A losing battle

One of the life lessons that have accompanied me most consistently throughout my life is to maintain a very pessimistic outlook on life. I think of life as a losing battle. All the forces can one day work against me, except the forces emanating out of myself. I take the quote, “Work like there is […]

The Second-generation Asian

I wrote my final research paper in my Program of Rhetoric & Writing class on the second-generation Asian experience. Read if interested. Research RBA Final There’s also an accompanying iMovie presentation. Watch if interested.

Our Brave New World

Increasingly, I ask myself (and one or two close friends) the question – would you rather live in 1984, a totalitarian society of mass surveillance and repressive regiments or Brave New World, a “negative utopia” (as the author put it) of corporate tyranny that uses behavioral conditioning alongside other scientific advancements to enslave its people […]

Love – a need?

Love is often considered a necessary need, ranking third on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, below self-esteem. I think it’s time to swap the two. Humans are social animals, and the “need” that drives one to seek unwarranted love is insecurity and uncertainty of one’s own place in the world. By unwarranted love, I mean the […]

Monsters and Demons

^ ^ a visualization of my demonic ex Just now, a high school friend expressed to me his disgust of his campus’s hookup culture after listening to a talk at his school titled “Stinky Freshmen”. I got that parental feeling (with no idea where it’s coming from) when your kid realizes how babies are actually […]

Sarcasm

Few people my age are active nihilists. Some of my acquaintances, especially those at elite universities, have had existential crisis’s, thoughts of “what’s this all for?” …but almost always they come out soft determinists (or moral compatibilists ), rediscover meaning in their life, usually via friendships, goals, or family, and live on (until their next […]

Panda Express

Me: *finishes final exam of the quarter, tries to brainstorm available friends I can grab a meal with before my flight tomorrow* *10 mins later, I open text message* Me: Hey hey are you still around today or tomorrow? Friend: Aw a friend has an end of the quarter party off campus. I’m going now. […]

Emptied Cup

3 exams crushed, a poster and a report down, with 1 final exam on Friday to go before this quarter is a wrap. Now I can feel the abyss slowly coming back to me to settle the void left by the absence of my 4 weekly psets and 5 courses that count for my major. […]

Why I think people I know ignore me

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” – Friedrich Nietzsche On the vibrant, sprawling campus of Stanford, everyone seems to be on some teetering center of mass between academics, social events, and sleep, so it’s understandable that some social cues […]

The Source of Conflict

I don’t think conflict occurs because (groups of) people have different standards. Conflict occurs because of the illusion that those of different standards can work together. It is this illusion that leads to the buildup of grievances collected from compromise – and for two sides of different value systems, every compromise is a negative-sum game. […]