can actually acquire these "attributes" if the particular guilt is so overwhelming, that you would do anything at your capacity to clean it up and ensure it does not happen anymore, right?

In other aspects of Life, our guilt keeps us in check in relation to simple tasks such as remembering an anniversary. (You’re guilty of forgetting already, so there is no more room for debate, just stay focused for a year and save the date for next year.)

So when the guilt arises, it’s a sign that you should stay sharp moving forward.

“Guilt is the price we pay willingly for doing what we are going to do anyway” – Isabelle Holland

Elements Bits: Failure to Launch

Cast:

Matthew McConaughey - Tripp

Sarah Jessica Parker - Paula

Bradley Cooper - Demo

Tripp is suave, a happy go lucky woman’s man, has an exotic car and a huge house, but is 35 years old and the house is actually his parents’ and he still lives with them. After he gets the women in bed, the next morning he uses his parents to scare them away.

Now his parents want him to move out without having to hurt Tripp's feelings. So they hire Paula who claims that she can mold Tripp into an independent adult and move out in a month.

How does she do it? By making Tripp fall in love with her, making him realize that there is nothing more important in this world than falling in love…and of course moving out of his parents house. But then Tripp finds out about the scheme and he is out to test if Paula’s plan will succeed or as the title says, will it fail to launch.

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Elements Bits number 1:

It really happens…you get manipulated into falling in love and your world crumbles when the truth comes out. Some relationships are purely aesthetics, to put it simply, just for show. The problem is, the other party may not be aware of this. May it be for the purpose of social status, or simply looking for “companionship”, I still believe it’s a form of manipulation. You are coerced into getting involved with something that has a hidden agenda.

Now I am not saying that companionship is a bad thing, but having a relationship that has a set boundary and that you know it will not go any further, thus the other party is being controlled. (Unless you yourself have the same agenda, then I will sarcastically say, you are meant for each other.)

Elements Bits number 2:

Living with the parents. I don’t really see any harm in this, it has its Pros and Cons. What if the family really values its closeness? But also, who then manages the house? Being independent does not necessarily mean you have to move out of your parents’ house. For me, being the bigger person in this scenario is actually taking over the house and managing everything down to its utilities expenses and taking care of all those living under that roof.

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Memorable Quotes:

Demo: “I have a theory. This isn’t the first time that nature’s lashed out at you like this. I believe it’s because your life is fundamentally at odds with the natural world. Therefore, nature rejects you.”

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Tripp: “So what do we do now?”

Paula: “Actually it’s quite simple. You just have to decide. Do you want to spend the rest of your life having fun, or do you want to spend it with me?”

Omni-3: Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence

Riding on what I posted the other day about me not being a superhero (Note: I'm No Superhero), if I were to choose which comic character or superpower would I want to be or have, I choose Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet. The Infinity Gauntlet contains six soul gems; Soul, Time, Space, Mind, Reality and Power. And whoever wields the gauntlet, gains the characteristics of being Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent.

(In the comic series, Thanos became so powerful that not even all superheroes of earth could stop him, even the celestial beings such as Galactus and Eternity bowed down to this all new powerful God. The funny thing about the story is that Thanos’ hunger for power was all because he wanted to impress Mistress Death. Egos of men indeed.)

So what’s it like having these powers?

Omnipotence:

The ability to do anything you choose, even the logically impossible and against the laws of physics, nature and the universe itself. Anything that you can imagine, you can turn into reality. (Like a genie with infinite number of wishes)

Omniscience:

The ability to know everything without limits. Other peoples’ thoughts and feelings, ultimate knowledge of Life, and basically anything that you choose to know and what should and can be known. (You’re like an Encyclopedia Britannica on steroids and the most powerful telepath there is.)

Omnipresence:

The ability of having universal presence, being everywhere at any given time.

Possessing one of the three may be God-like enough, what more if you were all of them. But can a mere mortal really achieve such state and be considered as a deity? Being Omniscient seems to be the closest thing that any human can possibly attain because Omnipotence and Omnipresence simply negates the fabric of the physical world. But being ultimately knowledgeable of all things that are in existence and non-existent, one may actually acquire this.

Knowledge is power. In fact, Information is so powerful that it can topple governments, crash the stock market, and can control one’s perspective of reality. But having inside information on the stock market does not necessarily mean that you are Omniscient. Because being in such state means that before the information is born, you already know it. Somewhat like a pumped-up clairvoyant I guess. You may be psychic if you know what the person is thinking, but as an Omniscient, before that person comes up with that thought or idea, you already know what he or she is about to think.

In Human Resources, I would do anything just to be this. This would mean that before an employee even has the propensity of committing a company violation, I already know it and can stop it from happening. Any grievance, any concerns or issues, I would pretty much have the solution at my fingertips. In short, one would have a full micro-perspective control of all things in the site.

But would I really want to know everything? No more mysteries, secrets or surprises. No more intelligent conversations that would make me wonder. (You would already know the ending of all the movies you watch and books you read, and that sucks) or worse, people may hunt you down for whatever information that you may hold.

So I guess being a deity is not that interesting after all.

Featured Clips of the Day: Burger Time

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Burger King Hayek

Burger King Tyler

Carl's Jr. Upton

Way to a Woman's Heart

Elements Bits: Apollo 18

Cast:

Warren Christie - Ben Anderson
Lloyd Owen - Nate Walker
Ryan Robbins - John Grey

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In 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.

In 1970, Apollo 18, 19 and 20 were cancelled due to budgetary concerns. So it was Apollo 17 as the last official mission to the moon. But there is a reason why the Apollo 18 mission was never officially documented.

The film claims that some parts of the movie are actual footage of the Apollo 18 expedition. The mission was to setup an advance tracking system that serves as an early warning device that can detect if Russia would release any missiles against the United States.

During the mission, some strange noise interferences can be heard over the radio. Later on, they find tracks on the moon surface, foot prints that don’t belong to them. They eventually find a Russian space pod which seems to be out of place at that time, since they were not aware that Russians made it to the moon without their knowledge.

And then there’s more to the mission than what was briefed to them. It seems that the Russians are not the only ones there. No wonder they no longer have missions to land on the moon.

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Elements Bits number 1:

Transparency. Taking on the movie plot and applying it to real life, of course you don’t really expect the government to be that transparent. Even if they try to be, there is always that thought that a couple of things might be left out. Information may be treated as on a need to know basis, sometimes not knowing the real intention can be best for the recipient, because we know that the truth sometimes hurt.

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I love conspiracy theories. Most especially if it involves extra-terrestrial life. The movie promotes a website, Lunartruth.com , where information can be found about the lunar landings.

http://www.lunatruth.com/

Note: I’m No Superhero

How cool it would be to actually be one; able to leap tall buildings in single bound, read peoples’ minds, regenerate wounds at a tremendous pace, stop time, be invisible, or be ultra rich like Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne and have all those cool gadgets.

Ain’t gonna happen though.

Since the last week of March I have been underneath a huge pile of deliverables from work and had to balance my time with my family. Although I was fortunate enough to be chosen to undergo a Lean Six Sigma Training, it took me to a whole new different path that required most of my time and focus. It was like going through college at the same time working for a full shift.



Being a belt holder for Lean Six Sigma is something that I really want to achieve, as it certifies an individual as sort of a corporate problem solver. It does not require someone to have superpowers to eliminate a problem; it basically molds you to be able to Define what the problem is, Measure the data to identify what causes the problem, Analyze how to scientifically solve it, creating the necessary Controls and eventually leading to Improvement.The training itself put us in a grind and after each training day you had to allot a few hours at the office just to catch up on things or at least read through a few hundred emails from your Microsoft Outlook.

My Six Sigma project focuses on employees who go on AWOL during their first 6 months of employment. A similar project was supposed to be done 2 years back but was scraped due to a couple of reasons…there are too many behavioral factors to consider and most of the folks that went on AWOL can no longer be contacted to get their feedback on why the suddenly left the company without any notification. But here it is again.

My Sigma mentor gave me tremendous encouragement that we can complete this project and put an end to its curse. I am all up for it. But then again, how will I ever find out the root cause of why people leave without any advice. Even if I am able to gather feedback from them, it makes you wonder if it’s really the truth. What underlying reason are they hiding from their employer? It’s such a mystery to me as to why it’s hard for these characters to simply just tell the company, “hey, you know what, I don’t want to work here anymore, and I would just like to resign.”, and just consider going on AWOL without thinking of the repercussions that their records are smeared for this kind of behavior. Is it really that hard to speak up? Is the Human Resources department really that scary that it’s hard to open up to them?

This is when I wish I was Professor Xavier, leader of the X-Men. Considered to be the most powerful telepath, who is able to read people’s minds, or better, to take control of their brain and make them do as you wish.



This way, I am able to dig up whatever truth that lies beneath, that is pushing these employees to commit the act of AWOL, and then inject their brain cells with thoughts and reasons that will make them stay. But I’m no superhero.

The day does not end when I step out of the office. When I get home I spend the most time I can with my kids, even if my head hurts from lack of sleep, how can I decline the request of my 3-year old son who would tell you, “Dad, don’t sleep, let’s play first.” And I can’t say no when I know this puts a smile on his face.

My eldest kid who is almost a teenager, since it’s summer, he often hangs out in my room playing PS3, and again, I pretty much have to balance things out, I sometimes play along. I am actually amazed that he got an interest into playing Magic the Gathering cards, so usually these are the hobbies that I use to bond with him.

And probably in a few months when my 7-month little princess turns one, I can only imagine the riot at home. How will I get any sleep? This is where I wish I were Multiplex, a villain from DC comics, that has the power to fission apart into multiple copies of himself.

This way, my duploids as Multiplex calls it, can handle all three!! But, I’m no superhero.

Over the weekend, I am tasked to oversee the company’s basketball team who joined the Call Center Olympics recently. So far the team is 2-0, but we still have a long way to go. This pretty much eats up half a day of my Saturday or Sunday, considering that the venue is quite far from the metro and the team’s call time is an hour before the actual game. And that’s just one league; it’s fortunate that I did not join other commercial leagues this summer.

A lot of family stuff happens during weekends, and there is actually little time for me to relax. Before I know it, my work week is about to start already. This is where I wish I was Hiro Nakamura from the TV series Heroes, whose ability is to manipulate time and has teleportation.

This way, I can stop time during weekends and teleport to places without the hassle of going through metro traffic. But, I’m no superhero.

Why choose among the three when I can wish to be all of them or even greater? I am talking about being Thanos, and possessing his Infinity Gauntlet. (If you've seen the movie Avengers, at the end credits he is the purple-faced villain and most likely will be the Avengers' next opponent.)

The Infinity Gauntlet of course contains the Infinity Gems: Soul, Time, Space, Mind, Reality and Power. Whoever possess the guantlet will gain:

Omnipotence - ability to do anything even the logically impossible;

Omniscience - ability to infinitely know everything;

Omnipresence - ability of being everywhere.



But, I'm no superhero.

I may be overwhelmed and over-fatigued, I may not have the superpowers that I dream of having to assist me, but I know that I have the will and the strength to pull this through, the commitment and dedication to achieve good deeds, and of course I have the help, support and love of my “Super-Friends” at work and at home.

“When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” - Anonymous