Life in America: Journey to the East

NEW YORK!

Hello and hello there!

So I have been away for a while, it was winter break and I had to leave my dorm because it was closed. But here I am! Back in my dorm room.

It has been a great winter break so far, I was away from my dorm for about 20 days. And then I had an epic journey to the East side of the US for 12 days. For those of you who have been stalking me on facebook, you might have known that I was in Chicago for a while, then Columbus-Ohio, Pittsburgh-Pennsylvania, Morgantown-West Virginia, and finally New York City, all with just one backpack!

So it was sort of a backpacking trip, except that I stayed and freeloaded at my friends' place along the way. I would love to claim that I made the backpacking trip on my OWN! But that would discredit my friends' help during this trip. So, no, although I was traveling alone, I wouldn't have made it without my friends in Chicago, Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Morgantown (you know who you are, awesome peeps! )

I spent about US$350 for this trip, it might seem a lot in Malaysian money but it isn't too much compared to what other people were spending on their trip. I was being very thriftily, of course. But even that I thought I went over budget, I initially planned to spend only about $250. The $100 extra was due to improper planning. Such a pity because I could have saved up those money for more food : (



I learned quite a lot from the trip. I must say it has to be one of the best things I have done for myself! Life changing experience? Maybe. I definitely see the world a little bit differently now. Although I cannot single out which particular event along the trip made the most impact. Personally, I would do this again if given the time and money. If you are reading this, and haven't went for a backpacking trip before, please, do yourself a favor and go for one! It doesn't matter if you don't have too much money to spend, you can get a lot out of your trip if you plan properly and starve a little (I'm sure you can do that).

Maybe you might be thinking," Traveling alone? Why so lonely?"

I don't know, but I actually find that I like solo traveling more. Maybe I am a bit of a solo-person, but I am definitely not a loner or anti-social, those of you who know me can testify that. In fact, I can give you a list of the benefits of traveling alone, even. But this is according to my own opinion lah.

1. You are free to move as fast or as slow as you like. A big plus for me, because I tend to move very fast at times (especially when things are boring), and very slow when something interests me. I walk very fast, personally I subscribed to the "why walk when you can run?" mindset, so a lot of times when traveling in group I get frustrated when the group walk slowly, it makes me feel like I am losing out on things. Also, I have odd but broad interests, so it is hard for me when a lot of things that interests me don't interest the traveling group.
2. Less liability, less responsibility. Let's face it, we have all been in the situation where the whole group was waiting for one person who was late, and then missed a bus or a train by a few minutes, and then the whole plan gets flushed down the drain. With solo traveling, you don't have to wait for that person who is always late, and you are solely responsible for yourself when you make a mistake.
3. No peer pressure. When the whole group decides to eat in a fancy and expensive restaurant, and you are on a really tight budget, what can you do? To decline would make you look like a jerk who doesn't appreciate everyone's company. To accept would make yourself so much poorer for the remainder of the trip. If you travel alone, you are free to eat/buy anything you want without being pressured.
4. Mobility. Almost similar to the first point, if you travel alone, you can move more easily. And, one of the reasons that this appeals to me is because I get to stay at friends' places without troubling them too much. If you travel in a big group, obviously you wouldn't want to ask your friend to let everyone stay at their place even though it's temporary because that would cause them too much trouble (unless they have a big house and wouldn't mind company). You would require a really thick face to ask that favor from them.

There are of course the risks of traveling alone such as being easy victim for crimes, but that can be avoided with proper planning and preparations.

There, that is my take on solo traveling. Now let's talk about some of the places that I've visited along the way.

Chicago skyline

My first stop for the trip was Chicago, Illinois. Chicago is a little south of Madison, Wisconsin and it is a city by the huge Lake Michigan. It is my first real "city" experience in the US.

My first impression of Chicago was three words -- "The Dark Knight". I don't know why but the first time I arrived in Chicago it was at night and I felt as if I was in the movie set of Batman. The buildings were huge and tall, elevated railways screeches every time a train speeds by, the streets were populated by all sorts of people, some places were brightly lit, others dark and dirty. Other than that, Chicago slowly grew into me over the next few days as I explored the city.

Daytime Chicago is everything you can imagine about a metropolitan city. Cars and buses filling every single inch of the city streets during rush hour; people rushing to their work place, some with briefcase, dressed in smart outfit, many with a cup of Starbucks coffee in their hands. But it isn't too bad, if you like city life, Chicago is definitely a place you should experience.

Some of the notable attractions that I've visited were:

• Field Museum - Definitely worth a visit if you have never been to a natural museum before. They have exhibits from ancient civilizations, fossils, to contemporary history. It took me a whole day to actually explore the museum.
• Shedd Aquarium - If you like the fishes and the water, this is a place you should visit. The exhibits were quite interesting, although sometimes a lot of fishes tend to be very boring. That being said, I thought the dolphins, jellyfish and sharks exhibit were kinda cool.
• Navy Pier - The view from this place is just stunning at night. You can view the whole city skyline from here (photo below). I was here during New Year's Eve and it was great! But there aren't too many things to see here besides the skyline, at least not for me.
• Museum of Science and Industry - This is a total nerdgasm for those of you science geeks out there. I was overwhelmed by the sheer size and I didn't know where to start. Whether you are an adult or a kid, I would recommend this place, anytime. They have science exhibits that were very interesting, and the historical exhibits were kind of fun to watch too!
• Millennium Park - A cool place to chill out. There is "The Bean" in the middle of the park where you can view a panoramic reflection of the city (check out my facebook profile picture). Also, an outdoor ice skating rink is just around for those who are interested in ice skating.

Chicago, from Navy Pier

That sums up my visit of Chicago, although there were some places I didn't really find THAT interesting such as Chinatown and the Planetarium. I didn't find Chinatown particularly interesting because most of the the things that they have to offer can be found in Malaysia, although a little Chinese food is always welcomed!



After about 5 days in Chicago, it is time to leave. Taking the bus at early in the morning, I arrived at my next stop -- a short stay in Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State University Union

There wasn't much to see in Columbus, except for Ohio State University, one of the largest universities in the US in terms of numbers of students. It is a huge campus with over 1800 acres of land, the environment is good but of course not as good as UW-Madison (school pride ma :D ).

Streets of Columbus, Ohio

Passing by Pittsburgh, I began to notice how short the buildings in downtown Madison really is. Both Columbus and Pittsburgh have taller buildings and a more city-like feel. However, I would argue that Madison still has a more beautiful night view among the smaller cities I've visited. Pittsburgh has a more Gothic environment, with buildings more scenic and older-looking than the ones in Madison. Columbus on the other hand, has one of the most boring buildings I've seen (sorry but it's true), it's all square and red, most of them anyway.

The tall cathedral in Pittsburgh

Interior of the cathedral

Taking a detour from Pittsburgh, I went to the rocky mountains of Morgantown, West Virginia. It is the smallest town of my trip. But I got to say it is a beautiful place nonetheless.

West Virginia University

Morgantown is home to the mountainous West Virginia University -- a very beautiful and unique campus in my opinion. The university is so hilly that they have personal railway transport within the campus! How cool is that?

But being in a university with only a handful of Malaysians, I noticed how the interactions between Malaysians differ greatly from the universities with a lot of Malaysians (such as UW-Madison). I feel that the Malaysians in West Virginia University (and University of Pittsburgh too, to certain extent) are more tight-knit that the ones in Madison, Wisconsin. I think this is mainly due to the smaller number of Malaysians, allowing an easier time to know each other better. The Malaysians in Madison (over 200 I think) are quite close to each other too, except that we tend to form groups that are organized by race/religion/gender, etc. that seldom interact with other groups, so in a way we are tight-knit too, but not in the general sense. Good or bad? Hmm...

Times Square, New York!

The last stop of my trip has to be one of the most ball-siest things I've done, ever! Traveling alone in New York was a great experience, albeit a short one. I traveled to New York because the air ticket from New York to Chicago is significantly cheaper than other flights. So I decided, what the heck, right? Since the bus ride from Pittsburgh to New York is very cheap, I might as well take a walk in the largest city in the US, just for the fun of it.

I didn't walk to too many places due to time constraints, but I managed to visit the Empire State building, Times Square, and the Grand Central Terminal! To be honest, it feels very surreal to be walking into these places that you've grown so familiar with through movies. It is like, meeting an old friend who is also a total stranger. That was how it felt like.

Compared to Chicago, New York is definitely unique in its own way. I can't exactly point out how is it different but it just is! You'll have to find out for yourself haha. The people, the environment, you just feel a different vibe. But if you ask me, I find Chicago a slightly better place to live, compared to New York. I don't know, maybe it's because I had a longer stay in Chicago. Overall, both cities are quite busy and "happening". Both has spectacular skylines -- New York has more tall buildings, Chicago has the tallest building in US. Take your pick.



After 12 days of traveling, nothing beats the sight of the night view of Madison, Wisconsin as it slowly comes into the view from my bus window. All the sudden, Madison feels different, but the same (whatever that means). To me, I feel like Madison is still the best place to study. It is quiet, serene, beautiful, friendly. Don't believe? Come to Madison lah! :D

I guess I should have known that to put all my thoughts about the trip into one little blog post in a comprehensible manner is almost impossible. So maybe it felt like the things I was trying to say was scattered all over. You can always talk to me about the trip if you want to know more!

The next trip that I am planning for the next winter break is the long way up from Texas: flying to Texas and taking bus rides up back to Wisconsin. That ought to be fun. But meanwhile, I still have a whole year of epic fun to go.

Happy New Year everyone!



Till next time, cheeeeers~


p.s. Travel photos can be viewed on my Facebook profile

I'm a Pastafarian: Why I Reject

Oh hai there. If you have been reading my blog, you would have noticed that not too long ago I posted a weird post about Flying Spaghetti Monster. Just for your information, that wasn't real, and I wasn't high on drugs or something either. It was just a satirical post about religion.

You see, I am not a big fan of religion, I never really needed one in my life. Somehow, not a religion in the world seems to fit the reality of the natural world. None. And you know what? On the contrary to what the Moral Ed. textbooks in primary and secondary school says, I have been able to live a moral and meaningful life without a religion. Remember the first value in the "hafal nilai" list? That's the only value I never ever observed in my life.


I am a very inquisitive person, I like to question things. When something happens I want to know the why's and the how's. I think it really didn't surprise me when I've decided way back in primary school that I want to be a scientist when I grow up (with a few temporary deviations, but scientist was never off the list).

Science is a way to look at the world. It is a lens through which we seek to know more about this universe. And it is built on observation, evidence, and reason. And as far as I see, science is not compatible with religion.

Because science is evidence-based, most if not all of the things proposed by religion crumbles immediately under scientific scrutiny.There is no conclusive evidence for the existence of god(s), soul, heaven, hell, karma, unicorns, dragons, Zeus, Thor, monkey king, etc., hence the default position in science is to treat them as nonexistent unless proven otherwise.


But I'm a Christian and I believe in Jesus and that God exists!



On what? Faith? You see, the problem with the faith is that... it is simply believing without the need of evidence.

If one day I come to you and say," Hey, an asteroid is going to hit the earth next week."
You would say," What? No that is not true. It wasn't on the news at all"
Me:" Why? Don't you believe me?"
You:" Yeah right. Should me the evidence and I will believe you."

I am pretty sure that is the logical way the conversation will go. But if faith is applied, this might be how the conversation will go:

Me:" Hey, an asteroid is going to hit the earth next week."
You:" Really? Holy shit I better start preparing for apocalypse right now."
Me:" Uh... Really? You are going to believe me, just like that?"
You:" Of course, you are my friend. I have faith in you. And you sounded convincing enough."

Did that conversation make sense to you? It certainly made less sense than the first one. But somehow people think it makes sense when applied to believe a certain deity.


I don't know... I'm pretty sure I can on onto a rant fest in this post if I wanted to. But I will try not to.


So one last thing I have to say today. Every time I see people saying "God is great" or "God is beautiful" and things like that, I feel like grabbing hold of their neck and yell at them. That is just blind ignorance of the reality of the world, and personally I find those sentences offensive and full of self-arrogance.

Millions of people are dying of famine each year. What has god done about that, if he/she/it is as great as the follower claims to be? Are you meaning to say that you deserved God's blessing more than other millions of others in pain?

God acts in mysterious ways. We cannot know what is God's plan.

I say... HYPOCRITE! When good things happen to believers, they say god is blessing them, and they seem to be so sure that god wants goodness for them. And then when bad things happen other people, they say god is giving them a challenge to make them better person. What if a baby dies of hunger the first week he/she was born? Or if something bad happens that they cannot phrase it to make it sound like God is good? Nobody knows God's plan.

So do you or do you not know what is god thinking?! Why are you so sure sometimes but other times you don't want to speculate?


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


Personally, the way I see the world, god is no where in the picture. And you know what? All the sudden everything makes sense. And surprisingly, everything is so much more beautiful. Why? I will stop here and pick up from there in my next I'm a Pastafarian post.

I am going to leave you with a quote from Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. A food for thought.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent (all-powerful).
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent (evil).
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil? (Why is there evil?)
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

Comments? Arguments? Leave them below.



Till next time, cheers~

Life in America: EXAMS!!!

That's right, I got your attention with the all caps title didn't I?

So I just came back from my third physics exam of the semester, and I'm giving myself a little timeout for the day, and talk about the exams in my school to you imaginary audience. Oh wait, you exist? Thank you, I appreciate that you bothered to read about something that have been so dreaded by us since we started school in Standard 1. Yeah yeah, it is SPM and STPM season in Malaysia. If you are taking the exams this year, extra brownie points for you. : )

Now I have taken quite a few exams in the university. And it is just so different than the exam style in Malaysia. Let me quickly point out a few:

1. The exams are relatively easier.

Most exams that I've taken weren't excruciatingly hard (like the ones I had in high school *ahem*). There were some challenging questions, but generally most questions I had were conceptual questions, meaning they test your understanding of the subject, not your ability to write bullshit. So, if you study, you'll do fine.

2. It is a bit easier to peek in exams.

The classes I am taking consists of hundreds of students! So naturally, it is difficult to monitor every single student all the time. And the exams I have had were in lecture theaters, where the seats get lower as they near the front. So, don't know the answer for a question? Take a quick peek at the student in front of you.

3. Notes are allowed, sometimes.

Another reason why the exams are easier, and this is especially applicable in Sciences. Professors won't exactly force you do memorize every single formula in your textbook, because... What's the point if you don't know when to use it right? For my Physics and Genetics exams, we were allowed limited amount of notes in the exam. So we would cram whatever we think is going to be useful into a paper with size specified by the professor. But even with the help of notes, you will see that most people will not do well in the exam. I don't know why is that, but I find the exams so much easier when I was allowed to bring notes. Hmm...

4. There are hardcore people

When you thought you did well in your exam and is going to top the class, there is always a few people who just seem to do better than you. At least that was what happened to me. Sort of reminds me of the days in high school when it just seemed impossible to catch up with the few peeps who always get straight A's in exams even though you were studying hardcore. I actually feel proud of my high school because it felt just as competitive as my university (And this university is ranked top 50 in the world wei don't play play). So if you are looking for a potential school to send your children to, go find SMJK Yu Hua kthxbai. 


5. Then there are the people who just don't care (This isn't exactly exclusive to U.S., we have this in Malaysia too)

They come to class to Facebook. They come into the exam venue and leave early and thought that it is cool. They get a fail grade but they don't care because they are rich like that. Problem?


That basically sums it up. Exams here, I am enjoying it. Actually I think I enjoy it because I usually score higher than most of the class. Oh, and I am in this Physics class full of aspiring engineers, and I outscored them in the last 2 exams, let's hope I do for this third one too. Wait, I am getting a little bit cocky here. Ok ok, I should keep quiet. Must humble sikit, right?



Till next time, cheers~

Life in America: The Zombies

"We want zombie rights...Durh..."

Yep, living in America, no other horror genre is more prominent than the zombies. Zombie movies? Check. Zombie comics? Check. Zombies at Halloween? Check. Zombie Day? Check.

And I grew up in Malaysia with the sort of rise of modern "zombie revolution" in entertainment media, if you will call it that. There was this burst of zombie popularity stemming from America. The Resident Evil movie got me hooked (and scared the shit out of my pants) into zombies. I played Resident Evil 2 on Playstation, but didn't really finish it because I was only 9 or 10 years old and was a coward.

Then I watched more zombie movies, though not all, throughout my teenage. The Resident Evil series, The Living Dead, I Am Legend, 28 Days/Weeks Later, and a few cheesy but similar movies. And then Valve came out with Left 4 Dead the video game, which got to play quite a bit. I wasn't really hardcore into zombies, but it is something that definitely catches my attention. (I got quite a bit of game time in Plants vs Zombies too)

I don't know why exactly why I like to see something so depressing. You see, these movies usually sets in a world ravaged by zombie apocalypse. The cities are desolated, overrun by the undead. People get killed, but they don't exactly die. The zombies want to eat you, and then people are constantly on the run, trying to avoid being cannibalized by the zombies. And then in the movies, they will kill off the characters you like, which makes it so much more depressing to watch. But I still watch it, I wondered why.

Maybe it's because this genre simulates human interaction in a post-apocalyptic environment. It puts our human values to question. Maybe that is why I love to watch it, to see how it questions our values.

And that feeling has been confirmed when I started to watch a new TV series that came out last year -- The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead is very different from all the previous movies I've seen. First of all, it isn't a movie, but a TV series. And unlike most movies, especially Resident Evil, where there are mass zombie killing money shot scenes, The Walking Dead is a subtler kind of zombie show. There are no protagonists going into zombie killing spree, this is not a show where you can see that. But there are definitely scenes that are as gruesome, if not more gruesome, than what you can see in zombie movies.

What I liked about the show though, is not about the human-zombie conflict, but rather, the human-human conflicts. It is not like the characters in the show are going all out to kill each other, not that kind of conflict; but just conflicts that happens in everyday human lives. Except that it becomes greatly amplified in the backdrop of zombie apocalypse, it and puts a huge question mark to the audience. I don't know how else can I describe that to you without spoiling the show : (

If you haven't watch it (and I'm sure most of you have not), I would highly recommend this show. Go get it online, you know how, especially Malaysians. There are 6 episodes in the first season, and the second season is currently airing its 7th episode. The second season has a total of 13 episodes planned so there, 19 episodes. That is not too much to catch up. I must warn you though that if you are a squirmy type of people that faints at the sight of blood, this might not be the show for you. But otherwise, I'm sure you will enjoy the show as much as I do. And you may possibly find it more interesting than all the zombie movies you've seen so far. So what are you waiting for? Get some zombie action today!



Till next time, cheers~

Life in America: Thanksgiving

Don't eat me pl0x

Happy Thanksgiving! So the Thanksgiving break is finally coming to an end. It wasn't too much of a break anyway, University of Wisconsin only gave the students a two-day break from Thursday. So I haven't been doing much except to chill during this rare holiday (students in the United States are very holiday-deprived during regular semester).


Come to think of it, it never fails to amaze me how fast time flies as we are growing up. When I was 7 or 8, a year felt like an eternity. But now, a year felt almost like nothing. I still remember vividly this time last year I was writing my thanksgiving note, which I later found out to be a huge task because there are just too many people to give thanks to, so I scrapped the idea. Anyway, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been in my life. It might not be sincere enough, but this is the best I can do without being too creepy (like, posting "thank you" notes on everyone's wall on Facebook).

Speaking of Facebook, I shared a video a couple of days ago on my page. But I'll put it up again here so you can watch it. It was about a Thanksgiving tradition, specefically Black Friday. Some of you might not know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving (which is usually on the last Thursday of November). Basically, it is a day of sales. Shops open at 3am or 4am and people would just go on a shopping frenzy, like the video below.



I find it disturbing, especially the value of consumerism in the U.S.. I read somewhere about the Americans spending more than the GDP of North Korea in Thanksgiving weekend 2010. I was surprised at how much they can really spend!

The crowd is just crazy, I am not sure if I want to experience this part of American culture.

One thing I want to experience though, is to travel around the cities of the U.S.. Thanksgiving break was just too short, maybe I'll do it during my one-month winter break. Haven't have any plans yet, but I'd like to travel alone. That ought to be interesting. Any suggestions on the places I should go? Hmm...



Till next time, cheers~

I'm a Pastafarian

I have a confession to make... I am a Pastafarian.

"What's a Pastafarian? Does that mean you like to eat pasta?"

No. But I do like to eat pasta though.

Anyway, let me tell you a story...



One day, I was alone at my house. It was late noon and I got very hungry. So I decided to risk food poisoning myself by trying to cook myself a meal of pasta! (I have poor cooking skills, don't laugh) I took out a handful of spaghetti and popped it into a pot of boiling water with some seasoning and salt. Then I waited, and accidentally fell asleep on the kitchen table.

Something woke me up. Soft, long, thin and squishy, wetting my face as it slowly glided across my face. I looked up and there it was, a monstrosity so weird I almost thought it was a dream. It was a huge ball of interweaving spaghetti, curling around two meatballs as large as my head. Floating in the air, its spaghetti ends probed the surrounding like a tentacle. And it had eyes! Two protruding eyes stuck on its top side, in an almost crab-like fashion.

How it looked like

"Bow upon your maker," a voice rang in my head. There wasn't anything to be found in the surrounding that could have made that voice. The spaghetti monster looked at me with intend. It squinted, and the voice rang again, "I am your maker. Bow to me, and I shall grant you a place among the blessed."

So I did. I didn't know what else to do (perhaps I couldn't have ignored its command and eat it? I was hungry.). And then it disappeared with a flash.

Maybe I was blinded for the moment, maybe the flash knocked me out. But I found myself  waking up again. Was it a dream? But it felt so real! Then I remembered the spaghetti I was boiling. When I looked at the pot, it was.... it was gone!

No way... Where did it go? There wasn't anyone else in the house, nobody else could have eaten it. Then it dawned on me that the spaghetti was the same spaghetti monster that I've encountered earlier! That's it, right? How else can you explain the disappearance of the spaghetti?

That day, I did a research on the internet and I found out that there were many people with the same experiences. They've all met the maker. Our maker. And they have a name for it - The Flying Spaghetti Monster. That's it. It's real! The spaghetti monster is real! I mean, millions of people have been touched by His noodly appendage, how can you explain such a coincidence? There is no way all of us hallucinated and had the same exact experience (boiling spaghetti, flying spaghetti monster appeared, disappearance of the spaghetti). Science couldn't explain this. This had to be a divine experience!

And so I believed. Although many other people were skeptical. But it doesn't matter. I have faith, you see. And that is all I need to believe in our maker the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I have experienced his noodly grace. Maybe if you try cooking spaghetti with a room in your heart to accept Him, you will be able to meet Him too. (And why am I so sure it was a "He"? Because it has two large meatballs you see, and we know He created man using Himself as a reference.)

To all atheists who questioned my faith, I do not blame you. I know my maker created you so that you can test my faith in Him, so that my faith can grow stronger everyday. I thank you, but at the same time I sympathize you for being so blind. He is everywhere, people in the world has been eating His gift to mankind, the spaghetti, for hundreds of years. Surely this is a sign that He exists! Not? Argue all you want, you are not going to convince me. I have experienced His noodly grace, and that is enough for me to believe in His existence. My only hope is that He is forgiving enough not to send you to the Land of Macaroni, where the Grounded Angel of Macaroni lives. There they will feed you macaroni everyday, thinking of it gives me the shivers. Sometimes I can't help but to cry when I think of the poor souls who couldn't experience His noodly grace and were sent to Land of Macaroni.

But such is live, right? You win some you lose some. Although sometimes I still do not understand why doesn't our maker just appear when everyone is cooking spaghetti and convince them. He wanted people to acknowledge Him as our maker but He is just so shy. I guess He has His big plan that I do not understand. Who does, right? He is made of spaghetti flour, I am just made out of... of dusts in the ground ( Pastagenesis 9.1 ). Surely dusts could not understand flour, right?

That is all I have to say today. I hope the fact that I am coming out as a Pastafarian will not get me into trouble. Our numbers are still small for now, but remember all religions started small. If we could persevere, we would eventually be able to bring His noodly grace to everyone in the world, just like other religions did for their god (although I am not convinced of their god, because I know mine is the real one. And the truth will always prevail!)

Onwards, Pastafarians. Let's bring His noodly grace to everyone on earth. Let His noodly appendage touch the heart of billions, and create an ultimate paradise for us his creations to live in. Long live Flying Spaghetti Monster! R'amen.



Till next time, cheers.

Taming Infinity

Warning: Math Content!

So the other day I saw this very cool mathematics trick. Suppose you have a divergent series (a group of numbers that adds up to infinity) that adds up like this:

1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + ...

Where the next number in the series equals to twice the value of the previous number.

It is pretty obvious that when you have infinite numbers in this series, this adds up to infinity right? Well, yes. But, it can also be mathematically proven that the whole series equals to -1.

What?

I know. Pretty mind-boggling stuff. But watch the video below, it explains how the series can become -1 by some mathematical manipulation



So, to reiterate what the video just said. Suppose you have the series

1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + ... .

Now the whole series will be the same if you multiply it with 1, right? Anything that is multiplied by 1 equals to the original value. Like this

1 * (1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + ... )

It wouldn't change a thing. Now we all know 1 = 2 - 1, so we can substitude 1 in front of the series with (2 - 1), which then becomes

(2 - 1) * (1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + ... ).

Now we expand the brackets by multiplying 2 and -1 in (2 - 1) separately with the series, which becomes

( 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + ... - 1 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 16 - 32 - 64 - 128 - ... ).

If you noticed, except for - 1, the other numbers on the right side can subtract the numbers with + sign. And in the end, you will be left with only -1!

So... 1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + ... = -1!

Isn't it amazing? Although I do not know how does this apply in anything because I am not a mathematician, I still think it is very interesting how some problems in mathematics can have answers that are so counter-intuitive, and not to mention aesthetically simple too (at least that is what I think).



Oh well. Till next time, cheers~