Reward ÷ Effort, 2

It's been a great break for me (still is), while I wait for the semester in Monash to start in July. With the spare time I have when I'm not away or meeting people, I've been catching up on some reading, and some of them touch a little on an intriguing subject: Economics

One primary idea in the subject is the element of 'incentives' and how the study of incentives can tell a lot about matters of any kind, even predict certain scenario outcomes because human decision generally revolves around a simple formula:

Rewards (or the expectation of Rewards) over Effort (or the amount of Effort perceived)


It is by this idea that it can be explained why a group of thieves find it justifiable (by their own standards) to perform a high risk robbery because of the incentives they are eye-ing at, why the zealous cop is willing to risk endangering his life and limb (big effort) to catch these thieves because of the award and recognition that entail brave acts of this kind (big reward) and, (closer to home) why the ubiquity of bribery, which is actually a business of sorts, makes events like, the sun rising up in the east and Christiano Ronaldo being 'fouled' (often by an enigmatic, invisible force ;) pale in comparison.

One thing that the thief and cop both have in common is the Reward they strive to achieve outweights the Effort involved to accomplish the crime/job. Yet ,they differ in how they mentally form the idea of their rewards.

Most economists agree, while collectively most people have more or less predictable responses because of the incentive concept, a man as an individual is capable of having a different idea of an incentive. After all, we're stuck in a postmodern society, where "want" is prioritized over "need", (or made the same), "feel" is prefered over "think". For this reason, they have come up with different categories of incentives, like the Financial Incentive, Social Incentive, and so on.



I think one man's words and I believe, one man's innermost desire pretty much messed up this equation of Reward over Effort. He believed,

"I must do my utmost to act in harmony with my conscience and my better self" -Vaclav Havel

That was his idea of a Reward, and evident in his words, he had a willingness to pursue this choice even with the prospect of a high amount of Effort involved, because after 'calculation', it was worth it. What a challenge, especially when the "worse self" always seems to prevail over the "better self". In a moment of rage, disappointment or frustration, the very principles a person tries so rigorously to build into his/her character can vanish, like they were never there. Yet, the lines of a poem go:

"If you can...watch the things you gave your life to broken
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools...
...Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it..."

The arduous journey to better one's self never ends as long as we are in it.

Tribute to a dear pet

Peering into the box, it was quite a sight
My stone heart melted at the cat’s plight
But how foul it smelt then, I shan't now begin to say
The stench was so pungent it drove the girls away.

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In the kitchen it quickly lapped up the water
“How cute!” cooed my delighted young sister
So amused was she, the odor didn’t matter
A far cry from the response of my mother

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“Are you sure about this?” she quickly voiced her concern,
Thus was my reply, “I care for this kitten”
Day after day I tended to it with great ardor
And as my love grew, so did the orange ball of fur.

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In some ways it was quite an asset
In many ways it was a dear friend
In all ways it surpassed the ordinary cat
Yet, none can tell, why it ran!

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For through the rearing of this frail feline
I have obtained traits which were once not mine
From cleaning its litter to clearing up the mess
I found myself to be like a father in duress.

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A stray kitten nurtured to a cat so tame
It didn’t mind having a female name
For all that it was and taught me about
A smile is ever more appropriate than a pout.

:>

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I have often walked down this street before;

But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.

All at once am I several stories high.

Knowing I'm on the street where you live.

Are there lilac trees in the heart of town?

Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?

Does enchantment pour out of ev'ry door?

No, it's just on the street where you live!

And oh! The towering feeling

Just to know somehow you are near.

The overpowering feeling

That any second you may suddenly appear!

People stop and stare. They don't bother me.

For there's no where else on earth that I would rather be.

Let the time go by, I won't care if I

Can be here on the street where you live.

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Freddy Hill- My Fair Lady

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A wonderful song in the musical, I thought!

Character

A plate hung on a wall in a house I went to recently reads:

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost

When health is lost, something is lost

When character is lost, all is lost

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>Claw posing on the staircase

Bukit Tinggi

This was the first waterfall among the few we had to find our way across or around in a recent jungle trekking trip I went, with Ian and Xuan Yi. Pretty satisfying trip I must say

A noteworthy part of the trip, where we had to get into the water passage between the rock on the right and the rock on the left to move on with the journey. There was a moment when I thought XY was getting sucked into the water because of the force of the current.

An awesome view of one of the last waterfalls we passed by before going back(taken from a pretty risky spot). A more detailed account of the trip in XY's post.

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-How we celebrated Satchid's birthday ;) The poor fella had to walk in that from the ground floor of One Utama to GSC (where line after line of people waiting to buy Spiderman tickets gawked at him) One lady looked as if she saw the most horrifying thing (maybe she did) while other faces seemed to crack into smiles of amusement. Hats off to the man

Thought and shout-out

One of the most awesome lines that have stuck to my head goes

"Where sin increased, grace increased all the more"

As deep as the phrase is and as myriad as the interpretations are, to me it does not imply that sinners can afford to sin as they wish, rather the people victimized by the deeds of others have sufficient and more than enough grace to overcome their circumstances, and the people who think their past deeds are too big to be forgiven may know no sin is bigger than the Grace to forgive it.

Nothing can buy that

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Also, here's a birthday shout-out to a crazy partner-in-crime. Everytime I reminisce about the highschool stunts, Satchid comes into the picture. A future Malaysian Patch Adams and a joker in any company he's in, this fella's also the most hypocritical Jedi, man. Have a good one dude.. ;>

Days for years

"So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her."

The story goes that a great man, Jacob, or Israel once lived. Born second to his twin brother, Esau, he had the nature of a smooth talker, and when the day came for their father to bless the first-born, Jacob outwitted Esau and stole his older brother’s birthright (a preplanned performance involving wearing animal skin). He’s arguably one of the most appealing characters to me, personally, because of the great feats he did. It is said that he wrestled with a Man (whom he didn’t realise was actually God) through the night and ‘prevailed’- and impressed God with his persistence, and left a great nation behind after he died, but one story always seems to be very outstanding: how he waited for the love of his life.
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When time sped up.

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-Story is longer and can be found here for further reading.
-Inspired by a short exchange of words with TMY