Reasoning vs. Imagination

7:23 AM Unknown No comments

Both reasoning and imagination are vital to the thought process of human mind.

As far as I concern, reasoning is primarily responsible for retrieving knowledge from knowledge base from the memory and imagination is primarily responsible for creating knowledge to knowledge base from the memory.

All the real world events are perceived as experience in human mind. By reasoning, Mind uses existing knowledge base to find the best possible solution. Reasoning's role become minuscule when it comes to creating new knowledge.

It is the imagination which plays the vital role in creating new knowledge. In fact, new knowledge are uncertain, raw, illogical and abstract. By combining existing knowledge base and external experience, imagination produce new ideas, concepts and knowledge.

Nowadays, computers can successfully perform decent reasoning from the existing knowledge-base; however, it is almost impossible to create new knowledge based on the existing knowledge.

The Power of Mind

12:37 PM Unknown No comments

Long time ago, I visited a well-known cave in Shan State with my grandpa. Inside the cave, there is a tunnel, which is said to be connected to the ancient city called Bagan.

I asked my grandpa, "Grandpa, wait a minute... Why did nobody enter the tunnel and confirm if the legend is true or not? Are we not supposed to do it?"

With a smile, Grandpa replied me, "Well... it is the unknown territory nobody dares to enter..."

Similarly, Mind is the closest thing to us, yet it is still the most unknown of all things in the universe. What is mind? Well, it doesn't matter, does it?

Although I am not so sure, as far as I can tell, the first great philosopher who studied Mind systematically is Buddha. He proposed the definition of system of mind and body, and also He also differentiates mind and body, which are analogous to modern terms software and hardware.

Buddha suggested Mind is the interconnected system of bodies of consciousness, memory, emotions and a complex system of actions and responses. In Vipasana meditation, to be able to understand the basic of mind and body and the interconnection of 5 aggregates of mind and body is highly important.

However, instead of achieving Enlightenment, I am more interested in Buddha's way of studying Mind, comparable to modern scientific way of studying robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science and neuroscience.

Nowadays, computers are more than computational devices - they have become more like thinking devices, which can assist people's day-to-day activities in various ways. Needless to say, computers are becoming smarter and smarter, and making it narrower the boundary of machine and human intelligence. However, the big question is can a machine think like a human?

Before delving into the machine intelligence, it is worth examining what is human intelligence anyway? Are humans really intelligent? Well, I am afraid not... We are not as smart as we think we are. Actually, our stupidity is as big as our intelligence.

To understand the human intelligence, the western school of philosophy put a great emphasis on reasoning. Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer et al primarily supported the reasoning power of human mind, and they believed that reasoning is the only way of achieving the so-called Enlightenment which can free us from the defilement.

On the contrary, Buddha never put an emphasis on reasoning, and he did not even mention reasoning in the system of bodies of mind. However, he put a great emphasis on emotions, interaction, and consciousness. And he also gave a lot of examples that we can only reason what we know and we cannot reason what we don't know.

To go back to why philosophy of reasoning has become so important is because of classical mechanistic way of analysis and computation. During that time, theories of science were based on classical mechanics - which analyze the systems in components and in deterministic way. To understand the whole system, we break down it into pieces and if we understand individual pieces, and then we can understand the whole system.

Needless to say, the philosophy of reasoning fails when the science discovers more about uncertainty - which is one of the fundamental truths of nature - nothing is certain.

Emotions are more important and necessary than reasoning to deal with uncertainty. As Descartes said, "I think therefore I am", we can only known our existence through our awareness of ourselves, and nothing else is so sure. Therefore, emotions play an important role to deal with uncertainty. Unlike reasoning, emotions are uncertain, unpredictable, trail-and-error and impulsive in nature.

Buddha generally divided emotions into two groups: negative emotions and positive emotions, and both are equally important in driving our desires, our thoughts and even our reasoning.

Emotions and Consciousness is not controllable - which is another fundamental truths of nature - nothing is controllable. For example, when we are angry, we only know we are angry after we feel angry. We don't know in advance we are going to be angry or how long we will be angry. Interestingly, once we know we are angry, we are not as angry as we were. Emotions cannot be controlled, but they can be observed, which can lessen the intensity of emotions.

Along with memory and a complex system of actions and responses, emotions and consciousness make up the human mind; in other words, human intelligence.

Although software is pretty much analogous to Mind, such as they are abstract, ubiquitous, transferable, conceptual and so on, there is a fundamental difference between software and Mind. Software cannot be aware of itself.

Since software is not self-aware, it is more deterministic than Mind. Software is highly algorithmic, which is more or less predefined and predetermined. Since software is more deterministic and algorithmic, it cannot deal with uncertainty and variety very much. It is also the fundamental weakness as well as the fundamental strength of software, compared to Mind.

Computational Complexity defines the limit on software computation capabilities. The more factors it requires to calculate, the more complex the computation is and it eventually reaches to the extent that the software cannot calculate anymore within the limited resources and time. In fact, computational complexity also defines the limit to algorithmic and deterministic computations.

However, human mind evolves in such a way that when the reasoning power of human reaches the maximum computational complexity i.e., when the human mind is dealing with a lot of uncertainties and factors, the emotions override the reasoning and try to solve the problems in order to avoid dead-lock or system crash. Therefore emotions play a really important role in decision making of human beings. Generally, when the situations are more certain, human beings are less emotional and when the situations are more uncertain, human beings tend to be more emotional.

Another interesting thing is emotions are highly interconnected with creativity since creativity involves high uncertainty. Generally speaking, humans are more emotional and creative beings compared to other creatures. In fact, Literature and Arts primarily take advantage of uncertainty to invoke the emotions in human beings.

Nowadays, computers can follow very logical reasoning in a very deterministic way; however, they still cannot think like human beings as to deal with uncertainty and creativity. So far, it is almost impossible or really difficult to implement artificial emotions. However, there is a hope for dealing with uncertainty - a new field of computing i.e., quantum computing.

Therefore, as far as of I can tell, the power of human mind does not come from its intelligence, but from its creativity. Given certain resources and power, and some rules to restrain, the human beings will be able to apply different ways of using resources and power, and finally overcome the rules. I believe it is the true power of human mind, which set different from other beings and machines.

Innovation

4:14 PM Unknown No comments

Preface

This session I am taking a class related to technological innovation, and it prompts me to think about the role of innovation in country building and capacity building. First of all, I would like to say that I am not an expert at all. It is just something which came across my mind, and if someone who has more experience and knowledge can point me, I am more than happy.

As everyone knows, Myanmar (Burma) is one of the least developed countries in the world. Recently, its political situation has become better and it is now heading towards the better future. However, the obstacles are ridiculously big especially for social-economic situations.

Strategically speaking, Myanmar (Burma) is located in the key position – between China and India. Since social-economic situation is related to many factors, including political stability, education, welfare, laws and judicial system, corruptions, and most importantly international relations, it is, actually, hard to pin-point which can turn around the situation.

However, since more or less my course work is related to the technological innovation, I would like to write something as far as I can think of. Actually, I really like to see the country to enjoy the innovation driven economy instead of relying on natural resources and unsustainable economy.

Innovation

As far as I concern, innovation is the philosophy. The root of innovation comes from the desire and ability to make things better. Therefore, innovation can come from individuals, organizations, governments, firms and networks of organizations, globally or locally.

In fact, to make things better is not at all very difficult. It does not need to be impressive nor well-known. As long as something has become better than it used to be, it is the worthy innovation.

Therefore, I believe that in order to build the innovative driven economy, it is essential to have the widespread philosophy of making things better throughout the country.

Importance of Innovation

Only innovation can guide the society to step further – it is not the political system; it is not the foreign investment; it is not the international aid; which can actually develop the country. It is the innovation only which can make the country better.

However, the political system, foreign investment, international aid are essential for the innovation because they can create the environment which innovation can happen.

Obstacles for Innovation

The most fundamental ingredient of innovation is Freedom – the freedom to express well, the freedom to communicate well and the freedom to compete well. Therefore, needless to say, innovation is highly intertwined with democratic values. The more innovations will make the country more democratic and more democratic country will make more innovations.

Lack of diversity, excessive attention to the traditional norms, and lack of tolerance to competing ideas are the huge obstacles for creating the innovative environment.

Moreover, innovation requires acknowledgement – the acknowledgement has very little to do with monetary rewards. It is just the recognition from the community and society which can encourage and foster the innovation.

Being different is a bonus. However, it is also important that the differentness lead to better situation. If something is different from the norm, it can go either way: good or bad. Therefore, it is very important to foster the differentness into something good.

Finally, the absolute obedience can also be the huge obstacle for the Innovation. Being an Asian society, the country pays the great attention to elderly and filialness. Although it is really great to respect elderly, in the rapidly changing environment, it is highly questionable if the elderly can catch up with the speed of the change to guide to the right direction. Therefore, it could be a better solution to encourage the development of the better decision making for younger generations by themselves. It can not only encourage innovation, but also build the mutual respect between younger and older generation.

Driving Factors for Innovation

Actually, the need for innovation is intrinsic, rather than extrinsic. “Innovate or Die” is indeed the natural phenomenon. We don’t have to look further – Darwin’s Natural Selection Theory strongly suggests that only innovative individual or society can survive. That’s why we need to innovate to survive.

Technically speaking, the world is totally flat nowadays. Now that the country is open to the global market and economy, the country has to compete with competitors around the world. Therefore, if we do not have what others cannot offer or imitate, there is very little chance that we can survive.

In addition, as far as I concern, the country economy is more or less relying on small and medium businesses. However, without innovation, small and medium businesses will suffer more and will become less competitive against global competitors.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, although the foreign investments is essential to drive the economy forward, it is also important that there should be a breeding ground for small and medium businesses to enjoy the technological spillovers and can thrive and become strong enough for the global market.

Towards Innovative Society

Last few years, it could have been unimaginable for US President visiting Myanmar (Burma). However, the situation has become better and it is really grateful to the President Obama to encourage moving forward.

However, as the President stated, it is just the beginning. However, US set the best example to follow for any country: within 200 years, US has changed from the wild land into the world’s leading country.

To build innovative society cannot happen overnight; it will take a lot of resources, knowledge, capacity and so on. However, the first step of innovative society is the philosophical attitude – to make things better than they are.

Therefore, if we can make things better than yesterday, needless to say, we will be able to reach the innovative society, in which innovative and democratic values are ubiquitous.

Source: http://www.globalinnovationindex.org/gii/main/fullreport/files/Global%20Innovation%20Index%202012.pdf

Grandpa and Grandma

11:15 AM Unknown No comments

Today is the 7th Anniversary of Grandpa's Death. It has been 7 years already; however it was just like yesterday to me.

Although both grandma and grandpa are caring people not only to the family but also all the people around them, they do have different personalities.

Grandpa is quiet, really patient, not business-minded, caring and supportive. But grandma is outgoing, short-tempered, strong-minded, and a little bit talkative.

Although Grandpa was really patient and not easy to be angry, when he was really angry, I couldn't find a place to hide :). I still remember one incident. Grandpa never hit me or even scolded me for more than 5 times in my whole life. But at that time, he was really angry. One day, I had something to do in school and had to go to school early. So, Grandpa woke up early in the morning and prepared a breakfast for me, and he woke me up. But well I retook a short nap after grandpa woke me up, and I was late for school. But grandpa was not angry yet. He asked me to eat some breakfast not to be hungry later. But I refused and headed for school. And then, grandpa yelled at me and threw the plate to me. If I hadn't learned some Karate Moves, I would not have been able to avoid that flying saucer. It took the whole family's persuasion and 3 days for grandpa to talk to me again.

Grandma is really healthy and she also know how to take care of health. I still remember, during the flu season, she woke up early in the morning and boiled some herbal medicines and (honestly, they really are bitter :) I had to hold my breath to drink) asked us to drink them.

Actually, grandma is strong both physically and mentally, although she is a little bit short and slim. Even in face of difficulties, she is always high-spirited, and always try to find a way to overcome.

Although both grandma and grandpa are different in personality, they really are a nice couple. Although they sometimes argue (well, as far as I can tell, it was usually the grandma who did the scolding :D, grandpa was just nodding the head), they really care for each other. I still remember when grandma had an operation for her eyes, grandpa was staying beside her all the time. Also when grandpa was fighting against his cancer, it was grandma who lent her strong spirit to grandpa.

Now, it has been 7 years grandpa passed away. Grandma is now 79 but she is still strong and healthy. She told me her goal is to stay strong until 90s. Please stay strong grandma. I love you and miss you a lot.