The Grad Student Guide to Having an Awesome Life

The Wonder of Smartwool

2011-04-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Imagine having a nice looking, comfortable shirt that looks and feels similar to cotton, but never smells and dries very quickly. This is what numerous online sources promised for Merino wool fabrics. It sounded to good to be true to me when I first heard about this wonder material. I had to try one of these out myself.

There are various brands with Merino wool products such as Icebreaker, SmartWool, and Minus 33, but the best option for me initially was SmartWool. REI keeps SmartWool products in stock and with their generous return policy, I could try out the shirt and return it at anytime if I felt it was not worth it. And at $60 plus tax for a paper-thin SmartWool NTS Microweight t-shirt, it was nice to know that I could return it if the shirt was terrible.

My plan was to wear the shirt for almost every activity I do for two weeks, including running, hiking, and sleeping. The weather around this time was cool, so I did not sweat just by walking normally. Here are my observations for the first few days of the experiment:

Day 1: I ran one mile in it and did chin-ups and dips at the gym. After the workout there was an odor very similar to my underarms in the arm pit area of the shirt. I continued to wear the shirt throughout the day, sleeping in it at night.
Day 2: I ran about two miles in, sweating quite a bit around my neck and under arms. After my run, I let the shirt dry for about 30 minutes and put it back on. There was still a slight odor in the arm pit area of the shirt and a little bit of a musty smell when putting the shirt up very close to my nose. Overall, it was still quite comfortable to wear.
Day 4: I hiked 15 miles with a backpack on in one day. I sweat profusely but not so much on the areas where the shirt was touching me. I think this demonstrated the "wicking" ability of the fabric quite well. At the end of the grueling 15 mile hike, I inspected the shirt and there was essentially no odor. This was quite impressive as any normal cotton shirt would have been absolutely disgusting after such a long hike.

In the following days, the shirt slowly started to get a more apparent musty smell, but it never felt unwearable or even gross. I even had some of my more adventurous friends closely inspect the shirt and none thought it smelled. At the end of two weeks, I washed the shirt in my sink with some Dr. Bronner's Liquid Soap for about 10 minutes, hung it to dry overnight, and the next morning, it was fresh and ready to go again. I wore it for another week or so, working out in it and sleeping in it without ever taking it off unless I was showering.

I am convinced of Merino wool fabrics in terms of their odor-resistant abilities. Despite their cost, I think it is worth it if you are travelling and do not want to do laundry often or are hiking and only want to bring a small amount of stuff.

One thing, however, I am not totally convinced of at this point is their durability. The Microweight t-shirt from SmartWool is awfully thin which makes it great for hot or warm weather, but also makes me think it will tear or get holes in it easily. I have read mixed things online about the durability of these fabrics. I will just have to see for myself how this thing holds up. I will keep you posted on this as time goes on.

Buy the SmartWool NTS microweight t-shirt here.

The Difference Between Grad and Undergrad

2011-03-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

After defending my thesis and reflecting on my past years as a graduate student, I was thinking about some of the big differences between being a graduate student and being an undergrad. Most undergraduates seem to see graduate students as extremely dedicated, hard workers with no time for anything else than research. This is most often not the case at all. The big differences between undergrads and grad are social opportunities, uncertainty, motivation and independence.

As a graduate student, you are essentially a full time student your first year or two, taking a full load of classes. However, unlike an undergrad who typically always has a least one class outside of their major, the graduate students' classes are very focused on their field. This also means that they tend to have the same people in every class, not providing much opportunity to have a broad social base. The undergraduate typically, however, will have classes from at least a couple of different fields. This leads to a much larger social base I think. Undergraduates seem to always have way more friends from many more different areas.

Every finals week, I look at all of the undergrads stressing about their exams, and I think to myself that I am glad that time for me is over. However, graduate students working on Ph.D.'s, in particular, face perhaps a tougher issue - uncertainty. Once you finish classes and start research, you typically don't have classes anymore which means no exams and for the most part, no real deadlines. However, I have spent months working on things which have no guarantee of producing anything interesting. This huge uncertainty with graduate research leads to another big problem - motivation.

Most undergraduates are not completing their assignments the moment they get them or are always excited about their work, but the deadlines inherent with undergraduate classwork force them (at least in most cases) to at least do something in some kind of timely manner. The lack of deadlines in the research phase of graduate school means that, for the most part, whatever you get done, you have to set the timeline yourself. In many cases, the timeline is much, much longer than it could have been. Note that the lack of deadlines in graduate school is not an inherent problem with the advisor or the system. By definition, the research a graduate student does is supposed to be new and original. It is hard to put a deadline on doing something that is totally new and may or may not have a solution or be interesting.

The uncertainty and potential motivation issues with graduate school are largely due to independence. No longer do you have a well defined schedule of homework and exams. As a graduate student, you are mostly on your own. For the most part, no one will care if you don't really do much work for a week or even a month, although naturally, this depends on your research advisor. Some people thrive in this, but from my personal experience and conversations with other graduate students, this is a very tough place to be. I used to say that in physics, for example, our classes take us to about 1950, but we are expected to do 21st century research right after that. I can imagine this is very similar in other fields as well. We are essentially tossed in without a life preserver.

I can say that the average graduate student I talk to feels their work is mostly useless, their contributions to their field are minimal, and their confidence in their work is shaky. He or she spends a lot of time surfing the web instead of working, can recall many times where they did not do a single thing associated with research for days or even weeks, and often thinks about quitting their program. I have never met a graduate student who works as long or as hard as a typical undergraduate. The undergraduate, however, knows exactly what they need to do to graduate, where the typical graduate student has no idea. Being a graduate student is certainly not all bad. It's just very different from being an undergrad.

Comparison of Windows Backup Software

2011-02-12T12:44:00.000-08:00

After switching back to Windows, one of my biggest concerns was how to most efficiently back up my data. In Linux, I used the utility, "rsync", which incrementally syncs the source files to the destination. There were various options for it to have a high level of control over the backup. It was also very fast.

My default method for backing up files in Windows was to continue using rsync, but now in Cygwin, a Linux-like environment for Windows. It was usable, but there were various issues with Windows permissions which would cause certain files to not be copied, and the program does not seem to be very optimized for NTFS file systems. It is pretty slow. Now, I also do a backup of my Windows files to a Linux server, and for this, rsync using Cygwin is the only way I would know to do it, but for my local NTFS to NTFS backup, this method was getting old.

My main desire for a back-up program was to do essentially a one-way sync to the destination. I want to mirror a copy of my files on my working drive to the back up. I want it to be very fast, and I want it to be able to figure out if a file is missing on the backup drive and copy it back. I do not care about staged backups because I really just want to protect myself from drive failure. Things that I want to remember changes for will be staged using things like Git or other version control software. I do not really need version control for my filesystem overall. It turns out there are some pretty nice, free, backup tools for Windows. The four I used were Comodo Backup, Cobian Backup, GFI Backup, and EZBack-it-up.

Note: The "source" drive here refers to the working directory containing the files you want to backup. The "destination" or "backup" drive refers to the one that you want to backup to.

Comodo Backup - 1/5
I found this program to be way too big and complicated. It has a much more lengthy install than the others and has a ton of so-called features which I was not interested in. It was not immediately obvious to me how to set up a backup like I wanted so I quickly dropped it to look at other programs.

Cobian Backup - 2/5
I really like the interface of this one. It was very simple and intuitive to use. You could either do a full backup which would recopy all of the files or an incremental backup which would only copy over changed files. Clearly, incremental backup is the way to go. However, this program had a fatal flaw. It could only track changes on the source drive. That means, if for some reason, you manually deleted a file on the backup drive, but it was still on your source, the incremental backup would not recopy the file. Chances are, you won't be directly manipulating files on the backup drive, but this to me left too many chances open for incomplete backups. Also, doing a full copy of dozens of GB of data simply would not be an option and would take way too long.

GFI Backup - 4/5
This program was pretty good. It has a backup mode and a sync mode. However, the sync is two-way so that means if the backup drive is changed, it will update those changes to your source drive. Again, in principle, you shouldn't be manipulating files on your backup drive, but if you did, you could find yourself losing files on your source drive. It basically just synced them together with the most recent changes to either one. There was no option to make this just a one-way sync. Fail.

The backup option did exactly what I want. It would directly sync all of the files of the source drive to the destination, with the option to mirror them by deleting extra files on the destination or adding files that were manually deleted to the destination. However, it was slow. It took about 25 minutes for it compare all the files on both drives and sync them up. This was about 100 GB of data. This was a usable solution and probably similarly slow to the Cygwin rsync option, but I felt there had to be a better option. It turns out there is.

EZBack-it-up - 5/5
This is a program which was written a while ago and has not been updated since 2004, but it does EXACTLY what I wanted it to do and does it blazingly fast. It will quickly find any changes between the drive and do a one-way sync of the source to the destination. When I say it is fast, I mean FAST. For 100 GB, it will check the two drives against each other within about 10 seconds. If one letter is changed in a text file deep in your file system, it will update it on the destination. I was absolutely amazed with this program.

It basically seems to barely read the drives, and I am assuming it is somehow directly accessing the journal associated with NTFS file systems and compares them and updates the destination. All of the other programs seemed to read every single file on both drives to compare them. This backup program almost seems too good to be true, but so far, it seems to really work perfectly. I will probably check it over then next few months to make sure it is capturing every change, but I feel like I can probably use it with confidence.

It is very easy to set up the backup, and while it does have some more "advanced" features like setting up a backup schedule, it is a very simple and lightweight program. The only problem with it is that its log files don't work. This is due to permission on the places where it stores the log files. The program just doesn't have permissions to write them there. I tried changing the permissions but could not get the program to write log files unless I ran the program as an administrator. I do not want to this however, because then the ownership of the files is messed up. If anyone knows a fix for this, please let me know!

In conclusion, I had simple and specific needs for backup software, and I found a clear winner. EZBack-it-up really impressed me and is totally free. The developer has plans to update it at some point, but other than the logging issue, the program is pretty much perfect for my needs.

Backpack Review: Kata DR-466i and Kata DR-467i

2011-01-30T12:53:00.000-08:00

For my future travels, I want to have access to the latest digital technology, which means for me having a powerful laptop and a DSLR camera with a couple of lenses. Due to my desire to carry a DSLR and laptop, I have decided it is probably best for me to have two carry-on pieces of luggage: one for clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc and one for my electronics that can be used as a daypack.

For my electronics bag/daypack, I wanted to get one which would allow me to carry a small amount of semi-pro camera gear, a laptop, and other things such as a raincoat, guidebooks, snacks, water, etc. I considered several bags such as the Tamrac Adventure 9, Lowepro Fastpack 250, Naneu Pro Alpha-L, and the Kata 466i and 467i packs. I end up deciding on either the Kata 466i or 467i. So I decided to order both to try them out. Check it out:

I wanted to get a small enough pack that would feel comfortable enough to use on a daily basis but also big enough to hold a good amount of gear. In the end, the 466i was just too small and the 467i was just about perfect. I wore the 467i on a 15-mile hike yesterday with my camera and a bunch of other supplies, and it was very comfortable. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how big they 466i and 467i are on my back (click on them for bigger sizes):

Kata 466i

Kata 467i

The Kata 466i is only a tiny bit smaller overall on my back and the bigger size of the 467i actually makes it a bit more comfortable for me. The size of the top compartment was an important consideration for me too. Here are some pictures to give you a better idea of the top compartment (click on them for bigger sizes):

Kata 466i

Kata 467i

As you can see, the upper compartment of the 467i is significantly larger than the 466i. Overall, I feel like the 467i is a much better designed bag with more optimal use of space.

Buy the Kata 467i and 466i here and here.

My Stupid Little Battle with Amazon Kindle's Dictionary

2011-01-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

One of the most useful features of Amazon's Kindle e-book platform is the ability to highlight a word and get a definition for it instantly from the New Oxford American Dictionary installed on every Kindle device or Kindle application for PC, iPhone, etc. No internet connection is required to look up words in the built-in dictionary. This is a VERY valuable feature.

Nonetheless, I did not recognize or use the dictionary feature for a while. I had been using Kindle on PC a bit and there was no indication that the New Oxford American Dictionary was installed. It turns out it is there, but it never shows up on your "Home" or "Archived Items" on Kindle for PC. It is just there in the background, ready to be used to instantly define words.

A little bit later, I bought an iPod Touch and installed the Kindle App for it. While looking at installed books, I noticed that the "New Oxford American Dictionary" was installed and showed up in my "Home" directory (unlike Kindle for PC). At this point, I had no idea that Kindle interfaced with this dictionary to provide instant lookup of words. My thoughts were "Why do I need a dictionary for Kindle?" There were much easier ways to lookup words offline with other Apps on the iPod rather than manually searching through the dictionary.

Being somewhat of a "digital neat-freak", I decided I need to figure out a way to consolidate my Kindle library and get rid of books I did not want anymore. It turns out that Amazon only recently made this feature available.

By logging in on Amazon and going to the "Your Account" page. Go down to "Digital Content" and click on "Manage Your Kindle". This takes you to a new page where you can register Kindle devices to your Amazon account as well as set up some other options. At the very bottom of this page, you can see all of your orders. By clicking on the "+" to the left of the book's name, a new menu comes up and at the bottom right corner of this you can click on "Delete this title." When you do that this pops up:

By clicking yes, you can permanently delete books from your Amazon account.

In doing my digital clean-up, I wanted to get rid of some of the free public domain Kindle books which I had downloaded. This, to me, seemed like a completely reversible thing to do as all of those books could be downloaded again for free if I ever wanted them again. I probably would never permanently delete a title I paid for as I would not want to pay for it again if I did want to read it at some point in the future, and the cost to keep it in my library was pretty minimal, ever for a digital neat-freak such as myself.

While looking at my books, I came across the "New Oxford American Dictionary" discussed earlier. I didn't remember downloading it, but nonetheless figured it was some sort of free book that could easily be downloaded again. So I permanently deleted it.

I didn't notice any problems for a while until, while reading a Kindle book on my iPod Touch, I wanted to highlight a section of the text to make a note. I end up only highlighting one word and a little box came up saying "Dictionary not found" along with saying how it could not be found in my archive and to contact customer service. When that happened, let's just say I felt a bit stupid. But it wouldn't be a problem, right? Since every Kindle device in the world has the New Oxford American Dictionary (except now for mine), I could easily re-download it from Amazon's website to get it back on my device. Wrong.

I went to Amazon's web page, and while they had the print version of the dictionary for $32 or so, the Kindle version was not available as a download at all. There was even the little link under the book's picture to "Tell the Publisher!" that you'd like to read the book on Kindle. I tried reinstalling the Kindle for PC software as well as the Kindle App for my iPod but this did not work either as the book is linked with the account and not the software itself. So I called Amazon customer service around 11:30 pm on a Friday night. I was definitely a bit upset about losing my ability to look up words instantly from within a Kindle book. (It turns out I actually could buy a different dictionary for Kindle for about $10 and use it for this feature.)

A nice gentleman from India answered, and I told him my issue. Well, he just didn't know what to do. It was not something he could just fix instantly. He suggested that I make a new Amazon account although this would clearly not be ideal as I had other paid books linked to my current account. I admittedly felt a bit embarrassed for deleting the dictionary, but I did not recognize it as something I had downloaded nor felt that its utility was made clear. On top of that, I was "sure" it would be easy to re-download the free book.

The customer service representative told me he would work on the problem and call me back, although he probably wouldn't get back to me until the next morning as he knew it was getting late on the West Coast of the United States. I almost wanted to tell him to just call me as soon as he figured it out or had a resolution. I spent a few more mointues researching my issue on the internet to no avail and about 15 minutes later, I got a call from Amazon. They figured out a way to relink the dictionary to my account, and he wanted to verify it worked. And it did. I had my dictionary back.

It all worked out in the end, but I was surprised how difficult it was, and a bit surprised no one had experienced this issue before. My new policy is to just not permanently delete anything on my Kindle anymore. As my "Archived Items" folder fills up with a bunch of useless books I will never read, I'll remember this.

Buy the Kindle here.

Why I Switched Back to Windows from Linux

2011-01-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

I have been using Linux for my research for several years now. What started out as an intimidating beast is now something I feel I can work very efficiently in. To put it simply, I feel like I understand Linux (at least to some degree). I understand the organization of the file system and the philosophy behind it. I understand file permissions and a lot of aspects of system administration. In particular, I love the power of the command line. Linux has treated me very well for my research. There is just one big problem with Linux though as a home or personal operating system: software.

For a while, I used Linux (various Ubuntu Desktop Editions to be exact) as my only operating system. No dual boot or anything like that. Just Linux. It felt very nice to have a consistent setup for work and my home. I could easily set up my partitions exactly how I wanted, use a script to reinstall all my programs, and in general, have complete control over my data. I even used some reasonable photography software (SILKYPIX Developer Studio) through the package for running Windows software on Linux, Wine (although it was fairly slow), as well as found a native Linux photography program (Bibble 5) which was not too bad. While not perfect, I thought I could live with it. It was all good for a while.

Then, something stupid happened. I wanted to download an MP3 album of off Amazon, but they had no 64-bit "Amazon MP3 Downloader" for Linux. I tried to get the 32-bit one to work on my laptop to no avail. Well, this was kind of annoying. Surely, Amazon could easily make a 64-bit Linux version of a program to download MP3's right? But they didn't. A little bit later, I got a Netflix account. It was a good thing I had a Wii at the time as Netflix On-Demand only will work on Windows and Mac operating systems. Was it really worth making these sacrifices in order to stick to my beloved Linux system?

Also, around this time, I got a job doing edits on scientific papers. Microsoft Word was the standard way to do this. I could use Open Office Writer on Linux for some of the work, but it was much more awkward than using Microsoft Word and sometimes could not even be done at all. I also was thinking about getting a Kindle. Well, there is no Kindle for Linux, so I won't be able to read my Kindle books on my laptop. Did I mention I was getting pretty tired of using the sub-par photography software instead of using the excellent program Adobe Lightroom which only runs on Windows and Mac OSX?

It was time to make a change. I reluctantly reinstalled Windows 7 on my laptop. Since then, I have used Amazon's MP3 downloader, Kindle for PC, Adobe Lightroom, Microsoft Word,, Netflix On-Demand, Steam and iTunes as I end up purchasing an iPod Touch to read Kindle books. While I had not planned on using my PC for games, I had sold my Wii and my Xbox 360 died, so Steam turned out to be a very nice surprise as I use it to sometimes play games on my laptop.

To sweeten the deal even more, I have Ubuntu installed in a Virtual Box so I can still use Linux when I want. By making it full screen, it is as if I am running Ubuntu natively so it is quite effective. I even use Cygwin in Windows to do some of the file management and backup stuff that was so easy to do on the command line in Linux.

The bottom line is that, while I really wish I could get by with just using Linux, it just isn't worth it for me. I would be forced to use inferior software in several cases and would be missing out on some functionality completely by using only Linux. Windows allows me to produce (Lightroom, Word) and consume (Netflix, Steam) more and better.

While there is a reasonable chance that someday, some of the software I have mentioned will be available for Linux, it is not there today. The commercial operating systems will probably always have the best and most cutting-edge software as long as software is still relevant. Perhaps as more and more things move to the web browser instead of being a local application, the differences between the operating systems will start to matter much less. I look forward to that day, and I look forward to going back to being Linux-only if I ever see it as the best option one day again.

2011

2011-01-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

The new year marks an opportunity for people to feel like they can start over. They promise to start eating healthy, lose weight, and be nicer to others. The unfortunate truth is that people hardly ever keep their promises. New Year's Resolutions are typically vague objectives with no real direction or well defined way to measure their progress. If you lose 1 pound in all of 2011, you lost weight, but is this really what the original intention was, to just lose 1 pound? While I see New Year's Resolutions as mostly unnecessary (if one really wants to change something about themselves, they should have the power to do it NOW, rather than some arbitrarily defined calendar date), they are traditional and I think it is sometimes worth respecting tradition. So, here are my 2001 New Year's Resolutions, although really, they are things I have been thinking about lately and want to change. regardless of what time of the year it is.

Do not check Google or Yahoo email, Twitter, Facebook, Slickdeals, Amazon, and other time wasting and non-work related websites or use a chat client while at work. This is a big one for me as I am finally approaching the end of my graduate school career early this year. I need to finish up a scientific paper, prepare for a conference, and finish writing my thesis, as well as deal with other logistical issues with graduating. This goal will be assisted by using a Chrome plugin called StayFocusd which blocks certain sites for a specified period of time. Firefox has a similar one called LeechBLock.
Do not waste time on small financial decisions. This is another big one for me. Once graduating I will have no regular income or benefits. While I do have some savings and the ability to do fairly well paid contract work anywhere in the world pretty reliability, it still is scary to not have a regular income. I think this fear has caused my spending habits to relapse a bit. I have been willing to buy a lot of stuff lately but I have wasted a ton of time doing research and trying to find the best deal. Often, my decision to purchase something was based on the deal alone. Does it really makes sense to worry about buying a book when it is $8 instead of $10? I want to start only buying things that I actually want/need rather than a want that is inspired by a deal. To do this, I want to completely stop looking at slickdeals.net, other than a search for an item that I decided I wanted independent of the deal. This will basically cause me to almost never look at the website. Also, should I decide I want something, as long as it is under $50 or so, I just want to buy it quickly with no more than 3 minutes of searching for the best deal. If it is much more expensive, I want to aim to spend less than 1 hour of researching the product and the deal. There is some psychological benefit I believe to knowing that you got a deal. My new iPod Touch is the "iPod Touch I spent $180 for instead of the retail price of $229" instead of just my "iPod Touch." Nonetheless, I see this as irrational behavior and I want to try to eliminate thinking in this manner.
Do not criticize or generally make fun of others. One thing that I have noticed over the years is that people really like to gossip. I am not much of a gossiper myself, but I do sometimes criticize others behind their back to my close friends, whether it is some random person making a fool of themselves at a bar or a friend who annoyed me. This is something I want to eliminate completely.
One blog post per week. This will be a tough one for me as I often find it difficult to think of things to write about. If I cannot think of anything interesting, at the very least, I want to write about what I did in the past week. There may be times when even then I do not feel like I have much to write about. Hopefully, this will push me to start engaging in more interesting activities and conversations to inspire my weekly blog posts.

So, these are my New Year's Resolutions. I also have some smaller goals like making sure my computer is off by 11 pm, not eating food past 10 pm, start learning Japanese (no specific goal at the moment, this is one where I am not convinced of it enough so I feel ok with making it vague. At the moment, my goal is to learn to read and write the Hiragana.), and take regular recordings of my weight, body fat percentage, and arm/leg/chest/etc measurements.

I want 2011 to be a big year for me. I will be undergoing huge changes as my life radically changes once I graduate. Rather than letting myself get complacent, I want to always be in a continual stage of improvement and learning. This will be tough to maintain as my life will be much less structured when I graduate unless I really work at it. If you notice me slipping on my goals, feel free to remind me of them with a link to this post. I hope by making this public, it will help me stick to them.

On Minimalism

2010-12-06T13:16:00.000-08:00

As I approach the end of my graduate school career, I am forced with the decision of what to do with all of my stuff. As soon as I finish, I won't have any kind of permanent place to live for a while, so this means I need to get my stuff down to the essentials.

I have lived pretty simply the past few years, so compared to most people, my room is pretty empty. Nonetheless, I still have a lot of stuff to get rid of. Over the past year or so, I have sold and given away a ton of stuff, especially books and video games. However, I have mostly restricted myself to selling things which still have fairly high market price and could get a reasonable percentage of what I paid for the item or gave away items to friends who I knew would get value of of the item. This type of downsizing is pretty easy to do from a psychological perspective. But what about all of the other stuff?

I still have a good amount of media items, especially video games, DVD's, and books. I have sold off all the high value video games and books and almost all DVD's are not worth much today due to Blu-ray and digital downloads replacing them. However, they still have a perceived value to me. In particular, some of the video games, which have sub-$10 market value, I really, truly enjoyed. It is even possible I would want to play them again someday.

I can't deny that it seems like such a shame to let go of something which I paid upwards of $60 for for about $6 (In practice, it is hard to even get the market value for a game as online resellers like Half.com or Amazon.com have somewhat hefty fees to post as well as shipping costs). It is fair to say I have a certain attachment to some of the media I have. Some things just feel like they shouldn't be given away for free or such a small price.

It is no problem to leave behind or donate clothes or shoes which cost much more than certain media items. I think this is probably because, while a used media item is essentially exactly the same as a new one, this is not the case for clothes or shoes. Also, it just seems easier to not get attached to these items.

Nonetheless, as I continue to get more and more ruthless with the things I get rid of, I am faced with some tough decisions. Some things are sentimental and some things just feel like they should have some value. Sometimes, the decisions themselves end up consuming a lot of time or energy. The challenge, then, is to not only get to the point where you can disconnect the original price paid from the current price you can sell it at, but also be to calculate the likelihood that will want or care about that item again at some point in the future. There is also the fear, that perhaps, some things are just irreplaceable.

In reality, this calculation is probably easier than it seems, and almost definitely less expensive. Almost everything I have gotten rid of, I have never missed. Additionally, if I did miss it, I could always buy it back (this has only happened once or twice). This is typically really easy and cheap to do for video games, books, and other media items. The slight discrepancy between price sold for and price repaid for is probably offset by the money made by all the other things you sold. There is also the additional benefit of just having less things and living more minimalist.

I am currently faced with the decision of selling 12 xbox 360 video games for $80. They probably cost me around $600 or so and some of them I truly enjoyed. My Xbox 360 no longer works (just type "RROD" into Google) so, in practice, I cannot even play them anymore unless I buy a new Xbox 360, which I am not going to do. A perfectly rational person might say that I am getting $80 more than what their current value to me is (i.e. $0). I think this is probably true, but I can't deny there are some painful moments as I approach a truly minimalistic lifestyle.

I still have a long way to go before I get to the point where I really feel like I am down to the essentials. It may be a tough journey, but I think it will be worth it. When I finally get to the point that everything I own can be carried by me and me alone, I think I will have a feeling of true freedom, and I can't wait!

The Sexual Rat Race

2010-11-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

Throughout life, there are many activities that humans engage in which causes momentary or temporary satisfaction or happiness, but then, after time, lead to the desire to get more or something different. A classic example is the corporate man who sacrifices more and more time and energy to move up the corporate ladder and get promotions only so he can get more prestige and more money which will most likely not actually enhance his life. People, especially in a society like the US, seem to really value hard work for the sake of hard work. If you are making money and devoting your time to something perceived as work, then this is a good trait. This desire to always be moving up and always be changing can affect other parts of our lives as well.

Evolution has trained out genes, and, as a result, us, as survival machines for our genes, to always be seeking the best and strongest partner in which to procreate with. This desire causes humans to engage in a rat race very similar to that of the traditional rat race. I call this the sexual rat race. If you have read my blog in the past, one might be convinced that I have escaped the traditional rat race. I believe I have freed myself from many material desires as well as the desire to impress people with what I have as opposed to who I am. I feel confident in living cheaply and believe I will be able to avoid sacrifice in future work situations. This has significantly reduced the stress in my life and has caused me to be happier. Nonetheless, I realize I am engaging in a sexual rat race.

The book, "The Paradox of Choice" by Barry Schwartz, discusses two types of people, maximizers and satisficers. Maximizers are clearly the rat racers of the world, and the book argues that these people "objectively" do better (higher earning jobs, better mates, etc.). Satisficers are the other type, who are more likely to settle and feel content with their choices. In a free society with so many options, these people might do "objectivity" worse than the maximizers, but often are subjectively better in terms of happiness and confidence in their decisions. In a big city, there are clearly tons of members of the opposite sex, and it is hard to ignore them, even if in a long-term relationship. While one may feel happy with their current partner, the typical maximizer or sexual rat-racer will wonder if there is something better. Even if one does get another partner, just like increases in pay or a new car, eventually it just becomes more normal again. It is indeed a rat race.

Is there a way to combat this? For some, it may be fairly easy and natural to move from one person to another, so it may not be too stressful, but for others, this could be a very stressful activity. I believe the sexual rat race is a little more complicated than the traditional rat race. It is not clear to me if it is better to be a satisficer or maximizer here. I believe by staying with one person, it may be an act of fear: fear of being alone, fear of not meeting anyone of similar quality, fear of less, etc. But it is also another endless race. No matter what, we are programmed not just to desire the best, but also to desire something different. This certainly affects men more than women. At this point, I am not sure if the best approach is to work on some cognitive training to combat the sexual rat race. Is it better to work on not being attached to the opposite sex at all or is it better to be ok with just one person and not be attached to the variety we are programmed to desire?

Books like "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature" by Matt Ridley talk about how just about everything humans do stem from the desire to ultimately reproduce. So, in some sense, the sexual rat race encapsulates what we think of as the more traditional rat race of desiring more money and corporate promotion. People engage in all this sacrificial work subconsciously to obtain the best mate. Perhaps it is best to figure out to do this without being in the money rat race, as the sexual rat race is ultimately what we are programmed to do. It certainly feels rewarding and our brains and bodies have set up several reward mechanisms for this. Ultimately, how one approaches this dilemma will have large consequences on their life. I am curious as to what other members of the community think about this dilemma and how you have dealt with this so far in your life.

The Vagabonding at Home Challenge Update 1

2010-10-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks since I posted about the Vagabonding at Home Challenge. In spite of a big road bump in the challenge (see True Tests of Your Character), I have made some progress with the challenge. First, I'll discuss how my clothing experiments have gone, and then I'll discuss some of the new gear I have tried out.

I love my Vibram Five Fingers KSO's. They are by far the best workout and running shoes I have ever used. My calves get an unbelievable workout when running in them, and they are super comfortable for wearing in the gym. Also, coupled with my size Large MSR Packtowl (which is still very small), I no longer have to bring a giant gym bag to pack my tennis shoes and normal sized towel. I now just bring a small backpack and all my workout gear packs in about 1/4 of the backpack. Like I said, I love these things.

However, I only wore them as my regular and only pair of shoes for a week or so. First of all, they make your feet sweat. And the thin layer of moisture surrounding my feet made them very cold while sitting in my air-conditioned office. My feet are actually much warmer barefoot or in sandals. Also, any slight puddle will make them wet and this is uncomfortable. Kept dry, they are a very comfortable shoe, and the sensation of feeling the texture of the ground below me is really quite amazing. However, this feeling is not enough to make me want to wear them everywhere I go. They are cold, and they probably will start to stink, although mine are not too bad yet. I have yet to try them with toe socks. They would certainly help with the coldness, but would kind of kill the barefoot aspect of the shoes. Also, they would look pretty dorky with socks. Nonetheless, a pair of sandals and a good pair of waterproof trail-runners are probably the best way to go for footwear. For now, I have my pair of Rainbow leather sandals and a pair of Vasque Blur SL Gore-Tex trail runners. These are pretty heavy and big compared to the running shoes I am used to, but should be good for a variety of conditions.

A single pair of convertible pants is probably doable, but most likely not preferable. They will start to smell a bit after 3 or 4 days without being washed, even without any serious physical activity. This can easily be remedied by hand washing them in a sink with some Dr. Bronner's liquid soap. However, if you get them seriously dirty, like I did on a 2 day, 1 night backpacking trip, hand washing is not going to do it. Well, maybe it would, but it would take a long time and some more powerful cleansing soap. I think probably it is best to have 2 pairs of convertible pants, washing them by hand every couple of days or so, and then every other week or so paying to get them cleaned with either a washing machine or a dedicated hand washer, which are very cheap and easy to find in most countries.

The 2 pairs of Ex Officio underwear have really been great. Every night I wash one of them and hang it to dry with my Rick Steve's Clothesline. I have only used my two pairs and have only hand washed them. They are as fresh as can be, and I do not see a reason to get any more at the moment.

I have not made much progress on getting the right shirts. I ordered a medium, large, and x-large Icebraker Bodyfit 200 Contour Crews from REI.com. These were not really my preferred shirts but would help me to understand how Icebreaker Bodyfit shirts fit. Well, they all fit pretty awkwardly. I usually wear medium t-shirts but it was a toss-up between the large and x-large versions. I didn't like the fit of either really. I also tried out some other Icebreaker t-shirts, but again I did not like the fit. Unfortunately, REI did not have medium versions of the Tech T-Lite 150 shirt, and this is the one that I think my research so far will probably be the best for me. I will probably order some of these soon, although at $60 each, it is hard to convince myself to do it. There are several other Merino wool brands such as Smartwool and Minus 33. The Minus 33 products seem to be about 2/3 the cost of the others and reviews for them are pretty favorable for comfort and durability. The might be good ones to try. For now, I have just been wearing a couple of Hanes medium black crew t-shirts. I have not had any issues with smell, and they even look reasonably nice but I am pretty sure if I was in a hot area where I was sweating, these would get gross fast. The good side: they are only about $3 each. I also currently have several cheap synthetic, dry fast shirts on order to see how these perform and look.

I am starting to get a good idea of what my clothing will be for moderate to hot temperatures, but what about rainy and cold days? To get high quality rain and cold gear, one could easily spend $1000 or more. I want to find a good balance between cost and value. The most efficient way to prepare for a variety of cold, rainy, or combination of the two conditions is to use a good layering system. That means a good base layer (whatever t-shirts I get will do), a good insulation layer, and a quality waterproof shell top layer. I will start with the shell.

I ordered several shells including the Mountain Hardwear Typhoon, Marmot Oracle, GoLite Tumalo, and the least expensive option of the four, a Marmot Precip jacket. In the end, I decided to keep the Marmot Precip as it seems to be a good balance of weather protection, price, and weight. It also has a nice style which seems at home in the city as well as on the trails. I additionally picked up a pair of Marmot Precip Full-zip rain pants, although these may end up not really being necessary for me. My convertible pants are pretty water resistant, and I never really cared too much about my legs getting a bit wet anyway.

For the insulation layer, I have tried out several products including the Marmot Zeus Down Jacket, GoLite Cady 2477 Jacket, Arc'teryx Apache AR Zip Fleece Pullover, and the Patagonia R3 High-Loft Fleece Jacket. The Marmot and GoLite are down and synthetic stuffing respectively but their "shiny" outer fabric looks a bit too ridiculous to wear in the city. At least for now, I decided against these "shiny" fabric styles, although the Marmot Zeus, in particular, was very warm, light, and comfortable. The Arc'teryx was pretty warm, but not warm enough given the bulk and lack of compressibility. I ordered a large Patagonia R3 but this was a bit too large for me, so I am currently waiting on an exchange for a medium. This jacket is incredibly warm and highly compressible, although also, quite expensive. I also have a couple of other cheaper insulation layers from White Sierra just to see the difference in weight and warmth with the premium priced R3.

My gear quest is still very much a work in progress. It has been going somewhat slow as I wait on somewhat slow shipping, and the fact that I have been so busy with other things. I hope to have all of my stuff ready to go within the next couple of months. The backpack will be a very important part of this, and it is very tough deciding the best way to carry all my stuff in addition to a laptop and DSLR camera. Without the DSLR, I am sure I could pack VERY light, maybe even at the level of Tynan. Wanting to bring my DSLR though makes things a bit more complicated. Stay tuned for more updates on my gear and let me know if you have any suggestions!

True Tests of Your Character

2010-10-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

It is very easy to preach one thing or another. It is totally different to follow through on what you preach. When faced with a decision which flies in the face of everything you have been talking about, this is when your character and principles must really be tested. It is easy to preach virtue and honesty, but much harder when faced with the option to almost effortlessly download copyrighted media online for free. If you really want to tests someone's character, there must be options available to them that go against what they say. It is easy to keep dating the person you are with when there is no one else around. But how is it if something new comes along?

I was recently faced with a potentially life-altering decision. I had a job offer, which to most people, would seem like an incredibly extraordinary opportunity. One in a million. Impossible to refuse. It was totally unexpected, and initially, I completely wrote it off as it flies in the face of everything I have been convincing myself of the past two or three years. The job offer meant I would have to postpone, for at least two years, my long-term travel plans and desire to work on my own projects. I specifically meant to NOT look into any job opportunities because I did not want to face any decisions or compelling offers. Sometimes life throws you curve balls though.

Despite initially thinking there would be no way I would take the job offer, I decided to not decline it right there outright, but just to sit on it for a bit. After thinking a little more and talking to my research advisor, I was able to work out a pretty sweet deal. I would graduate about 5 months earlier than originally planned and start at the new job almost 2 months later. Not only would I finish graduate school early, but I also had bought myself some time in between to travel and explore my own projects and ideas. But 2 months is very different from the 2 years I had imagined. This was DEFINITELY a compromise. However, for a while, I thought maybe it was one I could live with.

Everyone who really knew me could not believe I was considering the job offer. I have been quoted on saying ridiculous things such as "even if I got offered a job with a salary of $500,000 a year, I would still have to turn it down." I had spent the past two years proving to myself how little money I really need to live a complete and happy life. I had taught myself that time was your most valuable asset, not money. But here I was, faced with a clear option which went against all this. My character and values were most definitely being tested.

The next week of my life was one of the most stressful in recent memory. Going through in my head all the pros and cons of taking the job or not. Most of the time, I felt a slight leaning toward taking it, and then, in a moment of extreme clarity, I felt so ridiculous about the prospect of taking it. I knew it was not what I wanted. This cycle persisted.

In the end, I decided not to take the job and stick with my original plan to travel, take time off, and work on my own projects and maybe projects with friends. It is the MUCH scarier option, that is for sure. But it is the one that excites me. It is the one that pushes me to grow. My character was tested, and I had passed the test. The next time yours is, will you?

The Vagabonding at Home Challenge

2010-09-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

While it is important to know how to live an awesome life while in graduate school, it is just as important to have one after graduate school. I can hardly believe I am typing these words, but I will be done with school in less than a year (and hopefully much less). After school, I plan on taking a mini-retirement while travelling for at least a year full time.

If you have read previous posts of mine, you would know I value efficiency and simplicity. I do not just want to go out and see a few things while blazing from place to place, I want to give vagabonding, or long-term travel, a chance as a lifestyle. There are numerous ways to make money which are independent of location, and I plan to explore these while travelling. Nonetheless, with my extremely simple and inexpensive life as a grad student, I have managed to save a bit of money which will hopefully allow me to travel for a while even if I cannot successfully make money on the road.

I want to maintain a simple, yet highly connected and productive life while seeing the world. This will involve taking some steps to make sure I have the right gear. One thing that I absolutely require is that I must be travelling light, very light. However, I must still be very functional and not make any huge sacrifices of convenience, productivity, or connectivity.

Since I still have a bit of time left in my graduate career, I have decided it is important to get started on what I call "The Vagabonding at Home Challenge." I want to live in such a way that will closely mimic how my life will be when I am travelling. This will force me to start looking at the gear which I think will be useful on my travels, whether it is clothing, technology, or other things. Every ounce matters when aiming to travel very light, so this will force me to discover what I really need (and not just what someone else's travel blog says I will need).

In this initial state, I will primarily focus on clothing. Since where I live now is pretty warm all year, I will focus on clothing for moderate to hot weather. As far as clothes go, this is my plan:

1 pair of shoes
1 pair of convertible pants
2 pairs of underwear
2 shirts

This is it, at least for now. There are also a couple further rules. Once I have all of the items (at the moment, I am still waiting to get the shirts I plan to use), I can wear these items and only these items. On top of this, I can only wash these items in a sink, just like I would probably often have to do while travelling.

Now let's talk about the clothes I am testing. My ideas so far are very much inspired by people like Tynan and Tim Ferriss, but the point is I need to figure out if their recommendations are right for me. The current list is:

1 pair of Vibram Five Fingers KSO shoes (Black/Gray Camo)
1 pair of White Sierra Convertible Trail Pants (Stone)
2 pairs of Ex Officio Men's Give-N-Go Boxers (1 Black and 1 Charcoal)
2 Icebreaker Short Sleeve T-Shirts (haven't decided on exact models)

I have had an interest in the barefoot-style Five Fingers for a while now, and I have heard good things about them as a travel shoe. The pants are just the ones I already have, and I find them to be just fine. The quick drying Ex Officio boxers have the motto "17 countries. 6 weeks. One pair of underwear. Okay, maybe two." It seems like these are right up my alley. The Icebreaker shirts come recommended from many long term travellers and are made of Merino wool which is known to be extremely resistant to odors while being very durable and comfortable. I have a bunch on order from REI.com in various style and sizes, and I will be sure to report what I find.

I am very excited to see how my initial clothing challenge goes. Will my office mate say I smell? Will my friends get bored of my attire? It will be interesting to see, but this is exactly why I am doing this. If I can be comfortable with this lifestyle during my normal life, I am sure it will be good for my life after graduate school.

When Social Proof Misleads Us

2009-02-08T20:25:00.001-08:00

While driving up to the mountains to do some snowboarding, I noticed something interesting. While the roads were perfectly clear, there were still tons of cars using chains on their tires. I quickly realized that this was a "monkey see monkey do" type phenomenon when I saw these large turnout areas with tons of cars pulled over putting chains on their tires.

It is very natural, as well as useful, for humans to take shortcuts in making decisions using social proof. When people saw that so many cars were chaining up their tires, their mind used this as a shortcut to tell them to put chains on their tires as well. In many cases, using social proof is useful, but in this case, it clearly was not. Having chains on the tires while not needed on the mountain is not that big of a deal, but it made me think of some of the more far reaching consequences of social proof.

Much of the world's consumerism is based on the concept of social proof. If everybody wants it, then I need to get it. If Paris Hilton wore it, it must be good. These types of thinking, unchecked, will inevitably lead to a rat racer type of lifestyle, where you are constantly listening to what other people tell you you need to buy or what you need to do. It is important to rationally evaluate each important decision you make and find out what your real motivation is. Social proof may be an indication, but certainly not a validation of a quality decision. Use social proof with caution.

Cure the Coffee Addiction

2009-01-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

Most grad students waste tons of time and money on coffee. Everyday, I walk by a plethora of grad students, post docs, and other scholars sitting down and wasting time drinking coffee. We have to cure this addiction. The best way to avoid coffee is to never drink it in the first place. Despite what all of your peers and professors will tell you, coffee is not necessary to being productive, awake, and social. Just like any drug, consuming caffeine in copious amounts will make you want to consume even more.

Consider this. Most grad students seem to drink coffee at least once in the morning and then again in the early afternoon. Some of them make their own which is probably pretty inexpensive, but many go to the variety of coffe carts located around a typical college campus. This costs anywhere from $2-$6 for two coffee runs per day. Let's consider that the average is $4. That means $20 per week for coffee. Or 50 x $20 = $1000 per year for coffee. Consider what one can do with $1000 a year, and ask yourself if coffee is worth it.

Some arguments against quitting coffee may be the following:
1. "It is a social drink, and it is fun to sit down, have a cup of joe, and talk with my friends"
2. "I need the caffeine"

I offer counter arguments for both of these. For the first, why distract yourself from getting what you really want to get done? One of the goals of a spicy lifestyler is to be efficient with our time and money. Going to get coffee during your productive time will distract you and force you to waste more time. The goal is not to be a workaholic, but would you rather have 4 hours a day of productive work, or 10 hours a day of distractions with the same amount of work done. I'd rather spend my extra 12 hours of free time pursuing other things. I guess it is really up to the individual. I know you enjoy time with your friends, but I would rather spend that time pursuing some adventure or chilling somewhere with a lot better atmosphere.

No one needs the caffeine. Yes, caffeine can be useful, I use it sometimes too. Here's a solution though. Green tea ($2 to $3 for 100 bags at your local asian market. Chances are that if you are in grad school, there is a large Asian community near your school necessitating the market.) Buy yourself a little water boiler (your office mates will like this too) and some green tea in bulk at your local asian market. Drink one cup of tea in the morning and one in the afternoon if you must. I can live with green tea. Yes, there is some caffeine in it, but if the Japanese are using it, it can't be too bad! Coffee usually has much more caffeine than tea, so the initial transition may be tough. Don't quit cold turkey. Do it slowly, set short term goals. For example, try "can i not drink a cup of coffee for 6 hours" instead of "can i not drink a cup of coffee for 6 months". Eventually anyone can get over this addiction.

Stretching

2009-01-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

In an effort to become more flexible and have an overall healthier body, I have been wanting to implement stretching into my workout routine. I initially though this would be as simple as doing a few of the "standard" stretches. However, after doing some research on stretching, there are actually a lot of important factors to consider. This post will be a short summary of the article found here.

There are three important types of muscle contractions relevant for stretching. Isometric contraction is one in which no movement takes place, because the load on the muscle exceeds the tension generated by the contracting muscle. This occurs when a muscle attempts to push or pull an immovable object. Additionally, there are two types of isotonic contractions, where movement of the muscle does takes place. The first is concentric contraction where the muscle decreases in length such as lifting a weight up. The second is eccentric contraction where the muscle increases in length such as lowering a weight down. All three will be important for the various types of stretching:

Ballistic stretching uses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion.
Dynamic stretching involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both.
An active stretch is one where you assume a position and then hold it there with no assistance other than using the strength of your agonist (the muscles which cause movement to occur) muscles.
A passive or static stretch is one where you assume a position and hold it with some other part of your body, or with the assistance of a partner or some other apparatus.
Isometric stretching is a static stretch in which the muscles are tensed
PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) stretching combining passive and static stretching.

PNF Stretching has been said to be the fastest way to increase flexibility [Link].Typically these stretches are done with a partner actively stretching the participant. There are ways of doing it yourself however (PNF Self Stretching Techniques, Ninos, J. Strength and conditioning journal. Lawrence,Kan. 23(4), Aug 2001, 28-29.).

The benefits of stretching are numerous: reduced muscle tension, increased flexibility, enhanced muscular coordination, increased blood circulation, increased energy levels, as well as other physical and even psychological benefits [Link]. Stretching, like almost anything health related, is not without controversy and competing information. Athletes are often told to stretch after exercise in an effort to relieve soreness, but a study has shown this does not actually have any benefit and may be detremental to performance [Link]. Ballistic stretching is generally not recommend due to the increased chance of pulling a muscle due to the bouncing motion. However, a study showed that ballistic stretching provides similar gains in flexibility to other methods, without any negative side effects (Millar and Nephew 1999). Also, overstretching and putting too much strain on your muscles is potentially dangerous. It is always difficult to sort through the myriad information on these type of subjects, but the overall indication is that stretching in a safe and controlled manner regularly is beneficial.

My current plan is to implement stretching between my resistance exercises in order to be most efficient with my time. Over the next few weeks, I will try to experiment with various types of stretches and see which are most beneficial.

A Life Without Compromise?

2009-01-11T13:26:00.000-08:00

In the quest to maximize subjective life quality, we are faced with many questions and decisions on how to optimally obtain this goal. One of the questions faced will inevitably be, "When should I make a short term compromise in order to obtain this goal?" A very simple example of this is working on something boring in order to get to more interesting stuff or to make money to pay for other more fulfilling experiences. I want to talk about compromise in the social sense though. When is it good for me to do something with friends or people when I really do not want to do it at the moment?

In Late Night Adventures, cspice talks about the adverse affects of alcohol and sleep deprivation on health and how these typically accompany night life outings. Furthermore, he argues that one can get most of the benefit of the night life without these issues. While this may be true for certain people, I think for many, these could have potential adverse social affects. For example, if going to a bar or club, there is a good possibility of not having a good environment before midnight. Many people do not even begin to go out until 11 pm or so, so there may only be an hour or half hour of a good amount of people at a bar or a club. Certainly, an issue would be to find a bar or a club with a good density of people before midnight. Also, staying out no later than midnight has the obvious coordination problem of going out with friends. Most people plan on staying out until 2 am or later when going out. Either you would have to drive separately or find people who also want to be in around the same time. Your friends who like to stay out later would potentially become less likely to invite you considering the extra coordination problems.

Sleep deprivation and irregularity in one's sleep schedule can be potential problems of staying out late. However, I think for most people, these effects are pretty small. I know for myself, that getting in around 2 or 3 am and sleeping until 10 or so on a weekend will not cause me to need to stay up later and lose sleep for the work week. Furthermore, there was a comprehensive study that suggested less than 8 hours of sleep is optimal. [Link] To be exact, it suggested 7 hours was optimal. This is not a huge difference, but the point is that people probably need less sleep than they think they do. This study was done with an extremely large data set although there is no fundamental evidence to suggest that 7 hours is optimal. However,the same is true for the conventional wisdom which says 8 hours is the best. I am not suggesting that sleep deprivation is good, but studies suggest most humans do not need the full 8 hours of sleep to be healthy. Most importantly, I think each individual needs to test out their own sleep schedule and find out what works for them best, while also considering if the potential social benefits/detriments are worth it.

Alcohol is ubiquitous with socializing and partying in America. The optimal amount to drink for your health is probably zero. However, anyone who has consumed alcohol before knows that it is usually pretty fun to do so. Keeping in mind the potential health and psychological consequences of alcohol, I think that it is probably not a bad idea to occasionally drink alcohol and every once in a while to even indulge a bit. Certainly I, as well as many others, had some very memorable drunken nights. The point is that it is not just all about health.

There are many pressures from society that encourages people to do many things they do not want to. It is important to identify these things and figure out the appropriate amount of compromise to still maintain a healthy social life. Your physical health is certainly very important, but I would rather live a slightly less healthy life in the company of more fun and interesting people than in a life without compromise.

Being a Social Coordinator

2008-11-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

In the lifelong quest of working on social interactions and developing a high quality and dynamic social network, there are certain actions one can take to put them on the best path to success. Over the past few months, my friends and I have been leaders in making social events happen, that is, coordinating BBQ's and other social outings. In this process, our social network has slowly grown, and often, we are the "go-to" people for our friends who are looking to have some fun.

I propose that being a social coordinator is an important step to developing a quality social life for a couple of reasons. The first is the obvious one of having social proof. If you are the one bringing everyone together and introducing people, they will all see how many friends you have and how you know how to bring the right type of people together. This will lead to more contacts as they want to bring their other friends into the world you have helped create with them. A second reason is having flexibility with people you do not know very well. If you run into a cute acquaintance on campus or at the grocery store, it is a lot easier to say something like, "Hey, a bunch of my friends and I are having a BBQ tomorrow night and you should come. Bring your friends!" as opposed to "Hey, it was nice seeing you. We should hang out sometime." Perhaps both are ok, but it is a lot easier for people to meet up with you if it is not a 1-on-1 interaction. Additionally, you are even encouraging them to bring their own friends (guys or girls of course). Now you have people who would typically not be comfortable coming to your house because it would seem "weird", who are now comfortable with the idea. The quicker you make them comfortable with you and your surroundings, the more likely the person, especially a girl, will be comfortable enough to do other things as well.

Another important part of this idea is that you are always designing your social life yourself. You are not relying on other people to make it happen. For example, I love having BBQ's, as opposed to going to a club and spending a ton of money. It is extremely cheap to fund even for a bunch of people (and people are usually willing to bring beer and other stuff). I can have steaks, corn, and potatoes for 6 people for around $20, which is a small price to pay for an ever expanding social network, as well as a good time and good food. By designing your own events, this gives you power to show people new types of things. For example, we have our BBQ's in the back of my friend's parent's house. It is not the coolest place in the world to go to...until people actually come and have a great time. I am pretty sure every one who has ever been to one of our BBQ's has come at least twice.

This process of being the social coordinator has an upward spiral effect. By showing you are someone who can take action and be a leader, you are portraying yourself as strong person, which will only make people want to be with you more. The only downside of being a social coordinator as it is simply not possible to start at zero. You need to have a least one or two other really good friends to be your partners. If you have one or two fun guys around and you start inviting a bunch of people, eventually people will starting taking a bite, and they will likely want to keep biting.

Balance

2008-11-16T15:28:00.001-08:00

People often talk about finding the right balance in life between work, socializing, romance, and other aspects of life. In practice, however, this can be very difficult to achieve. I tend to be an extremely focused person, and I find it very difficult to switch modes from working to socializing.

Lately, I have been in an extreme work mode. I have done nothing but research, programming, and other studies. Nonetheless, in an effort to strike a balance, I started making some more efforts to hang out with friends. This has quickly caused a change in my interests and priorities. I find it very difficult to have the psychological strength to focus on studying and programming while wanting to be social or interact with girls. For this reason, I find a proper balance very hard to achieve.

There may be hope however. To get things done and achieve, it has been shown that extreme focus is very valuable. Trying to incorporate some studying AND socializing into every day of the week will likely cause too much distraction for one or the other. So perhaps, it is best to entirely focus on studying and other intellectual pursuits during the week, and ONLY focus on socializing and fun stuff like watching movies or playing games during the weekend. If you have the strength, the commitment to this type of schedule may allow you to be extremely productive during the week while maximizing your social interactions on the weekend.

This schedule is in an effort to minimize the effects of a cyclic psychology. While it may seem tough to batch your time in such a way, it is important to remember that working for a whole week will likely increase the chances of obtaining flow in your work which will make you not care as much about socializing anyway. Also, knowing that you are committed to a schedule will make you feel pressure to capitalize on your time. The important thing is not to see the week as a sacrifice, with the reward of the weekend. As your work becomes a flow experience, your week should be just as rewarding as your weekend. It will be interesting to see if one can successfully implement this and find themselves enjoying and being more successful in both their work and social life.

On Motivation

2008-11-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

Motivation to do all the things we want to do in life is often very hard to obtain. Sometimes external factors help us obtain the motivation, but it would be much more convenient if the motivation came purely from within. Doing research and not having many external factors like tests or homework assignments can vastly slow down progress and significantly reduce effort. Ultimately, if you are doing the things you really want to do, motivation should not be too hard, but even then, it can be.

As an example, I am taking a programming class and learning many things I legitimately really want to learn. Yet, every time we have an assignment I dread starting on it. However, the fact that I am getting a grade and have due dates for the assignments forces me to start. Once started, I usually thoroughly enjoy the assignments. However, the external motivation of the class is essential to make me work on the project and ultimately obtain flow from the challenge of the assignment. I surely would not have learned as much as I have in such a quick time without the course.

It is easy to be motivated to work when external factors are involved and the work is consistent with your overall goals. However, when there are no external factors it becomes much tougher. For example, I told myself I would finish writing a paper on my research by the end of the week and gave myself two weeks to accomplish it. I actually finished it in just over one week, which helps to explain part of the problem. It is extremely difficult to assess the challenge and time frame associated with self-imposed goals. Therefore, you really have no idea when to set the deadline. I finished my paper in about 10 days but actually could have easily finished it within 7. However, if I had vastly underestimated the difficulty of my task, I would not have met my goal. But what would have been the consequence? Nothing. I think this is why a lot of people recommend people make their goals public so that if they do not complete them, they suffer the embarrassment, but I do not think I am too affected by embarrassment.

I am really not sure what the solution is to keep one motivated. It certainly helps to be working on things you care about, but even then, I find myself working at a prodding pace without the external motivation factors. Certainly a coherent incentive environment would be valuable for this situation but this type of environment will not always be available.

Another thing I have noticed about motivation, at least for me personally, is the motivation to do something physical like exercising is much easier to do than something mental like programming or something social like going to a bar. Perhaps this is something I have just trained my body to crave. Nonetheless, I can always make it to the gym to exercise. It is obviously much more mindless than doing mental work or being social and perhaps this is the draw of it. I am curious to see if any studies have been done to see how people's motivation change to do physical or mental work as well as the motivation to be social. The explanation may just be that I really have trained myself and have forgotten the pain period when I was first getting started. Maybe it really is possible to make a schedule for doing intense work, exercise, and socializing. However, it is just too easy to ignore any of these things. There has to be a way to make it easier. Any ideas?

The Imposter Syndrome

2008-10-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

I went to a seminar today which was for grad students who felt inadequate academically. Either they did not feel as smart as their peers, felt like they could not contribute to their research, or just generally felt uncomfortable as a grad student. I have felt these feelings before and was curious to get a sense of what other graduate students felt. This is what I learned about the "Imposter Syndrome."

There were essentially two types of grad students in the seminar, those who were doing research and those who did not. Those who did not complained about how their professors were mean and how they often felt embarrassed due to a lack of knowledge. People doing research felt similar concerns, but in a different way. Either their research was too open ended, or they felt like they were not contributing something important to it. While listening to the other graduate students, it made me think how essentially all of these problems related to the fundamental lack of flow in graduate school.

One girl doing research said that she barely sees her adviser and feels like her work is unimportant. She mentioned how she has no feedback and no clear goals. This is certainly not a conducive situation for a flow experience, but this is, however, often the nature of research. In my own research, I have often wasted weeks and even months on problems which end up not having a real solution or some inconclusive results. This leads to long periods of uncertainty and frustration, often with feelings that I am wasting my life or not doing anything important. I actually suggested to this girl to consider writing pedagogical papers on the topics she is studying. While these may not be productive in the dog-eat-dog research world, by having produced something, it would likely help her cope with her lack of feedback and well defined goals. In general, if you can small chunk a big project into pieces, it is much better than always obsessing over the end result.

Many people commented on feel the lack of a sense of belonging or community. Grad school and especially research can be an incredibly lonely and isolating experience. This can lead to even more intense feelings of inadequacy due to the natural tendency of people thinking everyone else is doing well while they are doing poorly. One graduate student expressed how he simply could not do the homework for one class. However, he had not even tried to work with other students. While I barely talk to the people in my study group from my first year from grad school anymore, I fondly look back on it as a fight we went through together and succeeded in. However, once people stop taking classes and go their separate ways, it is hard to find a good grup of people who you can relate with.

The counselors at the meeting encouraged people to try to maintain a good balance between work and social. I challenged this and said that because graduate students are usually extremely focused people, it is often not really possible to switch from one mode to the other, that is, to go from working hard on extremely analytical problems (many of the students were scientists and engineers), to going in to a "normal" social mode. It is not surprising that many scientists are not extremely social. What they do does not access the same parts of the brain that helps in social situations. Therefore, it is really challenging to maintain a real balance. It is easy to write down on a planner time for work and time for play, but it is a much greater challenge to be mindful of both.

So what did I learn from this seminar? There are a lot of grad students who identified a lot of problems similar to what I and my friends have felt. Many of these are related to the lack of flow in grad school. Especially while doing research, there is generally little to no feedback and the challenge is often unknown or too great. There is also the problem with upward comparison, in the sense that many are surrounded by brilliant people all the time who are experts in the field. In fact, as soon as I left the seminar, I went to a meeting with my adviser and a postdoc, where they essentially talked about something for two hours which I understood very little about. I do not even have any real direction to obtain that understanding. It can be very tough psychologically to ignore these types of things. I think grad school can potentially be a very rewarding experience, but it will take some fundamental changes in the way professors view their students, in both classes and research, as well as many personal changes with the grad student himself.

Powering a Tech Startup: Part 1

2008-10-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Starting a business can be one of the most exciting undertakings, but also one of the most treacherous. There are so many challenges requiring incredible psychological strength to conquer. There may be a great cost in terms of time and money, but potentially a great reward in the form of a successful business and financial freedom. With this said, it is probably not worth it to spend 20 years working on a business before it becomes successful. This would likely be way too emotionally and physically taxing, and it would most probably not maximize life quality. Trying to decide what is the best path to starting a business while maintaining your motivation and psychology is tough in and of itself. This is the focus of this article.

Most successful companies do not start out with the exact idea which ultimately makes them successful. With that said, it is important to work on projects which lead you on the path to coming up with these sort of ideas. It is extremely important to not be too idealistic when coming up with short term business goals and projects. The process of staying on the right path to success is made much easier with a coherent incentive environment, where you are living with your friends and business partners. This is almost like a support network to keep each other motivated and focused on the business's goals. It is probably good to have a mix of 2 to 4 individuals with varying degrees of practicality and idealism. If everyone is too idealistic, the chances of success are very small as you try to take on the biggest, most interesting projects. Save those for later. If the group is too practical, the group will fall into the trap of only looking for projects which will bring money and will potentially end up not even enjoying the process as well as not being successful. Certainly, there will always be problems which everyone will not always want to work on all the time. This brings me to the next point.

I believe it is very important to maintain at least a part time job throughout the beginnings of the startup. Most likely, it is best to have a full-time job in the initial brainstorming stages. This will ensure that you are bringing in capital which will be necessary to fund the startup as well as providing a coherent incentive environment for keeping up with working on projects, even if they are externally motivated. I think it would be extremely difficult to just jump right in to making your startup a full time job for a few reasons. There WILL be periods where you have no ideas and are unsure of what to study or work on. This can easily cause severe motivation problems and as you see you are accomplishing nothing, will severely hurt your morale. However, with the external motivation imposed on you while having a job, this will provide some structure for being somewhat productive at least. As long as your job is some sort of tech job, you will always be learning something which may be useful in the long run. Without a job, it might be much more difficult to convince yourself to keep learning if it does not seem immediately useful.

It is probably best to maintain a full-time job at first and have regular discussions with your business partners. This is the brainstorming stage, and it may take a while. Once a reasonable plan for action is decided upon, it might be good to scale back your work to part time. I definitely do not think this is the stage to quit though. Having a tech job really does help to provide a coherent incentive environment for furthering your education and abilities. At this stage, it really needs to start becoming something you are actively working on though. Paul Graham, founder of Viaweb, a piece of software which allowed users to found their own Internet stores, wrote an article about startups found here. Here are the main points:

three most important components of a tech startup are good people, making something people want, and spending as little money as possible
look at something people are trying to do, and figure out how to do it in a way that doesn't suck
try to work with "animals", say to yourself "so-and-so is an animal", if it doesn't make you laugh, then they might be good people to work with
work with smart people who still know how to say "i don't know"
2 to 4 founders is the best
get version 1 out ASAP (as my friend Chris from home said "don't focus on getting the Pulitzer prize right away!" while working on a writing project)
worth trying very very hard to make technology easy to use
go to trade shows
ask "what do people who are not like you want from technology?" (not everyone knows computers and technology like us!)
think in terms of niche markets (at least initially)
one of the most valuable things you can do is find a middle-sized non-technology company and spend a couple weeks just watching what they do with computers (you can make it easier)
focus on smaller markets and companies initially
If you build the simple, inexpensive option, you'll not only find it easier to sell at first, but you'll also be in the best position to conquer the rest of the market.
consulting companies can be self funded, but it may be hard to switch to a product company
most angel investors just expect a brief description of what you plan to do and how you're going to make money from it, and the resumes of the founders
when you set up the company, as well as as apportioning the stock, you should get all the founders to sign something agreeing that everyone's ideas belong to this company, and that this company is going to be everyone's only job (once you get to this stage). While you're at it, you should ask what else they've signed. One of the worst things that can happen to a startup is to run into intellectual property problems.
focus on being good at what you do (dollars follow value principle), advertising the brand relentlessly means your product may be lacking (word of mouth is always the best advertising)
listen to users, smart users will tell you exactly how to make a winning product, focus on users and not advertisers
be as cheap as possible, work in apartment
don't hire anyone

Paul Graham's article contains a lot of practical advice, but it only touches on the psychological aspects of starting a business. I think a cyclic psychology is one of the biggest roadblocks to staying focused on your goals. In my own experience, there is a constant oscillation between wanting to be social and wanting to work. Unfortunately, my line of work is not really consistent with the type of mindset I need to be social, so they are almost mutually exclusive. When by yourself, it is extremely easy to feel beaten down by problems which are difficult, which in my experience, can lead to feelings of frustration and loneliness. By having your friends and business partners near, this can provide a stable feedback loop to dampen the oscillations in your psychology. This would have tremendous practical benefits. For example, if one of the business members has a really good weekend with a woman, he may lose focus and want to start being too social. The other members, however, can help him to stay focused on the goals and stabilize his psychology.

To summarize, I think a coherent incentive environment with your friends and business partners as well as a part-time tech job are important practical measures on the road to success. It is important to focus on short term realistic goals and to have positive feedback loops within the coherent incentive environment to maintain a reasonable psychological state.

The Drug

2008-10-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

Human connection and interaction are fundamental needs for the average person, but when do these interactions become addictions? The "drug" is the approval that one feels from the opposite sex. The reason why this is called the "drug" is because it has many of the same addictive traits and short term benefits of drug usage.

It is a natural human desire to want affection, but it is not desirable to be in a position where you mood is extremely dependent on the way others react to you. I often find that my mood is like a roller coaster, high when a girl is giving me attention, and low when I seem to have none or one flakes on me. After a tough break up, people always say to go out and meet people or find a rebound, but this is just feeding the addiction. This may cause severe psychological disruption and can lead to periods of sadness and lessened productivity, especially if you fail. The goal is to obtain as stable of a psychology as possible, and one that is most consistent with your long term goals. This is simply not achievable when your mood is too attached to the approval of the opposite sex or other people in general. So how do we deal with the "drug"?

Probably the best way to deal with it is to dry out from it once you sense your addiction, especially if what is causing the addiction is an unstable situation such as a series of short term relationships with girls. It is certainly not advisable to avoid women for too long. I believe that sharing your life and spending time with the opposite sex is a good thing. However, when you realize you are going from one "druggy" interaction to another, this might be the time to stop yourself and focus on your own life more. This means focusing on your work or on a business or on your personal health. The approval of the opposite sex can be indeed like a drug, and it is important to be aware of this and focus on making yourself happy and content from things YOU have control over. I think this will ultimately lead to a happier life, and you'll be better prepared to effectively handle yourself when you really do meet someone who you'll care about.

Living in the Moment

2008-09-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

John Lennon said that "life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." How often in the past few years have you felt as if you were living in the moment? By this, I mean that you were acutely aware of what you were experiencing from your senses and your mind's interpretation at that exact moment, not even partially thinking at all about the past or the future. If you were working on a project, were you thinking about the end result, or were you absorbed into the actual work you were doing? If you were spending time with a beautiful woman, were you actually engaged into the experiences of being with her, or were you absorbed into thinking about what might happen in the future, whether it be sex or even marriage. I often find that it is hard to live in the moment, and be absorbed into every moment as if it was your last. I think that figuring out how to live in the moment is possibly the key to long term happiness and fulfillment.

With this said, it would probably not be smart to be totally spontaneous all the time and have no long term goals. Most people's goals and motivations fluctuate all the time, and it would become very tough to just act on any emotion you are feeling at the moment. What I mean by living in the moment is that, coupled with a general long term plan for fulfillment, you put yourself in a position to achieve your general goals, and then absorb yourself in the steps to get there. If your goal is to start a business, do not think about the riches you will potentially make, first find a project you love and would want to do even if you made no money, and money will likely follow. I find that often people work so hard to achieve some goal in a sacrificial manner, that is by not living in the moment, and then when they achieve their goals, there is no satisfaction, just the desire to develop newer goals so they might one day be happy. Certainly many people have become successful financially this way, but how many of them are truly happy?

Living in the moment is related to the concept of flow, which is a state of "optimal experience" characterized by a task or experience being possible, having clear goals and immediate feedback. People describe these experience as ones in which they lose a sense of time and are extremely focused. Ideally, every experience I partake in would have this type of feeling associated with it. There are a few things to do to make flow experiences in your everyday life more possible. Probably one of the main ways to achieve flow, at least in activities done by yourself, is to eliminate unnecessary distractions such as cell phones, email, online news websites, and other pesky people. If you are devoting any mental effort to thinking about these things, it will be very easy to fall out of a state of flow. All of these distractions are related to the actions of others. We only have control over ourselves. It is easier said than done to remove your expectations and thoughts of others, and this is related to the idea of result detachment. Another way to develop a state of flow is to go a little bit deeper into things. Sometimes topics seem so boring until you give it a chance. With a little bit of extra concentration, it is probably possible to make almost anything interesting and be on your way to achieving a true state of flow.

Living in the moment is appreciating what you have right now, not thinking about what you wish you had or what made you happy in the past. With this said, how often is it that you remember a time in the past and look back on it with a new found affection that you did not feel while actually going through the experience? Nostalgia will do this. Any time you wish you had more or think about the future, think about what you already have; your friends, your family, your work, but most importantly yourself. It really is wonderful to be alive. In today's modern society, we can fulfill our basic needs with very little money and effort. Simplifying your life is another step to living in the moment. Once you realize that you can have everything you need with so little effort, any other prizes we might get in the future are just a bonus. Because we have to worry so little about those needs for the future, we really can live much more in the moment.

Much of the world lately has seemed to become obsessed with ruthless efficiency, trying to figure out how to optimize every aspect of life. I recently had lunch with a friend, and I felt the only reason she was having lunch with me was simply to keep up with me just enough so that we would not totally drift away. Rather than enjoying her time and being more in the moment, it was just a plan for the future. Sometimes it is good to take on less so you can focus more. Why spend time with a million people who may matter to you in the future, rather than spending time with a few who matter to you now. Tell these people how much they mean to you. Let them know you care. With that said, I really do believe nearly everyone has an interesting story to tell. Seek these stories out when you are interacting with others. Some people are good story tellers and others are not. Keep the ones you can really be in the moment with, and do not worry about the people you meet who are negative or do not know how to tell their story.

Living in the moment is sometimes slowing down your life. Why rush through the morning walk to work thinking about how much you wish it was over and you were already at your desk? It is incredible what you can observe every day if you really look. Become someone who really has a passion for life. Change your routine. Seek adventure sometimes even if it means a loss in efficiency. Conquer the things you always wanted to take on, but be careful to not take them all on at the same time! I recently started really teaching myself how to swim. What have you always wanted to learn how to do? Nonetheless, it is important to remember that the process of learning is the part to enjoy, not just thinking about the end result. What would we be the point of becoming a world class swimmer like Michael Phelps if you did not enjoy the process each and every step of the way? Most big achievements do not happen overnight.

I believe that living in the moment is one of the most important concepts on the road to long term life quality maximization. It is the definition of the spicy lifestyle. Next time you find yourself rushing through something, slow down, close your eyes, take a long, deep breath, and appreciate what you are experiencing right there and at that very moment. Hopefully you will find that you are beginning to appreciate the true spiciness of life.

Lists

2008-09-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that many articles online on various news websites and blogs contain lists, whether it is the 5 steps to take to simplify your life or the 15 ways to get motivated. These are appealing to people for a couple of reasons. They are sort of like a Cliff's Notes version of the relevant content of the article, thus one can read it more quickly. More importantly however, I think lists are a way for the reader to turn their mind off. If some authority (whether that person is really an authority or just someone who has is popular) gives you the steps you need to take, it is appealing to think about how if you take those steps, you will achieve whatever the goal is. This is easier said than done.

Why is it that so many lists and books which contain algorithms are so popular, but rarely change people's lives? For example, many of the "get rich" books are top sellers and readers praise them. I bet that most of them are not millionaires, and I bet nearly all of them have really applied anything in the book to their lives. There is some psychological appeal to having the nice pretty little list so that when you get around to it eventually, you'll have all the info you need. The important thing is to actually think about the list, and if it is worthwhile, apply it. Again, this is easier said than done, but I am sure there is list somewhere on how to get motivated...

Different Standards for Different People

2008-09-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

It seems that a spicy lifestyler would ideally surround him or herself with other spicy lifestylers. Obviously, this is not always possible, and indeed, many non spicy-lifestylers are certainly worth getting to know, like many attractive women, for example. Certainly it is reasonable to maintain cordial and friendly relationships with religious people and liberals and other non spicy-lifestylers but how reasonable is it to have a long term, perhaps even romantic, relationship with someone who is so different?

Most of the women I have encountered are religious, liberal in some way, and have other inconsistent beliefs and value systems. They want expensive clothes to impress their friends, and likely want to have a big car and house shortly after getting married. It is hard for me to decide if I should accept this for what it is and even play along to some extent or if I should completely try to change their philosophy. This has been a constant debate among spicy lifestylers. Should we expose everyone we meet to the idea of the spicy lifestyle, which says that "the fundamental goal in life is to maximize expected subjective life quality, in a system that permits freedom by minimizing the initiation of force, and without the burden of religious dogmatism?"

I would tend to think that the answer to this question is "yes" but only for people who you have already established some rapport and social consequences with. For the average person, it is probably best to hide some of the aspects of it as many people just are not ready for it. It is especially important to not talk too much about religion as this is one of the most irrational and emotional subjects which will likely make the other person uncomfortable. It is not always clear how open we can be with a new person, and this skill requires calibration of the individual, which can sometimes be very tough.

Let's move on to the next question. Assuming that we have become romantic or very close with a non-spicy lifestyler, should we make compromises to our principles for their own good? For example, if your siginificant other is religious and they really want you to go to church with them, should you? This is a really tough question. It seems so hypocritical to condone something such as religion, and, in fact, it may even be unlikely to get close enough to someone who is so religious, but is it worth hurting their feelings or causing them emotional distress becuase you are not supporting them? This is once again something that is vey tough to decide on. All in all, it is probably best to be as tolerant as possible to the differences of others. If you value the person enough for their other qualities, it may even be in your best interest to go along with some of their irrational behavior. It is good to use your mind on most things, but when dealing with other people, our genetic programming and emotions have some value as well.

Living Below Your Means

2008-08-25T00:21:00.000-07:00

Graduate students do not get paid very much. However, a grad student's stipend is more than enough money to go out all the time and buy a lot of nice stuff. My friend argues that there is no reason to save any money during grad school because once we have "real" jobs, the money we have in grad school will be a trivial amount. While this may be true, the psychological consequences of spending every cent available to you may severe. Many people seem to spend all of their money (and maybe even more) no matter how much money they make. If your goal is to start a business after school, you may want to get a job first to get some start up capital. If you are someone who will end up spending all of your money, then you won't have any start up capital and you will likely not have enough guts to quit your job. Your place in the rat race will now be secure.

Let's consider the grad student who lives below his means on purpose. It really is possible to live, even in an expensive place like Southern California, on less than $15000 a year. This gives the average graduate student perhaps $5000 per year to spend on whatever they want, whether it is good food or lots of alcohol or lots of electronics. Now, $5000 likely will be trivial if you get a job making say $80000 a year, but figuring out how to live and enjoy your life on less than 1/5 of that amount is extremely valuable life experience. Let's think amount the minimal subset of luxury items that a spicy lifestyler would want to have a fulfilling life. My list would probably look something like this:

1. Computer
2. Camera Equipment
3. Cell Phone
4. Book or two to read

These items are in addition to standard things such as a bed, desk, clothes, food, internet access, etc. Think carefully about what your minimal subset of items is and if it has more than 5 or 10 items, it is likely too big. While it may not be entirely necessary to make your possessions as small as your minimal subset list, it is worth knowing how much you require to maintain or have an awesome lifestyle. Try to convince yourself that no matter what happens, you will never starve, and you will have an awesome life no matter what. Internalizing this notion will probably make you feel more free than you have ever felt before.

I think the benefits of living a simple lifestyle far outweigh the cost of living slightly less comfortably and having fewer possessions to show off. Having fewer possessions will allow you to be more mobile should you choose to move to a different location, will provide less stress because more possessions usually just make people worry more, and also will give you more money for doing things which will really lead to long term life quality maximization.

Coping with Choice

2008-08-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

I was recently in the market for a new computer. During this process, I was faced with a lot of choices. Should I buy a laptop or a desktop? If I buy a laptop, should I get a small one or a big one? For my laptop, which screen resolution should I choose? Additionally, should I search around and wait until I find a really good deal, or should I just try to buy something quickly that meets my needs? These choices caused a lot of anxiety and indecision for me. If I bought the wrong thing, I could experience buyer's remorse and feel as if I should take it back or sell it and search for something new. This is not a desirable situation.

The potential regret is not the only problem however. With all the choices and options, I end up wasting a lot of time searching online forums seeing if others could offer further information, as well as sitting at my desk thinking about what I should choose. If one values their time at all, certainly the price of many purchases is upped by this factor. Why is it that I and many others get so stressed in making decisions? Perhaps this video on TED.com can offer some incite on this issue.

This video touches on some of the interesting psychological aspects of having many options and the speaker tells of things we have probably all felt before and can relate with. Being indecisive can cause one to have very slow progress in any type of endeavor, whether it is learning a new topic or maybe even starting a business. It is important that one learns how to act with resolve and confidence, and not have regrets and worry about something they cannot control or something which is in the past. On the other hand, it is certainly important to not be entirely impulsive all time time either. Nonetheless, the more time you spend trying to decide what to study, what to buy, what to do lessens the time you have to actually do something productive and enjoy your life. It is important to quickly assess the situation and make a decision that is consistent enough with your value system. Notice that I do not say it is perfectly consistent, just consistent enough. So next time you need to buy something online, spend a little time researching the product, find a reasonable deal, and make the purchase and forget about it. You might have saved a few dollars if you search harder or waited longer, but be happy in knowing that you are not wasting your time for money that you will likely never need or care about.

The Psychological Consequences of Alcohol

2008-08-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Consuming alcohol is something so engrained in American culture and many other cultures that it is almost synonymous with hanging out with friends, watching sports, or enjoying an evening. It is the default decision for what to do on a Friday night for millions of people. Let's examine why this is, and more importantly, why does it seem so impossible for people to do without something which is known to be so harmful to one's health.

Alcohol has been called "liquid courage"; it is a substance which can make people more relaxed, more social, and more outgoing. What is the psychological block though that does not allow people to be this way without it? Perhaps it is a result of the link between fear and maturity. This basically says that as people become older, they lose their hopes and dreams as hundreds of factors such as making money, becoming popular, finding mates, and simply wanting to fit in become important. As a little kid, we all thought we could do anything and be anyone. Little kids talk to everyone they meet and seem to be the most social creatures on the planet. We smile and enjoy this behavior from children but why not from the adult who likes to interact with everyone. Why is it that so many times I interact with someone I have never met, they seem to, at least initially, wonder why the hell I would be talking to them? Surely, they must have lost something from when they were a child. Alcohol is the "cure" for this behavior. When people are drinking, they seem to be more social, more outgoing, and more accepting of new people. Alcohol is a lot of fun, right? So what is wrong with this?

Alcohol is often used as a crutch for someone to be social. It can be an excuse for lacking real personality and real social skills. It can be very fun with friends, making your emotions more intense, for the better or for the worse, but the long term effects of this may be that you desire alcohol more often and lose the ability to have fun sober. I am speculating that while the short term effects of drinking alcohol may be great in terms of the fun you had with friends or random strangers, the long term costs of losing the ability to have sober fun may not be worth it. Alcohol is a way to escape reality, a way to make almost any situation fun, but shouldn't we have the ability to do this through the power of our own mind and personality? In fact, why would we want to escape reality to begin with? Life is so interesting; there is always more to learn and new people to meet. If our normal life is something we need to escape, well then shouldn't we change our normal life? So next time you are faced with the decision of whether to drink, examine your motivations, recognize the psychological consequences, and then decide on whether it is worth it or not. You may find that it is worth it less than you think, which will put you on the road to have a more powerful and engaging personality.

Discovering Independence

2008-07-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone with my long-distance girlfriend and I realized something- I am not Howard Roark. Howard Roark is a character in Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead". He is an architect, who above all else, is an independent entity. His emotions are not tied to anyone or anything, only himself and his work. Being a graduate student is a potentially incredibly lonely and isolating experience. It is important to discover the ability to be alone.

Despite all the people I have met and all the people I know, I am often alone, and now, more than ever since my girlfriend has moved away. Realizing tonight that my mood is partly a function of her mood made me realize as I said before, I am not Howard Roark. Is being completely independent a totally desirable mode? It is hard to identify this because we are certainly not programmed to be this way by our genes. Being independent has it costs and benefits. It is good to know how to take care of oneself, but at the same time, we can learn from others and share with others for mutual benefit. My genes tell me one thing but my mind tells me another. Which do I listen to?

In this case, it is important to listen to both. It is essentially super human to be completely void of any emotion associated with anyone else. We must accept this and move on and not strive to be Ayn Rand's ideal that is Howard Roark. However, at the same time, it is important to use our rational mind to identify why one is feeling the way he or she is and to understand it. In the case of being alone, it can be distracting and depressing, causing one to feel self-loathing and lack of motivation. A simple call from a friend may completely turn you around. Knowing that another person in the world is thinking about you may make you feel temporary happiness. The medical term for extreme cases of this is bipolar disorder. It is important to try to figure out how to make these emotions as moderate as possible since we are not interested simply in temporary happiness, but long term fulfillment. Something that helps me, for example, is doing what I am doing right now, which is writing about it.

It is hard offer a prescription or a method on how to deal with being alone. This is not my intention. Nonetheless, learning to be alone is something which is crucial if you are a graduate student. A person who is mostly independent will likely find that more people want to be around him or her, and he or she will quickly appreciate so much the thing that they were trying to originally escape: being alone.

What Every Grad Student Needs to Study

2008-06-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Graduate school can be a very trying time, emotionally and physically. There are often extended bouts of work with long hours as well as bouts of loneliness and trying to understand ones motivations. The emotional stress can be the most difficult to push through. It is essential for every graduate student to understand exactly why he or she is doing what they are doing, as well as to understand how what they are doing will ultimately lead to enhanced life quality.

In addition to whatever the graduate student researches, he or she must study evolutionary psychology and philosophy. These topics are very important to having a truth based understanding of the world, and ultimately lead to a more fulfilling existence. Anyone who bases their morality, philosophy, or thoughts on concepts like religion and mysticism will likely end up having some sort of psychological damage. Religion is full of contradictions, and trying to cope with these and their impact on your life while trying to be a productive graduate student will be very difficult. If you are religious, try this prescription for freeing yourself from religion (credit goes to cspice):

Have a conversation with "god". Tell him that you have never seen proof or felt any aspect of his existence (as no one ever has; there are always scientific applications for the feelings that people get when they pray, or near death experiences, etc). Additionally, since he "made" you as the logical, rational person you are, he knows that you could never believe in anything without objective proof. Therefore, it is actually impossible for you to believe in anything supernatural, i.e. god, Jesus as the son of God, etc. So, tell god that unless he gives you objective proof of his existence in the next month, you will stop going to church and being religious in any way, and, additionally, god cannot punish you for this because you are just acting in your nature.

Hopefully, you are on your way to being free from religion now. It is important, and indeed, right, to be a logical, rational person. But anyway, why should we study these things?

I would recommend starting by studying evolution. Science is important for the logical thinking person to study in general, but studying evolution has a special purpose. It helps us to understand people. No matter what anyone will say, no one in this world is completely autonomous. We must deal with people. My recommendation to start on evolution would be to read Richard Dawkin's "The Selfish Gene". While this book can sometimes be somewhat tedious and boring, it is very useful for providing a working model of evolution to the average person. The basic idea of the book is that a gene which is ruthlessly selfish will propagate. This is almost self-evident, but the implications can be very interesting. Understanding evolution will help you to understand yourself and why you feel certain ways. Additionally, it will give you a working model for understanding the actions of other people. This leads to studying psychology. Psychology, in its proper form, is the practical application of evolution to the human species, in addition to cultural, non-evolutionary effects. As a graduate student who interacts with a lot of people, you will face many who are irrational and chaotic. You may, at times, blame their behavior on yourself, and sometimes it is your fault, but if you know anything about psychology, particularly evolutionary psychology, you might understand their actions a little better. By studying evolution and psychology, you are going to have a leg up on the average person in understanding your own motivations and actions as well as those of others. My book recommendation here is "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature" by Matt Ridley. It is actually not really necessary to study empircal models for psychology or any non-evolutionary approach as this does not lead to greatly enhanced understanding, and is much less unified and objective than the evolutionary approach.

Finally, we need to tie all of this together into forming your own personal philosophy. It is important to be exposed to the concepts of objectivism. I would recommend, above all other books, to read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". This book has changed my life and helped me to understand my motivations more than anything else. The way I describe the philosophy is that it is a prescription "to love your own life". There are many resources online to read about objectivism, but I recommend reading the book above all else. As an example, I used to be someone who was afraid to "take up space in the world." I saw myself as someone who was weak, and felt grateful if anyone spent time with me. As a graduate student, we are particularly prone to this feeling because we are in a totally different situation than so many of the other people in the world. However, after understanding the value of my own life, I no longer feel this in any way. My confidence has increased 10-fold, and I now have strong convictions and goals rather than just floating through my life and taking what table scraps I can find. If I see anyone who is depressed or lonely, I recommend for them to read "Atlas Shrugged".

I cannot fully explain why it is so important to study these things, but hopefully I have convinced you that these three books are worthwhile. We face a lot of challenges as graduate students but questioning ourselves and subjecting ourselves to the whims of others should not be one of them. By studying evolutionary psychology and philosophy, the graduate student will have a better understanding of the world, feel more motivated than ever, and have a more fulfilling lifestyle.

Eating Really Does Cost About $100/month

2008-06-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

In response to the skepticism associated with my claim that it is possible to eat for less than $100/month, I have done some further research. Cspice said that I would to get about 400 calories per dollar. Consider the following 5-day food list:

Breakfast

$2 Yogurt - 960 calories
$2.50 Milk - 1440 calories
$2.50 Cereal (Honey Bunches of Oats) - 2210 calories

Lunch and Mini Meals

$1 Spaghetti (Barilla) - 1600 calories
$1.50 Spaghetti Sauce - 420 calories
$2.50 Bananas (10) - 1000 calories
$0.50 Carrots (5) - 150 Calories

Dinner

$3.50 Hamburgers 1/2 lb. (6) - 1500 calories
$2.00 Chicken Thighs (2) - 240
$0.32 Brown Rice (4 cups) - 800

This gives 10320 calories spread over 5 days to give 2064 calories a day. The total cost for all of this food is $18.32. Multiply this times 6 to fill up a 30 day month and our total cost for food is $109.90. This is really close to the $100 I claimed previously. It is important to note a few things about this list. The prices given are the best sale prices seen at my local grocery store (which come to find out is pretty over priced for my area) in the past month. Also, a few of the items like milk and yogurt last for longer than 5 days, typically around 7 days. Regardless, our monthly total is right around $100. Nonetheless, this is a theoretical minimum, and even though I do, and have been eating like this for the past year while maintaining my body weight and health, it is probably not recommended for everyone. Also, this does not consider any dining out costs that a spicy lifestyler will probably do with friends every once in a while. Eat out once by yourself though, and you are going to be way over $100/month. In the past year or so, I have trained myself to enjoy the foods listed on a regular basis. My diet and health are better than ever. I trimmed the fat on my body while fattening up my wallet.

Living Well with Less Money than a Prisoner

2008-05-28T10:20:00.001-07:00

On the bus this morning, I was reading the book "Freakonomics" by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, and took notice to a part of the book that said that each prisoner in the United States costs $25,000 a year for living expenses, etc. Consider now that the average graduate student makes less than $20,000 a year. Does this mean that the only way a graduate student can survive is to live like a prisoner or take out huge loans to supplement their stipend? Absolutely not. For me, not only does my stipend provide enough for my living costs, but also allows me to fund expensive hobbies like photography and world travel. I assure you that $20,000 is more than enough to live on, no matter where you live.

Let's consider the basic costs of a graduate student.

Shelter
Bills
Food

The cost of shelter will depend highly on the area in which you live. However, I will say that there are always deals to be had. I live in a townhouse with 4 other people. It can be crowded and somewhat noisy sometimes, but what grad student really spends very much time in his or her house? We want to seek adventure and that often is not found at home. Find the cheapest place you can in a safe neighborhood close to your school so you can use public transportation or a bike. Driving a car to school and paying for parking should only be a last resort. This is a BIG time and money sink. And besides, riding on the bus is a great place to read books and meet people.

Bills are often pretty unavoidable, but identify which ones you can eliminate. How often do you really watch cable? We can't avoid electricity bills, but you can always save by not using the air or heat unless you have to, turning off the computer at night, and generally being conservative. We live in a time of environmentalism, but the best thing to cause people to conserve has and always will be pure economics. Using electricity costs me money, therefore, I will ration appropriately. The cell phone is pretty important to keep up with your soon to be very active and rewarding social life, so we probably don't want to eliminate that. Keep the Internet too so you can read my blog!

Food is really the way to save money. When is the last time you ate out by yourself or bought food at the lunch court at your school? For most of you, probably very recently. This is a totally unnecessary cost and if you think about it, probably provides little or no value to your life. I am probably an extreme example, but trust me when I say that lunch can be had for an entire week for less than $5. That is much less than the $7 or so many spend per day on lunch to eat alone and waste time waiting for people to prepare it. Consider spending $35 a week on food at school. Multiply that times 50 and that is $1750 a year for just lunch. We can easily make your lunch bill 1/4 of that number. Here is what I do.

A pound of spaghetti costs about $1 at the store and the sauce costs about $1.50. Cook the spaghetti and put it in Tupperware without the sauce on it. Now everyday at lunch you can just microwave some spaghetti and pour some sauce on it. It is easy and delicious. I have been eating like this for lunch for the past 6 months and still look forward to it. This can be supplemented with eating fruits and vegetables throughout the day. I prefer bananas, oranges, and whole carrots. It may sound crazy to eat the same thing for 6 months straight but you can get used to it really quickly. I am sure there are plenty of other cheap alternatives too. Also, do not worry about getting enough food. I am over 6 feet tall and nearly 200 lbs so you will probably eat less. Either way though, it is important to bring your lunch rather than waste time and money going to the cafeteria. I love my cheap efficient diet, but it is also important to know when you can cheat. Having dinner or lunch with a friend every once in a while is a great way to network and develop important relationships with people. Interacting with interesting people is one the most important aspects of a spicy lifestyle. Again, the important thing here is to identify what you really value. Food to me, most of the time, is simply a way to sustain my healthy life. However, when I am enjoying a meal with a friend or group of friends I can really appreciate food so much more. Identify the money leaks in your food budget and eliminate them.

Here is an approximate sample budget for me for a single month:

Rent - $475
Electricty and Internet - $50
Food -$100
Car Insurance and Phone - $125
Gas - $75

My nominal expenses for a month are around $825. I could probably figure out how to make this even less, but regardless, this leave me around $1000 every month to spend or save as I please. How else could I buy thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment or spends thousands a year travelling. These are the things that cost lots of money but greatly enhance my life quality. However, many aspects of a spicy lifestyle are free or much cheaper.

Life is not all about penny pinching and worrying about money. However, it is important to eliminate inefficiencies so you can spend money on things you really value. Having more money is just one part of the equation though. Having more time and using your time efficiently is just as important.

The Spicy Lifestyle

2008-05-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

I am starting this blog because I believe I have figured out how to have an awesome, efficient, and fulfilling life as a grad student living on a pathetic stipend and with the social stigma of being a grad student. While a grad student, I have been a world traveler, model, Latin and ballroom dancer, dated all kinds of women, from freshman to seniors, other grad students, girls from other schools, models, and even a local stripper, and have had enough money to purchase almost anything I want, all while passing my qualifying examination and successfully doing research in theoretical physics! My story beings 3 years ago. I moved from a small town in the Midwest to the heart of southern California. I knew no one here and had to do everything myself. To get to this point took a lot of time. I spent nearly a year, lonely, disheartened, and unfocused on my true goals. But I was not willing to give up. In this blog, I will be disseminating all of the secrets and insights I have gained over the past 3 years as a grad student. I decided to write this blog when I heard one of my peers say "you are a grad student, you can't do that!". Speak for yourself my friend. I can, and you can too.