The Necessity of an Enemy

Is there the necessity of an enemy?

Back in the olde times, everyone had plenty of enemies. That other person other there that didn't quite look like you was a potential enemy. Those crazy savages over the river were an enemy. That massive evil country yonder ways was an enemy. The unknown world was an enemy. Most of the known world was an enemy.

And heck, it worked out quite well.

You might say some of our best times were when we had enemies. The Civil War was perhaps the greatest period of innovation in science and killing arts. We saw multitudes of revolutions in industry, technology, and tactics. World War 2 was perhaps the greatest hour of the United States industry, and run almost completely by the women left around. Perhaps a third of the population was not even around to man the workshops.

Then again, those were perhaps some of the darkest times. We now have many new technical terms for psychological diseases and disorders developed specifically from times of conflict. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder became a buzz word recently, but its effects have existed as long as we have had wars. The pain of lost lives, the devastation wrought upon the lands, the peoples, and the psyches is sometimes incomprehensible and we suffer during and in the aftermath of those conflicts.

Still, no one can deny the power of having a known enemy. Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game painted a picture of an Earth united not by clever diplomats but by the threat of alien invasion. Some economists believe that competition, strife, and antagonism are the real ways the economy should be run. It sharpens skills. It provides goals. It unites people.

Sure there are plenty of times it works against us. High School is a wondrous example. With no one to compete with and the beginnings of independence emerging, the children in school turn against one other. Soon the only way up is to push down the outcast. You become safe and united in your common grounds, whether that be common interests, common ideology, or common enemy. However, those enemies live just down the street, and the strife and drama of those years scar many today.

I just finished an anime series titled Angel Beats! It's an exceptional piece that deals with death, life, our humanity, and the meaning or satisfaction we may have. It is all cleverly disguised as a fun slice of school like action piece. However, I noticed every time the outsider was brought in a new enemy had to appear. Eventually the series is drawn to a close because a giant evil is spreading and threatening all the characters forcing them to make a critical decision. It is even suggested that they would have been there for all eternity if not for this enormous external threat.

This anime is about a group as diverse as they come. A brainiac, a mechanic, a martial artist, a judo expert, a ninja, a shy failure, a fascist, a rock band, and many more are all united in their efforts against what they call God. There is no real reason for so many diverse types to be together, but they are. Why? It is not because of their charismatic leader, nor that they all knew each other as childhood friends. They are merely classmates. They should have been in their own cliques based around their personal interests. Yet they are united in a struggle against an overwhelming external enemy. The very existence of the enemy brings them together and eventually drives them across the finish line.

In many ways having an enemy is very convenient. Even if it is a faceless featureless "other" thing out there. However, it is much more efficient to have a defined evil enemy. Our instant global communication and our desires and indoctrinations to "understand" each other of today make it difficult to have clear-cut enemies. It is not polite nor politically correct anymore to set ourselves apart and claim the other person over there is the enemy. Heck, that is why the war on "terrorism" is perhaps so difficult. We can not picture an enemy. It is merely a war on shadows and "extremists" and loosely defined, but harmful, ideologies.

Then again, while convenient, perhaps it is the existence of enemies that are merely a convenient way out. In Ender's Game, after the threat of the aliens are dealt with, the powers on Earth simply resume their conflicts. In fact, they start up worse than ever. Having an enemy to unite against may bring people together, but it does not force people to deal with the problems they had in the first place. Most of the time they are simply put aside for now. Perhaps with enough time and contact those hidden problems can be washed away, but it is just as likely they will merely lie dormant and fester.

I recently found an interesting animated talk titled The Empathic Civilization[1] which argues that we are actually wired in our brains to have empathy and the ability to share experiences as our primary systems in our brains. We naturally have the ability to feel pain and struggle united against others due to our wiring and ability to comprehend how fragile and singular our lives are. By extension, we also realize how fragile and singular other lives are, and develop empathy for them. It then continues to argue that we need to live out these empathic feelings to form a loving, nurturing world for the human race and all life. Effectively he proposes we extend our empathy to the entire human race. Oddly enough in all of this flowery speech the narrator depicts a very real enemy: if we do not unite we will not survive as a species. Is this the ultimate enemy that will unite us all? Can even the unification of all life in the universe be at the urging because otherwise we will all die? The greatest unification is in the face of the greatest enemy of all? Or perhaps we can eventually unify and do away with enemies forever by exercising our empathic faculties.

The narrator avoids the topic of some of the more fracturing abilities that this empathic connection may bring up. This empathy also makes it very easy to for groups to form against a common enemy. When we see oppression and the identification of an enemy by someone else, we can empathize with them and also identify that enemy. We have just devised a method, using the same premise, for developing enemies within the world. This means if we want the empathic world as the narrator describes, we will have to actively work against empathy that identifies enemies within our ranks and only fight to unite. Or, we have to actively put those who would identify enemies within our communities as enemies of the world at large. We have created two warring camps: empathy to all of mankind versus mankind's enemies. Ironic, no? Perhaps human enemies truly are here to stay?

I really do not know the right answer to the question "Are enemies necessary?". Sometimes it would be really, really convenient to pick out an "enemy" and suddenly be part of a group willing to fight against it. Instant insider membership since we are all against that enemy other there. But then you get groups warring against groups. Perhaps we need to pick our own enemies, such as the faceless competitor for our future job, and work with that to help set our goal and as a way to move ourselves forward, but not let it extend to particular a people or group. We gain benefits of the faceless enemy without the large-scale conflicts associated with identifiable enemies, but easily someone could slip in and become the face of our faceless enemy. Or perhaps we must find a way to transcend the need for enemies.

What do you think?

[1]

With Hard Work and Determination

I am of the opinion that there are very few things we can not do with enough time and hard work.

I do not mean we can all become Olympic Gold Medalists and Concert Cellists and Astronauts in one lifetime. However, I find it very frustrating when people complain they can not do some things "by their nature."

One of the age old examples is the ability to play an instrument. Oh how I wish I could play the piano, or the guitar, and yet every time I start practicing or taking lessons I sound so horrible! I must have no skill and therefore should quit. Yup. Please ignore that it took me over thirteen years of piano lessons to reach where I am today. Please do not mind that those guitar players can become proficient in basic chords in a few months. Please do not tell me trying for a week and quitting indicates a lack of talent. It indicates a lack of determination.

Similarly, there are those who can not cook. Sure there are some who are complete failures as cooks no matter what. For some reason they cannot make judgement or can not follow directions. However, the vast majority of humans can make decisions and follow directions and therefore cook. At least at a basic level. The rest is just experience.

I find that I have structured my life around various rules. Some are from laws, others from advice. Some I realize come from experience and to prevent me from doing stupid things. Let us be frank here, I don't have the quickest mind which can evaluate the entire situation up to this point and make a snap decision about many things. So, I instead devise rules for myself to follow which can be applied to many situations. Does that make me a faster, more experienced decision maker? In a way not really/ I do not have the intuitive interpersonal skills that some have. However, due to experience and observation, I can keep up. I've essentially made myself a shortcut.

Granted, gaining experience takes time. We all know that time is in very short supply. So, the other aspect to this problem is determination. You can make anything you want your personal top priority. You can dedicate more or less time to many of your daily actions. Why not set aside an hour each day to prayer? Or perhaps a half-hour jog? Or an hour for practicing writing or an instrument or studying up on a language? Perhaps set aside an extra thirty minutes for time with your kids, or dedicate a day to pursuing that one special someone. If you care enough, I do not think you are so hard pressed for your basic needs that you cannot make time for what you care about.

Therein lies the issue. Most people do not actually care. We already fill our days full of things we care about, and adding in that new thing that we have no experience at is hard. We know instinctively that it will take maybe months or years to show fruit for our practice. Plus, we are surrounded by more competent people and we may never catch up to them. Again, it comes down to what you care about. In one year you will still be one year older. But you have the power to decide what you have at your disposal in that one year.

It really is up to you.

Things I Learned from Gaming

and should totally apply to real life.

• There are a limited number of stats points you can ever have. Therefore, to be stronger in one area you must be weaker in another. The only way to break this zero-sum game is via loot or raw level ups.
• When all else fails, the nuclear option is a totally acceptable way to demolish the enemy. However, it may require running in a cloaked individual to manually paint the target.
• Red Wunz Go Fastar
• Child Services can warp through walls and take your children if you neglect them enough.
• Children are made via relaxing in your bed under the sheets and showering rose petals over it. And nearly every time you try you will succeed.
• You can meet, become friends, and even marry a person all in one day via talking. A lot of talking. And perhaps some hugging and kissing.
• The more I am promoted, the shorter my hours will become and the greater my weekly pay. That way I have more time and money for recreation.
• Keys are only good for one door.
• Cybernetic implants and upgrades are instantaneous to install or upgrade respectively.
• Use drugs and potions and hypodermic needles as much as you want, you won't become addicted to them. Except that one that increases concentration and relaxes your jitters so you can handle a sniper rifle better.
• If you try really, really hard, you can do anything. Including hurling lighting like William Shatner.
• I can hold a gun perfectly still and hit anything I put under the crosshairs of my sniper rifle.
• Picking up ammo off the ground makes it instantly available to load in full clips into my gun.
• Hiding and resting for a bit will heal me back to full health no matter how close to death I was.
• I can take multiple gunshot wounds, knife cuts, and explosive concussions and still fight at peak efficiency after a quick healing.
• All soldiers can pilot all vehicles.
• Shooting parked cars makes giant fireballs.
• The bigger the sword, the better.
• At the end of my life, I will either get the Mother Theresa ending or the Baby Eater ending.
• All civilization leaders can control on a year-by-year basis production goals and what lands the people work on a per-city basis.
• If I ever sell anything to a shop, I will have to buy it back at a higher price. Similarly if I ever buy anything, I have to sell it back at a lower price.
• All Private Military Companies are evil and will eventually secretly make a bid to take over the world.
• The prevailing religion is actually a front of an evil organization that is taking over the world.
• The current government is corrupt and secretly doing diabolical things such as taking over the world. Or they've taken it over already and you missed out.
• Germans are Nazis and Russian are Commies. And they want to kill you. Shoot on sight.
• Vampires are real. They're just hiding so they can slowly drain your blood.
• Similarly magic is real, but the Technocrats are locking them down.
• Libraries hold tomes of evil that when read will summon eldric horrors into this world. Never ever read a book.
• No matter how untrained you are, ludicrous the weapon, or protected the enemy is, you always have at least a 5% chance of landing a hit.
• I'm Batman.

Alphas and Betas

For those of you who know me, you know I am a huge fan of the game Natural Selection. This also means I am extra stoked about Natural Selection 2. I have pre-ordered the Special Edition and everything!!!

This week they announced a date for when the Alpha will start, available only to Special Edition (SE) buyers, and they have stated SE will be discontinued when the Alpha launches. The Regular Edition buyers will join in at some future time, let us lovingly call it a "Beta" point.

Of course, this makes my day. I get the earliest access to the game, get to have fun discussing mechanics and picking the game apart, and in general it should be awesome.

However, there are some unhappy people. Specifically, those who bought the Standard Edition. They don't get alpha access. They have to wait until the Beta arrives.

Truthfully I find it very hard for me to be sympathetic towards these people's complaints. First off, I paid extra money just to have access to the Alpha. Additionally, it was stated as part of the package that one version gave access to the Alpha (Special Edition), and one made no mention about getting into the Alpha (Standard Edition). If you wanted access to the Alpha, should you not have bought the one that said "First access to alpha"?

Of course, some people argue that since the Engine Test was released to both Special and Standard edition buyers, it might have been slightly misleading. However, that was a very rough test for compatibility and not in any shape or form the game. It was merely to test the engine code on a variety of machines.

There is also some debate on what this mysterious "Beta" will be. Personally, I find that because of the variety of definitions in the industry no one really knows what an Alpha or Beta really is for a particular game, except the developers themselves. Most modern games go through an Alpha, a Closed Beta, and an Open Beta where they invite players outside their development group to test out the game and give feedback. These three simple phases do not include the many stages of internal builds that a game goes through within the company.

My personal definition is that the Alpha is given to a unique set of players. Players you either trust or who have taken the extra steps to be involved either via actions or payment. You can release to them something bug ridden and they will not run away in disgust, they will try to help fix it. If there is are balance issues, they will try to find and reveal them. The game does not have to be feature complete, and the Alpha players will take that into consideration.

The Beta should be nearly or completely feature complete. This is when you get the general masses in, test server loads, and let sheer numbers stumble across the bugs you missed. Players at this stage are probably more interested in playing a game and not as much about feedback, but they will gripe and moan on the forums so if something is horribly wrong. They also expect a game, not a partial build of a game and some might try it and leave because it is not complete.

Of course, different companies use these terms in different ways. For example, Blizzard, makers of World of WarCraft and StarCraft, view Betas as a complete game and only really do balance and server load testing. In StarCraft2 Beta they have made some very interesting tweaks based on feedback such as removing the attack delay on an air unit, opening up more micro possibilities. However, the game is pretty much all there on Day 1 of the Beta and it is only minor tweaks on stats that they are interested in for feedback. Others like Stardock, developers of Elemental, have been pumping out Beta builds starting with a striped down cloth map, no tactical battles, and barely any of the mechanics besides run your hero around the world. This Beta is only available to those who pre-order the game and seems to be whatever they have polished up at the time as they slowly release more and more features.

Still, being part of an "Alpha" has a huge amount of draw since most associate it with an exclusive time where they can make big differences with their feedback. I personally get a huge kick out of helping design things, especially games. Plus there is the allure of taking part in something so exclusive. Perhaps that is exactly why the NS2 developers chose that term to describe the first part of their more public testing period. Huzzah for marketing strategies.

Really though I think there is a deeper problem here than just a confusion of terms. In some ways it leads back to a sense of entitlement. Today gamers gorge themselves on free Betas where they can test out the game for free, get tired of it, and never have to pay a cent for the finished product. There is also a sense of "hey, we pre-ordered and so we deserve something in return." Coupled with the sentiment of "We gave you money, now deliver to use a product" this turns the forums into an ugly place at times.

Here is a quote from someone on the forums:

as a person who pre-ordered, i already have faith in you guys and i have completed a gesture of good faith by buying it early. when i looked at the pre-order options (way last year) it was pretty obvious the premium version was "because you extra love us mores, we can't really give you much, but its because you love us even more and you want this to happen". in your recent updates, it looks to me like you are stumbling trying to come up with things that you can give to the "premium pre-orders" and exclude from everyone else.

guys, we all love you, thats why we pre-paid, why are you tiering our love like this. i feel, i feel hosed.........

I kindly reminded this person that the Special Edition says it will give Alpha access. The poster commences to backpedal and little, and maybe meant something about the Beta being a point at which they have no say or something like that. Still, it is a whiny "I deserve something more" post. Bleugh.

Something I am a big fan is how many development teams are letting you pre-order and participate in some really early builds to get feedback. I find this an exceptional business model for Special Editions of a game personally. Contrast this to the $100 Civilization 5 Super Special Edition. Ugh. Buying a Special Edition that also lets you get access earlier feels like a solid system. You not only play to those like me who love getting their feet wet in the development of the game, but you also hit those who want the special feeling of being important and part of the exclusive Alpha club. Granted, you can no longer offer that lure once the game progresses to a release, and since it seems like no game can be released without a Special Edition, I can only scratch my head what to give that does not sound like a gimmick or fanboy bait. I will leave thoughts on that for another post.

What I dislike is when a developer opens up the floodgates too soon and stupidly shoot themselves in the foot. Many gamers can not comprehend an incomplete game. They just do not care, they want to play. Exposing these to a rough build of your game can generate bad press and actually cause you to lose sales. Many many independent developers and mod makers do this. Really they expected great praise for their hard work and feedback on all the rough parts, but instead they get laments about how horrid it is. I have several games on my watch list, but I will not even try them again until I see some serious positive press about how amazing it is and how it has changed gaming forever. They have effectively poisoned their own pool and caused me to lose confidence in their ability to do game design. And I think I am one of the nicer ones. If they had instead kept it internal and brought public a clean-cut polished version, I might have stayed on. It would have taken them another year, but at least I would no longer be telling people to ignore their game until further notice.

At the end of the day, Alphas and Betas are just another step in the development cycle of a game. Who they include is up to the developers. Still, I think some people need to pay a bit more attention to these stages. They are huge publicity as well as development phases in a game's lifetime, and should be used deliberately. Similarly, gamers should not treat these as early access to a full-fledged game and should act accordingly. This being the internet, I am sure most gamers do not really care.

And it's not like anyone reads this drivel anyways.

I Think We're Too Creative

when it comes to screwing with our brain chemistry.

I mean, music that makes you high? REALLY?

Guess it was only a matter of time really...

http://gizmodo.com/5587249/help-teens-are-using-digital-drugs-to-get-high

A bit of China

Well, I'm back from China. It was pretty awesome.

Overall we had a pretty jam packed schedule. A few days in Beijing, then a quick trip to Datong to see temples and giant Buddha statues in the mountains, then rivers and shows and oh my.

Here were some of the fun highlights:

• All the sights. Including the Great Wall, several temples, rivers, the Reed Flute Cave, and pandas. Also, we had several shows including recreations of Tang dynasty work, a light comedy/variety show in a recreated "opera" house, and a spectacle on the Li river done by the same guy who did the Beijing Olympics. If there's one thing that's lacking in China, it definitely is not human labor.
• Whole family fun! And no one killed each other.
• The variety of tourguides. We got a national guide that stayed with us the whole way, and local guides who knew the area intimately. So we had some younger, some older, a teacher, and some "hip" guides. They were all exceptional. Apparently you have to know 6 different languages besides Chinese to work in tourism.
• Food, food, and more food. Our national guide figured out we could pretty much anything, so we got a good variety of local specials from the different regions. If you think Chinese cooking is all the same, you've never had real Chinese food. Oh, and we got snake for one meal.
• Bargain shopping! As it turns out you can bargain quite the bargain around China. Nabbing thing for less than 1/2 the original price is easy, but the really fun times were getting it closer to 1/4th the price. Sometimes they chased you down the street to finally agree to your final asking price. And remember, walk away at least 2 times or else you're getting jipped. I only really bought gifts though, but my cousin scored a huge load of random shiny things. Some to wear, some for her home.
• Visiting our original village. We also learned the story behind how my grandmother was able to come to the states and met others from the clan.
• Coming home to less crazy drivers and way less smog. Oh, and potable water coming out of the faucet again.

Would I do it again? Yeah. But I should probably visit Japan first to even out my cultural heritage history.

Author Context

Here's a brief bit of my history to help you put things in context.

I was born in 1987. I grew up in Hacienda Heights, CA. It's a sub section of LA County, close to the San Gabriel Valley. So, eastern suburbs of LA.

Overall my parents do a great job. They exposed me to a variety of recreational things, even ones I was horrible at. They also had a policy of being OK with whatever grades I got as long as I tried my best. For me, that meant getting almost straight As. They exposed me to a variety of sports to keep me active, encouraged me to try new things, and in general were excellent role models and teachers. Although they perhaps had a bit too much reliance on teaching by osmosis and observation than I might have liked.

My primary recreation until high school was playing Basketball in the church's basketball team and piano. I later transitioned into Flute for Band, Tennis on the off-season, and Piano. I never applied myself seriously to sports, and tended to perform poorly. However, I was always able to play smart and think ahead, letting me get back a bit of an edge on other players. Still, the reason I use slice so aggressively for tennis is because I am lazy and do not take the effort to set my feet up for top spins.

I apparently had an incident with a poor teacher in 2nd grade who reprimanded me for being not attentive. I was actually being very bored and continued to perform well. However, this incident prompted my parents to move me to another school district that had a class specifically for highly gifted students. It was a rough transition and being the new kid I was picked on for several years. For middle school I transferred back to my original school district to find all my former friends radically changed and fractured into various sects. Being an outcast of sorts continued through High School.

In High School I found a few niches. I excelled academically and I made my mark by being a bit out-of-sync with the rest. For example, I explicitly dropped out of the IB program because I wanted to take Calculus BC my Junior year. That kind of backfired a little bit since then I had no interesting math to take my Senior year. I also entered into the Band as one of the last male flutes for a long time. I eventually rose to Section Leader and had one of the most successful sections in those years of the Band. Turns out being the only male in the section has its perks, including being able to avoid the favoritism drama. Plus since I pushed myself so hard I led by example while pushing the whole section to succeed. I was so strict and set the "Trevin standard" so high I gained the nickname "Big Bad Trevin" within the first few weeks. At the same time, I was patient and diligent when teaching individually, so that softened the blow a bit.

I wasn't very interested in grades. I merely performed. At the end of High School we made the startling discovery that I was ranked 7th in my class. Surprising since I was taking Band for all those years, which only provides a 4.0 to my GPA, instead of AP courses which gives a 5.0. I was the second ranked male in the class by GPA.

I applied to college like all the rest and was accepted to my top choice Harvey Mudd College. In summary, it is a high octane science and tech school with a huge liberal arts component and amazing community. Here, I thrived. I was not the top of the class, but that was OK. I was used to being not first. Some of my classmates had to make a hard adjustment in that respect. I expanded my gaming, took some martial arts courses, thoroughly enjoyed music, and made some awesome friends. I also was mentored by some amazing professors who also helped open doors, including helping me land a great internship for the summer of 2009.

It was also a hugely challenging time. For all my previous years I had been under the protection of very active parents. My mother continues to be a pillar of leadership and organization in everything she puts her mind to. My dad is one of the friendliest and helpful dads around. In short, they helped mold my ideology and when things got rough I knew I could rely on their notoriety with the authorities. In college I had to finally stand on my own.

This was especially true when it came to being a Christian. I grew up in the church and really took most of what they told me to be law. In college, I met people who were well versed in trying to prove me wrong. I had to play catch-up, checking assumptions I had made and correcting false facts I had been fed. I still consider myself a Christian today, just a much less naive one.

After graduation I decided I should at least get a Masters Degree. I thus applied and was accepted to UC Davis to work with a professor doing some very interesting chip design work. It has been a very different shift from a small private school where teaching is the top priority to something where it is much more sink-or-swim and the clunky bureaucracy permeates and corrodes everything.

In terms of personality I am rated to be about average in everything on the Myer-Briggs except for being a fairly strong introvert. That being said, I sometimes surprise people who think I am extremely talkative and interpersonal. The reason is that I have learned the importance of being interesting. No one will pry me open to discover all the crazy knowledge I have, my odd wit, or anything really at all. I have to offer it up. So, I always try to have a vignette or story to tell, something to close up the silence, and always on the lookout to try and invite others to speak up. I also am very free about personal information, even sometimes very private information. I find it is because I consider it to be purely facts about me. Oddly, I find it hard to actually feel anything emotional. Probably still a defensive mechanism from my bullied days, but I often can't feel or express emotion. I can fake it, but internally I am solving and analyzing coldly more often than I would like.

So there you have it. A bit of a mini-autobiography of my life up until now. It has its ups and downs. It has some oddities and some normalcy. Maybe this is useful to understand this blog. Perhaps it is all just words in the void.

Not like anyone reads this crap anyways.

The Hard Working Idiot

I'm fairly sure most people think I am at least above average intelligence. Some might even believe me to be genius level, including an online IQ test I took in Junior High, but I am not.

In reality, I am not very intelligent. In reality, most of my peers are not brilliant masterminds. So what puts some of us above others? Hard work and determination.

Or plain stubbornness.

As detailed in this article, studies have found that really hard work and belief that you are intelligent tends to make people perform better. similarly, in this article it is noted that discipline outpaces raw IQ.

So in reality, hard work and medium intelligence can out perform better intelligence coupled with lazy habits.

Sure a hardworking genius will dominate everything, but that is not a reason to be discouraged. Think of it like this. Some of those really smart people have been getting lazy doing the bare minimum. If you put in the extra effort and build up knowledge and discipline to do the job and manage your time, you can outdo them or at least come alongside them.

That has been my recipe of success. I know I am not a genius. I have been surrounded by geniuses that outclass me. However, I know how to lock myself down and work. I know how much work it will take me so I can get things done ahead of time in case there are problems along the way or I can explore extra avenues. I always leave myself a full day to write up things if I can allowing me not only time to do a good write-up but also time just in case you realize something went wrong or there is something I forgot to consider.

One student I was TA-ing actually asked me if they were smart enough to attempt the final project. I knew this student is one of the hardest working and most comprehensive report maker. I have no idea what his actual aptitude is. But I did know that this lab required a clear head, good design, and a lot of wires that you had to keep track of. So, I recommended that he try. His meticulous design and ability to spot problems ahead of time put him ahead of others, but at the end I think he ran out of time and was not able to complete the entire lab. Granted, only around nine out of the fifty-plus students completed a working circuit.

Take home message: put in that extra bit of work. Work hard, work efficiently, and ignore what people think your intelligence actually is. At the end of the day, if you can get results, you get the praise.