Information economy

Only with an information economy.

Economic growth, population growth, progress and wellbeing correlates strongly with the amount of cheaply available energy humans have. 

Not only is much of this being depleted but even if it were in unlimited supply, continuing use of it will threaten our existence through climate change and ecological damage.

In other words, systems geared around economic growth which consume more energy will eventually destroy themselves.

Secondly, growing economies will become richer and wipe out purely sustainable (non growing) ones, partly because we are territorial animals that will always build the best weapons that we can afford and partly because growth is a function of competition for resources that is part of the arms race of natural selection itself. However, this does not mean that energy depleting economies will survive their own waste or that partially sustainable, growing economies will be wiped out by being non-competitive.

In other words, systems geared around pursuit of economic growth are inevitable.

The only way to avoid us inevitably destroying our finite world is to either grow the size of the system (colonize other planets etc. Good luck with that!) or to increase efficiency and still grow economically (continue growth but with the same energy use).

Increasing efficiency when it comes to physical things is very difficult, because it requires conscious effort against the natural order of things which is to make waste as a by product of creation. We are all little entropy machines, governed by the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. We are biologically impelled to maximize waste.

Luckily the 2nd Law applies to information as well as steam engines, and it turns out that there is a vast amount of potential information in a small amount of a physical thing like steam. The energy per bit of digital media is potentially millions of times less than a physical media. A library can fit on a thumb sized disk. We can still make a creative mess without wasting energy.

Economic growth is sustainable if we continue to switch from an industrial economy to an information (services) based one, where consumption growth is of bits of information and physical things such as people, food and shelter are born, grown and built sustainably.

Sustainability

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

What-is-the-greatest-failure-of-Western-civilization Part 2

I acknowledge and greatly respect advancement in technology, health care, standards of living and so on. But if we delve deeper, we see the adverse side effects that they have created for the world.

The greatest failures of the Western Civilization are two fold:

1. Selfish development that has created adverse side-effects, proving to be detrimental to the very existence of the human race.
2. Undermining the core values which forms the basis of humanity, happiness and satisfaction.

• Modern colonization in the name of Development

African countries lose almost $700 billion every year due to unfair trade practices, 70% of which is controlled by MNCs. The people are suffering from "Resource Curse" - the richness of resources have attracted Western corporations who exploit all these, making these countries some of the poorest in the world. People are living in misery, child labor is at its peak. This is the modern-day colonization being legally celebrated by the rich and powerful.

(Who Owns Africa's Natural Resources?
 - Showing Big MNCs owning the natural resources in Africa)

• Environmental Degradation in the name of Advancement

They have reached moon and now aiming for other planets and solar systems. In the process, they have created a big passage to outer space. Literally. The famous Ozone Hole. Each minute, at least 51 acres of tropical forests are destroyed and 12000 tons of carbon dioxide is added to the atmosphere. 110 million Americans live amongst such high levels of air pollution, the federal government considers it to be harmful to their health. I will let the numbers drive my point.

• Materialism in the name of satisfaction and happiness

It starts with iTouch. Then iPhone. And then iPad. Nike X for running, Nike Y for walking, Nike Z for office. You would start with Swatch, then Tissot. Still unsatisfied, would buy a Rado. For clothing, you would begin with H & M, move to Zara, and then would always look out for Gucci. The person who is forced to stop at Zara or Tissot is unhappy and unsatisfied because he couldn't climb higher while the world raced ahead. The person with Rado and Gucci is unhappy and unsatisfied because he doesn't know what to do with remaining money and is always worried that someday he may lose it all. But the question is who has been able to keep the materialistic things forever? It is still the most simple things that gives eternal happiness and satisfaction - helping a disaster victim, educating an orphan, working for community, sit in meditation. Happiness is always find within. Just relax and breath slowly. You would understand.

• Women objectification in the name of Equality

Western countries are proud that they have a higher percentage of women employed and educated, from which they conveniently infer of having high equality and empowerment. What about all the ads and posters that project women as objects that can earn more eyes and money? Most of the video songs, porn, movies, bars  and clubs, and now even video games showcase women in obscene scenes. Anyone was talking about equality? Equality and respect comes from within, one needs to transform the entire cultue for this. No sir, the statistics are just a veil over the truth.

• Diluting Family Relations in the name of independence

Kids leave their parents as soon as they reach high school/college in the name of independence. Couples break up marriage vows and divorce rates are high. If you take a ride in public transportation, you would see lonely old aged people murmuring to themselves, lifting heavy bags from Walmart, asking the bus driver to help them get into the bus. They don't expect their children to be with them at that age - because they themselves left their parents. Everyone wants to be independent, but this is just an excuse that the civilization makes to cover up the failure of keeping family together. Browse on Google, and you would see that unstable relationships and regret of having spent less time with dear ones are the major factors of unhappiness.

What-is-the-greatest-failure-of-Western-civilization part1

• Erosion of Leisure time : post industrial people have to spend more time to obtain the necessities of life.   It takes more time to simply live.  http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/...
• Geographic sprawl negated the benefits of cars:  Prior to the internal combustion engine, people generally lived within about 20 minutes walking distance of their place of work, shops, and social venues - that is, in a village.  As cars and roads were created, we scattered these things out farther so now they are at least 20 minutes away and we need a car and we're burning up fuel like crazy and our cities are choked with cars.
• Imperialism : Stronger nations - without a trace of apparent regret - routinely seize the resources of weaker nations, topple their governments, and invade them.   This is done under the rubric of "protecting their interests."
• Nuclear weapons : As stronger nations came into conflict over control of the world's resources, a nuclear arms race ensued where we actually built enough bombs to zorch the planet 100 times over.
• Regimented educational system : We have a school system whose purpose is job training, not the development of the intellect.   We take a billion young, inquisitive minds and force them to sit down and listen to some adult talk at them.   What do the following people have in common? : Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Woody Allen, James Cameron, The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Buckminster Fuller, Nikola Tesla, Andrew Carnegie, Frank Lloyd Wright.  You guessed it - drop-outs.   Einstein couldn't get a recommendation to graduate school.
• Economic booms and busts : 100's of millions of people routinely end up without the necessities of life for no external reason;  the capitalist book-keeping system simply goes haywire, goes into a feedback loop and fails to allocate labor, goods and services successfully.
• We cannot walk around on our own planet : Every square inch of land has been sold off, except for a few Reservations (parks) and paved passage-ways on which we are expected to be in transit at all times.    Amazing to reflect on, we cannot legally simply walk in any direction we choose.

How do you know if you have become an adult?

When You wish you were a kid.

When the people dressed up as Santa Claus at restaurants and other places don't give you candy anymore. 

When you realize that there is so much left to learn and very little time left!

When pools of puddle become an Obstacle rather then an Opportunity.

When you become afraid of what people think.

when you need reasons to smile !!!!!!!!!!

When you know in your heart that no one is coming to rescue you or save the day.  Success or failure, it's all up to you.

When you realize that millionaires are not the happiest people alive.

When you take more pleasure in watching your little sister eat an ice-cream than in eating one yourself

When everything doesn't look possible to you anymore.

When you like Tom more than Jerry

You no longer wonder why there are suddenly so many girls in a song

When you learn the art of watching the world through someone else's perspective.

When you stop(or slow down a bit) using facebook and start using quora..!!

When 
" Lets meet and plan something ! "
Changes to 
" Lets plan and meet someday ! "

The day you stop checking in on Facebook and realize the world does not give a damn as to where u are and what you're doing

Politics

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is politics?" 

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I earn the money in this family, so let's call me the capitalist. Your mom says what we spend the money on, we'll call her the government. Both of us are here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you the people. Our nanny is representative of the working class. And your baby brother, we'll call him the future. Now, think about that and see if that makes sense." 

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what dad had said. 

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep and his father missing. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room, but there he sees the father in bed with the nanny and he can't get their attention. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, "Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now." 

The father says, "Good, then tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about." 

The little boy replies, "Well, capitalists are screwing the working class while the government is sound asleep. Meanwhile the people are being ignored and the future is in deep shit."

Point of origin

There is a fundamental reason why we look at the sky with wonder and longing—for the same reason that we stand, hour after hour, gazing at the distant swell of the open ocean. There is something like an ancient wisdom, encoded and tucked away in our DNA, that knows its point of origin as surely as a salmon knows its creek. Intellectually, we may not want to return there, but the genes know, and long for their origins—their home in the salty depths. But if the seas are our immediate source, the penultimate source is certainly the heavens… The spectacular truth is—and this is something that your DNA has known all along—the very atoms of your body—the iron, calcium, phosphorus, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and on and on—were initially forged in long-dead stars. This is why, when you stand outside under a moonless, country sky, you feel some ineffable tugging at your innards. We are star stuff. Keep looking up.”
— Neil Degrasse Tyson

Serving the employer

"The idea of a young human being working hard to make himself or herself useful to an employer is very repulsive to me. It reminds me of the old days when a young girl would be trained by her mother to become attractive to a young man so that she could find herself a husband. A human life is too precious to be wasted in preparing to find an employer and then devoting one's entire existence to serving that employer".

  - Muhammad Yunus - Banker to the Poor

Date a Girl who drinks

"Date a girl who drinks. Date a girl who knows how to have fun. And by fun, meaning there’s almost always alcohol involved. Date a girl who knows how to let loose, how to go wild. Date the girl who would let the tequila take over once in a while, because a girl who drinks knows she’s just human, and that it’s acceptable to not be in control all the time.

You might bump into her in the club. Dancing with her girlfriends, a beer raised in one hand and a cigarette on the other, while her hips certainly not lying. She’ll be dressed very provocatively in a little black dress with a pair of snake skin 6-inch killer heels. Watch her and you’d see a girl living her life ludicrously, surrounded by her friends who would eventually leave to ‘go home’ with some guy they just met. 

Go up to her and introduce yourself. Buy her a drink. If she orders a Scotch neat, applaud her, and give yourself a pat on the back because a girl like her doesn't come around often. Dance with her, hold her close. Feel her body pressed onto yours, your breath mixing with hers. Learn to let go. Let go of yourself. The same way she let goes and let the alcohol win. She will look at you with lustful eyes, her hands gripping your shirt instead of vodka. She would lick her lips and look at yours under those heavy curled eyelashes. Kiss her. Then take her outside, by the back door. Leave her breathless. 

Or if not, you’ll see her in your local pub, sitting alone by the bar with a bottle of whiskey. She’s probably been there for a while, on her third glass or so. Sit two stools away from her and then ask her whether she thinks the bottle is half empty or half full. Stare into her eyes because you would see that she’s thinking, not with her mind, but with her heart. Then instead of answering, she would smile that little smile, and offer you a drink. Sit beside her for the rest of the night. Don’t make a move on her just yet, because a girl who drinks is also a girl who knows when a guy is interested. She’s probably have encountered countless of those. So a guy who’s being real, not trying to impress, is absolutely a breath of fresh air.

Try to get her number. Because a girl who drinks doesn't make her a girl who sleeps around —as the stereotype would go. She deserves more than drunk sex and the sneaking out the morning after, avoiding breakfast, avoiding complications. She deserves more than half-assed texts and booty calls. She deserves more than the promised "I’ll call you" that never comes. She deserves more than lust. She deserves more than love. Because a girl like her doesn't rely on love alone. She’s smarter than that.

May it be luck or fate playing with you that you meet this girl, take a chance on her because chance is all you've got. She might not be the one but she’s one in a million. Yes, there are other girls out there —decent, principled, better even. And this girl right here is the embodiment of incompetence, carelessness, and concupiscence. But she will make your wildest dreams come true, that none of your prim and proper girlfriends would ever dare to do.

Don’t trust this girl because she will betray you. But trust this girl because it’s a big risk to. She will be unfaithful to you for she had and will screw other men like she had screwed you. She doesn't expect you to stick around for long anyway, so don’t assume she’d commit. She will call you up only when she’s bored, bored of her friends, bored of her work, bored of her life. She would come running to you only because she needs something, something new, something different, something real. She’s selfish like that.

Don’t fall in love with this girl because she won’t do you any good. But love this girl for reasons you cannot understand. She won’t encourage you to do what’s best for you, instead she will seduce you into immorality. She will fuck you up and mess with your head. And when you’re lost in thought, overpowered by your own fears and feelings, she will be there for you. She will knock on your door at two in the morning with a 6-pack Heineken. She will say cheers with you and drown with you, because she knows how it feels to be alone, to have no one but alcohol to turn to. She will stay, let you get drunk in your problems, then she’ll drag you across the floor into your bed, tuck you in and kiss you goodnight.

Don’t worry about this girl because she’s certainly not thinking about you. But worry about this girl because she knows she can survive —and that’s the greatest threat she could ever hold against herself. Worry about her because she’s so used to detaching herself from everything and everyone around her. Instead of depending on liquor, show her that it’s okay to depend on someone for once. She probably won’t give up alcohol for you, but she will let you in in her impaired world. She would spill all her secrets and expect you to not care. She would cry to you and rant on her pointless existence. And then she would laugh, like nothing ever went wrong. And then she would thank you. She may not remember everything you said the morning after, but she would remember that you were with her. And for this girl, that is more than enough.

When you find this girl, run away. Run away from her. This is the kind of girl your mother warned you about. She has nothing to offer you but a shitload of baggage her life is cluttered with. Because a girl who drinks knows reality. She knows how fucked up everything and everyone is. A girl who drinks is just a girl looking for escape. Be her escape. 

When you find this girl, run away. Run away with her. This is the kind of girl your father fell in love with but didn't marry. She has nothing to offer you but the great elation of being under the influence. She’s a whirlwind of sober thoughts and drunk judgement combined. She definitely won’t give you a bright future, but she would leave you a memorable past. And in the short time you would spend with her, she will give you one thing in return —she would be your escape.

Years later, she will crash your wedding, intoxicated. She will call for a toast —a bottle of whiskey raised— for you and your beautiful bride, retelling all the drunk nights you can’t remember and all the crazy sex you had together. She will destroy your life one last time as your betrothed exits the church in tears. She will curse the priest and all your quintessential guests in the house of your God, laughing as the security tries to escort her out. She’ll blow you one last kiss before she disappears out the door, out of your life. Then you’ll find yourself smiling and running, not after your perfect wife-to-be, but after that damaged girl who drinks —that bitch who wrecked your life. You’d see her sitting two steps down, dressed very provocatively in a little white dress, a pair of leopard skin 6-inch killer heels in hand, and the whiskey on the other. You call out to her and ask her why. She would turn around, stare into your eyes, wondering if you think that it’s wrong, or do feel that this is right. She would take a swig. And then she would answer you, and tell you that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter whether the bottle is half empty or half full. What matters is there’s half left —and that half is yours.

Then she would smile that little smile, and offer you a drink."

Source: Date A Girl Who Drinks - A blog post by my friend and one of the most talented writers I've ever met, Aparajita Roy Paul. She passed away last month. I get goosebumps every time I read this.

Life in reverse

"The most unfair thing  about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot  of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What’s that, a bonus? 

I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first,  get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked  out when you’re too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You  work forty years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You  do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities,  you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating …and you finish off as an orgasm."

Date a Girl who reads

"You should date a girl who reads.
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow and worn.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes." 
— Rosemarie Urquico

Shantaram

Shantaram is a book that I will always advise till eternity fails. Few quotes that just blew my mind are.

Luck is what happens to you when fate gets tired of waiting. 

Happiness is a myth. 

It was invented to make us buy new things. 

A dream is a place where a wish and a fear meet. When the wish and fear are exactly the same, we call the dream a nightmare. 

Silence is the tortured mans revengeIf fate doesn't make you laugh, you just don't get the jokeNews is about what people do. 

Gossip is about how they enjoyed doing itMen reveal what they think when they look away, and what they feel when they hesitate. With women, it’s the other way aroundThere’s no meanness too spiteful or too cruel, when we hate someone for all the wrong reasonsAt first,  when we truly love someone, our greatest fear is that the loved one  will stop loving us. What we should fear and dread instead is that we  won’t stop loving them, even after they are dead and gone. 

There is nothing as depressing as good advice. 

All horse good. 

All man not good.

Haruki Murakami

Murakami has written some of the most emotionally poignant books I have come across. Here are some excerpts -

“She waited for the train to pass. Then she said, "I sometimes think that people’s hearts are like deep wells. Nobody knows what’s at the bottom. All you can do is imagine by what comes floating to the surface every once in a while.” 
- Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

“Whatever it is you're seeking won't come in the form you're expecting.” 
- Kafka on the Shore

“No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves. That's all.” 
-Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

And the best one,

“If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets.” 
-Kafka on the Shore

Lines from books

This is from Charlie Chaplin's autobiography. He was talking about a particular dialogue from his film Monsieur Verdoux(1947) which really made me think.

Henri Verdoux: It's the approach of death that terrifies.
The Girl: I suppose, if the unborn knew of the approach of life, they'd be just as terrified.

“She said, ‘I’m so afraid.’ 
And I said,‘why?,’ and she said, ‘Because I’m so
profoundly happy.
 Happiness like this is
frightening.’ I asked her why and she
said, ‘They only let you be this happy if
they’re preparing to take something
from you.’”

— The Kite Runner, By Khaled Hosseini.
“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”
To Kill a Mockingbird
"Children aren't colouring books. You don't get to fill them with your favourite colours."

 -Kite Runner, Khaled Hossieni
“Let me tell you this: If you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it's not because they enjoy solitude. It's because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.” 

― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

Goldman sachs

A manager at Goldman Sachs has this to tell.

Once upon a time in a village, a man announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for Rs 10. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them.

The man bought thousands at Rs 10 and as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.

He further announced that he would now buy at Rs 20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again.

Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to Rs 25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it!

The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at Rs 50!

However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on behalf of him.

In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at Rs 35 and when the man returns from the city, you can sell it to him for Rs 50."

The villagers squeezed up with all their savings and bought all the monkeys.

Then they never saw the man nor his assistant, only monkeys everywhere!

Welcome to 'Goldman Sachs'!

How do I get over my bad habit of procrastination?

I'll answer your question, but first I need to explain all of human civilisation in 2 minutes with the aid of a cartoon snake.

Humans like to think we're a clever lot. Yet those magnificent, mighty brains that allow us to split the atom and touch the moon are the same stupid brains that can't start an assignment until the day before it's due.

We evolved from primitive creatures, but we never quite shed ourselves of their legacy. You know the clever, rational part of your brain you think of as your human consciousness? Let's call him Albert. He lives in your brain alongside an impulsive baby reptile called Rex:

You know how you can't help but notice if a stranger is tongue-wettingly gorgeous? That's Rex, and no matter how hard you try, you can never turn him off. He's your instinct, your impulse, your love and your fear. 

We like to think of Albert as "our true self" - the conscious part of our brain. He's the talking, reasoning part. When we decide to go to the gym or write that term paper, Albert made that decision. But Albert is old, easily exhausted, and switches off all the time.

Your brain is locked in a battle of wills between a sleepy professor and an impulsive reptile with unlimited energy. You may as well hand Rex the steering wheel.

Rex does listen to Albert. Like a child, he will do a lot of what he's told, as long as he doesn't disagree too much. But if Rex desperately yearns to crash on the sofa to watch Survivor and eat Cheetos, that's what you're going to do.

The incredible ascension of mankind that surrounds us is largely possible because we've developed systems to nurture the Rex's in our brains, to subdue, soothe and subvert them.

Much of this system we call "civilisation". Widely available food and shelter take care of a lot. So does a system of law, and justice. Mandatory education. Entertainment. Monogamy. All of it calms Rex down for long enough for Albert to do something useful - like discover penicillin, or invent Cheetos.

Now let's look at your procrastination.

You're making a decision with your conscious mind and wondering why you're not  carrying it out. The truth is your daily decision maker - Rex - is not nearly so mature.

Imagine you had to constantly convince a young child to do what you wanted. For simple actions, asserting your authority might be enough. "It's time for dinner". But if that child doesn't want to do something, it won't listen. You need to cajole it:

• Forget logic. Once you've decided to do something, logic and rationale won't help you. Your inner reptile can be placated, scared and excited. But it doesn't speak with language and cannot be reasoned with.
• Comfort matters. If you're hungry, tired or depressed your baby reptile will rebel. Fail to take care of yourself, and he'll wail and scream and refuse to do a damn thing you say. That's what he's for. Eat, sleep and make time for fun.
• Nurture discipline. Build a routine of positive and negative reinforcement. If you want a child to eat their vegetables, don't give them dessert first. Reward yourself for successes, and set up assured punishments for your failure. Classic examples include committing to a public goal, or working in a team - social pressure can influence Rex. 
• Incite emotion. Your reptile brain responds to emotion. That is its language. So get yourself pumped, or terrified. Motivational talks, movies and articles can work, for a while. I use dramatic music (one of my favourite playlists is called Music to conquer worlds by). Picture the bliss associated with getting something done, or the horrors of failing. Make your imagination vivid enough that it shakes you. We use similar tricks on children for a reason: "brush your teeth or they'll fall out".
• Force a start. The most important thing you can do is start. Much of Rex's instincts are to avoid change, and once you begin something those instincts start to tip into your favour. With enough time, you can even convince Rex to love doing the things he hated. There's a reason we force kids to go to school or to try piano lessons.
• Bias your environment. Rex is short sighted and not terribly bright. If he sees a Facebook icon, he'll want it. It's like showing a child the start of a cool TV program immediately before bedtime. Design your environment to be free from such distractions: sign out of instant messenger, turn off notifications, turn off email. Have separate places for work and fun, and ideally separate computers (or at least accounts).

Once you know what to look for, you'll start to recognise the patterns and control them.

There's an impulsive baby reptile in your brain, and unfortunately he has the steering wheel. If you can be a good parent to him he'll mostly do what you say, and serve you well. Just remember who's in charge.

Tamil songs lyrics

1. Sowkkiyama Kanne:
A girl is singing to her lover whom she meets after a very long separation.
Spotify - Track
En kaatril swasam illai. En kaatril swasam illai. Athu kidakkatum vidu unakkenna aachu.
There is no breath in my air. There is no breath in my air.
But let it be, tell me what happened to you.

2. Poongatrile - Uyire
Ithayam karugum oru vaasam varugiratha?
Can you smell a heart burning to ashes?

3. Oru deivam thantha poove - Kannathil muthamittal
A father sings to his daughter who finds out that she had been adopted

Izhaitha kavithai nee, ezhuthu pizhaiyum nee
You are the poem I wrote; You are the  (spelling ) mistake made (while writing it)
Iraval velicham nee. Iravin kanneer nee
You are the rented light (lamp). You are the tears of the night.
Enathu vaanam nee. Izhantha siragum nee.
You are my sky. You are the feathers I lost.
Naan thooki valartha thuyaram nee
You are the sorrow I picked up and raised ( as my own )

4. Kannalane - Uyire

Pani thuli thaan enna seyyumo, moongil kaadu theepatri eriya? Moongil kaadendru erinthanal maathu

What can a dew drop do, if the bamboo forest is aflame? The girl is burning like a bamboo forest.

5. Un paerai sonnale ( Dum dum dum )
Kaiyai sudum endralum theeyai thodum pillai pol, unnaiye meendum ninaikiren
Like the child who cannot resist touching the flame even though ( he knows ) it would sting, I keep thinking of you.

6. Para para paravai ondru ( Neer paravai )

Mazhaiyil kazhuviya manalile, tholaintha kaaladi naanadi.

I am the footsteps that got lost in the sand washed by rain.

8. Kaadu potta kaadu - Karuthamma
Vairamuthu brings a drought hit village to life with his wonderful imagery. His genius lies in the fact that all the metaphors are those commonly found in a drought hit land.

Kaatu kallikulla ulladum paala pola, ulloora kanneer pongum. Sollama ullam pongum.
Like the milk that clogs the inside of a cactus plant, tears rise inside ( me ) Heart bursts without a word.
Patta marathu mela, etti paarkum onaan pola vaazha vanthom boomi mela
Like the wild lizard that peeps out from the top of the parched tree, we came to live on this earth.

9. Agaram ippo sigaram aachu

Pasiyara paarvai pothum. Parimaara vaarthai pothum. Kanneeril paathi kaayangal aarum.
A glance is enough to satiate hunger. A word is enough to serve ( love )
With tears, half the wounds are healed

Thalai saaika idama illai? Thalai kotha virala illai? Ilangkaatru varava iillai? Ilaipparu parava illai.
Isn't there a place to rest your head? Aren't there fingers to ruffle your hair? Isn't a cool breeze blowing? Lie down and rest, it is ok ( to rest )

10. Minnale nee vanthathenadi - May Madham

My favorite. Every line is heart wrenching. Vairamuthu's best.

Kan vizhithu paartha podhu kalaintha vanname
Un kai regai ondru mattum ninaivuch chinname

( You are ) The color that disappeared when I opened my eyes.
Your finger prints are the only memory left.

Kadhari kadhari enadhu ullam sitharip ponadhe
Indru sitharip pona sillil ellaam unadhu bimbame
Wailing incessantly, my heart shattered into pieces.
Now, only your reflection remains in all the shattered pieces

Paal mazhaikkuk kaathirukkum bhoomi illaiya
Oru pandigaikku kaathirukkum saami illaiya
Doesn't the earth wait for milky rain ( to be drenched) ?
Doesn't God wait for the festival ( to be celebrated) ?

Varthai vara kaathirukkum kavignan illaiya
Naan kaathirunthaal kaadhal innum neelum illaiya
Doesn't a poet wait for words ?
If I wait ( for you ), won't love just increase?

Kanneeril thee valarthu kaathirukkiren
Un kaaladith thadathil naan poothirukkiren
Raising a fire with my tears, I am waiting.
Blossoming at your footsteps.

11. Thaiya Thaiya - Uyire

Oru Vaanavil Iru Murai Varuvadhillai
Adhu Vandhu Pøana Oru Šuvadumillai
Oru Thandavaalaraiyil Thaandippøana Kuyil
Paadippøana Kural Kalaivadhillai

The same rainbow doesn't appear twice.
There is no trace of it having appeared too.
The cuckoo that was crossed by a train on the track,
The song in its voice doesn't dissolve ever.

12.  Kadhal Yogi - Thaalam

Oru siru kili paarthen vaanathile. Manam sikki kondathathan siraginile.
I saw a parrot in the sky. Heart got trapped in its feathers.
Naan vaanathil eriya nerathile kili vannam marainthathu megathile
As I climbed the sky, its colors disappeared in the clouds
Naan manam endra ondru ndri kaatil vaazhnthu kadhal yogi aanene
Left without a heart, I lived in the woods and became a Yogi ( monk ) of love

Manam tholainthum kaathaali tholaikavillai. Ada unnai pondra yogi yaarum pirakavillai.
Even after losing the heart, you didn't lose your love. There has been no other Yogi like you.

Manam tholainthum ninaivugal marakavillai. Avai tholainthal enuyir enakillai. Naan kadhal mattum patri kondu kaanum ulagam vitta yogi aanene
Even after losing the heart, I didn't lose the memories. If I lose them, my life is not mine.
Clutching just my love, losing the world I could see, I became a Yogi


12.  Iravu pagalai theda - Kannukkul Nilavu
Another favorite. A poignant song about solitude.

Iravu Pagalai theda, Ithayam ondrai theda
With night searching for the day, searching for a heart

Alaigal amaithi theda, vizhigal vazhiyai theda
With waves searchng for peace, eyes searching for the path

Sutrugindrathe thendral thinam thinam. Enthan manathai konjam sumakkumo?
The breeze is wandering every day. Will it carry my heart for some time?

Vimmugindrathe vinnil natchathiram, enthan kanavai solli azhaikumo?
The star sobbing in the night sky. Will it call out to me, saying my dream?

Vaazhkai ennum payanam inge thooram thooram.
Enge maarum enge serum sollum kaalam

The journey of life goes very far here.
Where it splits, where it joins, only time will say

Thendral vanthu pookal aadum, athu oru kaalam
Mannil sinthi pookal vadum, ilaiyuthir kaalam

Flowers dance to the breeze in one season.
They wilt after falling to the ground in another.

Kolangal aadum vaasalgal vendum. Thaniyaga azhagillaye
We need peacocks to dance at our doorsteps. Solitude is not beautiful.

Kadalai seraa nadhiyai kandal, tharaiyil aadum meenai kandaal,
Otrai kuyilin sogam kandaal achacho
Seeing a river that cannot reach the sea, a fish that struggles on land, a solitary cuckoo's sorrow, heart weeps.

Veesum kaatru oyvai thedi enge pogum? Pookal pesa vaai irunthal enna pesum?
Where does the blowing wind go in search of rest?What will flowers speak if they had tongues?

Maalai neram paravai kootam kootai thedum. Paravai ponal paravai koodu yaarai thedum
At dusk, birds flock in search of their nests. Who will the nest search when the bird leaves it?

Naadodi megam, ododi ingae yaarodu uravaadumo?
Nomadic cloud, always running away, who does it mingle with?

Annai illa pillai kandaal, pillai illa annai kandaal, anbe illa ulagam kandaal achacho
Seeing a mother without a child, a child without a mother, a world without love,  heart weeps.