The Search (Part 1/2)

Entire life, we're constantly looking, searching for something. From infants to old-age, we are trying to fulfill different needs, as described by "Maslow's hierchy of needs". But that model has became a cliche; you've probably seen it a thousand times in different contexts.

However, there are many cases where Maslow's hierchy fails. Consider a genius with IQ over 150. Though he has fulfilled what Maslow would call the "highest level of needs", which are creativity, problem solving, acceptance of facts etc. However, these geniuses may lack their more-basic need for belonging. A significant number of cases have suggested geniuses and child-prodigies have anti-social behaviour and relatively lower EQ compared to their IQ. This phenomenon falsifies Maslow's claim that the highest level of needs can only be fulfilled once the lower ones are fulfilled.

Because of these evident flaws in Maslow's model, it's time we have a new model. I'm going to call it, Guo's Order of Search. Although "Search" and "Need" can be used interchangeably in this context, I decided on "Search" because it has a more active connotation than "Need".

So, here is a very brief version of my model. In Part 2, I'll use this model to explain many social phenomena.

In this model, I'm going to categorize people's psychological state of mind in a very abstract way based on the question "what is it that we're searching for?", of which I broke into four stages: Search for meaning, Search for answers, Search for reasons, and Search for truth. Like Maslow's model, each stage is associated with an age by empirical evidence. However, age is not bounded to any particular stage by any means. This model exceeds Maslow's in that higher state of mind cannot be reached without reaching the lower levels first, thus it can precisely pin-point a personal "mental age".

Search for meaning:

Entering this world, we had blank minds filled with nothing other than basic 'animalistic' instinct. In a world so new to us, our objective is to make sense of our surrounding. We're constantly looking for meanings of things, starting with the meanings of sounds and facial expressions. We cry in discomfort, and as such, sound of our cry gathers the attention of care-takers who then reduces the level of discomfort. We associate 'crying' as means to get attention, and the learning process continues.

As the world makes more sense to us, we begin to ask questions to further our database of 'meanings'. The search for meaning peaks in childhood and pre-teen; remember how much questions your younger siblins/cousins used to ask?

Search for Answers:

Unfortunately, the innocence of childhood ends when we begin to search for answers. Needing answers implies that we now have problems of our own that are yet to have an explanation.

No other stage where we dedicate most of our time to answers than those dreamy teenage years; we were quite fascinated yet puzzled by natural and social phenomena. Instead of searching meaning of things, we engage in a more active way of searching for answers to our questions. Instead of asking "What is the meaning of life?" the person enters the next level by actively searching for answers to answer his own question.

Search for Reasons.

In the search for reason, a person evolves into a higher-order of state of mind. One is to realize that previous answers could be short-lived, and many came about emotional responses. This for most people occur at college years and carries into mid-age. Through this time, we find many answers no longer apply to our questions. Yet instead of looking for answers, we are looking for reasons for the origin of questions and why things ought to be. Relying less on emotional responses and more on logic, people at this stage has the maturity to face future with a high degree of certainty.

Search for Truth

As bulletproof as sound logical reasons are, they can still be falsified in some circumstances. If reason is to logical truth, truth is to tautology. In the last stage, a person grasps inner truth. The person is not using logical analysis to seek reasons, rather the person goes through an intrinsic search that breaks logical rules in attempt to understanding questions of metaphysics....this, ladies and gentlemen, is the highest state of mind.

For some, this highest state occurs at young age, for some, it is the brief period of life before death. Looking at a person's tombstone, the most important thing on there is not the name, not the year of birth, no the year of death, but it's that tiny line that connects the two numbers. That tiny line is when a person's life happens

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Letting it Fall

The temperature fluctuates quite frequently these days. The day would start off sunny, and suddenly turn cloudy, next thing you know, you're hiding underneath your sweater, dashing across campus to get to the next lecture. But some times before dusk, the sky would clear and fill the spaces with ever-so-refreshing air.

I suppose nature takes time to adjust, from summer to fall. I, too, am making the same transition.

There're moments in days when I get flashbacks of my summer travels; the days when I have total control of my destiny and destination. There're people I miss and days I reminisce. I thought about a lot of things when I was out on the road, one of them being about 'moving on'.

Life happens fast, chances and misses go by ever-so-often. We love the things we hang-on to, and hang on to the things we love. Such dilemma is there to choose, how are we to live life fully if all we ever want are things we already have? But if so, how are infinite desires to be satisfied?

Desperately searching and with nature's inspiration, I found a compromise.

In your travels, you'll form special connection with particular places and people. Enjoy the moment while it lasts, then let go and move on for there are many more places to see, people to meet. Desire comes with age; at different age there's different desire. Having desire is to have personal goals, the infinite desire is therefore not greed, but essence to live an eventful and meaningful life. So never let the past dictate you, rather let the future inspire you. Forget about the unhappiness, move on from the friendships that sunk and things that don't work. With time, truth will withstand. Truthfuls will always hang onto you.

As temperature drops lower and lower with consecutive rainfall, I can sense the nature letting go the vibrancy and brilliance of summer. Leaves on the trees are letting go of their green summer coat, for in the spring, they shall receive a new one. Summer of 2010 has been memorable. But I've moved on.

So here I am sitting on my balcony, drinking a glass of wine, and watching the city lights and cars go by. I'm back; back in Montreal, back to McGill, and tomorrow, I'll be back to that 8th row seat in Maass Auditorium.

Pete's Travel Guide: South Africa Edition

When traveling, one essentially has 5 things to worry about: clothing, food, accommodation, transportation, and safety. In this guide, I'm going to give you all some tips that'll help you getting around as smoooooooOOooth as possible (and as cheap as possible ;) Just to ease your doubt, I have tried and used ALL of the tips I gave. They work.

Have a great time in South Africa!

Clothing:

1. Pack light, don't over do it. You do not need your whole wardrobe in your backpack. Make sure you pack a couple of t-shirts, couple pairs of jeans, sufficient underwears, a warm jumper, jacket, and LOTS of socks. Socks do not take up a lot of space; having clean socks make trips much more pleasant.

Food:

You can have some fun with this one. When I travel, I like to eat well, eat healthy, and try local specialties...while not spend a lot of money. Food won't be an issue if you're traveling in Asia, you can get AMAZING food for pennies. In South Africa, a moderate place in term cost, you can use a couple of tricks.

1. Light, light, heavy. Most of us are used to eating three meals a day. The way to eat well cheaply is to plan out your meals. I usually eat two low quality meals and one nice one. For the morning I usually down a 500g/1lb of yogurt from Pick n' Pay (they're everywhere). It's healthy, it gives you the living culture to keep your stomach happy a long time. For lunch, I'll have a couple pieces of bread or pastry. For dinner, I'll go to a nice restaurant and get a specialty plate to satisfy the stomach.

2. Chew gum. When you're hungry but unable to attain food, chew gum.

3. Juice. Fruit juice is inexpensive in South Africa. You can get 100% fruit juice and have that as a meal replacement. 100% fruit juice has all the nutrients and vitamins to keep you healthy.

4. KFC. If you can't resist the temptation of hunger, have a meal at KFC; $3 would get you pretty far there.

*Pick n' Pay, SPAR, SHOPRITE, are your best friends.

Accommodation:

Accommodation seems to be very inflexible, yet it cost so much. I find it very stupid to spend a lot of money to sleep. You are absolutely doing nothing when you sleep. During World Cup, hostel rates tripled! Being forced to come up with ways to survive, I'm going to give you some alternative ways I've used to get through the night safely without spending too much money.

1. Hostels: unadvertised hostels are cheaper than those advertised.

2. Go to a restaurant for dinner, stay at a bar till 12 midnight. Check-in past midnight, and you'll get cheaper rates.

3. Go to the train station, tell the security guard you're tired and but your train doesn't come in the morning. Take out your mp3, put on your headphones. Then sleep on the bench while being safely guarded.

4. Clubs don't close till 3AM. If you're a college student, this isn't a big deal. The next day? Go to the beach in the morning, and wake up in the afternoon. That's life...just like in college.

5. 24-hour cafes are rare in South Africa, but you can always find 24-hr INTERNET cafes. Go to one, and surf the night away. Beach it the next morning.

6. If you rented a car and on the road, you can save a night's accommodation. Choose your spot wisely. I recommend you park at a fancy hotel, rich residential area, police station, but here's my favourite: car dealership. Whatever the make of car you drive, find its dealership and park there. You'll be unseen. Oh right...of course, did I mention you are sleeping in the car?

7. Going to the bathroom may not be as comfortable as the one at home. If you are in downtown Cape Town, you can go to Mandela Rhode place. On the first floor, there's a 5-star bathroom with lots of room, clean toilet and sink, and sufficient toilet paper. Other places, you'll have to use your general traveling senses.

*Sleep and Go hostel (5th floor, 112 Long St., Cape Town, cheapest place to stay)

Transportation:

Going from Point A to Point B isn't as easy in a foreign country. In South Africa you have many options. Using these options, I've traveled around 4000KM in and around Cape Town.

1. Walk. Downtown Cape Town is pretty small, you can anywhere within 20 mins. Walk as if you are a local and know the place inside and out. Do not turn your head too much, that shows insecurity. Make eye contact with the people passing by, especially those who look like they're going to rob you. Show ZERO fear.

2. Train is not recommended for any tourist. But they're too cheap and convenient to be passed up. If you take the train, make conversation with the person besides you as soon as you sit down. You are less likely to be robbed if you are actively engaged in a talk with a local. It makes it hard for the robber to decide your relationship with the local.

3. Mini-taxi. These things are everywhere. They'll yell at you on the road trying to get you to take it. Mini taxi looks like a minivan, they'll have anywhere from 1 to 20 passengers inside (VERY crowded at times).

4. Rent a car. Do some research online, the online rates are A LOT better than what they would give you at the desk. My rental had been R170 ($23) per day (including taxes). Relatively speaking, a night at hostel cost R100.

5. If you decide to rent a car, there are a few things I should tell you. In South Africa, people drive on the LEFT side of the road, and most cars are equipped with MANUAL transmission. You might be turned off by this if you can't drive a stick-shift. BUT, remember this is South Africa, you can bribe the keys-person at the car rental place to get an automatic. Hand him a R100 ($13) bill and say something clever like "I think that Benz there needs some fresh air this weekend". Why not just book the car with automatic tranny in advance? Because they cost around R250 more...per day.

But, if you're a guy, you'll probably take that 5-spd manual like I did and learn to drift while you have it for the weekend ;)

5. Taxi. Too expensive in my taste, never took one.

*Tempest Car Rental, book it online

Safety Tips:

Tourists receive a lot of unwanted attention in South Africa. The way to get around this is to present yourself as a local - since South Africa is very culturally diverse, you can pull it off doesn't matter which country you came from.

1. In crowded places, such as at some outdoor show, have your backpack in front of you. Not only you prevent pickpocketing, but also create a comfortable space between you and the person in front of you. This will give you an ultimate view to the front stage.

2. Learn to say "Hello" in the local language. In South Africa, you can say "Molo". Say that when unwanted strangers approach you, they'll think twice before robbing you.

3. Research the proximity. If you're traveling in a big city, look up the names of some very very small towns near the big city that only the locals would know. Guaranteed you won't be seen as a tourist.

4. Wear dirty clothes at night. If you're dressed like a homeless person, no one is going to bug you.

5. Act and walk comfortably, speak/laugh loudly. Use your body language to intimidate the person giving you unwanted attention.

6. Do NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT show any fear wherever you are. Robbers look for insecure and weak individuals as easy targets.

7. Robbery happens when a beggar ask for $1, so you take out your wallet, and next thing you know, your wallet is gone. Do NOT give money to beggars. Ask them if they want food instead. If they say 'yes', then simply tell them you are hungry as well. Unless you have some food in your hand, NEVER open your backpack. I've heard bad stories when people did this...Use your common sense in deciding whether or not to give some food.

8. Carry R200 ($25) in your wallet (you can have more money in your backpack). In an armed robbery, it's enough to satisfy the robbers without too much financial loss to you. However, if you follow tips 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, you won't encounter an armed robbery.

9. Have a retreat point, my is the Greenmarket Square Store. I got to know the owners and staff, if I ever need a place escape to, that'll be it. They can offer me food, water, and security.

With these tips in mind, you're ready to footprint South Africa!