Happy Box, different thoughts...

Okay, a bit of misunderstanding between me and Hans there, so here is the actual article he was asking for.

So, if someone asked me to step into a "happy box", I would not.

I am getting a little ahead of myself there.  A happy box is apparently a boxlike enclosure that you can go into, and it immediately makes you happy.  But being happy means only sitting there, having an artificial happiness overtake you.

I wouldn't step in the happy box because of a few reasons.  First of all, an artificial happiness never makes you as happy as happiness that is earned through hard work.  If you get a really good score on your math test because you studied really hard for it, you get a amount of happiness like no other.  If you get artificially happy inside a box, then you will be happy, staring at a wall.  Think about it, it is really strange and unsatisfying.  Another reason that I wouldn't step in to the happy box is that it would be really boring.  Boring and happy contradict each other, but if you think about it, it really does make sense.  If you are happy because you are forever dropping from the sky with the excitement like that of when you ride a roller coaster, then you will eventually get bored because it would feel normal falling from the sky, and you would yearn for hard ground under your feet.  It is the same for the happy box.  Eventually, you are going to get very bored sitting in a box,and will yearn for pain and suffering.  That brings me to yet another point.  There would be no pain an suffering inside the happy box.  That may sound strange, to actually want to be hurt and suffer, but it is true.  For example, when I was a small child, I always took leisure time and fun for granted.  But as I grew up and had more homework and less time to idle, I began to appreciate rest and playtime.  I wouldn't have that happiness if it wasn't for all the countless hours of working.

The happy box does have some benefits at first, but as you stay in there longer and longer, you will realize that it isn't as good as living life how it normally is.

Happy Box

If someone randomly came up to me and asked if I wanted to make my life happy and perfect, I would actually choose to go in.

Why?  Well what's bad about being not happy?  To me, being happy is being showered with love, money, yoyos and some friends.  What is really bad about that?  Being happy means having good friends, some love and support, and everything you ever wanted.  What can be better than that?  I can't find anything bad about walking into a "happy box".

Sorry for not blogging the last few days and making this post so short... life was pretty hectic.

If everyone in the world was the same

I think that some version of the book's world is not present in today's world.  Anyways, here's today's post.

While I was reading "Brave new world", I was thinking what would happen if everyone in the world was the same.

There would be many good parts of everyone being the same.  One is that everyone will understand each other and there will be no disputes about anything.  It would be a peaceful world with no one killing other people, and no hate.  Also, everything you make can be the same, because whatever you like, everyone else likes, so you don't have to make so many different kinds sell only sell a few.  Another great part about this is that everyone will be as smart as one another and everyone will earn the same salary, therefore no country will have economical problems and everyone will treat each other as equals.  

There will obviously be many problems with this too.  One of the most prominent problems of everyone being the same is that it is extremely difficult to identify people from one another.  People will be looking at people and identifying them by their name tags.  It will be pretty chaotic.  Also, since they all have the same interests, they will all be arguing about who should be what.  For example, everyone would want to be the CEO of a certain company, but no one will want to be part of any other company.  Everyone would be arguing using the same logic, then the world will get nowhere.  It would also really get boring because you already know what everyone's reply is going to be, and there is no variety in anything.

In the end, it probably won't be a good idea to make everyone in the world the same.

Stuff I've been writing for school.

I've been a bit busy lately, so I couldn't blog as often... I am reading "Brave New World" right now. Anyways, here are the things I have been writing for english ( Parts of it are left out because I had to handwrite it in school).

I was born at 12:36 pm, in the Swedish hospital in Seattle, Washington , on October 23,1997.  When I was born, I weighed in at 7 pounds, and 15 ounces.  I was 21 inches tall at the time.  My name, Andy is made after Andrew Grove, person of the year in 1997, who invented the transistor.  I was born in the same hospital as Bill Gates, and only five days ahead (not counting the years).

I have changed a lot over the years.  One major change in personality is that I’m a lot less shy than I was before.  I used to be scared of every new person I came across, but now I say hi, or just walk past.  Also, I have a better attitude to everything.  When I was smaller, I used to never want to try anything new.  Now, I try everything that my common sense allows me to.  I also changed a lot in terms of looks.  I obviously grew taller, and I also grew skinnier.  There  is a distinct difference when I compare my 6 th grade id-card photo to myself today.  I changed a whole lot since 5 th grade.

My days are filled with doing what I like and what I don’t.  One thing I really like to do is play with yoyos.  In fact, my main hobby is collecting yoyos and playing with them.  I really like to yoyo because it doesn’t require much, which allows you to yoyo whenever you want, and it makes me feel really accomplished whenever I land a new trick.  It is also really fun to collect yoyos because I get to see and try out all the different kinds.  My favorite pastime is surfing the web.  I often like to go on Facebook to see what my friends are doing, or check what new yoyos came out.  My favorite subject at school is definitely math.  Math is a really great subject because there are no ambiguous answers, and because it doesn’t require much memorization.  As long as you get a concept, you can solve almost any problem that relies on the concept.  I also like to swim and play tennis, but those are more secondary.  I really don’t like to learn Chinese at Chinese school.  Chinese is a very non- modern language.  It takes a long time to type out.  It just isn’t very well adapted to the modern world.  Also, it is harder to learn Chinese.  Every word in Chinese has to be memorized to read or write it.  It isn’t like English where you can just sound out a word and immediately be able to read and write it.  There isn’t much more that I actually dislike a lot.

Well, these are three of the eight paragraphs I wrote for school.

Math Not First Person

Math is an amazing subject, both the class and math itself (for this post, I'm only going to write about math itself).

Math is an awesome subject for several reasons.  First of all, an answer to a math problem is either right or wrong and there are no "ifs".  For other subjects like English or social studies, there can be more than one right answer.  For example, if a teacher asks a student why Julius Caesar wanted to be in control, the student could either say, "because he liked to be in control", or the student can say, "because he thought that his ways of looking at how to control the government were better than other rulers' ways".  There are many more things the student could say in response, but the teacher is obviously only looking for one.  If the student said that Julius Caesar simply felt like it, it would have to be counted right, either though it is not what the question was asking for.  Meanwhile in math, an answer is either right or wrong, and there are no loopholes.  Another reason math is great is because of its simplicity.  As long as one knows a concept, then they can solve any other problem that uses that concept.  For other subjects, a student would have to memorize everything bit by bit.

Math is really a lot more interesting than any other subject.  The learning process for math can actually be counted as fun.

Math...

I really like math, both the class and math itself (for this post, I'm only going to write about math itself).

Math is an awesome subject for several reasons.  First of all, an answer to a math problem is either right or wrong and there are no "ifs".  For other subjects like English or social studies, there can be more than one right answer.  For example, if a teacher asks a student why Julius Caesar wanted to be in control, the student could either say, "because he liked to be in control", or the student can say, "because he thought that his ways of looking at how to control the government were better than other rulers' ways".  There are many more things the student could say in response, but the teacher is obviously only looking for one.  If the student said that Julius Caesar simply felt like it, it would have to be counted right, either though it is not what the question was asking for.  Meanwhile in math, an answer is either right or wrong, and there are no loopholes.  Another reason I like math is because of its simplicity.  As long as you know a concept, then you can solve any other problem that uses that concept.  For other subjects, you have to memorize everything bit by bit.

Math is a really amazing subject, and it is extremely easy to learn.  that makes math one of my favorite subjects.

Why I dislike Chinese School

First of all, I dislike the language of Chinese and the process of learning  it.  I am now going to write about why I dislike Chinese school.

I go to Chinese school every Saturday, and I absolutely hate it.  Chinese school takes place at Newbury park high school every Saturday, and there we learn the horrid language of Chinese.  In Chinese school, we sit in a classroom that we aren't allowed to change - we buy it off TO high school and are not allowed to change anything- and we learn Chinese.  That doesn't sound too bad, but if you actually consider it, it is horrible.  We students have to sit in chairs that are entirely too small, and the chairs are attached to a desk that is also extremely small.  I can't fit my books and work on the desk without one of them drooping off the edge.  It's almost like the classroom was designed for first graders.  So during class, we have to sit in extremely uncomfortable chairs while listening to a Chinese teacher drone on about her life.  

Yeah... I'm just going to end this post here to go to sleep... :p

I HATE Chinese

The title explains all.  I am dedicating this post to express my hatred of the Chinese language.  Tomorrow's post will be of my hatred of Chinese school, unless something else pops up.


So... why do I hate the language?  Well, to start out, it is extremely complicated.  Unlike English, you can't read a word that you never learned.  For English, all you have to do is to sound out the word according to the arrangement of letters.  Chinese words are just a bunch of strokes that make up an artistic blob.  It is impossible to know what the word is without taking a minute to memorize it and keep it in your head.  It is the same with writing words.  If you know what the word sounds like, you have to memorize the artistic blob before you can write it.  In English, all you have to do is think what the sounds spell out.  Another reason I despise the Chinese language is that it takes extremely long to write out a word.  "Hello" would be 你好in Chinese.  it just take so very long to write out something.  The final reason I dislike the Chinese language is that it takes a long time to type out.  To type out a character in Chinese, you first have to type out the pronunciation, then click on the word.  There are a lot of words for each pronunciation, so it also takes a while to find the word you are looking for.  In the technological age where many things are done on the computer, Chinese just doesn't fit in.

Why oh Why

Why do the animals in the world have to be like what they are right now?  Why don't caterpillars and other bugs have five-toed-feet?  Why don't our feet slither instead of walk?  Why do we have thumbs, but other animals do not, either though it is obviously a very important feature that allows us to survive?  What's the point in making our brains bigger and smarter than other animals? If our brain obviously served its purpose in keeping our species alive, then why don't the other animals also have huge brains so that all creatures in the world are equal? Is it a god?  I really don't believe in god, but it seems to be the only explanation.  Unless it is just chance... But if it was all chance and natural selection and whatnot, then every animal should have big brains and long legs and everything good in an animal.  Is it our big brain that caused  us to start creating and building or is it the way our body is built?  either way, the primates should be able to create their own very primitive civilization by now.  So maybe its just by chance that we made all the discoveries to make our civilizations what they are right now.  It was by chance that Edison figured out how to harness electricity and put it in a light, chance that someone figured out how to make a piece of silicone and some metal be able to make complex calculations.  How does a computer chip do that anyways?  It doesn't even make sense to me.  I will eventually have to know how in order to be a good electric engineer and whatnot.  Wow... I got really off topic... Back to the beginning.  What made animals have different noises?  Why can't everything talk like us humans can?  Dogs shouldn't have to bark, they should be able to talk and communicate with us.  That would make them literally man's best friend.


Yep... this was what was going on in my mind.

The convenience of Mini Plots

When I was in sixth grade learning seventh grade math, I found that the most annoying thing on earth was to graph plots on paper.  Then in seventh grade, I discovered the miniplot.

If you don't know what a miniplot is, it is a extremely useful graph in sticky note form.  Basically, it is a sticky note with a xy graph that goes from one to ten.  It is perfect for homework in which you have to graph.  you just stick a miniplot onto your notebook and graph.

When I first discovered the miniplot, I was shocked.  I spent endless hours of my life drawing graphs when all I really needed was a one dollar set of 50 miniplots.  Without any thought, I bought two sets.  When I got home and started graphing with the miniplots for homework, I realized just how useful these plots can be.  I saved almost 15 minutes by not having to graph, and the graphs were also a LOT more legible.  From that point on, I was hooked.

Miniplots were the answer for my need for speed and neatness.

Edited Conclusion

Before this essay, I never gave much thought about why manholes are round.  It just seemed like it wasn’t very important.  But now that I actually think about it, there is a lot of thinking behind the circular shape of the manhole.

San Diego

I’m in San Diego for this Labor Day weekend, and I find it to be very different compared to Newbury Park.

First of all, the scenery is a lot more natural looking.  In Newbury Park, everywhere in a neighborhood looks like an artificial green.  Everywhere where there are not plants planted by man, there is just brown and dark green bushes.  But in San Diego, there is natural grass and beaches.  It actually reminds me a lot of Hawaii.  Because it is close to the ocean, the air is a bit more humid than Newbury Park.  Also, the buildings here are older looking.  They look like one of the old building you would see in an American history book.  One thing I noticed about San Diego is that there are many seafood restaurants.  This is probably due to its nearness to the coast. 

Due to all these differences, I don’t really like San Diego much.

Why Manhole Covers are Round

Manhole covers are everywhere these days, and many people wonder why they are round instead of any other shape.

There are several reasons that a manhole cover is round.  The main reason is that if it is round, the cover can’t fall through the hole regardless of what direction it is put in.  If the manhole cover is a rectangular shape and the cover is turned so that one side is aligned to the diagonal of the hole in the ground, then the cover will fall into the sewer.  Another reason a manhole cover is round is that the tunnel leading down to the sewer is a round tube.  A round tube is the most material efficient and strongest way to protect itself against the compression of the dirt and soil around them.  Because the tube is round, then the cover has to be round too.  Also, manhole covers are round so that they are easier to machine.  Round objects can be made using a lathe, which assures precision manufacturing.  If a manhole cover is not precise, it is easily lifted up by passing cars.  Basically, round manhole covers can be made more perfect than any other shape, which prevents it from coming out of the ground easily.  A smaller, but still important reason that manhole covers are round is that they can be rotated in any direction, and it will still fit perfectly in the hole.  This saves a countless number of minutes for the workers that take care of the sewers.  Circular manhole covers are also easier to move around.  Because of the circular shape, a worker can simply roll the manhole cover to its rightful spot in the world.  An extremely minor reason is that humans are somewhat round, so it is a better fit.  Finally, it is easier to dig a circular hole.  Rectangles and triangles are difficult to dig because of the angles.  

            Manhole covers are circular for many reasons, so for the people that wonder, now they know why.




 P.S. I wrote this as an essay for math

School is starting tomorrow

It's that time of the year again when kids whine and teachers rush. School is starting tomorrow, and I don't want to go.

I will miss the endless hours of sleeping without worry of being late.  The lazy days are behind me, and so are the hours sitting in front of my computer.  I won't be able to read for hours on end anymore, and I will be restlessly working.  When school starts, I will have to wake up at seven thirty in the morning, from Monday to Friday and it won't be fun.  Another aspect of school that makes school all the more hated is the homework.  In fact, homework and waking up early are the only two reasons I really don't like school. 

But school could also offer some relief from some parts of summer that don't live up to the summer hype.  During summer, I don't get to see many people because I just stay at home, doing nothing but work and rest.  During school, I get to see more friends and life won't be as lonely and monotonic as it is during summer.  I will also get to meet many new teachers.  One thing I'm really looking forward to is my geometry class.  My math is one grade ahead of everyone else's, so I get to take geometry while still in middle school.  It takes place at first period, and there are only nine people in my class.  This will create a better leaning environment and well also allow for many more activities.  One of those activities is eating breakfast every Friday morning.We rotate and take turns providing breakfast.

Summer is good at times, but bad at others.