Light activated neurons

This is so cool! Today, we had 3 speakers to come talk about the current groundbreaking technologies in medicine and one of the speakers is working on Optogenetics, the field voted as the Method of the Year in 2010 by Nature Methods. It's a crazy and fun concept. Listen to Ed here. 

I can't believe I work next door to this guy for 2 years and never really had an in-depth conversation with him. He's amazing. Anyways, cool stuffs. We also saw things about medical robotics which I think are extremely outdated and not scalable. So meh. Another one was the real-time fMRI. I think this one also has the potential for exponential growth as well.  Exciting!!! I love hearing all these things. So fascinating.

An article on spatial pattern recognition

In the future, I think we are going to be able to control and enhance our brain! wooahhh

crazy.

Lightning Session @ SU

We had this lightning session for brainstorming ideas for different global challenges such as poverty, global health, security, education, energy, and space.

There were so many ideas. omg. it was so much fun to think about these different possibilities. One thing I truly appreciate about this place is that you are never told wrong. You might be told to take initiative, give it a try, again and again until you succeed. And then you repeat the same thing over and over again, creating one great cause after another.

This weekend I had a blast, riding on the bike to downtown mountain view, through google, and around. :) It was nice to be outside and be so in touch with the world. I am so glad to be alive.

Another thing I truly appreciate is the fruits that Alaina brought from the Farmers market today. They were so beautiful and well crafted. To create something so beautiful and complex, someone must have to spend a lot of time and effort raising it, collecting it, cleaning it, cutting it and placing it in such nice containers. Many thoughts went into every little thing that made this meal so wonderful. I am filled with appreciation. Oh, and I got a special gift from our hero, Dan Barry. :) It's a beautiful sunflower. The cheerful sun of happiness. ^________^ Ikeda-kayokai. 

Leadership -- the essential lesson I learned in the SGI

Again, I can't be anymore thankful for having the opportunity to be a leader in the SGI. The training that I was able to receive is tremendous and most valuable of all.

We learned, again, about the quality of leaders and what it takes to create a successful team.

"Perpetrators, collaborators, bystanders, victims: we can be clear about three of these categories. The bystanders, however, is the fulcrum."

The message is that those who are the game changers are ones who is watching from behind. A great leader empowers those bystanders to take action by initiating it. 

David Roberts also talked about courage. It takes a courage of just one person. And courage stems from compassion. Just like what Sensei said, courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Sensei writes, "Courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Compassion without courage is not genuine.  You may have a compassionate thought or impulse, but if you don't do or say anything, it's not real compassion." I realized how similar these philosophies are to what I learn in the SGI practicing together with Sensei. I cannot be anymore grateful. I will continue to strive to repay this debt of gratitude I owe to him, my mom and the SGI by exerting myself for social goods until the last moment of my life and unto the future.

Nothing contradicts Buddhism.

I am who I am today because of Sensei.

Innovation...predefined

omg. I think I just heard the most intellectually stimulating talk since I came here. Astro Teller, the Director of Google Labs, talked about how to innovate. I think he's an insane person. I love it though. 

• 100*Innovation(1) >> 1*Innovation(100)
• !Understand Details + !Delegate -> !Innovation
• Innovation(someone) >> Innovation(everyone) >> Innovation(no one)
• !Story -> !Innovation
• Effort(Innovation_V2.0) < Effort(Innovation_V1.2)
• ∆(Assumptions) -> Innovation
• P(Innovation I Bob) > P(Innovation I Idea_Z)
• Innovation(story) = Benerfit(vision) + Product(vision) + How(vision) + WhyNow(vision)
• Idea transplant -> Innovation
• New tools + New Metrics -> Innovation
• CleanUp(painful work arounds + rule breaking) -> Innovation
• Innovation(speed) ~ 1/MediocreProjects(half life)
• Rebuild = Innovate
• Technology Judo >> Technology Kung Fu
• ∆(Assumptions) 10% > Innovation > ∆(Assumption) 1%

ok I am a nerd, ok? well i love it because his presentation challenges me to THINK. outside. the. BOX. outside the framework that we are comfortable with. outside of what we were taught to believe. or what we have come up with to ensure the significance of our existence. which is nothing. because. we live by living. we live together with everyone. so the constant demand to be recognized, to be satisfied through the compensation, rewards and fame, is challenged. I love his concept. 

He tries to make people remove the superficiality of things that we possess, uphold and live by. We should live to create. just for the sake of creating. for others. for something greater than us. Paul Tillich said, "To what ends do we as human beings live?" It is to actualize the power to create beyond oneself without losing oneself.

when it is about me and MY idea, I am no longer innovative.

Tell me a problem.
Tell me a product or service that will release that problem.
Tell me what’s hard about it.
Tell me how we’re gonna make this.
Tell me why it didn’t happen three or four years ago.  what’s the secret weapon?

Get ready, Astro. I will bombard you with 100 of my stupid ideas.

Why am I here?

What's my mission in life? It is to use my strength to empower people. It is to realize that through my own struggles the world where everyone live together in harmony is possible. 


"Happiness is not a life without problems, but rather the strength to overcome the problems that came our way. There is no such thing as problem-life free; difficulties are unavoidable. But how we experience and react to our problems depends on us. Buddhism teaches that we are each responsible for our own happiness or unhappiness. Our vitality - the amount of energy or "life-force" we have - is in fact the single most important factor in determining whether or not we are happy." Daisaku Ikeda


To read more, click here

My Mentor

Nothing is impossible. Be a radical optimist.

There is this one guy. one inspiring man. by the name of Peter Diamandis. He is passionate about creating a paradigm shift in the human minds that nothing is impossible. That human potentials are unlimited when they are given the incentives to win and in the process winning over oneself. So he came up with the X Prize foundation that gives prize for teams that wins a crazy challenge such as building the first private spacecraft that can fly in the suborbital, build a robot that roams on the moon, build something that reaps up the oil spill, or the most recent challenge: the tricoder, the device that can diagnose you better than a group of 10 board certified physicians! He's a crazy man. (saying with pride and admiration).

Grand Challenges of Education

Child-centered education

It's truly inspiring to be listening to so many wonderful endeavors that are happening around the world. I was driven to tears hearing the story about the inequality in education between boys and girls.  Joy derived from a sense of accomplishments through learning is irreplaceable. To be able to give someone that opportunity is such a profound cause one can make. The human potential is limitless.  Education enables everyone to tap into that potential and manifest it for social transformation. I am deeply moved today to hear about the concept of SOKA education being presented by Lian who is from Malaysia. I am truly truly moved hearing many stories. Many lives that can be changed or have been changed through education....including my own. 

Please also, if you have not already, watch this inspiring and yet humble method of inducing sustainable learning. Let the youth soar into the sky of the peaceful future!