Design Patterns in Nature

Design Patterns is a fancy word in the field of computer science, frequently abused. I take this opportunity to apply the word with reference to Mother Nature. Just as a design pattern serves as a blueprint for solving one particular kind of problems, there are patterns in the nature itself. And just because I have a limited vocabulary, I have used the word Design Pattern for these patterns. Let me know if you can term the following something else:

. System within Individual: Life and its Definition
. Orbital Motion
. Ingredients of a Genius
. Alignment of Elements: The Power Hence
. Attraction Towards the Opposite: The Quest for Completeness
. Generalizing Khans, Blacks and Sikhs (without any racial discrimination)

System within Individual: Life and its Definition

Let me start by putting a question: What are you - an individual or a system? If you think for some time, you are both. And your answer would /should be: "depends on your level of abstraction."

I would then like to put another question: "So if you are a system, why do you think you have life?" And if you are not a thinker this might be a perplexing question.

Let me approach from another direction. If I say that a room in which you are sitting alone is full of life, would you believe me? Think about the micro-organisms and the activities they are doing every moment. If a cell has life then each cell of your body might think that "it has life and it's actually working inside a dumb system with other cells."

Now consider the organization where you work/ study. Isn't each individual person part of a system - whether it's a company or an institute? Does the company have life? Is your educational institute an 'organism'?

Start examining a bee hive - it's a complete system. See inside the hive, you will find individuals - the bees. Take a bee as an individual and dig deeper, see the digestive, neural, respiratory and other systems. Look further inside, you would see a system of tissues and then cells. Don't stop, explore a cell thinking it's an individual and not a system - you would find another complete system (cell membranes, nucleus, acids, etc.). But does it end here? Isn't an acid a system of atoms of various elements? Is an atom an individual or is it again a system of electrons, protons and neutrons? If you think that an electron is not a system, I sympathize with your knowledge of quantum physics [There are Leptons, Baryons, Mesons and the forces].

Is an electron matter or energy? Are you matter or energy?

Re-start from the bee hive and this time start moving in upward direction of abstraction. You will move up and up and will never finish. There is a system within every system! Our concept of life validates only the systems that work as an individual at our level of abstraction!

They say a little knowledge of science takes you away from religion and a comprehensive knowledge of science brings you back! Think about it and let me know via your comments!

About Improving Your Vocabulary

Amongst many non-exciting but important things that need to be done in life is "improving your vocabulary." No matter how much you run away from it, you can't deny its importance. Follow some of the software that I have been using:

SAT GRE Crash Course: A shareware version can be downloaded from here. You can run it 30 times before it gets expired. The application organizes Word Lists according to the level of difficulty. After a round of study, you get a chance to test yourself in many ways (fill-in the blanks; multiple-choice questions, etc.). Also, you can maintain a list of "difficult" words for reviewing purpose...a must have, in short.

WordWeb: This is a general purpose English Dictionary. To get meanings (plus synonyms, antonym, etc.) just select a word on your screen and press the hot-key. The best part is that it has a very small footprint (if we can use the word for such small apps) and it's freeware.

The above should be sufficient but in case you are looking for more, get hold of "Vocabulary Wizard 6.3" by Prosigner (search on Download.com if you can't find the latest version anywhere else). This one is Adware but a very organized way of learning that gives you score to each word that you have studied, depending on how many times you got it wrong (or right).


Keymaker: But like all systems it has a weakness. The system is based on the rules of a building. One system built on another.
Morpheus: Electricity.
Keymaker: If one fails, so must the other.
(The Matrix: Reloaded)

Re-planning @ Once / 15 Days

This is the first post since I withdrew my visa application. Contrary to what people anticipated, it didn't disturb me much. I am now used to re-planning at an average of once in 15 days. I have started feeling that there is a path for all of us and if we don't follow it willingly, we are dragged towards it [More on this is to come in later posts].

I have now applied to Chalmers University of Technology for MSc in Dependable Computer Systems. I shall also be applying to MS Computer Science program offered by LUMS. In one way, I am severely handicapped due to a 3 years degree.

Right after the graduation some of the batch mates enrolled into SZABIST for a 1 year MCS just to overcome this handicap and some others continued their studies at FAST (leading to a BS conversion and then to an MS). I couldn't enroll into either. For one, the fee of SZABIST was higher than I could afford at that time (even the three years had been very tough financially); secondly, the quality of education isn't acceptable at post graduate level in Pakistan; thirdly I was very disquieted because of the administration at FAST (again, more on this is to come in later posts); lastly, I didn't want to work half-heartedly (managing job and studies at the same time and not doing either with full devotion). Still, not everyone feels these points as hindrances in a strict sense but the last point is valid for me even today.

Now when I look back, I feel I might have been better off with a 4th year of education. But decisions in the past are made based on the information available in the past and they shouldn't be re-evaluated based on the information that is available NOW. I am trying to demystify the reasons behind an irksome and dull life - I have found many and read quite a few things in the process; I might become a philosopher one day!


I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is but it's there, like a splinter in your mind driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
(Morpheus: What is the Matrix?)