Monday, November 5, 2018

ጥሩ ሕይወት ምን ይመስላል?

ትርጉም ያለውና የተሟላ ሕይወት እንድንኖር ጥሩና መጥፎን መለየትና በነዚህ መርሆችና/ሕግጋቶች አክብሮ መኖርን የመሰለ መንገድ የለም። የሰው ልጅ ጥሩና መጥፎን ለመለየት የተለያዩ መንገዶችን ይጠቀማል፤ ከንዚህም ውስጥ ቤተሰብ፣ ሀይማኖት፣ ማህበረሰብ እና ሕሊናችን ዋናዎቹ ናቸው።

ጥሩና መጥፎ

ጥሩና መጥፎን ለመለየት የምንከተለው ሃይማኖት ከፍተኛ የሆነ እገዛ የሚያደርግልን ሲሆን። ጥሩና መጥፎን ለይተን ስንኖር ግን ሃጂ የይም ቄሱ ስላሉ ብቻ ከሆነ የእምነታችን ጥንካሬ ጊዜያዊና ከላይ ከላይ ብቻ ይሆናል። መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ስላለ ወይም ገሃነም ላለመግባትም የምንከተላቸው መርሆች ሲፈተኑ በቀላሉ ይፍረከረካሉ። ብዙ የሀይማኖት አባቶች የቤተክርስትያን ንብረት የሚዘርፉትም ለዚሕ ነው። ጥሩ ሀይማኖተኛም ሰው ስልጣን ላይ ሲወጣ ያደገበትን መርሕ ረስቶ "ሲሾም ያልበላ... " የሚለው ለዚሁ ነው።

እነዚህን የመርህ በቀላሉ መሸርሸር ችግር ያየው ኒቻ (Nietzsche) Morality በአንዴ የምንቀበለው ነገር ሳይሆን በየቀኑ መፈተሽ አለባት የኑሮ ዘዴ ናት ሲል በተለያዩ ጹሑፎቹ ላይ ያስተማረው። ከዚህም አልፎ ኒቻ የሐይማኖቶችን መርህ ቀጥታ ከመከተል የሰውን ልጅ የግሉንና የማሕበረሰቡን Value መፈተሽና መመርመር ይገባዋል ብሎ ያስባል።

ለምሳሌ ኒቻ ሃይማኖታዊ ተቋማትና ቀደምት ፈላስፎች በሙላ የሚሰብኳቸውን እራስን ዝቅ ከማድረግ ጋር የሚገናኙ የሚከተሉትን መርሖች በጥብ ይቃወማል

  1. እኩልነት (Equality) - የሰው ልጆች እውነት እኩል ነን? እኩልነትስ ጥሩ ነገር ናት?
  2. ሀዘኔታ (Compassion) - ለደካሞች ማዘን ደካሞችን ያበረታቸዋል ወይስ የባስ ያዳክማቸዋል? ለማሕበረሰባችንስ ምን ፋይዳ አለው?
  3. መስዋትነት (Self-sacrifice)  - እራስን ለተለያዩ አላማዎች ለምሳሌ ለሐገር መሰዋእትነት?
እነዚህን መርሖች ኒቻ ሕይወትን የሚያቀጭጩ፣ ሓያልነትን የሚያስቀሩና ለእድገት ያማያዋጡ ይላቸዋል። ብናልባት ዲሞክራቲክ ሶሳይቲ ለመመስረት ይጠቅሙን ይሆናል እንጂ የግል ብቃትን አያበረታቱም፣ ታላቅነትን አያነቃቁም ለሕይወት ትርጉምና ጥሩነት በንገድ አይዎኑም። እነዚህ መርሆች የሚጥሩት የራስን ሕይወት ጥሩ ለማድረግ ሳይሆን የሁሉንም ሰው ጥሩ ለማድረግ ነው። የግል ሕይወታችን ጥሩ ሳይሆን ደሞ የጋራ ሕይወታችን በፍጹም ጥሩ አይሆንም።


ኒቻ በተቃራኒው ሕይወትን የሚያፋፉ የሚላቸወን መርሆች ዘርዝሯል

  1. ብቃት/ክህሎት (Excellence)  - የሰው ልጅ እኩል ለመሆን ሳይሆን ከሁሉም የተለየ መሆኑን ተቀብሎ ሲጣጣር ብቃት ይመጣል
  2. የግል እድገት (Individual Development) - ሁላችንም የራሳችን መንገድ ያለን ሲሆን ይህን መንገድ ስንከተል ደካማ በማሕላችን አይኖርም ማዘንም አይጠበቅብንም  
  3. Nobility - በማህበረሰባችን መደነቅ መሞገስ እና አንደ ሃያል መታየት የታላቅነት መንገድ ይሆን?
እነዚህ መርሆች ሕይወትን የሚያፋፉና ለረጅም ግዚ መፍትሔ የሚሆኑ ይላቸዋል። 

ስቃይ እና ትግል

ከነዚህ መርሆች ጋር አብሮ ስቃይ እና ትግል ሊመጣ ይፍል ይሆናል፣ ነግር ግን ስቃይና ትግል ታላቅ ያረጉናል እንጂ ፈጽሞ አያዳክሙንም።

እነዚህን መርሆች ኒቻ በ19470ዎቹ ቢያስቀምጣቸውም የሰው ልጅ ከረጅም ውጣ ውረድ ብኋላ በራሱ መንገድ የደረሰበት ይመስላል። ምክኒያቱም በዚህ የካፒታሊዝም ዘመን የሰው ልጅ ከመቼዎም ግዜ በላይ የራሱን መርህ መከተልን እየመረጠ መጥቷል። ከዚያም አልፎ በተለያዩ ሶሻል ሚዲያ እንደምናየው ከምንም በላይ የሰውን ልጅ የሚያስደስቱት ብቃትና፣ የግል እድገት፣ መደነቅ ሆነዋል። ኒቻን እየተቃወምነው እየፈራነው እሱ ያለውን እየኖርን ይሆን እንዴ? ወይስ የቀረ ነገር አለ?

አሞር ፋቲ (Amor Fati)


ኒቻ ከላይ የዘረዘራቸውን መርሆች አስቀምጦ አላበቃም ምክንያቱም እነዚህን መርሆች ተከትላቹ ኑሩና ጥሩ ህይወት ትኖራላቹ ካለ ከላይ የተነሳበትን ዋና በርህ ሊጣሪስ ስለሆነ። በመሆኑም ኒቻ ጥሩ ኑሮ ለመኖር ሁሌም ህይወትህን መርምር፣ በየሰአቱ፣ በየቀኑ፣ በየሳምንቱ፣ በየወሩ...  ህይወትህንም ስትመረምር አሞር ፋቲን ብቻ አትርሳ። አሞር ፋቲ = የእጣ ፋንታ መቀበል። የሰው ልጅ ህይወቱን ሲመረምርና ሁሉንም ስቃዩን ትግሉን ስኬቱን ሲያስተውል ከሱ ቁጥጥር ውጪ ያሉትን እጣ ፋንታዎቹን በፍቅር ሊቀበላቸው ይገባል።

ታላቅነት =  የህወት ምርመራ + አሞር ፋቲ


አሞር ፋቲን ስንከተል እርሀብ ብርታት ይሆናል፣ አለመማር ብርሃን ይሆናል፣ በሽታ እድል ያመጣል። እራሱ ኒቼ እንዳለው የማይገድልህ ነገር ሁላ ታላቅ ያደርግሃል "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" ይህ እንዲሆን ግን እጣ ፈንታህን ፈገግ ብለፍ መቀበልና ማስተናገድን የመሰለ ድንቅ ነገር የለም.

ለማጠቃለል ያህል ኒቻ በጣም አወዛጋቢ ፈላስፈ ነበር፣ እዚህ የተጠቀሱትን ሀሳቦች ላንቀበላቸው እንችል ይሆናል። ነገር ግን ጥሩ ኑሮ ብሎ ያስቀመጠውን የህይወት ምርመራ እና የእጣ ፈንታ መርህ ብንከተል ጥሩና ትግጉም ያለው ሕይወት የምንኖርበት ምንም ምክንያት የለም።


       

Friday, June 8, 2018

Frustrated by public service? Don’t blame the people in front of you.

I just spent the whole afternoon in Ethiopian Post Office, EMS section. I had a document sent a week ago that hasn’t made it to the destination yet. The office provides an online tracking system, but all I could get is that my document is inserted into a bag in Addis Ababa. So after calling for hours on Monday afternoon, I was promised that the issue with my document would be inspected by sending an email to the destination’s post office correspondents.

However, neither an email nor any action was taken until yesterday. And that was when I started to raise my tone at the guy who was on the phone. But all I could get was an irritated response for me to come to the office or to shut the phone and when I refused he did it with no regard at all.

So I went rushing to clarify with them in person but I returned with no avail. I went to the same office today too. But all they said was ‘if you want to contact the boss, that is the door’ so I did. And it turned out that it was a mistake.

The fact was their bosses were worst of them all. They were reluctant to find a solution to the problem but full of contempt to just lie about it and let it pass away. Hence it hit me, almost all the time we shout at the guy or girl in front of us. When Power is lost, when an internet connection is lost, when a bad food is served, the list goes on. I never cared to find out more about the problem and its source with patience so I do the easiest thing, and that is to shout at the easy target in front of me. 

But the problem is never them. It is always the big guy in the office. We are getting shitty service from EthioTel because of the big guys in the country. They won't let any competition to come to the country and hence we have a lazy corporation ripping us off. EthioTel doesn't care if you get the service you paid for or not. Because they had nothing to lose. At the end of the day, you are still their customer. That is why they are an unethical and most corrupt organization in the country. Back to the point, so why is the internet so slow today, or not available at all? Because we have a control freak government that doesn't care for its citizen. So if you really want to have a good internet you have to make some political moves, in the meantime try teaching the people of Ethiopia about privatization and a free market, because the government has brainwashed everyone.

The same is true about the bad service you got served. The restaurant manager doesn't care. He has a good location and in an economy really difficult for any startup restaurant. So he doesn't really care if you complain. He knows you will come tomorrow. If you don't he knows there are a lot of other people. almost 10 million people just in Addis Ababa.

So the lesson is if you want to get a good service in Ethiopia, don't shout at the people in front of you. Just let it be. If you really, really want it though fight for a free market. Including librating government controlled sectors.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Of course God knows!

You know how some people label everything with the famous phrase ‘God Knows’ and become inactive. When I say everything it could be a challenge or/and an opportunity. That is at least what I get whenever I try to inquire about my mom’s and dad’s job. Or whenever I suggest they should do certain things and avoid doing some other things about their health. Well that is the most crippling kind of thinking and it annoys me the most.

Though I am not a dedicated religious person, I believe in God and I know he knows everything. He is omnipotent, omnipresent and Omni-something. However, the most important thing is, he has created us to know everything as well. So to think that we have no control of our business, health, happiness and life in general; to think about leaving everything for him and do nothing; to think how he got everything mapped and planned for us is an insult for both him and us. It’s just another form of laziness and fear.

So the only glorious way to attesting to how God know everything is by only knowing everything. It’s by doing everything as honorably as he did. It’s by creating as miraculously as he did. It’s by living with cause as he did. 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

PHP and Python: Most disliked and liked languages?

Though it may not convey a very strong message, programmers have voted PHP and Python as the most disliked and liked languages respectively. Most votes which are open for the public are easily biased by influence of popular voters. These kinds of polls are highly subjective and it has no use to argue and to reason out anything. Yet the poll has some interesting results to look around and may be you might reach on some important conclusions.    

The poll has some interesting results, for example I am surprised to see that some of the recent hot languages like Ruby fail to get into top net liked list. On the other hand I am also amazed to find Javascript in the list of dislikes. Also C++, though disliked by a large number of programmers, it still has some big fans. Here is the result of the poll and the link to source actual poll.

     Top five most liked programming languages
  1. Python by 2416 pts
  2. Ruby by 1252 pts
  3. C   by 1851 pts
  4. Javascript by 1768 pts
  5.  SQL by 1140 pts

     Top five most disliked programming languages
  1. PHP by 1909 pts
  2. Java by 1708 pts
  3. C++  by 1130 pts
  4. Javascript by 1115 pts
  5. VB by 1066 pts.

Taking a deeper look, we still have PHP and Python at the top of both lists. Beneath is top five liked and disliked programming languages based on net results.

    Top five most liked programming languages (based on net likes. i.e the likes minus the dislikes)
  1. Python by 2034 pts
  2. C by 1551 pts
  3. Go by 743 pts
  4. SQL by 692 pts
  5. Haskell by 679 pts

Top five most disliked programming languages (based on net dislikes. i.e the dislikes minus the likes)
  1. PHP by 1330 pts
  2. VB by 935 pts
  3. Java by 908 pts
  4. Javascript by 653 pts
  5. Action script by 653 pts.


Like I said in the beginning, this list may not infer so much. But the least you can do with it is use it in choosing what programming to learn next, or what programming to use for your next project. The more people are fond of a certain languages the more you are gonna find great guys to work together. For example am scared to hell to find out that people are bashing both PHP and Java; two of my priorities. So maybe, maybe I might consider Python for my next project. 

Monday, September 30, 2013

Struggle not to get off grid

The thing about programming is its all about practicing and struggling. Its about working on project that would affect peoples life immensely. Its about being in the center of mess up. That is the only way I have added to my skills and sadly those things haven't happened as much as I would love too.

So the natural thing to do is to read and learn to improve my skills. Books and tutorials helped in a number of ways but again the thing about books/tutorials is after you read them and figured that you know certain things (or all there is to know) about that topic and leave that book/tutorial for a while, you are doomed to repeat that material. To say the least that is what happened with me and js/JQuery/php and Python. Since I work with Java at my regular job I kind of feel pretty much comfortable with it, at least with the mundane codes I’m required to maintain and write. But the rest, even though I have read some books/tutorials, I never feel comfortable and I have to go through the basics every time I want to write something simple.

Actually with coding is not never like writing an email or letter, where you open your editor and just right away write what you have in mind. Most programmers I know spent huge amount of time just finding errors and debugging. I have also read about programmers who spend most of their time just thinking before starting to program and I hope to meet one.

Anyways back to my point, the challenge I wanted to talk about is not just about that book example, the challenge is when you are in a situation where you repeatedly become off grid. May be it's because of a long meeting, or a new worthless management position or because of chilling with friends. Whatever the reason i just find myself off grid for days and its it all seems strange to get back to coding once again.

So the real struggle is to not be off grid and to at least try to write or debug for hours a day. Hence I constantly reckon that if I was actively working in a project using these awesome tools or languages, I’m sure by now I would be worrying about something advanced. So when it comes to coding reading alone is not going to cut the chase, neither is occasional coding but to struggle to not get off grid. To stay on grid and to be coding every day for a minimum of 2 hours, I believe this list would help me:


  1. A real project I actually care for, and which I can learn something from,
  2. Move to a place where I would interact with real programmers and developers on a daily basis, Silicon Valley would be the dream ;). Though there are a number of online communities where you would find these people, it’s obvious that it is never the same as real interaction. Not to mention the mean responses and frowns you get.
  3. A playground where I can practice, create and share with the rest of the world,
  4. To be an avid follower and sponge learner of sites like hackersnewsletter.comstackoverflow.com and http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/. To be honest I have learned a lot from the these in just a short time that I wasn’t able to get from my current company, school or books,
  5. An open source project I can participate,
  6. My own open source project.

I don’t think I am able to do some of the things I mentioned hear at the moment but I have promised myself to do them sooner than later and to use this blog as the playground I mentioned at number 3. I have my own project besides my day time job which have been really helpful to not get off grid with coding

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Start JQuery right now


I am not front end developer and I have done my share of bad designs and devalued front end development for a while. But recently I have come to dive into the wondrous world of JQuery/JS and I hope to make the life of my end users a little less miserable. And I wanted this idea or tool not just to be mine so I been trying to make people around me use JQuery as well but to no avail. I realized later that these people take JQuery as a completely new technology or language and well in projects their are lots of learning curves and no one wants to add to that long list. To be honest that was the main reason that it took me this long to start to learn it myself. 
The matter of fact is JQuery is not completely new, its just a JS plug in to get you going with fast and awesome development. So, if you are a web based application or system developer, you need to familiarize yourself with JQuery asap. To make things interesting I suggest you avoid the boring "Hello World" example you find when you learn something new and embark on it with something awesome, like the JQuery UI. Take one of the components and try to include it in your project. How? Just download the Jquery UI plugin here and include it in you project like this.