More Digital Friends, Less Human

"I fear a day that technology will surpass human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots."-Albert Einstein

And it seems like now the number of idiots is increasing.

But the question is "is it the technology that turns people into idiots or it's just a mirror that better show the nature of humanity?"

What is “My Potential”?

This popular phrase “find your potential, what you are great at” has much influenced our thought and behavior. We tend to think we are good at one or a few things and such thing will make us great and stand out.

A question from a friend draws my attention back to such myth. It seems like that phrase is very powerful to trap our mind.

First it implies that only with your natural talent you can be great; that you have to have some innate/pre existing ability to be able to go great. It implies that, without it, you almost can’t!

Second, it limits our mentality to develop new skill. We give up our ability to build something we want to have.

By trying to find one’s potential, we forget that the human’s skill, ability, power, potential is made. It is MADE and made by US. The phrase keeps people to jump around and find things they are good at and practice doing it to make a living. By doing so, we lose time, effort, and hope in case we don't find one. Actually, human’s competence is truly built. If you want to be great at anything, you can surely be. You just need to build your skill. Simple steps apply: challenge your thought and acknowledge that you own your destiny. You can achieve it if you really want to go for it and do all it takes to be there. Then build your attitude toward it. Ask yourself, are you behaving and acting right to achieve that goal?

Do not waste time discovering your potential, “Just set Goal and Build what you Want to Have”.

Taking photo

What is point of taking photos? What is the real essence in photo? What make a photo nice? How to behave/act when being shot?

We might wanna try to act this or that way to have a nice photo while sometimes trying to smile and of course pretending to smile. And then it comes to the question “what’s the point of taking a photo”. Personally I believe a photo is a capture of both the person and the environment he/she is in. By a person here, it really refers to his real feeling or emotion at the time being. What’s the point of pretending to smile while you were not happy enough to smile? Or is it a social preconditioning that you are expected to smile while being shot? For a photo is a capture, why not let it be capture of a real things? Sometimes later in your life when you want to see those photos again, you will feel some lively emotions in there, the emotions which were being captured during the old times.

Here it comes to the term emotion. I believe emotion is the key and most important ingredient that makes a photo lively and beautiful. No matter you were angry, upset, happy, or whatsoever, allowing those true emotions to be captured does make much sense than trying to just give a pretending smile.

For so long I have wondered how to act nicely when being shot. And I realize that I was also wrong for long ago with the definition of nice. “Nice”, I had refer to stylish, creative, funny…But it is not! No matter how nice you act, you still cant get a good photo. And a good photo here I do refer to the one with a feeling inside, a real emotion inside the photo which make you act naturally good to be shot. Comparing two photos of the one who know that he’s being shot and another who doesn’t. The difference is the later looks more lively and beautiful. It is because he doesn’t pretend!

This phenomenon really applies to real life in which you can see the difference between people who do things from the inside heart and the one who pretend to do stuff or try to do stuff while he doesn’t really want to but forced to do such under external expectation.

17/7/2011, HKU

Under the rain

12:13 AM My room,

·      Under The Rains,

I’m supposed to be asleep by this time, but the sound of the rains keeps me a wake with a feeling of freshness, happiness, somehow sad and romantic. Raining time, it’s one moment I enjoy the most in my life. When I hear it rains, I could feel a new start in my heart; I could immediately forget all the bad things happening and problems around, at least for a time being if not forever. It’s the sound of the rain drops; it’s the sound of the leafs under each drop; it’s the sound of house’s zinc-roof on which a every drop falls; and it’s the sound of rain falling on the street, soil, trees, bottles, and some household’s stuffs that would make it unique, truly creative, and distinctive. This sound is just so soft and relaxing. One could hear a rhythm of the drops-once strong, once weak and slow, while other once a bit silent.  Only listening to the rains can calm your angry heart, cool off your temper, melt down your pressure, release your tension, and fly away your soul along its rhythm and cold air. A feeling of freshness, cleanness, purity, innocence, and inspiration would flow in your heart during this peaceful moment-the moment where soft cool winds slightly blows from the other side to surround your body and soul and make you feel like you are at a top of the mountain. Close your eyes, relax, and focus on the rain drops and cool wind, you’d feel a real peace, calmness, silence, and a happy nostalgia.

The nostalgia, a feeling that’s attached with the rain. I bet everyone of you might feel just the same when thinking of your past memory, your childhood, and some souvenirs under the rain. When it rains, I could recall some precious moment of my childhood where I was half  naked and ran all along the street in front of my house just to play in the rains with some peers. When it rains, I could remember I used to sit in class while looking outside to enjoy the view of rains. I could visualize the habit that I usually stayed near my mom and enjoy the rain together. I would also recall the time that I sleep tightly near my dad at night while it rain. These all souvenirs are deeply attached with the rains and only the rains in my homeland, my house, and my place while nowhere else can replace. It’s the things of the past that can never be changed and fade away. It’s already deeply in my heart and memory.

The rain at my home is unique for it’s home to my all attachments. It is unique for it doesn’t exist anywhere else in this world. The memory and every souvenir were born there. Plus the present rains are still unique because of the distinctive smell of soil when it starts to rain, the drops on the zinc-roof of the house and buildings mixed with the sounds of the waving trees and falling leafs, especially the sounds of drops against wrecks-bottles, plastic, woods…- around the house’s campus.

Close your eyes, and let your heart in peace in the falling rains.

It's Khmer! Our youth and Soul,

Khmer Students in the States, 2010
No matter where we are, we are all unified by a common desire-the desire to be together.
We Are KHMER,

Cambodian National Anthem,

Cambodian National Anthem,