Leading Life Online and Other Ponderables

Imagination is supposed to be the difference between man and (other) animals.

Here's letting some of it loose-

What if we could lead our lives online? What do we really need to do offline? Work life can certainly be online 90% of the time. And online marriages can probably succeed as well as offline ones..you just need to figure out how to throw pots and pans at each other online..I am sure our I.T. guys are capable of doing that, given time.

What if instead of freebies, we made everything free? How will the world change? Karl Marx must be shuddering at this leap of faith beyond what even he thought of.

What if we banned jargon? Lawyers (and MBAs) may cease to exist, and all corporates would have to mend their ways. Point 2 above anyway would have shut down marketing departments.

What if all Heads of Government disappeared?  Would the world be a better place? And national boundaries? (I can already see the smile broaden on your face...)

I could go on,..but the real nightmare is if Apple disappeared from our Garden of Eden, isn't it?

Second life becomes First life..any takers?

Coefficient of Happiness

I am not even sure what a coefficient is, but no matter. I will still propound (I know what THAT is) a hypothetical equation where happiness is equated in an equation to various things which have coefficients (I didn't say I can't use coefficients, did I?)

Happiness = x*Necessities of life (food, around 2000 calories a day, 2 pairs of clothes, some detergent, minimal housing, money to buy maybe 2 or 3 pizzas in a year, a transistor radio) + y*Free indulgences that you can have such as conversations with friends including on fb or mail chat, walks with anyone you like to or alone, laughter, staring into the sea, mountain or plains, listening to bird sounds, or to free music + z*(inexpensive indulgences like a cup of chai/tea/coffee or beverages of choice and a samosa, an occasional game of golf played with friends) + a * (very expensive indulgences like a house in Florida or a single malt everyday or your own golf course or a Ferrari...you get the drift)

Now, my hypothesis is that if you have an internet connection even from a cybercafe, the value of x could be 1. y might be of the order of 25, z may take on a value of 10, and 'a' might have a value of 5.

My point is that items no. 2 and 3 in the equation, of which y and z are the coefficients, are probably easily attainable and give us plenty of happiness on a daily basis. x being a 'necessity' coefficient, is a multiplier of things necessary but not making you happy or motivated. But happiness is not far if you seek to maximise y and z, rather than a and z. If you can add interesting work that you like, it has the potential to be in category 2 where you also get money.

Have I made some wrong assumptions?

Phokat ka (Free) Advice

Giving advice is not considered a vice, apparently, or it would not be so rampant- under assumptions of the moral code. But there are so many experts giving you so much of gratuitous advice, that it forces me to enter the agonising agony uncle space, and list out some great pieces of it. If you go to pieces after you read it, well, that's your problem.

On How to handle Summers
Drink lots of water.
Make a crown of onions and place it on your head.

On How to handle Pimples
Don't eat oily stuff

On How to Reduce Weight
1. Eat only carbs
2. Eat only proteins
3. Eat moderately 6 times a day
4. Gorge to your heart's content.
Take your pick.

On Investing
Think of the long term goals. (This must have been the reason the dinosaurs got wiped out.)

On Selecting a Mate to get married to
You should look for compatibility (ha, ha..can't resist that)

On Divorce
Get a good lawyer who knows how to get a fat alimony (if you are the wife)

On Coping with Loss
Eat lots of vada pav- it's the cheapest distraction you are going to get. Going away to Switzerlland is recommended for those who have a bank account there.