From Data to Wisdom

Never have so many been interested in data mining, machine learning, BIG data and artificial intelligence. The phrases have become the linchpins of many a successful career. Yet, the deeper understanding of how data becomes wisdom often eludes us. I will attempt to add a bit of clarity.

6. That is a piece of data. Meaningless, right? Six what? What does it mean? Data becomes information with context. If we add context, as in "There are six chairs in this conference room," it gains meaning, it becomes information. Perhaps not very useful info, but info nonetheless.

Information becomes knowledge when experience is added to it. If we add to the above information the experience expressed as the average number of people attending meetings in this room over the past two years is eight, the highest number was 11 and the lowest was two with a standard deviation of 1.8, then we have some knowledge that may lead to a decision to order two or three more chairs.

Now for the tough part: how does knowledge become wisdom, especially actionable wisdom? There are many knowledgable people in the world but very few wise ones. It might be educational to ponder the reasons for this, but that is not my goal. Knowledge becomes wisdom when it is used to achieve some noble and worthwhile goal. Knowledge for its own sake is like traveling without a destination. It might be enjoyable and fun but devoid a higher purpose.

Enough said. I'll see you in a year unless I have something to say sooner.

The crystal ball remains opaque

We live at a time when science and logic fail us. We experience events and consequences which can be supported by neither reason nor science. We need to better understand the context and gestalt before reacting.

Tensions have been gradually rising in societies during the past two decades, primarily a consequence of rising income and wealth gap. Further segmentation caused by the rapid evolution and adoption of technologies created a digital divide, adding to tensions. Of course, there is generational tension; we all blame our parents for our problems. Add to the mix preexisting racial tension and the stresses caused by the financial crisis of 2008. The situation could be called volatile. Then come the widely disseminated videos of police brutality and tensions reach a boiling point. Virtue signaling politicians want to be seen "doing something" which again lead to unforeseen and often unpleasant consequences.

To start at the beginning, there was growing inequality of income and wealth.Maybe this is the core issue we should be focusing on because all the upheavals may not really be about race or religion, cops vs. robbers. I have great respect and admiration for LEOs, most of them are really good people. There are some bad apples and they are sorted. We can let rhetoric or dogma divide us or a greater purpose unite us. The time to choose is now.

The traditional response to inequality was usually a raising of the income tax with the rise of income. This approach has two unintended consequences. One is to stifle innovation and investment, to drive new business formation to countries with friendlier income or wealth taxation. The other is the result of a new influx of tax revenue into the hands of governments with a ravenous appetite for spending. The result is the increase in the reach and growth of government.

Another institutional approach to inequality was antitrust legislation purported to limit the range of control one firm or one person can exert on an industry. During the past two decades antitrust laws have been weakened by many loopholes. Global companies with deep pockets can easily skirt the intricacies of regulation. The greater the regulation, the greater the power the government has over us.

The cost of a smaller, more responsive government is self-responsibility. We can find ways to shift from a culture of dependency to a culture of opportunity. Just at a time when social structures crumble, when the pillars of civil society, religion and government lose faith and support, we must envision structures that serve us as people, as a nation, as a society and not as black, brown or white, Christian or Muslim, democrat or republican.

Such a Utopian society will have extinguished corruption in all forms, will have imposed inviolate limits on the growth of government as well as its power to borrow or print money, taught, encouraged and actively supported entrepreneurship, removed all barriers to new business formation, specified the objectives and constraints of the executive, legislative and judicial branches ensuring their complete independence, free and independent media devoid of government ownership, influence or control.

Making a Uie

What on Earth would happen if instead of focusing 90% of our attention, energy and reactions on what is happening to us, on how the world treats us, we would spend all that on how we treat the world around us?

Although the 90/10 ratio and suggested inversion is based on anecdotal evidence – my impression of what people around me talk about, deal with and react to – it must hold some water. If for no other reason than its commonality, its ubiquity, having permeated every aspect of daily life.

People talk much about how their environment treats them – prices are going up, the roads are getting worse, the weather is getting weirder, people are getting ruder and more aloof, and so on without end. Very little attention is paid on how we treat the environment, our world and each other.

Would it change anything if we were to invert that ratio, pivoted 180 degrees, made a U-turn, or in the new street vernacular, made a uie? Would you then have a different experience of life than the one you keep harping on? Could the experience of “not enough” become an expression of gratitude for all that we have?

It seems that we create the world we see, get to experience. We keep expressing, in so many ways, that we are separate from it, when in fact we are a part of it. Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players”. Yet, so many of us behave as if we were the audience.

Detached, separate, looking on, sitting quietly in the rows and pews of the theater of our mental construct, watching and reacting to the unfolding events. Mostly complaining. It is safer out here. I don’t want to get involved. One could get hurt in all the drama, why take the risk? Where is the benefit in that?

The benefit of experience is self-confidence, which is the first essential ingredient of our relating to our world in a new way. It is key in all relationships. Self-confidence means that we are comfortable in any situation, with anybody, under all conditions. We feel just fine in our skin and we actually like who we are. We make it clear what is okay with and for us and what is not.

Before we return to how we relate to the world around us in more specific ways, there is another premise to be addressed. We cannot change anything we are not willing to accept. What we resist (and give energy to) persists. If we do not accept the few extra pounds or kilos on our body, we cannot lose them.

This all-encompassing acceptance includes ourselves, of course. We must accept ourselves just the way we are or there is little hope of change. We even have to learn to love ourselves unconditionally. Without self-love, there is little chance of truly loving another. I am talking more about self-respect than narcissistic love.

The next step is self-responsibility. Self-confidence comes from making our own decisions and taking full responsibility for the consequences. Once we accept all responsibility for everything we create, there will be no need to give up the power over our emotional reactions to someone or something external.

The person we are and the way we behave affects the world we experience. A loving person lives in a loving world, a kind person lives in a kind world, an honest person… you get the point. If we approach every experience with “I am going to enjoy this” and “I am going to like this person”, perhaps we will encounter more kindness.

What sort of world would we find if acted with more kindness, concern, and compassion towards people, places and things? If we became more willing to genuinely express who we really are? If we were so self-confident that we were even willing to be vulnerable? I can already hear you say, “Everyone would take advantage of me”.

Would you take advantage just because someone is vulnerable, just because you could? Probably not, at least not if you are sufficiently evolved as a human being, if you see yourself as a part of a greater whole. Perhaps this is exactly the behavior we must model to others; this is what we need to teach our children.

Self-confidence also gives us the strength to define and defend our personal boundaries, what we can accept and what we cannot. I don’t envision a world of “doormats”, the “anything goes and nothing matters” society popularized by the western world but one of self-confident, self-responsible, loving people.

Visualize such a world. See yourself making fewer judgments and accepting more, being kinder to others. How does it feel? Now, I didn’t say the transformation is easy or quick. I am only saying that it is really worth it.

Solving the Migrant Crisis

It has been a long time since my last post. Finally, I have reached the point when I am so fed up, so sick and tired of an issue that I feel compelled to vent, to post on my blog.

What got me going is the incessant chatter and inane actions to address the so-called migrant issue. All of Europe is abuzz about it and now the US is similarly engaged in harmful, venomous rhetoric.

Are there effective solutions to the problem nearly everyone is aware of? If so, why don't they come up, why aren't they being implemented?

There are two kinds of migrants and migrations: economic and martial (war related) and thus there are two kinds of solutions that need to be applied.

The solution to migration from war-torn countries is to stop bombing and to start rebuilding. It is not hard to understand that if your home, business or workplace is leveled by bombs, you would sooner or later decide to move on. The countries that took part in such military intervention need to take the lead in cease-fire negotiations and the rebuilding, with contributions from countries most affected by migration. It would cost significantly less than having to support the migrants at their destination.

Economic migration is caused by the developed world's zero- or low-interest rate policies, the unintended consequence of which was to export inflation to the developing countries. There, the cost of basic staples has risen to the level where most people are unable to afford them. Faced with the same circumstances, you would want to emigrate too! This has deepened the famine in Africa, reduced living standards in Latin America, brought about the riots of the Arab Spring and widened the economic gap between developed and developing countries. Creating wealth from the misery of others is unsustainable. The solution is for the developed world to provide economic aid (not money, primarily, but education, systems, and opportunities) to developing countries. This would also cost less than having to support the migrants in the developed world.

Yes, the migrants are different from us. They do not know which fork to use with their salad. They do not have forks where they come from, often no dining table or dining room either and many have never eaten a salad. This does not mean that they are not human, that they cannot learn. We have nothing to gain by calling them uncivilized or barbaric but a lot by understanding and compassion. If we don't want them here, then we must create circumstances there that would cause them to want to remain.

Disillusioned

Well, perhaps not entirely disillusioned but certainly disappointed.

The Philippines is such a spectacularly beautiful country, blessed with endless beaches and the tropical climate to enjoy them, populated by kind, friendly and joyful people. Then how come it has become such a third-world hell-hole where sewage flows in the streets, the air thick with the noxious fumes belched out by decrepit trucks and jeepneys and the landscape littered with the detritus of modern "civilization"?

How can it be that here in Europe we have had sewage and rainwater run-off systems built over 2,000 years ago (the Roman Acquincum), yet the Philippines, a country in the monsoon belt where heavy rains predictably fall six months out of the year, there aren't many and thus floods are so common that people expect them?

How can people care so little about their surroundings as to destroy them with continuous air, water and noise pollution and incessant littering? How is it possible to tolerate the dirty, hungry, homeless children sleeping in the foul debris in front of crowded fast-food stores and spending their waking hours begging for leftovers?

How can it be that the people do not demand the very basic necessities of reliable infrastructure like clean water, electricity, roads and bridges, public transportation, sanitation? How can a large and populous country like the Philippines which has some natural resources, not learn from its more successful neighbors, like Singapore?

I love the people of the Philippines and also its many scenic splendors. But I find it increasingly difficult to accept its many shortcomings. I have limited this post to only the most glaring irritants and in a future missive I might address some others, like its rampant corruption and steadfast resolve to refuse to evolve.

The Debate on Syria (Politics)

I am dismayed, nay, shocked at the irrelevant drivel the mainstream media puts out about the civil war raging in Syria. The verbal diarrhea has reached epic proportions, a discourse devoid of facts, historical context and factual evidence.

There are three critically important questions which must be asked and answered before any military engagement:

1. Who is the enemy?
2. What is the objective, or what does "victory" look like?
3. What are the long-term consequences?

These questions are not being asked, much less answered. Yes, there was sarin gas used in Syria, this much we know. The verifiable evidence (see the video below) points to the rebels (freedom fighters or terrorists, depending on your perspective) having used them. The "intelligence" briefing issued forth by the US government contains only opinions, conjecture and innuendo but no verifiable facts.

How does a bunch of lunatics, who have been killing each other for centuries in the Middle East, threaten the national security of the United States? If some nefarious characters have the (however slight) capability to cause us harm justifies strong military response, then all male members of Congress should be arrested for rape and all female members should be detained for prostitution — they have the capability!

For further contemplation, I suggest you read this short essay on the topic: "Is The US Going To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?".

To gain additional perspective and to put the matter into the proper context, please watch this short video:

Thanks for reading my rant, I had to get this off my chest. I value your comments and feedback, I learn a lot from my readers. By the way, if you have an interest in protecting your privacy, I highly recommend an unbreakable data encryption program for Windows called Cryptogra.ph — check it out.

Back from Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar (Immigration, Travel)

We returned from our trip on January 16 and have been very busy ever since. I had to renew a vehicle registration with the attendant smog-test (what a joke; most vehicles here belch black exhaust like evil volcanos), stenciling the engine number, purchase of insurance, etc. This was the easy part. The difficulties began at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in scenic Mandaue City.

I have permanent residency (visa 13-A) in the Philippines, which is granted at first for a one-year probationary period.  There is an incredible amount of paperwork involved, expenses of around 9,000 pesos, and an all day spent at the BI. For the privilege of being  permanent resident, I am now obligated to pay 1,620 peso departure tax when leaving the country (which only applies to Filipino citizens and permanent residents), plus 2,800 pesos for various exit clearance, documentary and expediting fees to immigration at passport control. This fee is graciously reduced to a mere 2,200 pesos for subsequent departures within the same calendar year. Needless to say, since we travel a great deal, these fees are quite onerous.

Back to my story with the BI. The time has come for me to apply for an Amendment of my visa for permanent resident, non-probationary status. This involves an incredible amount of paperwork, expenses of around 9,000 pesos, and an all day spent at the BI. I had to return a few days following the aforementioned ordeal for an interview with an immigration officer. My appointment was for 9:00 AM, and I showed up at 8:45 to ensure I would not miss my time slot (for which there are severe penalties). The immigration officer, and attorney, showed up at 10:30 without a word of apology or even as much as "good morning".

The officer sent me out to have some copies made of some of my documents, pay some more fees for an "annual report" required of all foreign residents, then proceeded to initial every page. He asked me no questions during my "interview". He informed me that the amendment process takes about three months and I am not allowed to leave the country in the meantime, or I must start the entire process all over again.

"We have plans and tickets to travel to Europe on March 14", I said with some concern. He asked, "Why are you going to Europe?" "To visit friends", I replied. After hemming and hawing for a while, he said, "Well, I could help expedite matters..." My wallet started to burn a hole in my pocket and my face acquired an uneasy twitch. "How much will such expediting cost?", asked I, naïvely. "Whatever you think", was the curt reply. I reached into my wallet and pulled out a 1,000 peso note, not having anything smaller on me by that time and handed it to him, cursing him silently. He scratched the top of his desk like a blackjack player asking for another card and said, "Another one -- courier and documentary fees, you see..." Thus another 1,000 pesos left the comfortable nest in my wallet and my diastolic blood pressure took another leap.

I must now monitor the BI website to see when my status gets updated, then visit the BI again in Mandaue to apply for another ACR-I (Alien Control Registration - Immigration) Card at a great expense (about 7,000 pesos), all day at the BI and reams of additional paperwork. Then I have to wait for about two to three weeks for the card to be issued. No, they do not notify, I have to go to BI and check. I keep asking if is all worth it.

Now, about our trip. We had a great time, especially in Phuket, Phi Phi Island and in Northern Thailand. Bangkok is a huge city, notorious for its traffic jams, so we had to learn the public transit system. Mercifully, they have signs posted in English as well as Thai. There are lots of sites to see as well as some great shopping. The air was really polluted, so we were looking forward to our flight to Phuket.

Phuket is a marvelous, magical and visually spectacular place, where huge cliffs seem to erupt from the Andaman Sea. The beaches are clean with fine sand and warm waters. We have visited many nearby islands, one inhabited primarily by primates of lower form (monkeys). We were based on Patong Beach, which is the liveliest part of Phuket Island, but had a chance to visit Karon Beach as well. Karon is the "quiet" beach -- just as beautiful but not as lively as Patong. In all, Phuket was a pleasant adventure.

We headed into Phuket Town to the pier to take a boat to Phi Phi Island, where we spent a few days (Ko Phi Phi Don). Very scenic, quite small but the people are friendly and the service is great. We returned to Phuket quite relaxed and ready to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because out Thai visa was starting to run out.

Kuala Lumpur (KL) was a surprise. The city is booming, construction cranes are everywhere, the malls are jammed with people lugging full shopping bags with Gucci, Rado, Louis Vuitton, etc. logos on them. The city is cleaner than other parts of Malaysia (Johor Bahru, for example) we have seen. It is vibrant and thriving, public transportation (subways, sky trains, buses running on multi-lane freeways) is excellent.

We visited the Petronas Towers and the surrounding City Park. A marvel of modern architecture and oil industry greed, the towers are truly a sight to behold. From KL we flew Air Asia to Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand.

Chiang Mai is a very pleasant, large city and the commercial center of northern Thailand. We rented a scooter and scooted all over Chiang Mai. We spent a whole day at an elephant sanctuary just north of the city, riding and swimming with the elephants. Chiang Mai has many beautiful, ornate temples well worth visiting. We spent nine fun- and adventure-filled days in Chiang Mai and got to know the place well. The days were warm but the weather cooled down at night so we did not even turn on the air conditioner.

From Chiang Mai we took a bus further north to Chiang Rai, located at the foot of the Himalayas, near the Myanmar (Burma) and Laos borders. The weather was even more pleasant in Chiang Rai. It is a smaller but still bustling city, very pleasant and livable, with many attractions and even friendlier, kinder people than in Bangkok or southern Thailand.

We spent a day in Myanmar, just to renew our Thai visas upon our return. Things are very cheap in Myanmar -- a carton of Marlboro Lights (duty-free export made in Switzerland) cost 150 Thai Baht, or about US$5. One cannot even buy a pack for that in most US states.. My wife was in shopper's heaven, buying up souvenirs like there is no tomorrow.

Our stay in Chiang Rai was the most relaxing. Our hotel was superb, the service and food were exceptional. We spent nine days in Chiang Rai as well, then flew to back to Bangkok, onward to Singapore and back to Cebu.

I got back to working on my project and I am happy to say and I am nearly finished! Yey! It has come together well and also looking very good. I hope to publish it to Windows Store before leaving for Europe, God and the BI willing...