I latch on to things; mentally: sometimes, I suspect it bothers on being obsessive. If a concept catches my fancy, I could latch on to it till I wear myself out. If I am confronted by a problem which I can't immediately solve, I find it really hard to get it out of my mind until I have it figured out.
This tendency is not necessarily a bad thing; at least it guarantees the tenacity and tunnel vision often required to crack through problems and grok non trivial concepts...
But...
it also has it's downsides: I realized that, yes, I could develop tunnel vision easily and focus on stuff, paradoxical as it may sounds, it also leads to a state where I find it hard to concentrate. It seems I get so consumed over a thing, the patience required for the state of mind needed to concentrate flies off the window. And as everybody soon get to discover, tunnel vision isn't always the answer: sometimes you need to let go, take a step back and look at things from a different point of view; a thing that may not come easily when locked in a latching mode I am quick to slip into.
And then when you find yourself latching on to activities that benefits little, then the mental and emotional exhaustion comes real quick and swift.
Showing posts with label Notes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Notes. Show all posts
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
A Tale of Bicycles, Complex and Stereotypes
"You Africans please listen to me as Africans...and you non Africans, listen to me with open mind"
So began Fela Anikulapo Kuti in Shuffering and Smiling before he lunched into a musical rendition that describes a reality only mostly Africans might be able to relate with...
And in that same spirit, I write this post...
Of late I have become more acutely aware of certain thought patterns the social system I live in has unconsciously etched in my mind. And it reeks of acceptance of stereotypes and of inferiority complex.
I would explain with a story involving bicycles...
You Nigerian? Do you remember when one transport minister proposed the idea that we should all start riding bicycles?
I remember and I remember my reaction to it. It was that of disgust, disdain and incredulity.
Why? my God, we are in the twenty something century! Keke? This guy wants to take us to the stone age! Why do these leaders like to make us look so backwards! Imagine! Just look to the "developed countries" (whatever that means)...they have moved past riding bicycles! This dude wants to take us back! Uncivilized, uneducated baga! So we would now be the backward African country these "developed people" would now start looking down on as the place where everybody rides bicycles: the primitive transportation machine? How do these people get to become leaders sef...?
State of mind? Disdain!
Then I went to Togo and spent about 3 months working there. And saw that a large amount of the populace goes about on bicycles and scooters...I viewed this with a mixture of amusement and disdain. But not only these, there was some smugness also. See them...backward African country...even for 9ja, we don pass this stage. How can you be riding "keke" all about the place? So Ara'ko-ish!
State of mind? Smugness and disdain!
Only for me to get to the Netherlands and discover there are more bicycles than people.
And people jolly well go about their daily life using bicycles. It is not a strange sight to see people all dressed up in their suit and tie with their briefcase, riding their bicycles to work. It is no strange sight to see mothers strap their babies to a seat that has being specially attached to the back (or sometimes front) of the bicycle.
Just Google Dutch people riding bicycles.
...And all of a sudden riding bicycles stopped being uncivilized or backwards! In fact it is something to recommend! Look, it is nice on nature, you don't want to continue harming our dear planet Earth with all these locomotives that emits dangerous chemicals? With bicycles, you don't get to emit any of such, so it helps us fight this global warming thing.
And also, it is soooo good for the heart! You know, cycling is good exercise and helps keep body and heart in good shape!
State of mind? Let's do it!
Gbam!
What changed? The people riding the bicycle!
It is quite shocking and sad to observe how my emotional reaction towards the idea of riding bicycles moved from utter disgust and disdain to one of admiration and commendation to the point of recommendation due to the type of people involved.
It is a different thing if my initial negative reaction to populace adopting the bicycle as a prominent mode of transportation was based on valid points. Perhaps something in those locality that makes bicycle riding ineffective? costly? But no, that was not the case.
When I shared this with a very good friend of mine, he made the following statements
There are different angles to this observation and a quick look at history can help explain why things are currently the way they are. But it is quite jarring how the world we live in and its social structures affects the stereotypes we end up holding of the world around us and most importantly of ourselves. The harmful thing with these inclinations is that it could go unnoticed. An unconscious lens set up inside our minds, through which we now view the world.
It is also harmful when you consider the implication. When you have a situation where a societies' choice of solutions to their problems, when a societies identity etc are all unconsciously measured and framed against a mental yardstick of what we think some people from another society entirely would think of it, then we have an insidious problem at hand.
Where then is self determination. self identity, self realization? Where then is the ability to look inward, tackle your problems squarely and apply relevant and local solutions as needed?
It would be good for my people to stop, take a while and try to be introspective and observe some of our reactions to things around us; how we frame our problems, how we frame our identity, how we consider the solutions we think is cool (appropriate) and see if it does not suffer from this unconscious tainting...
As my friend said. "...to strive beyond this state, has to be a conscious decision..."
And with that, I end with the words of another conscious musician: Bob Marley...emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.
So began Fela Anikulapo Kuti in Shuffering and Smiling before he lunched into a musical rendition that describes a reality only mostly Africans might be able to relate with...
And in that same spirit, I write this post...
Of late I have become more acutely aware of certain thought patterns the social system I live in has unconsciously etched in my mind. And it reeks of acceptance of stereotypes and of inferiority complex.
I would explain with a story involving bicycles...
You Nigerian? Do you remember when one transport minister proposed the idea that we should all start riding bicycles?
I remember and I remember my reaction to it. It was that of disgust, disdain and incredulity.
Why? my God, we are in the twenty something century! Keke? This guy wants to take us to the stone age! Why do these leaders like to make us look so backwards! Imagine! Just look to the "developed countries" (whatever that means)...they have moved past riding bicycles! This dude wants to take us back! Uncivilized, uneducated baga! So we would now be the backward African country these "developed people" would now start looking down on as the place where everybody rides bicycles: the primitive transportation machine? How do these people get to become leaders sef...?
State of mind? Disdain!
Then I went to Togo and spent about 3 months working there. And saw that a large amount of the populace goes about on bicycles and scooters...I viewed this with a mixture of amusement and disdain. But not only these, there was some smugness also. See them...backward African country...even for 9ja, we don pass this stage. How can you be riding "keke" all about the place? So Ara'ko-ish!
State of mind? Smugness and disdain!
Only for me to get to the Netherlands and discover there are more bicycles than people.
And people jolly well go about their daily life using bicycles. It is not a strange sight to see people all dressed up in their suit and tie with their briefcase, riding their bicycles to work. It is no strange sight to see mothers strap their babies to a seat that has being specially attached to the back (or sometimes front) of the bicycle.
Just Google Dutch people riding bicycles.
...And all of a sudden riding bicycles stopped being uncivilized or backwards! In fact it is something to recommend! Look, it is nice on nature, you don't want to continue harming our dear planet Earth with all these locomotives that emits dangerous chemicals? With bicycles, you don't get to emit any of such, so it helps us fight this global warming thing.
And also, it is soooo good for the heart! You know, cycling is good exercise and helps keep body and heart in good shape!
State of mind? Let's do it!
Gbam!
What changed? The people riding the bicycle!
It is quite shocking and sad to observe how my emotional reaction towards the idea of riding bicycles moved from utter disgust and disdain to one of admiration and commendation to the point of recommendation due to the type of people involved.
It is a different thing if my initial negative reaction to populace adopting the bicycle as a prominent mode of transportation was based on valid points. Perhaps something in those locality that makes bicycle riding ineffective? costly? But no, that was not the case.
When I shared this with a very good friend of mine, he made the following statements
...One May question the media through which we rationalize some of these things- and how societies have ebbed some systematic prejudice to how we view things. We are all guilty, to strive beyond it has to be a conscious decision that is by no means easy...
There are different angles to this observation and a quick look at history can help explain why things are currently the way they are. But it is quite jarring how the world we live in and its social structures affects the stereotypes we end up holding of the world around us and most importantly of ourselves. The harmful thing with these inclinations is that it could go unnoticed. An unconscious lens set up inside our minds, through which we now view the world.
It is also harmful when you consider the implication. When you have a situation where a societies' choice of solutions to their problems, when a societies identity etc are all unconsciously measured and framed against a mental yardstick of what we think some people from another society entirely would think of it, then we have an insidious problem at hand.
Where then is self determination. self identity, self realization? Where then is the ability to look inward, tackle your problems squarely and apply relevant and local solutions as needed?
It would be good for my people to stop, take a while and try to be introspective and observe some of our reactions to things around us; how we frame our problems, how we frame our identity, how we consider the solutions we think is cool (appropriate) and see if it does not suffer from this unconscious tainting...
As my friend said. "...to strive beyond this state, has to be a conscious decision..."
And with that, I end with the words of another conscious musician: Bob Marley...emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Structure, Work flow, Design
They say it's good to have separation of concern, and I agree, but I would suggest that PHP's nature which easily allows the muddling of logic across layers of application creates a more fluid workflow (in the short term) that leads to more fluidity and better aesthetic looking creations; while with languages like Java; what you mostly get, (unless you put extra effort not to), are designs that feels more like they were constructed instead of inspired. With things looking all so structured and "boxy".
Friday, April 04, 2014
Is That A Reg Flag?
I am adopting a slightly different meaning to the phrase "red flags"; which in colloquial usage refers to a warning signal or something that demands attention. Although my modified meaning also can be seen as a warning signal; the new meaning I am ascribing to the phrase is based off the Red Flag Traffic Laws
The Red Flag Traffic Laws were laws in the United Kingdom and the United States enacted in the late 19th century, requiring drivers of early automobiles to take certain safety precautions, including waving a red flag in front of the vehicle as a warning.
The law as defined from Wikipedia. Emphasis mine.
An interesting part of the enactment:
To people of today's world; this policy definitely sounds absurd and backwards. But at the time it was put in place, it was done so as to address a real concern; safety to others in a world where self propelled locomotive is about to become more common...
But the absurdity of it is not my primary concern but the limitation the policy would have placed on the expression of a new technology. For one, having someone always in front of the locomotive means that the locomotive theoretically is not allowed to move faster than a particular speed. A big advantage of having a self propelled locomotive is then lost! Why have a car when you can only drive at a much slow pace?
And this is where my new internal usage of Red Flags takes it meaning. It expresses propositions, way of thoughts, policies that stifles the expression of innovation not with the intention of doing so but as a result of taking actions that intends to protect a valid concern.
And some characteristics of these kind of thinking; "these Red flags" can easily be spotted by taking a look at some of the characteristics of the Red Flag Traffic Law itself:
So when we are confronted with any new concepts; innovations or technologies that has the potential of disrupting the safety of well established way of doing things and we have a strong urge to put things in place that would address these concerns; we need to be aware that our actions might lead us to just be enacting our own versions of the Red Flag Traffic law. We don't want to do that.
The Red Flag Traffic Laws were laws in the United Kingdom and the United States enacted in the late 19th century, requiring drivers of early automobiles to take certain safety precautions, including waving a red flag in front of the vehicle as a warning.
The law as defined from Wikipedia. Emphasis mine.
An interesting part of the enactment:
...[a person] shall carry a red flag constantly displayed, and shall warn the riders and drivers of horses of the approach of such locomotives, and shall signal the driver thereof when it shall be necessary to stop, and shall assist horses, and carriages drawn by horses, passing the same.
To people of today's world; this policy definitely sounds absurd and backwards. But at the time it was put in place, it was done so as to address a real concern; safety to others in a world where self propelled locomotive is about to become more common...
But the absurdity of it is not my primary concern but the limitation the policy would have placed on the expression of a new technology. For one, having someone always in front of the locomotive means that the locomotive theoretically is not allowed to move faster than a particular speed. A big advantage of having a self propelled locomotive is then lost! Why have a car when you can only drive at a much slow pace?
And this is where my new internal usage of Red Flags takes it meaning. It expresses propositions, way of thoughts, policies that stifles the expression of innovation not with the intention of doing so but as a result of taking actions that intends to protect a valid concern.
And some characteristics of these kind of thinking; "these Red flags" can easily be spotted by taking a look at some of the characteristics of the Red Flag Traffic Law itself:
- The law was put in place in good faith. The intention was not to stifle expression of an emerging technology; but to protect the populace. But the outcome, invariably limited the expression of a new technology
- The law was focusing on established way of life instead of embracing and exploiting a new way.
- Although the concern expressed by the law is valid; it tried addressing these concerns from the same paradigm level.
Making sure all self propelled locomotive have a hoot would have been a solution that sufficed. This is how addressing the concern from a different (or higher) paradigm would have largely addressed the concern without having to put an artificial limitation on the workings of the self propelled locomotive.
So when we are confronted with any new concepts; innovations or technologies that has the potential of disrupting the safety of well established way of doing things and we have a strong urge to put things in place that would address these concerns; we need to be aware that our actions might lead us to just be enacting our own versions of the Red Flag Traffic law. We don't want to do that.
In Software, You Build To Change Too
There are moments when differently considering how a domain is captured and expressed leads to an epiphany of sort: A much clearer insight into the matter at hand.
It could be a slight or simple change of point of consideration, but the insight it leads to, could be quite profound.
The Earth moved. A simple change in the way the solar system is viewed but a change that led to a significant upheaval of not just how we understand the cosmos; but a change that also rattled the political and power structures at that time.
I recently had a similar change with regards to how I internally conceptualize Software Development (or construction) and Software Architecture. Not surprisingly, my internal modelling has largely been shaped by the type of architecture that I am most exposed to: which is the civil type: how buildings are made, roads, bridges etc. And in these domains, the primary concern is building to last. The success of the architecture of a bridge is judged on how long it can last without fail. Same goes for high rise buildings. Building to change is not primary in these domain.
This view has been projected onto how I primarily perceive Software Architecture. A great Software Architecture is the one that creates software that can always keep performing no matter what. This is the building to last metaphor.
But just as building to last applies to software; building to change is (should) also be core too. In fact; how well a software facilitate easy change would determine how long it may last.
Software is meant to mutate, by its very nature, with time. And a good software architecture is one that enables for easy change to the system while ensuring the system continues to provides its utility.
So when approaching a software creation process; keep in mind that building to change is as much important as building to last and let this fashion the architectural decisions you make.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)