Al Harkan's Blog
My Written Thoughts on Media, Technology, and Everything in Between
Eulogy
It came to me lately this uneasy feeling that I’m not quite able to explain, even to myself.It’s not necessarily haunting, but it does follow me everywhere. It’s been weeks, if not months, that this feeling has been around: the thought of time when I die.
Social Inertia
It seems that everybody nowadays wants to change something. We can tell that by looking at growing number of startups founded, ‘innovative’ products launched, or initiatives -well, initiated. It’s like literally every day in news we hear new startups being reported, new gadgets being promoted, and new social projects being campaigned -not to mention how many new policies being passed. Personally, I think that is confusing, if not noisy, how thousands of people try to place their effort to change our society at the same time, every day.
Paradox of Learning
The whole point of this writing is to talk about my experience when I was learning extensively about subjects I’m passionate at, while ignoring the conventional, obligatory campus’ credit system. I’m a social student, yes, but that doesn’t stop me to study computer programming, design, film theory, and variety of other subjects like astrophysics, economy, politics, or even a little about engineering. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily make me an expert in those fields, but that’s enough to make me keep wondering of how vast the mystery this universe has, how amazing life and exciting people are, and keep me feel alive (?)
Dunkerque (2017)
So, this is the movie I had been waiting for more than a year, and in my case, I think that’s the first time I was impatiently waiting for months for something to come.
From Mars with Love
So, the other day I had an ‘assignment’ to read this quite popular book called “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus”. The book talks about how I, a man, am profoundly different from women. From our values that are inherently different, the way we cope with stress, to how we express ideas differently. It tends to start a fight between two whenever either one of them insists the other to accept them based on their own perspective.
Why Do We Love
I said it once and I’ll say it again: it’s uneasy for me to talk about this subject, no matter at what emotional state I currently have, in love or heart broken. For me love is an abstract subject which once I dive into and try to write about it, it feels like I was suck into it and can’t resist to continue talking about. It’s like revealing our weakest point, willingly. But how could someone do something willingly if it opens the vulnerability of itself? Doesn’t our evolutionary process lead us to survive and develop the reflexes of defense mechanism, whatever forms it take? I don’t know. And the funny thing is, I am writing about this just after I had a break up from years of relationship.
Origin (2017)
When you’re already very familiar with a style and mind of an artist but he’s still capable of making your jaw dropped with his new works, you know that he is a great artist, right? And I think Dan Brown is still no exception.
Stoics
One of the beauty of this philosophy, is that it doesn’t necessarily negate or against the religion or ideology I’m currently believing in. It even proves that with human efforts to think and contemplating life, it can also find the universal truth that understand life as it is how it is.
Things I Just Learned About Artificial Intelligence
There are two types of AI. The one that has first-programmed purpose, and the one that doesn’t. In simple terms, here is what I understand.