Even Fools Have Their Own Fools' Theories

[2015 updates at bottom]

Went to Tian's house (Aug 11 2012) to pick her mom up to go back to KL for 7th week commemoration of father's death (25th June 2012). Arrived around 6.30 pm. After dinner, I went to 'disturb' Tian who was at her PC and she complained that her bedroom was hot.

I told her that the room was hot because there was no air circulation through the room from outside (the air outside their house was actually cool!). The 16-inch fan (which I bought for them when they first moved in) in her room was not effective because it was placed against the wall next to her computer and was just re-circulating hot air inside the room!

Told her that the air outside their house is very cool (one can clearly feel the cool air outside the house just by stepping out) and her room would be much cooler if the outside air is introduced into the room by placing the fan at the window.

I had been telling her parents for a few years that they should open the glass door at the front of that room (so that there is a through passage) for cooler outside air to flow through her room but they had been giving all sorts of excuses over the years. One was for fear of snakes entering and then rats. I had suggested that they place mosquito netting over the door grilles to solve those problems. But nothing was done and they lived with the problem for years.

This time since Tian complained to me personally I decided to prove to her my 'theory' above by shifting the standing fan in her room to the window so that the fan can 'pull' cooler outside air into the room.

Together we shifted away her writing desk which was at the window to create space for the fan but then found that the extension power cable was not long enough. She then asked her father for a longer cable. While trying to find us one from the pergola area outside her room he hit onto a better solution.

There was another 12-inch fan (an old one from Singapore that I gave them) sitting on a table just outside Tian's room in the pergola area. He turned the fan around to point at the window of Tian's room so that it blew outside air through the window into the room!

Thinking that it was a better idea than placing the fan inside the room I shifted the larger fan and placed it next to the 12-inch fan and had both fans blowing through the window. Almost immediately Tian said that she could feel the temperature difference.

I then told her that that proved my theory and that I had told her parents that many times before - create a passage for cool outside breeze to enter and hot inside air to exit the house and to place fans at window and door openings to help with that air flow. (The way they took my suggestion must have been 'chay')

Tian then tried to come up with an excuse as to why they did not do what I had been telling them all along by saying that her mom said that the cause of the heat in her room was the lamps at the top of her room (therefore implying, I suppose, that she thought there was no solution).

I cut her short and told her that 'even fools have their own fools' theories'.

When I passed by her house 2 days later from KL I asked Tian if the fan solution above was effective. She said 'when sleeping at night it feels like air-con!'

Updates:
When I visited in 2013 I noticed that Tian was no more sleeping in her room. So took a look and those fans that used to be next to room window were no more there. (Whoever removed them must have 'chayed' the idea and not bothered to check it out nor ask Tian. Worse, Tian kept quiet and accepted it)

When buying KDK exhaust fan for mom's room from Simgapore in 2013, got additional one for Senggarang. Told Tian's parents most fan models push air from inside out and the only model that does the reverse can function both ways. I said there must be a reason for that since the engineers that design them would have considered everything (they are the 20% type). Left instructions with her dad to place fan above glass doors to push hot air from top of room out and buy a timer from MrDIY to turn on fan from around 3pm so it can start extracting hot air from room from then on so that by time Tian return from school or sleep room already cooled.

On next trip months later, I was surprised to find that the fan was installed in reverse to push air from outside into room ! So asked why that way and was told it was because at night the outside breeze flow in that direction! So I asked if room was cooler. Answer was no. Tian again not sleeping in that room. Also no timer.

I then told them that I already said there must be good reasons those fans were made to function that way why do opposite (unsaid reason: chay others, again). One can always put the horse at the back of the carriage but would not work as well. After knowing that, they should have quickly changed direction of fan.

On next trip months later (2015) brought timer for them but fan still not changed. I slept in the room and it was very hot around 3am. So next morning I asked with some anger Tian's mom why so long still no change. Tian's dad came over and said 'change, change lah why talk so loud?!' (inversion)

I was upset because i gave suggestions, bot things etc to help solve problem over so many years and they did reverse of standard convention based on their own inept theory! I was fine with that but when it was obvious that their non-conventional way didn't work they should quickly revert back right? If one wants to try put horse behind carriage but it doesn't work, one should quickly put horse back to proper position right?

Told Tian's father that if one wants to change one's fortune or environment one must act! Most people (80%) will not, which was why Chinese people live wretched lives for 5,000 years (no need science or chay those people).

My personal thought: As to the fans I bought for them and my helping over the years, it was all for comfort of his daughter but her parents still take them for granted. Worse, her dad took my eventual displeasure with their lack of initiative as fussing over small matter. Tian is almost 18 already and will soon be going for uni and leaving that house. How many years did she live in that house and with the heat in her room? Like KL house for 30 years, who cares.

Next trip at end Dec 2015 (during TYL visit) I saw fan reversed. Don't know if works.


Side Note - Tian's question on what school stream to choose:
After sharing with her my 'even fools have their theories' comment, Tian then told me that she was having diffculty deciding whether to take 'business stream' or 'sence stream' in school. She said she found science and maths 'hard' and worried that she may not be able to 'score' if she goes into science stream. Tian is very sharp and she got my fools theory comment very quickly (that was not the only instance of that) and I guess she wanted my view on her future studies.

Here are what I told her:
1. Science stream is 'hard to score' because they require real logic (real logic is not easy) and hard work, and smarter students tend to go into science stream. By going into science stream, one gets to improve one's thinking skills through science and maths better than if one is to take some other 'business' or 'arts' stream which require or has less emphasis on reasoning skills.

2. Do not do something because it is easier. That is what most people (the 80%) would do. But learning to do what 80% of people can do does not give one a differentiating advantage. One may be able to 'score' high but it is for something easy. If one can do only what 80% other people can do, then one will be competing with most other people for jobs. In that case, one only gets the income that 80% of people get. The analogy I gave her was jumping 2 feet is easy and one can score 100% but it is useless - everyone else can do it. But jumping 5 feet is not what everyone can do. Learning to jump 5 feet and scoring 50% is still better than scoring 100% on a 2 feet jump!

The next day I told her parents about her concern above and I pretended to wonder why she raised the issue with me - I wanted to fish out her parents' views so as to see if they are equipped to guide her. The response I got from her father was 'that problem (of which stream to choose) is 2 years down the road, no need to worry now!'. I kept quiet.

He has just given me the answer. The girl was thinking ahead but the father was following the popular Chinese saying 'when the boat gets to the jetty, it will align by itself'! (chuan dao qiao tou zhi ran ji). Why worry ahead?


Life Lesson 1:
In life every one including fools have their own little 'theory' (or view) on everything. The issue is how good, true or accurate it is. Not every theory is the same. Not all theories are equally close to the truth. In fact, there are more fools' theories than real insights. That is why modern scientific theories took such a long time to appear in human history. So beware of Fool's Theories! Never let your life be based on or influenced by some fools' theories.

Life Lesson 2:
Never follow the 80%. What the 80% knows and can do is not the secret to success.
Learn to do what the 80% does or learn and you will earn only what the 80% earns or live like them.

Life Lesson 3:
Thinking and Planning Ahead is what separates achievers from the 80%! Laid back ones and under-achievers take things as they come along. They do not think or plan ahead. Learning to plan or look ahead trains the mind to see a 'bigger picture'. People with big-picture will have advantage over narrow minded ones. In fact, some thinkers are of the opinion that human's ability to plan ahead is a key reason why humans got ahead of other animals.

'Chuan dao qiao tou zhi ran zi' applies only for small boats (small minds). Does not wok for Titanic...



Other 'theories':
Aquaponics with charchoal  TSP
Keeping washing machinse safe from wire eating rats  CPQ
Where got people build houses using steel?  CPY
Death because of a weekend's break from work  TSP

Not so cold means warm lah!   waitress
Government indiscrimately printing money just does not make sense!  Malay fella