Happiness: The Answer To Success

TED video titled "Shawn Achor: The Happy Secret to Better Work" talks about how the people around us have been telling us the not quite successful way to be successful - that is by telling us to work so hard until we reach success and be happy (this is mostly told by our parents and schools all over the world). Why this is not quite accurate is because apparently only 25% of job successes are predicted by intelligence and the rest 75% are because of optimism. The fact is once you've reach success and be happy, you will want more and more, so there will not be an end to it; seems like you won't reach the ultimate happiness and this is why Shawn Achor wants to reverse the formula for happiness and success. What we need to do is instead going crazy because of all the hard work and be successful and happy until there's no end, we should be happy now since it will make us more optimistic and drive us even much more to do a better work and be successful (so basically a never ending happiness). This happens because when we are happy, the dopamine (a compound that is released in our body when we are happy) turns on all of the learning systems in our brain making us much more aware of seeing the world in a more positive way.

Forced Connections

Forced connection is when you combine two things to become one. It's not only for objects, it could also be used in words, names, etc. For example the picture above is an onion combined with an orange, that is a forced connection, and I could name it "Oniorange" if I wanted to. I'm going to give examples on my own designs of forced connections, it was a class exercise. I chose the object "plug" and I had to give them 6 different behaviours/emotions. Here are what I did:

Passionate Plug

This is a passionate plug because it is tangled with one another as if they are hugging tightly, and the way they tangle is in a perfect spiral form. They are in love. <3

Sad Plug

This plug is set because all the sockets are being used by other plugs.

Brave Plug

Bravest. Plug. Ever. It is still bravely plug into the socket to do it's duty even though water had spilled all around the socket.

Creative Plug

This plug can transmit electricity through air to any mobile devices. It is used for charging and can have a long distance between the plug and the mobile device(s) you are charging.

Greedy Plug

This plug is taking all the spaces of available sockets, hence making the other plugs unable to plug in to the socket.

Hardworking Plug

This is a hardworking plug because it is working so hard despite it being very old and almost broken.

Analogies

I did a group work in my Creative Thinking class, we had to find analogies in objects. For example, a tree branch could be used as a cane or even a coat hanger. I'm going to put up some of mine and my group members' ideas :

Hand Fans and Electric Fans

Hand fan works manually by swinging our hand and you can carry it anywhere you want, an electric fan is powered by electricity making it much faster and gives the maximum satisfaction to the users but not as convenient as a hand fan. 

Candles and Light Bulbs

A candle has to be lit using a match or any other objects that can produce fire and lights only a short distance around it, but you can carry it around and make a bonfire. A light bulb runs by electricity and can light up an entire room much brighter, but is also not as convenient as a candle.

Kangaroo's Pouches and Baby Carriers

A baby carrier was most probably inspired by a kangaroo's pouch, they both is mainly made to carry their infant but the difference is that a kangaroo's pouch is part of a kangaroo's physical body, whereas a baby carrier is something that we have to make.

Birds and Airplanes

Airplanes and birds have something in common: they both can fly. A bird was born with wings so that they can fly, but an airplane is something that we have to built with birds as the inspiration.

Bicycles and Motorcycles

A motorcycle is like a level 99 bicycle. They both are made for transportation, have two wheels, bicycles are cheaper and easier to use, however motorcycles are much more expensive but much more powerful.

Clocks and Watches 

Similar to bicycles and motorcycles, a watch is like a midget clock with straps on it. A clock is useful in rooms where everyone can see, and a watch is like a personal clock where you can wear anytime, anywhere.

Shirts and Pants and Jumpsuits

A jumpsuit is an excuse for when you are too lazy to pick which pants or which shirt to wear. I bet the inventor was like, "Why can't I just combine a shirt and a pants, I'm so lazy to choose." And then he/she came up with a jumpsuit.

Blood and Ink

Animals and humans were naturally born with blood, but we have to produce inks. Seems to me like blood is like a red ink, and you can even use it to write if you want to, it's just that it will dry up fastly.

Projectors, Whiteboards/Chalkboards and Notebooks

First a notebook, then they make it bigger into whiteboards or chalkboards so everyone can see, then they come up with projectors so that everyone can see not only writings but other medias as well.

Fishes and Submarines

Same as birds and airplanes, a submarine was inspired by fishes. They swim deep in the ocean and can see their beautiful surroundings.

Tomorrowland: The Message

"Tomorrowland" was a movie directed by Brad Bird in 2015. It was a movie about a guy named Frank Walker (George Clooney) who made a tachyon machine that predicted the end of the world with 100% chance, and a girl named Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) was sent to Frank by a robot named Athena (Raffey Cassidi) in hopes to save the world. The movie has a lot of meaning behind it, and I'm going to talk a little about what message it's trying to convey to the audience.

In the movie, little Frank Walker kept on saying that he would not give up (he was trying to make his jetpack invention to work), and in the end he became a genius who invented many other stuff (e.g. the tachyon machine that can predict someones death or the future or the past and of course, a fully working jetpack). The world of Tomorrowland is highly imaginative and it was made by the Plus Ultra group (which consists of mostly the smartest iconic scientists) when they discovered another dimension where they built the Tomorrowland, to me this is a message saying that if we all get together and work together on one same objective, we will get there no matter what. This movie was built on an idea - to never give up.

Pareidosomething On Buildings

I know I have posted an article about pareidolia but this time is actually an assignment for my Creative Thinking class (well all the articles are assignments actually, but this one is specific). I'm going to explain shortly that pareidolia is when you see faces on inanimate objects. I'm going to give ten examples - five pictures from myself and five from internet. However, I will need to create a story on why they appear like so. 

From Internet:

The Suspicious One

Legend says it was built to store the most valuable treasure of King Hanif. Made out of bricks, concretes, woods and the one substance that makes this house is perfect from detecting potential intruders or thiefs - suspiciousness. Until this day it has been protecting the treasures with him being suspicious to every single one of us. If it detects a real intruder... well... nothing will happen actually, I guess it's pretty useless after all... it's just a damn house for God's sake just stay out of people's properties will you?

AAAAHH!! WATEEEEEEERRRR!!!

This poor building right here was born with aquaphobia, which is the fear of water. Every single day of it's life, it wouldn't stop screaming in fear of the sea behind him, even though it cannot see them, it can still hear the roaming ocean and the splashes of water coming from the sea. I'm afraid that for the rest of it's miserable and sad life, fear will forever and always win. 

The Laughterer...?

This one particular dude right here laughs all the time, he loves to laugh, laugh is love, laugh is life. We all know laughing is good for us, as an exercise for our breathing especially, but this dude laughs way too much. Even though he doesn't make any noise it still is frustrating to see that face over and over again. Legend says there was a man who lived in the area (he had yellow skin also) who kept on laughing on people's misery, that he was cursed by the local witch into a house of her own. lol

Woah! :o

This little one right here is so easily amused. When it sees people passing by, when it sees the grass, the trees, the flowers, animals and literally every single thing that could possibly be around it especially itself. It realized right away how special it is when it was built into a unique-styled home. It's cute and oval shape makes it surprised everyday, and this little one will never grow up to be an adult, hence making it immature and get surprised by it's own design everyday. Weirdo.

The Curious One

His whole life, he has been asking the same question to whoever is up there, saying, "What is life?" No one has ever actually taken him seriously, and thinks that he needs to grow up and find a job, or help people, or whatever. But he doesn't care, that's when he started looking up, his sad face is because he's getting desperate for an answer. I just hope for the best for him. 

From Myself:

THE SUNLIGHT!!! XoX

I caught his shadow from a nearby building and his whole life, he only knows misery and pain. I caught this guy screaming in pain, I asked him why and he kept on saying, "I'M GONNA MELT!! I'M GONNA MELT!!" Apparently his family were all murdered by the sun, they all got melted. This poor guy will live his whole life like this, will it ever end?

The Soul Eaters

"They are not one, but many. They are not sad, but happy. They will suck your soul up, if you are clumsy. They will not hesitate, because they are crazy." These are the words our great great grandparents have told us through generations. The Soul Eaters are a family of one with the same intention, to suck your soul up, son. Legend says they are traps made by Satan himself, and will suck your soul into Hell if you go too close. Be careful, be careful.. the craziness of the Soul Eaters..

The Confused

These guys were born confused, and they only have 1 second of memory. They can't really do much but they all are family, and they were made so that they can protect the intrior of the building from intruders by doing what they are doing best - since they are confused, they are reckless and random which make the intruders stand no chance from breaking in.

The Holy Duck

He was the one who protected this holy church for centuries, standing strong and proud of his religion. The Holy Duck (or The Mighty Duck Knight) is known for its cute face and humongous size for a duck. By the power of quack, he quacks down any enemies that will try to destroy this holy church.

The Long Lost Bros of Pac-Man

I found (what probably is) Pac-Man's bros on a building outside of my hostel. They are attached to one another (like Human Centipede.. ew..) which probably explains why they got kicked out of the game, but everyone knows when u kick a game character out of the game they will grow a hundred times bigger, like duh. So I guess the game developers of Pac-Man made a huge mistake, and tries to cover it up by making them work as part of a building. Humans are sick and cruel. Don't worry, I'll make sure I'll give them some pac-dots.

Breaking the Rule - Embroidery Animation

Aubrey Longley-Cook

The person in the picture above is the one person that has broken the rule of making animation, usually people would draw (by dry/wet media or using computers) their characters but Aubrey Longley-Cook has found a very unique way of presenting his animation. He makes his animations by using embroidery. I'm going to put some of his works and put a link to his blog down below:

"Runaway"

This is one of his most famous piece of art, a running dog. He did this by embroidering fifteen individual frames, which would've taken him forever to do.

"Laviona Everton"

This work of his contains nine individual frames which looks like a fabulous person who is definitely gay (gay as in happy :D (dw I'm not homophobic, you can trust me ;) )).

"RuPaul Cross Stitch Animation Workshop"

This one is very interesting in terms of the details and colours used in the different frames. This would've taken ages to do but the result turns out to be stunning.

"RuPaul Cross Stitch Animation Workshop" - Back View

This one is very interesting to me, to be honest more than the front view, because to me it shows so much more of what he has done; seems like it shows much more legitimate result of his hardwork because it seems rougher.

"RuPaul Cross Stitch Animation Workshop" - Combination of  Front and Back Views (Back Flipped)

However, even though this is the same piece of work it still is the best to me. This gives me the chills cause it just looks really amazing - the front and back view keeps changing frame by frame which makes the work looks so much better. The details, the colours, the presentation are all beautiful. This is art.

For you people who wants to see more of his masterpieces go to: http://spoolspectrum.blogspot.sg/

Nest Labs - The Future of Home Automation

Tony Fadell with his product called the Nest Learning Thermostat

Nest Labs is a company with Tony Fadell as the CEO. It is a company that makes stuff like thermostats, smoke detectors and other home automation devices. However, it is not just like any home automation devices, Nest Labs have created them in a way that it will observe what you do to them and it will memorize it. 

The Nest Learning Thermostat:

This is their product that made them famous, it is a thermostat that could memorize your habit of changing the temperature at certain times and it would memorize the changes so you will not have to keep on changing all the time. It is also Wi-Fi-enabled, which means that you would be able to change the temperatures from your phone. The point of this is so that it could conserve much more energy.

 

The Nest Protect:

The Nest Protect is a smoke detector that can detect not just any smokes, but it can figure out what kind of smoke it is detecting or where the smoke comes from. It can tell you what is going on when the alarm beeps and you can even check it from your phone, you can also deactivate the alarm from your phone.

This all comes back to Tony Fadell's speech on TED Talks about how we have to look into the little problems, those who have been masked by habits. They have succeeded in seeing the problems and actually did something about it. For the thermostats you won't even have to walk to the thermostat back and forth every single time, and for the alarm you won't have to even be super panicked anymore when you burned your popcorn and your alarm beeps. Thanks to these creative and brilliant minded designers that we can have these better technologies that make our life much easier than ever before.