chaos – Jineral Knowledge

Simple Pleasures of Life #23

Posted on 08/09/201316/02/2019 by Jinavie

Happy coincidences.

Life is full of chance and coincidences. Coincidences can range from something simple like bumping into someone you haven’t seen in a while at a supermarket, to what some people call “fate” or “miracle” or “destiny”.

Mathematics will tell you that coincidences are simply the product of the law of large numbers – that it is merely a statistical event. Psychology will tell you that we are just victims of the regression fallacy. Religious people will tell you that it is an act of god.

For me, happy coincidences are just little events in life that spice things up a bit. I don’t believe in fate or destiny or some omnipotent deity, but that doesn’t mean that I treat coincidences as unimportant random events. I find that rather than dismissing it, identifying it as something good makes my life a little bit happier. Who cares if the reason that all the traffic lights were green might be a sign? Who cares if the reason that the song that JUST happens to fit my mood comes on a shuffled playlist was statistical chance? Who cares if you call meeting your soul partner destiny?

What matters to me in the end is that it happened and it made me happy. I also find identifying the coincidences and the steps that led to it happening quite interesting (because I’m a huge nerd, which I say with pride). For example, if I had decided to stick with my plan of going to Asan Hospital instead of Severance Hospital for my selective this year, I wouldn’t have met the girl that invited me to WKMSO and I wouldn’t have met the awesome people I did, nor would I have had my unforgettable NYC/Vegas adventure.

Maybe the reason it makes me happy is that knowing that if even a tiny detail was changed, say if I was put on a different shift to that person, things would have turned out quite differently. For better or for worse. But the fact is that things happened to happen in the way it did and it led to me having an amazing time.

And that my friends, is a long-winding rant-y explanation to why I love the butterfly effect.

Butterfly

Philosophy

Fundamental Malevolence

Posted on 28/05/201216/02/2019 by Jinavie

Human beings are fundamentally evil. This was a theory concerning human nature put forward by Xunzi – a leading Chinese Confucian philosopher, along with Confucius and Mencius. Xunzi stated that human beings naturally seek out only their own interests and greed, envying and hating each other so much that they are bound to fight if left alone. He suggested that people needed to learn etiquette and culture themselves to correct this.

Xunzi’s philosophies are on a background of the chaotic setting of the Warring States Period. The Warring States Period was a period when China was split into many different countries, all warring with each other to gain dominance over each other’s lands. During these wars, Xunzi saw countless cases of people looting and killing each other, which led him to the conclusion that people are naturally selfish beings. He believed that human beings focus on their greed and self-preservation from the moment of birth. He also believed that leaving people without order would indubitably lead to social chaos. Thus, to effectively rule over the people, a leader must place limits such as laws, ethics, etiquette and culture.

From an evolutionary point of view, the theory of fundamental malevolence (성악설, sung ak sul) makes sense. Would a starving lion mourn the death of a baby zebra? Protecting one’s own interests is a great way to increase your chance of survival and propagating your genes.

The more you carefully observe people’s behaviour, the more credibility the theory seems to gain. Human beings are selfish beings who become jealous of others for having more than themselves, kill someone because they tried to take away their love and engage in fratricidal war because others do not share their beliefs. You as the reader may state that you cannot imagine hurting anyone, let alone taking a life. In that case, let us examine the following thought experiment.

One day, you are kidnapped. When you come about, you find that you are trapped in a pitch-black room, tied to a pole. The room appears to be completely empty and you cannot see or hear anything. Suddenly, you hear a voice coming from the other side of the room. The voice talks about how it will murder you in a violent, excruciating way, over and over. The voice continues to threaten you in a macabre way for three days. Just when you are near your breaking point from the overwhelming fear of imminent death, another voice appears. The voice says: “If you nominate someone you are close to that I can kill in your stead, I will let you go and not harm you in any way”. Would you have the courage to not give a name?

History & Literature

Thirty-Six Stratagems: Chapter 4 – Chaos Stratagems

Posted on 07/01/201215/02/2019 by Jinavie

(For all 36 stratagems, click here: https://jineralknowledge.com/tag/thirtysix/?order=asc)

Chaos Stratagems are strategies that can be used to achieve victory when a war enters a chaotic state. Unlike the previous three chapters, the latter three chapters include tactics that can be used when the flow of war is against you.

Stratagem 19: Remove the firewood from under the pot
This tactic teaches that one should attack the foundation of the enemy’s confidence to shake them. Also, there is a second meaning that teaches to cut off their supplies. No matter how strong the enemy is, they will be crushed easily without any food.

Stratagem 20: Disturb the water and catch a fish
If you disorder the enemy so that they have no idea what is happening, you can easily attain victory.

Stratagem 21: Slough off the cicada’s golden shell
Make a change yet make it look like to the enemy that you have not. It is a strategy where you keep up a strong defence on the surface and exhibit a state of readiness to intimidate the enemy, while moving your forces to a different location.

Stratagem 22: Shut the door to catch the thief
If you block the enemy’s movement and surround them, you can easily decimate them. However, if they are strong enough this plan may have the opposite effect and cause them to retaliate with more ferocity, thus you should only employ it when the enemy is weak.

Stratagem 23: Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbour
Countries that are close to you are bound to have many troubles and friction with you, therefore it is far wiser to use an ally who is further away to deal with your enemy.

Stratagem 24: Borrow a passage to strike Guo
This means that you should expand your territory when the opportunity is right by manipulating the weak. If you use the resources of a weak ally to strike the enemy, you can reduce the costs to your army while destroying the enemy, essentially killing two birds with one stone.