I have thinking of writing about this post for the longest time. Sometimes while on the train some while working on some problems. Always when I am thinking some things seriously.
I first got in touch with Set theory when I was in Secondary School.
And some where along the way me and this theory went our separate ways. It was only in the university that I came in touch with this long lost friend. It was during this particular module called discrete math where I was once again re-introduced to him. This time, in its no nonsense form. No more does the lecture draw nice looking tables or circles but rather it said hello in crpytic mathematic expressions.
It has been stuck with me ever since.
Now in the real working world dealing with logistic problems everyday, it has become almost an integral part of my life. Each and everyday, I would be presented with real world problems that needed solving.
Each time I would bring out my arsenal of problem solving tactics the first and foremost will always be this trusty friend of mine. Set Theory. Once in a while being lazy, I do try to do it some other way. Always though, the solution I formulated would come crashing down in my face had I not applied this good old friend of mine.
The reason as to why this theory is so helpful is that when applied correctly, the eventually formulated solution will be sound at least within parameters predefined.
Of course in scenarios where the solution fails, it was mainly due to the fact that I mis- identified certain subsets where intersection existed between two different pre-defined groups, hence muddling up the architecture of my solution. It thus demands for the application of the set theory in a more rigorous depth. Seeing what the situation demands, there is no other way but to do as required.
I spoke to Pasha today to brief him on another assignment of which the subset I was passing to him to solve. On the way sending him home, he did raise one very important question which I had to consider.
“You know the thing about being a programmer, there is a definite lifespan being one. It is similar as being an athelete. Somewhere along the way as you grow older your mind become dull and ill-focused. When you reach that stage you should start to realise your days as a programmer as being numbered. ”
Perhaps that might be true if you put it as a physical ability. Then again a skill when practised and honed day in and out especially one that is in the mind, shouldn’t it only get better and better overtime.
Guess it was not supposed to be so. Peter is a feng shui master who analyses the locations of places and proposes the necessary design for that place. He mentioned once back when he was younger he could do it. Nowadays, he mind fails him. Lack of vitality does affects the ability for the brain to perform.
Then what perhaps is a person suppose to do when he does become older and starts losing his edge? Perhaps what he has left then is his ability to relay on his accumulated experience. Then again experiences are not the most reliable of things, especially in this day and age, when everything is in a state of flux.
In this day of extremistan nothing is really reliable and can be considered stable in the long run. What then can we bank on? The ability to delegate task to other then. This is a skill that I am just really beginning to build upon as I am slowly starting to realise the importance of it. One only has 24 hours a day. While time to time, one is required to solve problems that requires an effort more than 24 hours within a 24 hours span. The strenght of one man alone is never enough. These are especially true in real world situations.
The chief of problems then that will increasingly become more and more important over time is to acquire talents and keep them. There are lots of human resource out there in the society really but what the ability to acquire the right kind of talent for the right task is a challenge most of the time.
Recalling on how the warlord Liu Bei acquired and kept the loyalty of Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang the pillars of the empire he would eventually build. That seriously was a much more challenging feat than fighting and winning the wars the fought.
Jayan or was it Garis once told me, a man before the age of thirty has little or no people management skills. I do agree him. Our raging hormones, while good as a source of drive to help us conquer anything we set our mind to, often puts us in a rash and sometimes agressive disposition that is not really a good state of mind to maintain and manage a team. In this natural state we are better workers than managers.
I wonder how it do be like when I do pass the age of 35 and where would I land up in. The future remains a mystery still, beyong the realms which I could apply my good friend the set theory.
Lately, I have been feeling a foreboding sense of doom that seem to be impending over the horizon. I wonder what that might be. During less occupied times, I do mentally go through each and everything in my immediate surrounding and project them into the worst case scenarios over time just so as to reassure myself as well as to do some damage control if need be. Still unknowningly this sense sense of dread would creep upon me.
Just the other day, after my meeting with lawrence, I seeked recluse in the Saint Andrew’s cathedral. I did find peace during that one hour. It was much needed.
1 full year of hard work, I realised to myself, I had not the opportunity to take time of and mentally sort out my path and re-center myself. I seriously feel very uncomfortable in this situation.
Without focus and proper centering, it is so easy to overlook stuff and sometime critical ones.
Oh well, IsAllah as my friend Sian usually says. It is all in the hands of God. There is only so far one can look into the future.