Saturday, November 10, 2007

Bistability

Before I say anything, I must mention that I have this new fancy for the phrase "baap re baap"
I think it's an equivalent to the "!" ? Anyway, so i've started going about just trying to use that word. Now I can't create a post specially for it, so I'm putting it here. Have you every been to the cinema and come out thinking that the trailers were the best part ? Get ready for deja vu. Oh and this is definitely one of those moments where I purposely get self effacing so that someone will drop me a compliment or two. Hey, at least I'm honest about it. It's one of my greatest virtues.

Anyway.

Bistability is this condition where an unstable equilibrium point is flanked by stable equlibrium points on either side.
*Somehow* and I've never understood this part properly (alternatively, I think of it as no one has ever been able to explain it properly) let's assume a body reaches unstable equilibrium. I dunno how that happens, but trust me, it happens. And if you shake it just a wee lil bit from the point of unstable equlibrium, it'll quickly go to one of the more stable points. However, if a body is shaken from the point of stable equilibrium, it'll manage to come back to that same equilibrium point every time you disturb it even a lil bit. That's the difference b/w stable and unstable equilibrium. And generally, if you give it enough energy, it can somehow manage to jump from the stable equilibrium and go into unstable equilibrium


I believe that laziness and productivity are two stable points. Have you seen lazy ppl ? They'll go on and on and on doing nothing and just that. And have you seen these ppl who are irritatingly productive ? They'll manage to do so many things in one day and still keep track of SRK's six pack and that ranbir kapur's free butt show. And you simple cannot stop them. These are lucky people. They've found their niche I think. And there's the majority of us who simply cannot make up our minds about which we like better. We get bored when we're lazy. And we get tired when we're busy. So we dont like either place and we want to strike a balance, and we think we're doing a super job by being in this unstable equilibrium point, except, excuse me, you cannot stay there for too long. I mean, smart guys don't just draw pretty curves and bored guys don't just upload them on the net. These curves are drawn based on actual data ( not cooked up- I know a coupla ppl who do that too) and they say that honey, you can't strike a balance, pick a side.

Right now, its so important that I am productive. I get up in the morning and tell myself, I'll do this and this and this and this, and by the time I come down the stairs, I;ve sorta given up. If I can just manage to give myself this nice really good shove, I'll reach the point of stability on the productive side and that'll be just fine for me you see. Right now though at least. Except, you know, sometimes even when there are these two stable points, the curve isn't exactly symmetric. One point is ever so slightly more stable than the other. And it simply doesn't bode well for me that its the lazy side.
Baap re Baap.
oh mission accomplished.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

hmm

I'm in one of those ponderous moods today. Not the kind that frustrates me, or the kind that comes with a deep insight into the inner workings of the universe, but a general "what have i learnt in my life" summarizing sort of mood.
Today I sort of realized that the things you want the most are things you have no control over. Weirdly enough you don't know it when you start wanting them. You think you're different, you're special, somehow you can figure it out where others have failed, you can crack the code, you can avoid making the mistakes. But guess what. You really cannot do anything to get what you want. You can sorta try very hard and make sure that if you're on the path to getting it, you dont do something crazy and undo it, but beyond that there's simply nothing you can do. It just has to happen. That's all. Maybe it will, maybe it won't.
I think that's what growing up is all about it. Realizing it and getting to the point where it's so obvious you needn't remind yourself about it or go into frequent fits of denial about it.
That's my today's thoughts anyway.
Am I happy that I know all this ? Does it make life better somehow ? I truly don't know. There's a tiny bit of me that hopes I am wrong, and there's another bit of me that tells me that if I'm wrong, I will have to continue to try cracking the code, and God forbid me from stopping to do that on a notion that perhaps I am right. So I suppose I'll continue to think I can control my destiny. Ironical, but there you go....

Older, but none the wiser,
- Me :)