Friday, December 27, 2013

Nothing new this week. Highlights

 Due to certain circumstances, such as a bad illness, this week. I don't have anything new to share. However, I have gone through a few of my old posts and gathered them here in case you haven't read some of the better ones. Hope you enjoy them, had a Merry Christmas, and have a Happy New Year!
N.D. Moharo


The ones that are bold, will be my highlighted ones. The numbered ones derive from the above bullet Thanks, and hopefully you will be able to go through all of my posts.

    1. On Creativity: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-creativity.html
    2. A Good Person: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-good-person.html
    3. Capacity to Do Good: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.jp/2012/11/the-capacity-to-do-good.html
    4. Light of the World: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/09/light-of-world.html

    1. Relation of Faith and Reason: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/07/relation-of-faith-and-relation.html

  • On Love and Relationships
    1. Fighting and Relationships: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/08/fighting-and-relationships.html
    2. Loving One Another: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/07/loving-each-other.html
    3. On Dating: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2012/12/dating.html
    4. Sample: On Beauty and Respect for Women: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2012/12/sample-2-on-beauty-and-respect-for-women.html 

  • On Truth and Reality
    1. Open Minds: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/08/open-minds.html

    1. Losing with Honor: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2012/10/losing-with-honor.html
    2. The Right to not be Interested in a Popular Series: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-right-to-not-be-interested-in.html

  • Random
    1. Work is Fun, Together: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/09/work-is-fun-together.html
    2. Appreciating your Hometown: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/08/appreciating-your-hometown.html
    3. Fear of Being Misunderstood: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-fear-of-being-misunderstood.html
    4. Mutual Friends and Invitations: http://ndmoharo.blogspot.com/2012/12/mutual-friends-and-invitations.html

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Healthy Competition



                We occasionally hear that competition is good. The extent to which that is true is referred to as “healthy competition.” When competition digresses from this path, it becomes detrimental. So what does it mean to have healthy competition?
                A healthy competition strives for progress above “victory.” This means that a competitor does not work to sabotage his opponent, but instead praises his rival on his successes. The goal of a rival is to give yourself a standard to exceed. They give the idea that if they are better, you can eventually surpass them. If you watch the tennis world, they continually praise their opponents at the end of the match. Before, Federer was at the top only to be surpassed by Nadal after many tournaments and then defeated by Djokovic. The top three spots change between these men quite often, which makes it exciting to watch.
                A healthy competition is important in life as it gives you the will power to improve by giving you a reachable standard that only grows. It gives a satisfaction of not only being the best, but how it is was obtained. Now if only all competition was healthy.
                 

Friday, December 13, 2013

Older Brother Leadership



                There is supposedly one benefit about being a younger sibling; you can look up to an older one. I know this isn’t always true. It certainly wasn’t so much in my case.  While I did take habits from my older brother, I never looked up to him. It was more about competition. This certainly helped me in a different sense, but I never had the other side of an older brother with him.
                I noticed in myself I view those placed under my leadership or tutorage as "little siblings," meaning I look out for them and try to help them out as I can with my advice. This comes from me caring for them. I don’t know if it’s because I was always the leader in my group of friends growing up or because I never felt like I had that relationship with my brother. I can only recall one occasion where he told me to take his advice. As a result, I looked more to other upperclassmen as my “older brother” for guidance in High School.
                I see this kind of relationship as important in life. These are the kinds of people who can look at for you in a confusing situation. They can teach you what they have learned. They have more experience with what you are going through. They also have recent hindsight to see how they could have done things better. However, it isn’t enough that we be on the receiving end of this, we also need to become the givers. As we transition, we will grow towards progress.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

A Good Person



A while back, I wrote on the Three Marks of Humanity. They were Wisdom, Courage, and Compassion (or Love). These three are keys to being a good man or woman. Amongst gender differences, these are the necessities of being “good”. While it is important to recognize these as keys, it is crucial for them to be in proper balance. To exalt one mark above any other would undermine the whole.
                Perhaps the way one should consider the three is by what they influence and interact with each other. The relationship could be described as Knowledge, Action, and Intention respectively. You cannot be a good person without all three in some sense. There is no order of greatness for they intertwine and lead to each other like a perfect equilateral triangle. The intention of love can lead to Action and thirst for Knowledge. Knowledge can lead to Love and Action. Action is necessary to learn and can lead to later Love. All three are separate but together become greatness.
               
                Recently, I’ve picked up watching the TV series Person of Interest. Part of what caught my attention in the series was an underlying tone on what it meant to be a good person. In the series, there are two particular characters that show different views. One looks at his past and believes he can never be a “good person” but still acts to do good deeds. The other looks at his past crimes but at his present as his “opportunity to be good”. The latter is who has it right. It’s not that he does not have any flaws, but that he does not give up trying to do good that makes him a good person. By having this knowledge, he proves not to be subject to future evil deeds, unlike the former.
                Everyone has flaws and made mistakes. The challenge is not that always do good things, but that we try to do good things with the right intentions. This leads to the difference between a simple mercenary and a true soldier. Both can fight for a country, but one does it for money while the other to protect his country. When a country’s soldiers become only simple mercenaries, then country will fall. This is hinted in The Godfather Part II when the main character predicts the Communists winning based off their motivations and fighting to the death without getting paid. This is why patriotism is considered an important virtue. When the Three Marks come together, they become the base for all other virtues, the building blocks of a good person.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Christmas Music

    It's that time of year again. The time when almost every radio station plays Christmas music. It's also the time when people express their distaste for the music and debate when it is acceptable to play it. There are people who enjoy Christmas music and the joyful notes that accompany it. Other people can't stand it. Why is that?

    My thoughts on the matter is based on two ideas. First, Christmas music is genre. Second, how often it gets played. I think we can agree that Christmas music gets overplayed during the months of November and December. By overplay, I don't simply mean it is the same genre, but the same songs! I love "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Jingle Bells" but like any other song, it's a very short time when we can stand hearing it over and over again. It's one of the selling points for Pandora, and why we get angry when we hear the same song twice on it. However, it appears every artist has to do their own rendition of a Christmas song (and some are better than others). The problem explodes when every station begins to play it.

     One of the great things about the radio is the number of stations you can listen to for you set of music. There are so many genres to choose from. However, Christmas music playing on every station takes away from that. Even with the argument of a Rock and Roll version of Silent Night, the problem would then become messing with the ideas of people. There are some things people refuse to allow mixing. There was this game a while back called Red Steel 2. I enjoyed the game (was given for Christmas ironic enough) but when I told a friend he refused to play because he could not accept the mixing of the Wild West with Japanese culture. That's just how he was.

    As I hinted above, people associate certain things with Christmas. Some instinctively recall panic and obligation for gifts while others see it as an opportunity to give and receive gifts on sale. Some recall the great family time and activities while others recall the loneliness or drama of the holidays. And some can feel the joy and spirit in the music while others have lost the touch.

   The last offense to me is the commercials. Especially today, they seem to think that the public really enjoys "clever" renditions of classic songs. I don't. This has three problems with it. First is the associations and reinforcements of not-so-pleasant ideas. Second is the vast number and frequency. Lastly, they are generally just stupid (I would post one, but I hate to give them any credit).

    Personally, I simply see Christmas music as a genre and associate a variety of things with it. I listen to it whenever I'm in the mood for it. For example, I consider "Linus and Lucy" Christmas music, but it generally brings me a smile whenever I need it. Or sometimes, I'll randomly play "Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys.

    So it is understandable people's various reactions to something a simple as Christmas music. However, I also think some people don't know why they get angry. It could be a cultural thing as so many people are now forceful and loud of their negative opinion, it just adds to it. Though I must be honest, if I hear "Last Christmas" again, I too might feel urge of destroying the radio. Then again, that's no different than if I hear a Miley Cyrus song...

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Does Beer make People Fat?

I'm sure we all have heard of the term, "beer gut". Though I know next to nothing on how the body works with alcohol, I began to wonder.
One day, I met up with a guy I knew from college my freshman year. This guy was fit. Today, he has that beer gut. I asked if he was still exercising and he said he was. Now, some people associate the slowing of metabolism due to age. While that may be true, I would also think over-consumption of alcohol might have something to do with that. My reasoning is if alcohol can kill bacteria, and the metabolism is essentially that, then a lot of alcohol would probably damage it and hence slow it down a lot.

That's my thought of the day. I'm not an expert nor have I seen any studies to prove this theory, but maybe someone else can do that. They did it with smoking after all. 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Another break

Hello, everyone.
     I meant to have another post up by now, but I have been busy lately. In order to let me get everything straightened out, I'm going to take another 3-4 week break. I think everything should be taken care of by the 23rd of November. Hopefully by then, I should have another thought to share.
     As normal, the facebook will simply be updated when I have a phrase I think is worth sharing.

N.D. Moharo

Monday, October 21, 2013

Warm Milk

Sorry for the delay. I intended this post to go up last Friday but I got distracted by a deluge of obligations and other things. It's not much, but it is something that has been on my mind for some time.

         As I was growing up, I really had trouble falling asleep. Even the stuff I heard makes you drowsy and ready to sleep had no effect on me. Counting sheep was not a useful trick either. On the flip side, if I went to my parents bed, then I would sleep quite easily but they told me that I would have to grow out of it. So then there is that warm milk idea. It didn't work for me so well, but then I started to ponder why it might work for some people and not for others.
         When I did my research online, I found that there is no scientific proof to whether it should work or not. I read that some people say there is something inside that makes people tired, but then others retort that it's not enough to have such an effect. So if reasoning is not scientific, perhaps it's psychological.
          My argument is that the reason why warm milk might put some people to sleep is breastfeeding.  I would imagine that mother's milk would be warm and it would be a baby's comfort food. Now in my case, I'm told I was pretty quick to stop breastfeeding as a baby (chocolate milk is the answer). So perhaps that is why warm milk does not work for me so well, but going to mommy's bed would. It's just an idea. However, I would like to see a study that examines the correlation between people who were breastfed with those who can sleep after drinking warm milk.


Saturday, October 12, 2013

Power Equality



It’s something talked about time and time again. Who’s in charge? Then it becomes who should be in charge? Unfortunately, we have a problem when addressing the second question. People look at a general pattern and say it should be different. Men, women, White, Black, Asian. None of those truly matter, but people argue about it like crazy. I was just talking with some girl who made the declaration, “Put women in charge!”
                The biggest problem with that kind of mentality is that it will never fix the core problems. Some people may think that is a big step for equality, but it won’t do anything. As long as you are thinking, “Only if someone of my race or gender was in control will there be equality” there won’t. That statement still invokes inequality based on something that does not matter. I don’t care if a man or woman, who is White, Asian, Latino, etc. is put in charge. What I do care about is the policies they represent. If one is advocating some certain group’s “superiority”, then he or she is not one to vote for, especially if we want equality.
                I saw an ad campaign that said to vote for three people for judge positions and one of the “biggest” reasons given was that they were women. Until then, I did not notice that fact, but because they mentioned it, I started to think, “They are trying to hide something, because that is not a valid reason.” It was a technique trying to evoke the “loyalty” of a particular group, in this case, women. This happened also for Obama. I noticed a few people voting for him just because he was “black”.
                If people want peace and true equality, these mentalities have to go. To promote your own race or gender is divisive. Let’s instead focus on finding the people who actually mean equality. The funny thing is that they may be the people not running on it.

Friday, October 4, 2013

The Fear of Being Misunderstood



I was reading an opinion piece when I came across some parenthesis. Inside were the words “again, generally speaking”. Seeing that brought my attention to the society we live in. There should not need to be anything to clarify that statement was a general one. However, perhaps because of the influence of the internet, we are more aware of nitpicking than we should. We are in a world where we have a fear of being misunderstood.
                Why do we have such a fear? Where does it emerge from? I will say it always existed, but now it’s more prevalent for a variety of reasons.
When someone says something, the anonymity and shield of the internet permits “trolls”, pretty much internet bullies and troublemakers, to pounce and remove focus from what was really important. If a quote is posted on facebook, there are enough people who focus on where it does not apply and for some reason conclude it never applies, they never understand the original message. Sure, it could be only 0.001 percent of a given population that does this, but they are vocal and at least appear to be legion. Hence the first reason is a combination of annoyance and, for lack of a better name right now, “drowning”. More simply put, “Trolls” are the reason.
The second reason would be Mistakes. We have enough experiences where we were misunderstood and it caused a huge mistake, problem, or confusion which later becomes a problem. There are also the cases when we were children and we felt misunderstood for what really happened. I still recall a moment when I felt like I could not reach my parents because they had a different idea ingrained their heads. It was certainly annoying and caused me a lot of trouble because they would not understand the facts. I also remember how a misunderstanding was the final straw in starting a “fight”.
I also remember some incidents while traveling. The language barrier helps us understand why misunderstanding is a pain. Sometimes I was told one case, but it was really something else. This led to me getting yelled at for doing what I thought to be right. In the work place a long time ago, I had a similar experience because one of my coworkers who was higher up would often yell at me over policy changes he misunderstood. It definitely did not make that a pleasant job. I don’t know about you, but I would think that “anger” is a good reason to fear being misunderstood.
Related to mistakes would be Misrepresentation. After being misunderstood, someone can go and misrepresent your opinion or words that can later harm you. This happens a lot when some words or phrases are taken out of context. This leads to extra trouble, or actual trouble, and needing to explain in detail what really happened.  Did so-and-so really say that? No, it was said by another parodying her.
The misrepresentation can be a big deal. It can ruin someone’s name and honor even though they should be perfectly intact. However, correcting misunderstandings is very difficult. People don’t like having to fix their ideas, especially after they have been convinced it was right.
So there are quite a few valid reasons for not wanting to be misunderstood. However, we can only do so much. If we let that fear take over every single action and word, we will probably stress ourselves out way too much. It can also harm relationships. It is important to remember that we are human and we make mistakes. We need to learn to move on from them as well as be open to forgive past ones that come from misunderstandings and work to correct them.