Experimental

When I’m working I have two portraits, usually on my computer screen or the wall facing me, of two inspiring people to use for grounding when things need to put things back into perspective.
This usually occurs after interactions with people I have, in my ultimate wisdom, decided are incompetent or not committed to the task or tasks that they have been assigned, be they subordinate, or boss.
Sidenote: the word’ boss’ is taken from the Dutch word’ bass’, meaning master. It would be interesting if everyone spent at least one day each year calling their boss master, just to see how comfortable they really are with the dynamic between themselves and their senior.
The two gentlemen aforementioned are Nelson Mandela and The Dalai Lama, whilst both have achieved great things on the field of human rights and charity, it’s another characteristic that I find particularly appealing.
Both have suffered unimaginable hardship but bear no ill will towards their tormentors, Mandela spent 27 years in the captivity of a South African prison, The Dalai Lama had his culture, his people, his religion and his home invaded and was forced into exile rather than face an uncertain future under an oppressive regime.
It’s very humbling to reflect on the experience of these two when faced with a situation where you feel wronged, put upon or have had some injustice committed to you. By comparing your own situation to what they suffered and overcame without anger, hate or self pity and went on to work together with their aggressors without retribution for the sake of their people it makes mountains back into molehills again and lets you get on with the job.
Another individual I draw inspiration from, for entirely different reasons, is Tim Ferris, author of The Four Hour Workweek and The Four Hour Body.
Tim is like a mad scientist, breaking things down and analyzing data to find the truth of the matter and identify flaws in systems and belief systems and ways to hack or get around imaginary barriers which prevent the fruition of achievements in the lives of their subjects.
Whilst learning to be a Divemaster was more about a way to generate income and work while travelling it was his Four Hour Body book where I was first made aware of the thermodynamic effect of heat loss which is the only new thing I have seen after 20 years of training and 10 years selling fitness.
The Fitness Industry is still stuck on the idea of Calories Out minus Calories In equals Weight Loss, neglecting the thermodynamic effect of the body’s need to remain in homeostasis at a temperature of 37 degrees celcius, a drop of more than a few degrees is FATAL.
I’ve tested this out now and find the hypothesis to be sound, have a lot of data to back it up and am noticing a lot of anecdotal evidence coming out from the Scuba Diving community, which as a rule has very little issues with excess bodyfat in divers (out of 10 wetsuits you would lucky to find one extra large wetsuit, they just don’t need many).
Water conducts 20 times energy as air, like how an aluminum cup contains the heat of a hot coffee compared to that of a ceramic one. If one were to use a device to keep that coffee warm in both respective cups, one would use a great deal more energy keeping the aluminum cup’s coffee as warm as the ceramic one’s due to that thermodynamic effect.
With water conducting 20 times more heat than air, an hour immersed in water will diffuse close to a day’s caloric expenditure.
In the space of one month of daily scuba diving I’ve lost 10 kilograms of bodyfat and no noticeable muscle loss. The cost of doing this in a gym is huge and the efficacy and success rate is extremely low (take it from an industry insider).
Any decent personal trainer charges $50 per hour and requires 3 times per week to get any results. To drop 10kg a minimum of 12 weeks would be required (as I mentioned the success rate is very low, to achieve this the trainer would ask for a testimonial to their motivational talent and your picture would probably be hung up on the gym’s wall).
At best 10kg of weight loss would cost someone $1500, or $150 per kilo, with no guarantee of success.
I’m happy to have finally come across something new in the field and to have followed the methods of Mr. Ferris to produce some statistically significant data which can be used to back up this hypothesis. Some further experimentation is required (want to drop the last 10kg anyway) but it’s been a very enjoyable experience to do all this on Gili Trawangan and pick up a new certification in the process.
On another point my Bahasa Indonesian is reaching a conversational level and I am able to get my side across in most interactions.
Understanding the answer is the next issue though, generally when you initiate a conversation in a preferred language the recipient thinks you are able to speak as well as they do so am constantly asking them to slow down in their speech. I’ve learned about a hundred or so words which are used frequently day to day but have yet to internalize them, there is the need to stop and think before delivering the message.
If I’m to carry on a conversation I often find myself replying to them in English when they talk to me in Indonesian.
A friend who was listening to me talking said it was like listening to Han Solo speaking to Chewbacca, not knowing what the Indonesian was saying but understanding my English response.
Hopefully with a bit more practice the back and forth will get easier in time.