Category Archives: Personal

Reflections: Blink vs. Think (Part One of Three)

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Otherwise known as: Gut Instinct / Intuition vs. Logic / Reasoning

Most people that either know me or are acquainted with me would know that most of my decision making is typically borne thorough analysis. I spent a fair amount of my life using logic and reasoning as a basis towards decision making, that no matter what my instinct said about certain paths, my mind told me to give things a chance, wait things out, etc. What ended up happening was that I saw myself taking the high road quite a bit and by waiting things out I was unhappy… I wasn’t taking risks so I lost the spontaneity of my life. So I started listening my gut instinct and intuition more.

What became immediately apparent by changing this mentality was that a lot of life’s dramas – socially – seemed to have melted away. The stress that came with the internal war between my head and my heart disappeared. I became much more content with life and with the people in it, so I started finding ways to balance when to use logic and reasoning in my decision making versus using gut instinct and intuition.

Somehow, over the course of the past decade, I have learned how and when to use logic/reasoning and how and when to use gut instinct/intuition. In fact it has gotten to the point where a friend of mine have said: “You are the most compelling devil’s advocate: you are presenting a reasoned logical argument as to why I should go with gut instinct and rather than logic and reason.” I can be very persuasive when I want to be… apparently.

Before I continue with this post… let me explain what I am planning to do. This first post of three will be something of my own thoughts of logic/reasoning vs gut instinct/intuition and how I have come to use it in everyday life.

Then the next two posts will be my thoughts of two literary pieces that I have read in my lifetime and how they reflect or change my life and way of thinking:
Part Two – Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Part Three – Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can’t be Made in the Blink of an Eye by Michael LeGault

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Conventions: Calgary Expo feat TNG EXPOsed

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First off, let’s get one thing out of the way. I’m a Trekkie. I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. I believe that Patrick Stewart is the best thing brought to this world since sliced bread, for he is the hottest guy ever to me, bar none. He has the kind of screen and stage presence that can fill up a football field even if he was the only one there. He is a proper actor, having done Shakespeare prior and after his time on TNG… but in my youth, I didn’t appreciate him nearly as much as I crushed on little Wesley Crusher. Apparently I have a thing for mis-understood geniuses and is probably why the majority of the guys I have been in relationships with were intelligent and socially awkward.

I read the novels related to the Star Trek Universe, I have four of the five Star Trek series – in their entirety – on DVD. I have a few of the series’ bibles for reading amusement, and I keep up with most anything Star Trek related. I have a general knowledge of the life of many of the Star Trek main characters, and am interested more in the cultures, academia, etc of the Star Trek Universe over the technology, starships, etc that most conventional Trekkies know.

I became an engineer because I wanted to do what Geordi LaForge, Reginald Barclay, B’Elanna Torres and, yes, even Wesley Crusher did and became an engineer (well they were some of the reason). I got into robotics because of Data and Lal, and loved studying astronomy because of Star Trek. I became interested more and more in the human psyche and the personalities of people and what drives them because of Data’s constant interest in humanity… I guess in a lot of ways I saw myself more like Data than anyone else.

But one thing that I loved about these characters of the Star Trek universe… is that they weren’t all just techie-nerds, they weren’t all just brilliant minds, they had hobbies that were outside of the box. Data did some acting and singing (although he was an android by all accounts), Beverly Crusher danced, Jean-Luc Picard sang and showed off his Shakespearean chops.

So when word got around that the entire first season cast of Star Trek The Next Generation were going to be at the Calgary Expo in late April, I about nearly bought my tix to fly out to Canada just to see this happen live… and then convinced myself out of it. *sighs* Damn reasoning getting in the way of everything else. Instead I did the right thing and stayed in the states and waited til videos of the one hour plus discussion with the first season cast of ST: TNG. Oh, Em, Gee it was worth the wait.

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Reflections: Fate / Destiny vs Free Will

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Sometimes I come off as overly logical using reasoning and analysis in my decision making. Once in a while I listen to the little voice inside that drives my intuition and gun instinct and make my decision about things that way. However, through it all… I’ve always believed that if things are meant to be then there will be a path set for them to happen.

I guess you can say that I believe in fate and destiny in a way. I look into tarot and astrology, store the knowledge garnered from these into that mental file cabinet and take the memories back out at leisure to analyse when something significant as come to pass. One thing I’ve always argued with myself it’s: how can you justify the notion of “free will” when you’re saying that everyone has a purpose, a fate, a destiny set before them.

The truth is, I can’t. It’s the same thing as faith, I can’t justify it, I can’t reason it, it just is. If someone is meant to be a part of your life, it would naturally happen, on its own time, when it is ready… try to push the situation and you are likely to force it away from you to the point of no return.

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Reflection: Since my original top ten “bucket list” is done… Now what?

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This has been bothering me for a few years, a few as in the past three or four years… why? Well, let me explain:

While I was in college, I created a “Top Ten” bucket list that I felt was semi-realistic and would be something that would keep me busy for decades to come… right… “decades”. More like “decade”… as in one, as in less than a decade. Granted anyone that knows me well, know what I really want out of life… but in the meantime a bucket of things to do in the meantime would always help… right? Right… little did I know.

I have always believed in the willingness of trying anything at least once, possibly twice just to make sure the first wasn’t a fluke. Then, if it turns out to be something I truly enjoy, then I’ll pursue the activity further in the future, possibly bring more people into coming with me. If in the end it just wasn’t my cup of tea, then at least I could say that I gave it a shot. I mean think about it… If everyone did as much as they could just once in their lives they would find hundreds, if not thousands of things they could be interested in and pursue… Instead of just staying in a small little circle.

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