Category: Miscellaneous

History is being made!

Taken from the Economist (http://www.economist.com/node/16441543?story_id=16441543):

IMPROVING relations between China and Taiwan will get another boost with the signing of a groundbreaking free-trade pact by the end of June. Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s president, was elected in 2008 on a platform that called for better ties with China. A free-trade pact with the mainland is the cornerstone of his cross-strait policies. Taiwan, already isolated diplomatically, feared commercial marginalisation when the effects of a free-trade agreement between China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) begins to be felt later this year. Mr Ma has already overseen the establishment of direct flights and shipping routes across the 110-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.

Ever look on facebook and see people sharing their thoughts such as: ‘omg so pumped for my exam’?

Ever feel a feeling of adrenaline rush right before your exam?

In the past, cavemen used to get adrenaline rushes because they needed to focus on hunting. Adrenaline pumped their bodies up, allowing them to run faster and have faster reflexes.

Nowadays, we use don’t adrenaline to hunt food, but to focus during our exams.

It’s a strange concept, but I think on a very subconscious level, we tend to correlate doing well on such exams to money, and therefore our physiological needs.

Even stranger is the fact that people think about ‘FREEDOM’ when they finish their exams. Back in the old days, ‘freedom’ was linked to being able to do whatever we pleased. For example slaves would lack ‘freedom’ because if they wanted to stop working, they weren’t allowed to. Having an exam can’t really stop us from going on youtube; but it can influence us to study. Yet we think about that as a restriction on our freedom, even though logically it isn’t.

It goes to show how much we prioritize examinations in our lives on both a biological and psychological level.

So…it never really occurred to me how heavily famous MBTI is. There are ideas about implementing the MBTI test as part of Sauder School of Business supplementary applications.

But I think MBTI, in the midst of its popularity, has never been more misunderstood. So please take some time to read this post if you truly which to use MBTI to the best of your advantage.

For those that don’t know what MBTI is, the test determines how you perceive and interact with the world around you. the MBTI is characterized by 4 categories, with 2 different personality traits for each category. You can be extraverted/introverted, sensing/intuitive, feeling/thinking, judging/perceiving.  There are, according to MBTI, 16 different personalities, each with varying degrees…and therefore everyone is a bit different one way or the other. To give you an example what I mean by varying degrees, think about it this way. I can be an introvert, but someone else might be even MORE introverted than I am. This goes for each individual category as well. (there are no specific names for each category)

The MBTI gets more complicated, there are specific combinations which mean something, such as the fact that if you’re F and P together, it means you’re introverted feeling etc. But we won’t get into these details.

For now, if you’re interested in this popular phenomena, then try out the test in the below link. I personally prefer it if you went to find out each different type, and identified yourself there since this free test isn’t actually that good. But yeah, if you don’t have the time to read through 16 different profiles, then this test is your best bet.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Keep the letters that you got, because this part gets interesting.

What I want to focus on, is the second letter…the sensor and intuitive part. Let’s see what the experts say..

The “SN” preference refers to how we gather information. We all need data on which to base our decisions. We gather data through our five senses. Jung contended that there are two distinct ways of perceiving the data that we gather. The “Sensing” preference absorbs data in a literal, concrete fashion. The “Intuitive” preference generates abstract possibilities from information that is gathered. We all use both Sensing and Intuition in our lives, but to different degrees of effectiveness and with different levels of comfort.

We are Sensing when we:

• Taste food
• Notice a stoplight has changed
• Memorize a speech
• Follow steps in a plan

We are Intuitive when we:

• Come up with a new way of doing things
• Think about future implications for a current action
• Perceive underlying meaning in what people say or do
• See the big picture

So what do you understand it to be? To my mind, the sensor is the one we see in school, who tries everything to keep details tidy and studies word by word. The Intuitives are the ones who understand things, who can come up and adapt to situations, who can reasonably tell the future.

Out of almost everyone I asked to do the MBTI test, almost 90% have responded saying that they are intuitive.

According to Carl Jung, the number of intuition-orientated people is roughly 30% of the population.

So what’s going on here? Was Carl wrong?

One way to explain this is to say that most of my friends are intuitive. It may be a valid point, since I tend to get along better with people who have intuitive characteristics. However, I personally don’t think that ALL of my friends are intuitive, I believe a number of them are sensing-orientated, simply a lot of them don’t like creating new things, they like following the old. It’s perfectly fine to follow the old, and in some ways, it may be better than trying to create something new.

Another way to explain this phenomena may be to say that the world has changed since Carl Jung’s time, and the world is at present 90% intuition orientated. Yet, I don’t believe this is the reason either. A lot of us still enjoy following rules, abiding to simple orders, need to be given direction. I am no exception.

So what’s going on here if I already rejected two perfectly valid propositions?

The reason can only be explained by our culture.

Why do I suspect the validity of this argument? It comes down to our culture. Everyone likes feeling special, especially if they are specially gifted in some sort of way. In fact, I would deem it to be a culture of pride, whereby the pride comes from being able to do something competently within a short amount of time. Many of the times, I hear the excuse being made: “Oh I got this high grade in a very short amount of studying time” as if to imply the intelligence of the speaker. Nobody ever admits how long it takes them to actually revise for a certain subject. Almost everybody tries to say or imply some way or the other that they have studied minimally and have not received enough time to prepare. Why? In case they do poorly for all their prep time, and some other guy comes along with a high grade saying they didn’t study at all. It gets annoying when people do that.

So by observing our culture of pride, I am to deduce that the reason why many people jump towards the ‘intuitive’ bandwagon is for the same reason. First, intuitives sound smarter, and seemingly do things with ease whilst sensors have to work hard without much result. Second, intuitives are rarer, which goes on to make people feel special in terms of their abilities. Everyone likes to differentiate themselves some way or the other, right? So why not choose the rarer type?

A lot of people misunderstand MBTI….it does not impose a personality onto you. It’s simply generalised estimates as to how you behave and perceive. Everything is a PREFERENCE. Having an N in your four letters does not mean you ‘have’ intuition. It means that you prefer it. Everybody has intuition, it’s all about how much you prefer to use it compared to others.

I’ve travelled quite in depth into the MBTI system. I’ve been to forums of different MBTI types. I find that a lot of quieter Asian achievers typically get the ‘INTJ’. This is because asians typically prefer I in the first place, prefer N for reasons we discussed, and their TJ is achieved through their desire to achieve, compete, and excel. I don’t believe that there are THAT many INTJs, I have only come across a fair few which I think truly represent the type. I’m not trying to say that you are not ‘worthy’, because MBTI is not about worthiness. It’s about who you are, and your true identity.

Remember, next time don’t say that you ARE an INTJ, or you ARE an ENFP. Say that you have THE PREFERENCES of Introverted Intuitive, Thinking and Judging. You are not labelled by these four letters, and they don’t say who you are.

By all means, I don’t mean to say that EVERYBODY who believes they are intuitive DON’T actually prefer their intuitive function, but naturally there should be skepticism before we easily accept these preferences about who we are.

Hope this helps.

I never knew the video was this sad…

Women. Wives.

What runs in your mind when I mention these words?

Quite embarrassingly, even though I know how many new rights women have now, I still imagine women to be the typical housewives who wash and look after the children at home. Sure, there are those ‘strong’, rich women out there, but I’ve noted that it’s somewhat difficult for them to find a love of their life (assuming that men are turned off by the thought of a ‘strong’ woman, and might merely be with the woman for the money).

So even though women have rights and freedom and everything, why is it they are still considered to be lower than men in society? This problem is especially prominent in Asian societies, and it’s a problem that even women choose to ignore. ‘Successful’ women find a man to settle down with; they’re fine with no work – it’s all good.

Betty Friedan (one of my newfound heroes) labelled this invisible problem ‘The Problem Which Had No Name’.

In essence, many women are okay with living as a housewife. But for those that aren’t…well, it’s either housewife, or no sex life. What about men? We happen to have the luxury of both.

Yes, it can be argued that biologically speaking, it’s more convenient for women to give up their jobs. Afterall, they’re the ones carrying the baby, so they might as well carry them forever. But that’s the thing…not only does the carrying process not last forever, but why is it assumed that they should be the ones carrying the baby until it becomes old enough to take care of itself. Once the baby gets old…then what? What do women do then? Have another baby? It’s absurd. They’ve given up their ambitions and passions, with their sacrifice being lifelong. How hire-able is the woman after she’s in her 40s, and has no relevant job experience other than household maintenance? It’s a problem, and a huge one at it too…

If all women think like that, then wouldn’t we lack babies? There’s no reason why the sacrifice is one way. I honestly see no reason. Traditionalists, feel free to flame me, but I despise such unfair beliefs. It serves no justice to think in such a limited way. It’s a problem…an inconvenient complication in something that should otherwise be very simple. But that should not stop us…us as humane beings that is.

During a recent beach BBQ, a classmate of mine (Jeff Fong) said something pretty interesting about superheroes. It went along the lines of:

“Don’t you think Iron Man and Batman are roughly the same? Think about it – both rich guys with super-cool gadgets but no superhuman abilities. Using force to fight evil…same concepts aren’t they?”

Of course, being a huge Batman fan, I immediately refused to believe the claim. But now, upon reflection, perhaps Jeff’s right.

Honestly…same type of superhero aren’t they? Tells us something about our society…we love those who are rich and justice-orientated. They’re the current wave of heroes.

Some old school, not-so-popular, superheroes include:

Yep, those with ACTUAL powers.

Then again, there are the bad guy heroes….

There superheroes, one way or the other, have something similar – they’re forced into their roles through the might of destiny. With great power comes responsibility…right?

So what’s next? What other superhero will we encounter in the near future? I actually wonder what would happen if the protagonist becomes a henchman of a supervillain…like in the Joker comic for example. It’d be pretty interesting….you’d have a monologue guy like in Matt Damon’s ‘The Observer’, and then that one petty thief will share his experiences of the joker with you. Of course he will be given emotional depth – with his background and everything explained, but the main focus would be why he’s working for the joker, and how the joker operates – and how the batman comes and saves the day FROM A VILLAIN’S perspective.

Why not just have the supervillain become the protagonist? Well, I think consumers like me are generally more interested in a mysterious, unpredictable villain. But that’s just my take. We also want the protagonist to win (we hate greek tragedies). But it’d also be very interesting if someone made a movie with the Joker as the protagonist. He’d have to be locked up in the end by Batman, but in the process of him working…maybe we’ll start rooting for the Joker since he’s the protagonist. The possibilities are endless when we shift the perspective away from the superhero himself.

I recently tested the carbon footprint calculator, and it is surprising that I reached a score of 8.105. I consider it to be relatively high, since I was told average carbon emissions range between 4 to 6. However, when I looked at the breakdown of my score, I immediately understood the reasons behind my carbon emission levels.

The majority of my carbon emissions came from long distance travel. Since I travel from Vancouver to Hong Kong to visit my family every year, and airplanes are known sources of carbon emissions, I can understand the high rate of carbon emissions. However, what surprised me was the fact that my food caused my carbon emissions than my sheltering and commuting did combined. I always thought that taking the transit or having my heater on was doing more harm to environment than me simply digesting food purely for my survival. I guess I’ll have to cut back on the meat now. Oh boy.

Do your carbon footprint test here.

In any business school, networking is something that teachers tell you to do and to start doing. But the problem is, they never teach you how to do it. So here’s a video to start off some ideas.

Cards – This tip, as taken from the video, seems pretty feasible for first year students. Nobody else has one, and you’d look so much more professional. The only problem is, this tactic seems practical only for charismatic people.

Listening – this seems pretty intuitive. Be interested, pretend to be interested, maintain eye contact, etc.

Linked In – Networking seems to equate to social networking for our generation. As long as we don’t become like…

…I guess we’re fine. Opportunities fly and bounce around with social networking, so utilize them well.

My own personal thoughts….

I tend to think (rather cynically) that nothing in this world comes for free. When someone helps you it’s because they want something back. So one of the ways I’m going to suggest is…

Referrals – Give them to others. You can’t take from others what you didn’t give. Gifts that are not genuine will be identified immediately (e.g. giving up something you didn’t really need, or that nobody wants in the first place).

Writing down reflections – This will help you become an expert. As you are exposed more to a certain industry and reflect upon it on your writing, you will enhance your knowledge. There’s something to these blogs after all. 😉

Profit = Revenue – Cost

In the past, many companies looked toward maximizing revenue. Today, however, the focus has shifted towards minimizing costs.

It should be agreed that one business requires good relations with its supplier to have an efficient supply chain. This is, of course, not always true. Since the goal is minimizing costs whilst maximizing revenue, Dell has found it more efficient to go direct, cutting out the ‘middle man’. Their factories were able to sell goods directly to customers via the internet. However, not all companies can achieve the same goal through the same means as Dell, and not many would want to risk using such means. This can be explained with the following equation:

Surge in demand for your product + Product not generated quickly enough = dissatisfied customers

Especially in the current economic times, when the global economy is highly unstable and therefore unpredictable, it is difficult to say that having low inventory levels is exactly ‘good’. Although one might not predict a surge in demand anytime soon, still, you never know. This is especially worrying if your product is highly demand elastic.

There are also factors to consider in maximizing efficiency within the supply chain, such as using more than one supplier, or the sourcing of materials. Whatever the methods, it is important to consider the long term effects of a strategy used to minimize costs or to maximize revenues.