The "Unbalanced" Balance

(Graphic Visualisation)

Image of Libra

Symbol of Libra

(From the graphic visualisation) The stars in the constellation Libra can be connected more fully, graphically showing a balance.
The star beta Librae, of third magnitude, represents the top of the balance. The stars gamma Librae and alpha Librae represent the balance beam: alpha Librae being of third magnitude as well.
The stars upsilon Librae and tau Librae represent the left plate of the balance, whereas the star sigma Librae represents the right plate of the balance. All three of these stars are of the third magnitude.

(From Wikipedia)

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According to Chinese philosophy, yin and yang are two opposing and counterbalancing forces in the universe. This symbol represents them. Yin is the dark half and yang the bright half, but neither could exist without the other.

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I have thought of a (an add-on) principle precedent of my Balance principle.

(This entry is going to be a little bit long and informative, so for the people who love summary, you may want to skip this entry. This is just a conundrum, I have been observing and asking. Some people may want to chide me for thinking something that is meaningless to our normal lifestyle. Nonetheless, since I have thought of it, I might as well discover the meaning behind it ... Great thinkings and notions come from something that is small ... For those who want to go on, enjoy!)

The "Unbalanced" Balance

Talking about "Balance", the immediate thought will be 50-50, in terms of 100%. Right can never penetrate Left, and vice-versa. This may be true, in Mathematics form, that is in theory. In Chinese, there is Yin and Yang, which also talk about the harmonious balance, and thus lay the foundation of "Tao" teachings (Or the Religion Taoism), Martial Arts and "Fengshui" or Chinese geomancy. In constellations, Libra is symbolised as a weighing balance. And therefore in many aspects, Libra is often portrayed as a balance of both sides, and also a vintage symbol of balance other than the "Yin and Yang". Concept of balance is also in I Ching (易经) that has the principles of the (1) dynamic balance of opposites, (2) the evolution of events as a process, and (3) acceptance of the inevitability of change. (Read to find out more on I Ching, an example and principles of Ancient Chinese Wisdom)

It is also believed that having a balance lifestyle is good for health.

In Star Wars, about good verus evil, and Jedi versus Sith, only a balance "force" will bring peace to the universe.

WHy are there 2 sexes, so as to act as a balancing act? Each sperms and ova will bear half the responsibility of gene pools (In this case, chromosomes), and thereby allowing a stable changes and reproduction. One more chromosome from either sides, will dismantle the balance when fusion occurs and give a mutation like Down's Syndrome. (A nebulous account - Find out the biology of reproduction and genes to know more)

However, people have even conceived that there is some "unbalance" in the nature. Why are the burden of baby's birth not equally shared among the sexes but only to the female? Of course, for asexual type, there is a "balance"'s existence in the form of replication and mitosis from one divided into two.

And in the world by many definitions, descriptions, observations and illustrations,by balancing, you will achieve a harmony and therefore a sure good endings.

There are enough of examples as fully illustrated in "Yin and Yang" that speaks of our lives and surroundings plus day to day applications. There are also many books written on Yin and Yang, via Balancing.

There are also numerous "Balancing" phenomenon you can see around you.

So, the conjecture is that by balancing, everything in the world will be positive. Is this true? And what exactly do we mean by balancing?

It is not really true, that by balancing, everything will be good. For instance, for the Big Bang theory. In Science, there is a matter, and thereby anti-matter. Particles and thereby anti-particles. So as, electrons and positrons. Technically, matter and antimatter do not really fuse, they simply annihilate each other and leave behind energy usually in the form of two photons (particles of light). [Fusion is the process where two particles of matter combine to form a single larger unit. However, the word "fuse" is used freely when depicting about the collisions between particles].

[There is considerable speculation both in science and science fiction as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, whether other places are almost entirely antimatter instead, and what might be possible if antimatter could be harnessed, but at this time the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the great unsolved problems in physics. Possible processes by which it came about are explored in more detail under baryogenesis. ](This text is taken from the wikipedia)

If the number of anti-matter and matter will to be equal, so how do we exist? As we all know today, all of us are made of matter. So, we are lucky that somehow from the "Big-Bang", the asymmetry amount of matter and anti-matter which is tilted to the favour of the matter side, somehow creates the planets and the galaxy. The "UNBALANCE" act of the universe has somehow do good to create us.

[But assuming large zones of antimatter exist, there must be some boundary where antimatter atoms from the antimatter galaxies or stars will come into contact with normal atoms. In those regions a powerful flux of gamma rays would be produced. This has never been observed despite deployment of very sensitive instruments in space to detect them.
It is now thought that symmetry was broken in the early universe during a period of baryogenesis, when matter-antimatter symmetry was violated. Standard Big Bang cosmology tells us that the universe initially contained equal amounts of matter and antimatter: however particles and antiparticles evolved slightly differently. It was found that a particular heavy unstable particle, which is its own antiparticle, decays slightly more often to positrons (e+) than to electrons (e−). How this accounts for the preponderance of matter over antimatter has not been completely explained. The Standard Model of particle physics does have a way of accommodating a difference between the evolution of matter and antimatter, but it falls short of explaining the net excess of matter in the universe by about 10 orders of magnitude.] (Texts taken from wikipedia)

Even some Physicists have believed that there MUST be a balance of matter and anti-matter in universe, and therefore some has proposed a theory on anti-matter regions in universe, or simply even anti-universe. When the so-called "excess" matter come into contact with the anti-matters in the anti-universe, then annihilation will occur, and radiation like gamma-rays will be produced. That is to say, the matter we can see and contact for our galaxy, are actually the universe that is luckily separated from the anti-universe. Nonetheless, there is already the "existence" of anti-universe in science fiction.

[Antimatter is the ultimate energy source. It releases energy with 100% efficiency (nuclear fission is 1.5% efficient.) Antimatter is 100,000 times more powerful than rocket fuel. A single gram contains the energy of a 20 kiloton atomic bomb--the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In addition to being highly explosive, antimatter is extremely unstable and ignites when it comes in contact with anything...even air. It can only be stored by suspending it in an electromagnetic field inside a vacuum canister. If the field fails and the antimatter falls, the result is a "perfect" matter/antimatter conversion, which physicists aptly call "annihilation."]

Other than the complex example of the "unbalance" act of the universe between the matter and anti-matter (Actually it is more complicated ...), there is many other pervalent examples that can be shown in the way of unbalance.

For instance our heart. Generally, our hearts are always situated slightly to the left in our body. Most of the animals' hearts are mostly tilted to left. There are of course some strange anomalies of heart being tilted slightly to right instead of left. No matter what side it is, it is a fact that our hearts will never be exactly equal in between our lungs. Why? To follow the principle of balance, and to get the "correct" balance in nature, why is heart not at the centre? There are of course reasons for left ventricular muscles is bigger than the right and to pump blood efficiently to arteries due to the high pressure caused by the aortic arch.

The Unbalance Balance principle is just a phenomenon that I observed in our normal life. You will realise the anormalties in the world will be that there can never be a perfect balance. In fact, to many people, a perfect balance is actually a "tilted" balance figuratively.

One thing to note, something in the world that is perceived to be balance may not seem to be balance to another person. This is due to the fact that for any phenomenon in the world, we are always comparing in different manners and looking at different points of view. Unless, there is absolute such as numbers, like 22 is discerned by some people to be a "balance" number as there are two, and both two at left and right. However, my note will be that there is an irony that even the acknowledged absolutes can be treated philosophically nonetheless.

I have just inputted something I have thought of. They are philosophy, Science and even our normal day-to-day life. I am afraid that they are still plenty of relevant examples to prove or disprove Balance is the most perfect harmonious and significant effect in our lives. At the end of the day, it is still what you think that matters for this issue of "Balancing" act. "Balance" may be the sycronym for "Perfect" to many people. Though I doubt it, there is no right or wrong in this matter as long as there is no conclusive debates.

But it is rather peculiar to note that there is always exceptions in the world, no matter how perfect a pattern want to be.

(As this is a food for thought, as long as there are new things and perspectives, there will always be additions to be done. So, this entry is subjected to constant modifications ...)

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Fast comments ... (Done on 22/05/2006, Mon, 2240hs)

I have read through and revise all my former blogs as done before. As usual, I am amazed of my capability to write out and gain many insights for the short Two and a Half Year. Even some of the words I have used gracefully, have been forgotten of their meanings both literally and figuratively ... Maybe "Inspiration really brings out the best at that moment ...". I will discuss further about inspirations and what I have come to a sudden realisation about inspirations during the recent Sec4 Chalet gatherings I have gone ... When I have the time ... I will also talked about the newly "Unbalanced" Balance principle which I have dwelled upon recently ...

[One thing to note while reading all my blogs, is the fact that I have always have typo,grammar and structural error. I realise it will be an immense, mega project just to edit all the typo errors. As for the grammar and structural error, I will have to let it be. Hai~~ It seems I am not yet even a near to perfect person, but still, it is this that makes me ... "William" ... Hahaha .... ]

By the way, I still remember there are some "promises" that I have made. Such as the "key phrases" I have created in my current work place. I will add on all the "key phrases" after I have research and explored on the "Unbalanced" Balance principle.

The Important Discussion, Faith (The Christians)

Today, I have watched the Da Vinci Code, the movie. I have read the book before. I am not brainwashed to believe EVERYTHING what I read or see is true. In fact, it even spurs me, a non-Christians to take interest and research in related areas. A goal Dan Brown has achieved, and what the Pope and the Bishops and the Pastors will have been glad of.

There are many points to be discussed, of course even up to the point of religious, the topic of all sensitivity. I have however taken some of the points that what Dan Brown claims is true are unfortunately not bona fide. An example will be the Priory of Sion in which I will have never believe the great Sir Issac Newton is actually a gandmaster. Anyway the Priory of Sion has been proven to be a hoax created by Pierre Placard. Priory of Sion in fact exists until 1956, but its aims and members are quite unexpected from the Priory as described in the Da Vinci Code and the texts by Placard. There are of course some truth like Mary Magdalene is not a prostitute. But as of the Sangreal and Holy Grail's theory, and the conspiracies in the movie, it is still too nebulous to be a fact.

I have also liked the comparison of different symbols in the beginning as done by the main character, Robert Langdon, in the movie. What we percieved the meaning of, events or symbols, might not be what we really discern as, or simply the facts. This is why narrow-mindedness and close-mindedness is a negative aspect (obviously). But still, people do not realise they are like this when they hold so strongly to their faith that they ignore the importance of open-mindedness. Having strong faith is in fact plaudits to many, but when it is a blind and extreme one that even mistakes are acknowldeged as truth; or dismissing others as heretics, outcasts, saturnic, infidels indiscriminately, just because of different opinions and ideology, then it is dissenting, nasty, minacious and unconstructive.

My friends and I have discussed a lot of Christianity and the early civilisations like the Sumerians, Eygptian and the Greek. We even argued over the point as to which Discriminations or Politics or Selfishness is the root cause of all conflicts and wars.

We have also explored the facts and the fictions in the Bible up to the point of Roman periods and how it affected the faith and the religion. We also lament how many Christians and Catholics in the world today, friends around us who only have the "reckless" faith and sadly a blind one. They have become so obsessed in the faith and sayings that they refuse to keep an open mind and take fictions as total facts and take Bible as a history text. I do not want to criticise faith, but neither do I want to see people becoming so faithful that discriminations and accusations soon occur, resulting in straining of human relationships. This is in fact dangerous, for meaningless conflicts and wars have arises because of narrow-mindedness. Discussing the Bible and the faith is not wrong. Pin-pointing is okay. But many of my Christians friends have become so inundated that they will become excessively angry and emotional when certains questions are raised. I will have asked them how can they convince others if they will to show unwilling attitude. Only by explaining amiably do them and their faith gain better respect from the others.

To me and many others, other than many Protestants or Catholics, all of the people who believed in Bible, God and Christ should in fact be Christians (A lot of Protestants will have insisted calling themselves Christians). Imagine my shock when I realise that even Christian itself will have disagreements and conflicts. Catholics and Protestants have in fact showed displeasure when discussing about each of their religious issues even up to today. And History will have shown that the conflicts between the Bishops and the Pastor as disastrous. So what is wrong? Have God been split into two? Either way, each sides will have claimed that the outsourcing of their faith comes from their own sides [I do not know which side's version is true]. I think a religion should be homogenous. Even if there are some diversity, the discrepancy must not be too great to cause a quarrel and unhappiness or even tension. Do you see Buddhist monks in Shao Lin China arguing among basic beliefs with the Thailand Buddhist monks or Tibetian Buddhists today? (I do not want to hear people saying that I am being very bias by always depicting Buddhism as a better edge to Christians. This is not my point, for there are conflicts of interest too when Buddhism becomes politics, and desires become greed, from history to present. Even for other religions, same conflicts also occur even today.)

Having a slightly different opinions, does not necessary mean that you are a devil, a Lucifer or Satanic. In fact Saturn in pagan Romans (Latin: Saturnus) was a major Roman deity of agriculture. He was identified in classical antiquity with the Greek deity Cronus, and the mythologies of the two gods are commonly mixed. But to the Christians, Saturn is evil and a devil, anti-thesis to God. In fact, our day, "Saturday" comes from the word Roman pagan "Saturn". So if Saturn is so evil, then Saturday must be an unholy day. Is this true? All of us will have to ask ourselves, for a day we spent on leisure; For some, half a day on work; And a day just before the renewed week day "Sabbath" (Sunday, and the day which is percieved to be the rest day of monothelite God); Is Saturday dangerous?

Number 6 and anything regarding to 6 is holy to the Sumerians, who are widely accepted to be the first civilisation in the world to fit the characteristics of civilisation. This is why we have 60 minutes as 1 hour, 60 seconds as 1 minute. Sumerians are the one who break up our time, and this framing and application of time principles has been used even today. 6,60 and 360 are holy numbers to Sumerians and Eygptians (This is why Eygptians break their annual year to be 360 days plus 5 days of celebration of Eygptian Gods). Anything with a 6. In fact, the SUmerians respect "6" so much that it eventually become part of the symbols of their important gods.
There is some logic behind this. idolisation of "6" If you prefer to look into Mathematical concept, 60 is the smallest integer that can divided by 1,2,3,4,5 and 6. However this is not a proof but a theory as to why any 6 is significant to the Sumerians. (Read more on Sumerians and their civilisations)
So even if there is 6 6 6, to the ancient Sumerians, they will not shout "Devils!" but instead "Holy!".

Many of my Christian friends will never have known the true history of Jeus Christ. (I will like to stress MANY and not all. However the situation has become so lousy that I can only say 10% of the Christians I met are amiable and comfortable enough not to be narrow-minded.)
Or that they simply refuse to believe history and facts even when there are evidences proven in texts and literature of not one but many cultures. They never look back to history in which their faiths are based. They will resolutely close their eyes when even evidences are presented, shut their ears when some narrative texts are being given. Without using their senses and a open and proper mentality, they then conclude that the others are wrong and heretic. This will indeed make me shake my head even more and walk away sighing. I will have asked, since I always choose to listen to them, but why do I not get the equal treatment.

I will cringe when everythings seems to be only answered as "God wants it this way". This is a lazy explanation to me. It seems that "God" to those friends of mine, is the absolute key that can open any puzzles in the world. This may be true, philosophically speaking, but is very flimsy, and a weak answer. Technically, who wants "God wants it to be this way ..." in every aspects of our lives. When we used Science to explain, then those friends of mine will have said, "Ah! It is God who want the Science to be this way ..." (Or the meaning will go to God who create Science and not humans). But those friends of mine almost forgot that during the early periods, especially from the 15th century, every Scientists or the people who believed in Science have been condemned and persecuted by the Christians until the recent centuries, when Science is widely accepted and recognised. It seems that it is the "In-Charge"s who want it this way, and not truly the God in the recent centuries. At this point of time, those friends of mine will feel so offended that I become their "enemy" and worst, "Devils", right away. They will accuse me of being blasphemous, sacrilegious and irreverence to God. They refuse to talk to me and open up further conversations, just because I think I have pointed out some issues. This is why I learnt my lessons well, and plainly do not talk anything about religions or even History and Philosophy in front of them. To me, they are still not open-minded and mature enough to listen to points. I believe a TRUE God will not punish a person who just want to clarify issues. Instead, indiscriminate refusals and denial are just pure glibberish and a big insult to God.

Taking only a narrow view that the Bible is ALWAYS real and DEFINITELY a true answer to all is dangerous. To me, I have always feared that my friends will be easily manipulated and be abused by people especially from the "above" who are waiting to fulfill their own dark selfish desires.

(A word of advise to the preachers ...)
A good preacher must in fact be responsible, to practise what they preached. To know the content of his/her religion well. Do not discriminate information and conclusions. Do not dismiss others readily. Get the facts right before insisting on further issues. Do not choose to ignore certain facts and issues. Do not deselect others readily, and most importantly do not be aggressive and forceful. It is not a competition but a matter of conviction. Open-mindness will help a lot, respecting others and making your point gently, firmly and cohesively will be the best way. Arguments are inevitable, but never be hostile. Momentously, Always listen and hear what others got to talk about.

I am not saying Bible is wrong, but it is important to understand the Bible, instead of closing both eyes and throwing the other books away. I have even harboured the thought that if there are lesser hostility form the pioneer and our ancestors of Christianity, then perhaps, there will be more followers and true followers today. Some lies, cover-up and conspiracy no doubt will have casted the negative light on this GREAT religion. If Christianity is built on total pureness and truthness, I believe that even skeptics will be won over. But alas, sometimes, it is the humans, and that humans will always be selfish and leads to politics, and this affects the pureness of a religion. Eventually it is the humans who interpret and write the Bible. Even if it is from God's or Christ's original sayings, other humans can still be wrong (Either by motives or error) while compiling the information.

It is important to take note that Christian is not the ONLY source of faith. Its faith arises from merging and acquiring of the earlier civilisations' faiths such as from the pagan. And over the year, Christianity has evolved and processed and make itself up to date to become today. Example will be the Emperor Constantine and his bishops actually allowed only 4 Gospels (John,Mark,Luke and Matthew) to be the basis of the Bible today. (Christians must remember that it is the Romans who persecute them, but ironically Romans are also the one that help their Religion to grow and become today.) [However, Constantine who is a life-long pagans might have a darker political motive for his conversion of faith.]

The other Gospels including the controversial Gospel of Judas have actually existed but was purposefully ignored because of the clashing beliefs of the 4 basic Gospels and other various reasons. Other famous Gospels will be Gospel of Peter (St.Peter who is an important apostle, yet his Gospel is not accepted by Constantine and Bishops), Thomas and even Mary Magdalene. However, the "Heads" particularly the Vaticans have labelled the writers and believers of the other Gospels as Gnostics (Which is not really a compliment). Worst, some Gnostics who simply have a different but reasonable opinions are even condemned as Heretics and Devils by the people in power.

Christ's birthday,Good Friday and Easter; the REAL last supper; John the Baptist; the story of Simon (The rival of Christianity at Roman time); Eucharist (also called Holy Communion, or the Lord's Supper)—a ritual in which small amounts of bread and wine are consecrated and then consumed; Mary and Jeus resemblance to Isis and Horus. All of the above should be checked with the Bible and historical contexts so as to gain a further understanding. And that Christians, no matter Protestants, Catholics or even Jenovah's Witness should gain that further insights and apprehension of their own faith. In fact, many words conceived may not be from Jeus Himself but "St.Paul", an avid follower and also apostle of Jeus Christ and the father of Churches. (His teachings are quite wide-spread, and is found in modern context today such as the Holy Trinity for Catholics)

Not only the Christians, but in fact all the other religions in the world should have this type of healthy mentality. Scholars and the Historians should have the utmost responsibility in providing good and proper religious interpretations and facts. While the "In-Charge"s of the religions should be accountable in what they preached to their followers. Certainly, politics, selfishness, dominance, greed and discrimination will surface
once certain powers are derived. Nonetheless, if everyone will to have open-mindedness, to be receptive and impartial, to be unbiased and amenable, then the world will be a better and peaceful place.

(Note: I am not anti-Christians. Neither do I want to offend all. But that I hope that Bible may be a key to the answer, but it is not the "ONLY" key to answer. I respect this religion, but still facts and fiction must always have a line, the invisible line of "Limits".)

The Jews(or Israelites) which descended from Hebrews and the Arabians should know that they descent from one. They are Semitics, and from the same source. They should in fact look at their history, as to how their ancestors successfully co-exist, and to work towards a better future.

I believe they will respect and appreciate each other more, and lesser conflicts and no wars(Example will be the modern Israel and the Middle-East ongoing wars) will have occured, if they are more open-minded and the remembrance that they in fact share the same ancestors. Even their religions are of the same source, Islam and Christians; The Qurans and the Holy Bible. There is Old testaments including the ten commandents, then the New testaments. The source and the beginning from the book, Genesis. At first, Judaism, follow by a more compiled Christianity, then Islam, Catholics and then the movement Protestants, follow by many. People simply has overlooked the importance of History ...

Which fathers and mothers will want to see their sons and daughters fighting against each other over mudane affairs?

Such is the Close-mindedness and selfishness of the Humans ... Hai~~ ... Indeed, "So Dark the Cons of Man ..." [From the Da Vinci's code] ...

(Edited on 31/5/2006, 0040 hrs, Wednesday)

The ChOiCe ...

On 13th May 2006, I have gone to the Grand Hyatt Hotel Singapore for a high tea talk hosted by NTU School of Biological Science. I am still contemplating and have not accepted fully yet online ....

But I have decided that I will enter this "prestigious" course nonetheless.

I do realise I have accompany, an ODAC friend of mine who has already accepted the choice of the double degree course.

Uncertainty still dwells inside me, but at least it is still a decision I have made. When I was in Primary 6, I do not even have the priviledge of making a clear choice. I was too blurred, too immature and too obscured in my cloudy brain to choose carefully and correctly. And to make a clear cut choice for my school. I had not even input the thought of the choice that will affect the next 4 years of my life.

Choices are meant to create fate, though fate will also influence choices.

I have made many choices in my life and of course fews are a matter of life and death according to my NPCO (Policeman) experience. There is always this instances that choices will become gambles. It is sometimes in the hope of achieving a desirable outcome and result that we made a choice.

No matter what types of choices we made, it will always be a gamble. SOmetimes, even a gamble of both positive outcomes but as to which one is better than the other. The gamble can even be meaningless if both choices seem to be on equal footings.

The word "gamble" might be a little bit too extreme. But likewise, in the concept of winning and losing, the investments and to increase the chance of winning, we always "look out" for a "better gmable". We calaculate and balance the pros and cons, the benefits and the amount of pain prior to the sacrifice, the memory portion, the similar experiences to present choices we obtain and own in our personal history ... All in our thoughts, in our brains ... Then only we can make the most wise decision, a wise choice.

Of course choices can be further explained in different catergories of choices. IN answering academics, it is of course a different way of making choices. Some of these choices can be reversible as in changing the choice of answers as in practices and exams before sumbitting. Or in some scenarios, doing wrong steps can in fact help you gain useful experiences and insights even though there is a feeling of the pain of losing going on.

The "choices" that I chiefly mean in my present blog are choices and decisions that are going to affect my life, a big one, choices that subject to my circumstances. There may be no wrong or correct, but there is no turning back. It is just in the hope that there are no poignancy involved in future aspects. And rather it is very hard to point out the negatives or the positives, and therefore a gamble ... When both different choices seem to be the one you want, and you know you can only have one, then you will have to sacrifice the other ...

The topic of choices can be a book long and endless pages flowing on in the explanation and defining of choices, or simply the philosophy of choices. Therefore I will discontinue the blabbering of choices for now ...

Just as my final decision on my religion, I hope I can become a firm and wise decision-maker, a good and great leader and a sagacious and erudite MAn who has more than luck to make good choices ... May answer to alternatives always be with me .... !!!

[I have touched on the topics of Choices before, and it seems history will always repeat itself - I have found myself making decisions that are going to affect my life tremendously. Making choices will always be with us, no matter in a free or conservative society. It is just that free society will have allowed us to make tons of more choices than usual. I have also noted before in my blog that having too much choices may make a person confused and it takes plenty of will and decision-making to make a painful choice out of many and a gamble that you hope you will not regret ...]