Thinking Dangerously

Get an IT job. Get an MBA. Get a non-IT job. Start up. Do masters. Start up again. Do research.

There are times when all of it stops making sense to me. Everything sounds meaningless. Like acquiring a skill not to create but to survive.

In times like this, the impulse to do something meaningful eclipses the innate will to survive. Glued to a desk, I don't want to whip out another app which looks cool but adds little utility. Roving like a vagabond, I don't want to continuously absorb trivial factoids. There exists no problem that rattles my brain to an extent than I can selflessly devote half a decade delving into the its intricacies.

I don't understand why most jobs even exist. 

Everything that you do reduces disorder in some way. It creates certain predictable circumstances around which the juggernaut of randomness revolves. A piece of program, a postman delivering mails, a recently dug canal - all such activities lead towards a predictable and more ordered scenario. They facilitate flow of information and of matter.

I fail to recognize any such reduction in randomness in a recent upsurge of jobs centered around finance and technology. The phenomenon of trading in finance fascinates me. How much effort, time and money has been put at stake to indulge in an abstract world that hinges on extrapolations, predictions and generalization of human behavior? 

It's ironic to see so much redundancy in the area of tech based start-ups. A massive amount of code is rewritten, duplicated, forked and copied on a daily basis to create products that differ merely in their ownership. This duplication when coupled with competition contributes to a course of events that shape the society we live in. It disrupts the original behavior of consumers and increases randomness. And then we write more code to dive into the granularity of this randomness, or to rise above it to witness a pattern that clouds all random fluctuations we see on a daily basis. 

The society that we humans have created is a severely closed group. You can't use its facilities without being a part of it. 

Think of a person who lives a minimalist life close to nature but wants to take a train or a flight to get somewhere far in little time. To do that, they need money. To have money, they need to do something that forces them to be a part of a society. It seems logical at first. But after a while, it seems a very inefficient design. 

Restriction gives rise to notions of luxury and tourism. A luxury is a luxury only because it's hard to get it. 

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[Minimalism] We need not own everything we use

I need an umbrella only when I step out. I stop needing an umbrella as soon as step in a place with a roof. As long as I am indoors, I don't need an umbrella. I own the umbrella, but it remains unused for the most part.

I shouldn't be owning an umbrella. As soon as I step out, I should be able to pick an umbrella from a pool of available umbrellas. As soon as I reach my destination, I should be able to add it to an existing pool. I don't have to bear the burden of it when I don't need it.

Most of the things we use when outdoors have little use while we stay indoors - cars, carry bags and umbrellas for instance. But the fact that we possess such items bothers us even when they aren't being used. We shouldn't own any of these things. Like a service, they should be available on demand. 

That's a step towards a more systematic urban landscape - we should own less and use publicly shared items more. Factors like catering immediately to a demand and reducing downtime can be taken care of by efficient technology.

A functioning model hinges on two factors: trust and information. Trust is an outcome of culture. The way we receive and process information has to be revolutionized. How do I know where the nearest pool of umbrellas is? This information should be available swiftly and accurately.

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運輸與住宿 [Transportation & Accommodation]

經過流浪與簡約生活的內化，我最近多考慮高效的運輸跟住宿方式。要符合環保，速度，成本與歡樂的最佳所在是什麼？我去過的所有的國家中，台灣是最適合簡約生活方式的。
Almost having internalized an itinerant lifestyle and a minimalist way of life, I have been thinking more and more about efficient ways of transportation and accommodation. What lies at the optimum of eco-friendliness, speed, cost and fun? Of all the countries I have been to, Taiwan is best suited for a minimalist way of life.

「騎共享」是一種很有潛力跟實務的方式。不過「騎共享」的商業化好幾次失敗了。「騎共享」跟我們生活的因素例如文化，合群能力，易損性與安全有密切的關係。我在台灣旅行時沒有常搭便車。我卻以長途走路跟騎腳踏車為移動。我覺得走路是個很平淡和滿花時間的方式。我以跑步能到50公里以內的地點可是攜帶行李是不好跑的。我去年騎腳踏車環島。那趟對我有很大宗的影響。目前的交通缺少移動的時候跟別的車聯絡的能力。「以後要探索這個議題」

The most potential and practical way is ride sharing; something that has been tried many times on a commercial level but failed. Ride sharing is something deeply connected with other facets of society such as culture, sociability, vulnerability and safety. While moving around in Taiwan, I didn't rely much on hitchhiking. I have covered long distances walking and cycling. Walking turned out to be massively inefficient, dull and time-consuming. Running is better option for distances less than fifty kilometers but its hard to run even with a small luggage. Last year I cycled around the island covering most of its periphery. I consider that as one of the rare life altering experiences in my life. A principle component missing these days in transportation systems is the ability to communicate with vehicles around you while in motion. [More on this later]

我未料到拒絕「騎共享」的世界會歡迎共享住家的觀念。共享住家的現象席捲全球了。我很好奇為什麼我們不願意車短期共享可是輕易地讓陌生人來我們家長期住。事後很容易可以演繹原因可是其中沒有什麼使人信服的。

I find it so surprising that while ride sharing hasn't become a widespread phenomenon due to aforementioned factors, apartment sharing has had a resounding success worldwide. The phenomenon has permeated various levels of our lives. What makes people so willing to share their home for longer periods but so reluctant to share their ride with a stranger for a much shorter period of time? A lot of reasons can be drawn in hindsight. But none of them seems compelling enough to me to be accepted as a categorical reason.

在亞洲，尤其是在台灣，我旅行時廣泛使用CouchSurfing。我去年環島時不少次在室外過夜。因為我沒有帳篷，只有一個睡袋我沒有很輕鬆地睡覺。我發現我一決定在個室外地方要過夜，我就會開始審視所有的環境。無家可歸的人怎麼那麼容易睡得著呢？

I extensively used couch-surfing during my travels in Asia, particularly in Taiwan. During my cycling trip around the island, I also spent many a night sleeping outdoors. I never used a tent; just a sleeping bag which made me slightly more vulnerable to my surroundings. 

I realized how differently our senses respond to stimuli when we decide to sleep outdoors. If I decide to sleep somewhere outside, my brain will start noticing minute details of the place. 

Even when I spent nights in less isolated areas, I wasn't able to relax and stop noticing each and every thing going on around me. It's amusing how homeless people get used to it.

我覺得目前的住宿方式太僵硬和固定。住宿不再使用的時候應該縮小或是改變「連消失也可以」「以後要探索這個議題」。要是放假的時候我們能使用學校佔領的地方或是上班的時候我們能有空家的地方的話，不時會很方便嗎？

Accommodation doesn't have to be as rigid and stationary as it stands today. It should shrink, transform or even disappear when not in use [More on this later]. 

Think of what we could with all the space that lies unoccupied such as schools during vacations and empty homes when people are working or traveling.

Comment(s)

Things that make me tick or funk

Positive Stimulants

Category A

1. Nature | Openness of community

Nature is undoubtedly the biggest stimulus that keeps my dopamine levels high. I find it hard to imagine myself cooped up in one of those dense concrete edifices which utterly fail to provide free space. At this point the notion of 'creature comforts' becomes a meaningless entity.

An open community provides adequate channels and a low threshold of skills to communicate with anyone and do anything. Even as a passive recipient it effects me a lot.

2. Physical Activity

This has been my succor for years. This is probably the most voluntary and controllable tap of happiness. A long run, empty lungs and ATP deprived pulsating muscles bring in oodles of focus, attention and calm. A sedentary lifestyle comes with dollops of blue funk.

3. Freedom of Movement

A structured society becomes meaningless as soon as it restrains motion. This is why I dislike most Tier I cities in India. The lifestyle in such places dictates you to have utter unconcern for nature or space. I find the use of four-wheelers nonsensical in most situations, especially as a means of daily commute within a city. Bicycles, ride sharing and public transport are the way to go.

Category B

1. Colors | Light

Bright colors coupled with sounds used to be a strong stimulant during my initial years of isolation. My mind doesn't react as strongly to them now but I still love the contrast of colors, blinking neon lights and the imaginary sounds they make.

2. Local Communities

I learnt to appreciate their presence in Singapore and began exploring them after I left Singapore. I stopped appreciating the same once I arrived in India. I guess the driving factor for me was the element of novelty and quaintness of the community members. Local communities contain strong clues to how the course of geographic, political and historical phenomena shaped and linked individuals at a societal level. It's an interesting real-world puzzle to solve and provides ample food for thought.

3. Constant Activity

Again, I mostly benefit from it as a passive recipient. I hate crowds but love constant buzz. Stillness of dog day afternoons drives me nuts most of the time. A flurry of people and the entailing white noise provides a buffer that absorbs most of the unpleasant feelings.

Category C

1. Consumption

Not to be confused with dietary consumption or bingeing. I refer to consumption of information via various forms of media - digital media, books, movies, lectures, gossip, grapevines or eavesdropping. The best form of consumption is first hand or organic consumption - conversations with key people, travel, interviews. I love the concept of public libraries and even more so cafes where people can sit, eat and read or work in a cozy environment. I see them as an attempt to make learning more organic. When not at work, I have rarely written a piece of code sitting indoors. Most of it has been done in little, aptly-lit cafes that open till late night. I don't really like reading per se. I absorb a lot more information via pictures or sketches or a similar form of visual content. That's why I love the concept of coffee table books and Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy's books. 

2. Direction of Thoughts

An environment should give a certain direction to your thought-process. A scatterbrained approach to planning a lifestyle is highly detrimental to my future prospects and motivations. I am currently going through a phase which can be described as lacking any direction at best. There are tons of ideas but no direction. It only helps in making me insecure and inactive.

3. Good Conversations

This is highly dependent on presence of local communities and openness of neighborhood. It's one of those things that I rely on when I am don't have enough access to any of the aforementioned sources. 

4. Arts

Another topic that entails from presence of local communities.

Non-positive stimulants

Tradition: I am far from rebellious but for some reason I have never been able to attach myself to or relate closely to any sort of tradition. It gets my attention as an object of history or a part of cults but all my attempts to embrace it in any form have ended in futility.

Vertical Growth: I guess this is what drives the whole world nuts. This is the fountainhead of perhaps a working individual's very last rat race that spans one's youth and middle age, various organizations, and is probably not going to end anytime soon. Okay, I get the idea behind the structural flow which maintains order and keeps people motivated. I guess what the world has completely forgotten is the concept of horizontal growth. Keeping in view the wide array of things I have dabbled in in the last two years, I can say fairly confidently that I can keep learning new things and work in totally different domains and totally enjoy it. To me, this is a way richer lifestyle than proceeding vertically. As far as the feasibility of it is concerned, it's as workable as training your dog to hate your neighbor.

Crowds: Effing awful they are.

Concrete Jungles: Effing grey, dull and static they are.

Digital Profligacy: Enough has been written about the scourge of digital profligacy on various digital platforms. As an antagonist of subtlety, I hate irony being kept unattended.

Comment(s)

Mumbai｜孟買

[Edit: I wrote this piece after about a month of living in Mumbai. I wrote this while leaving the city after six months: 

Mumbai - the most intense city I have seen. A place where the scope of expression is largely delimited not by abstract notions of tradition or culture but by a severe crunch of space. It's also a good case study of to what extent can people adapt, and navigate their way through a limited amount of resources. Constantly seething with life, it's an attack on your senses. It takes a lot out of you, sucks you into its maelstrom of chaos; and then it grows on you.

]

This city has everything that I dislike. It has a few things that I like.

Mumbai is an interesting city. Ironically, it is deemed interesting due to presence of things that shouldn't exist. It has sprawled ruthlessly. The overgrowth of this city has consumed its surroundings like a swarm of locusts. Ironically, movement is severely constrained inside this megasprawl. Gridlocks adorn its pitted roads.

This city makes me yearn for open space. Slums occupy most of the space horizontally whereas tall concrete erections occupy it vertically. It gives me sporadic fits of claustrophobia, much like Hong Kong did.

I live in a gated community and my apartment is located on twelfth story. It overlooks a highway and a flyover which covers a part of it. The sight of headlights moving swiftly on the highway after midnight gives me a feeling of calm. It gives me a perception of unhindered movement.

The best asset of this city is its people. Nowhere in India have I seen such nice people. A sense of camaraderie can be felt when talking to them. People here seem to have cultivated some very non-Indian traits like being helpful without infringing on one's privacy and not staring at anyone.

I have seen a very small section of this city. I will be rightfully told that I need to see a lot before I judge this city. I am told this city grows on you. I don't think so. I believe the extremity of this city brings forth one's skills to adapt in order to survive. You change your preferences in order to like this city.

This city is doing weird things to me. It is making my lifestyle more abstract. It constantly makes me realize all the things I am missing out on.

I can't go for a long run out in the open or hike somewhere in the hills on a regular basis. I would've bought a bike for commuting had I planned to stay here for long term.

Mumbai would've been an interesting experience if I had come here as a backpacker, indulged in its chaos and absorbed the numerous oddities if offers. Mumbai reminds me of a more crowded and bipolar version of Bangkok. It's like a darker version of Alice In Wonderland.

這個城市我不喜歡的什麼東西都有。他也有我喜歡的有些東西。

孟買失衡有趣的城市。具有諷刺意味的是讓他很有趣的事情是不應該的。他非常堅決的擴展了。這個城市的瘋狂生長好像蝗蟲群把周圍環境消耗掉了。哭笑不得的是這裏活動是相當限制的。賽車裝飾這裏的坑坑窪窪的路。

這個城市讓我嚮往開放空間。貧民窟會佔領大部分的水準空間，然後很高的混凝土建築會佔領大部分的垂直空間。這個地方零星地湧起幽閉恐懼，好像香港。

我住在個封閉社區裡，我的房子是在12樓。我的房子俯瞰一條大道和立交橋。半夜後看一看在路上走得很快的前燈讓我覺得很平靜。他們有順利動作的認識。

這裏的最棒的優點是這裡的當地人。在印度的其他的地方我沒有看過那麼好人。跟他們聊天的時候你會感覺到情誼。這裡的人養成了有些在印度難找的習慣，例如幫忙的時候不侵犯人的隱私還有不盯著別人。

我就是看過這個城市的很小的一部分。我知道我需要去比較多地方才可以形成意見。聽說這個地方真真是人喜歡他。我不同意。我覺得在這裡的嚴重情況一下，人會適應到可以活著。你需要改變你的看法喜歡這裡。

這個城市害我覺得很奇怪。他讓我的生活比較抽象。他一直讓我意識每個抓不住的東西。

我不能出門跑還是常常去爬山。我不打算在這住下來，要不然我就買了一個腳踏車。

要是我去旅行的前提下來這裡，再體驗這裏的亂象和珍聞，我可能會喜歡這個城市。孟買使我想起曼谷的更擁擠和雙極版本。孟買是好像「愛麗絲漫遊奇境記」的黑暗的版本。

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Minimalism in Life & Visual Media 「極簡主義生活」

During my last month in Taiwan, I set out on my bicycle to ride a loop of this island country. I felt the freedom to move at my own pace and stop at my own will, the lightness of being in motion and the dopamine kicks of physical exertion. It was a very liberating feeling living an unrestrained yet minimalist way of life.
「在台灣的最後一月，我去騎腳踏車環島。一路上，我可以隨心所欲停止或再啟我的腳步，因為運動而散發出的多巴胺使我愉快。無拘無束的極簡生活讓我覺得好解放，好自由。」

Apart from the generosity of people who found me a place to stay at night, I relied heavily upon the ubiquitous convenience stores particularly on the west coast of Taiwan. I was living out of a small backpack and a sleeping bag. I spent more than a year out of two backpacks, a few of the items in which still remained unused.
「除了熱情當地人的幫忙以外，我依賴隨處可見的便利店，尤其是在台灣的西岸。我只有個小背包跟睡袋。事實上我住在台灣的一年這段時間裏，我連我的兩個背包裡面的東西也沒有用到。」

Taiwan is a sort of place that makes it easy to lead a minimalist way of life. A large number of public amenities that are available free of cost helps people let go of a lot of unnecessary belongings. On the other hand, in India one would need relatively large number of belongings. I find it a daunting task to go out without a bike.「秉持極簡主義的人很舒適在台灣生活。這裡便利店還有其他的免費的服務讓人不需要很多東西。反過來看，在印度我們需要比較多東西。」

Minimalism forestalls redundancy. Even in visual media a lot of information can be absorbed with little use of visual components. Design has been making use of what we see and what we do on a regular basis to make interfaces appealing. However an artificial system needs to be smart to understand minimal gestures.
「極簡主義避免冗余。在視覺媒體上，大量資訊也得以儲存於非常小零件上。設計也使得我們日常使用上的介面看起來比較友善。人造的系統必須要足以聰明到判別人的微笑的動作。」

The more you know, the less you need.「你的智慧越大需求越小。」

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月亮忘記了 - When the Moon Forgot

今天早上我看完機米的書“月亮忘記了”。

機米的作品介紹個新種的視覺傳媒給我。他的書的內容大部分是畫，可是並不像漫畫。他的畫有比較大的角色。其實畫才是他的作品的亮點，它們的音響很大。

我以前看過他的兩本書，可是這本書的特色是它的特別厲害的想像力。我遇到過很少很感動的奇幻作品，這本書是一本那樣書。

月亮忘記了是個月球跟個小孩的友誼和冒險的故事。它的過程相當未卜。它的結末讓我起雞皮疙瘩。書裡面最後的照片是個人站在田地裡望著天空裡面發光芒的月球。那張照片是很難忘的。

This morning I finished reading Jimmy's book "When the Moon Forgot"

Jimmy's works introduced an alternate form of visual media to me. His books contents are a combination of sketches and text but it's nothing similar to a comic book. His sketches have a bigger role to play. In fact, his sketches are the highlight of his books. They are very powerful.

I have read two of his books before, but this book's special feature is its extraordinary imagination. I have rarely come across works involving fantasy that is poignant too; this book is one of those works.

When the Moon Forgot is the story of friendship and adventures of the moon and a little kid. The course of events in the book is highly unpredictable. Its ending gave me goose bumps. The last picture in the book is of a man standing in the middle of a field staring at the moon spreading its rays around. That image is really unforgettable.

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How I Should Have Traveled in Asia

「2013年5月起我開始旅行看亞洲的社區。我事後越想旅行的方式越想出不同的旅行的方法來」

Starting from May 2013 I moved constantly for months within the communities of Asia. The more I look back at it, the more the number of things I come up with which I should have done differently.

「那時我應該有做個小的自己計畫 －採訪人，查問東南亞洲的販賣人口，發現各種個的人類被那種事刺激到。我不知道為什麼我沒有做此事。我向隨意性投降，於是我捨不得做不舒服的事情。」

I should have had a side project - interviewing people, inquiring into human trafficking in South East Asia, surveying stimulants of emotions in people across various lands or something similar. I don't know why I never did any of the above. I surrendered myself to prevailing spontaneity but it only led to an increased reluctance to embrace discomfort.

「還好我沒有當志工。亞洲的大部分志工機會就是第一世界人的炫耀冒險。」

I am happy I didn't get into any volunteering project. Most volunteering projects in Asia are merely an extended leg of a first world citizen's swashbuckling summer adventure.

「旅行時我的雙極個性一陣一陣別管地害我沮喪。我本來以為這件事的理由是我的不滿足的在新加坡的工作可是其實是我的基因讓我的內啡肽程度上下。」

Throughout the travel, zaps of bipolar sulkiness kept rattling me no matter what I did. I thought it was an upshot of a highly dissatisfactory way of life in Singapore but it was actually some stupid gene in my cells messing with my endorphins needlessly.

「我很愉快我每逢有機會我去跑。」

I am happy that I ran whenever I could.

「我越探險越意識到我的限度。我的目光應該多客觀一點。我的主觀性沒有經驗而且我的主觀有時非生產性。」

The more I opened up, the more I realized my limitations. I should have been more objective in my approach. My subjectivity is mostly inexperienced and works unproductively.

「我花了太多時間觀光。對我重要的事是人類，當地（藝術）社團還有鄉下。宮殿跟博物館難得吸引我。」

I wasted a lot of time on sight-seeing. Things that matter to me while traveling are people, local (art) communities and countryside. Historical palaces and museums rarely attract me.

「我不喜歡懶惰。我開始覺得不快樂。」

I can't sit idle. I start feeling huffish.

「我應該有比較長的爬山探險。」

I should have gone on longer hiking trips in the mountains.

「再有一年不用工作的機會的話，我會做：

1）學泰拳或是一年住在偏僻的少林寺

2）做紀錄片

3）學在個體經濟裡最窮人的角色

4）社會裡兩段接口的工作「我怕這個句子很奇怪」（在另外一篇文章我要描述這件事）

5）假如各校藝術社團

6）練習跑酷」

Things I will do if I get another chance to take a year-long break:

1) Learn Muay Thai for a year/ spend a year in Shaolin temple in a remote hilltown in China

2) Make a documentary

3) Learn about the role of economically poorest sections in microeconomic theory

4) Do a job that interfaces two different sections of society (more on this in a separate post)

5) Join a small art performance group

6) Learn Parkour

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The Bookshop Downstairs 「樓下的書店」

There's a bookstore downstairs the apartment I live in. A few plastic chairs lie spare outside the entrance. A few days ago someone installed an arcade game outside the shop. People can often be seen idling away outside the bookshop. Some people read, some people just unwind in the haze of cigarette smoke wafting lazily under a tattered roof.
「在我住宅樓下有個書店。外面留著有些空置椅子。有幾天之前外面安裝街機。常常會看到人在書店外面消磨。有些人看書，有些人只舒展，在廢舊的屋頂下濃厚的煙蓋著他們的迷離的臉。」

The bookshop closes at 11:30 pm every night. During the closing hours, a guy is regularly seen playing on the arcade machine. He also has a smart tablet which he places beside the screen of the arcade machine and plays another game on it. He always wears a black tee which clings tightly to his body which is out of shape. His appearance and mannerisms hint at a lifestyle that lacks creature comforts. An old man sits in a chair behind him reading a book while smoking continuously. He exudes lonesomeness. These two people stay totally absorbed in their own life. They carry on with their own stuff, oblivious to the shop-owner inside the shop as she wraps up the interior.
「書店晚上11:30休息。關閉時間時常常看到一個人玩在街機。他也有個智能平板電腦在街機螢幕旁邊，他用它玩另外個遊戲。他總是穿緊身的黑體恤，那件體恤暴露他的不健康的身體。他的形容跟習氣暗示他的生活缺少物質享受。一個年紀大的人坐在他後面抽煙看著書。他滲出寂寞。這兩位人非常專心的做他們自己的事。他們繼續做自己的事，不察覺到裡面店員正在準備休息。」

The bookshop is surrounded by cheap food stalls from three sides. They seem to be run by old people who live in the apartments right behind those stalls. Their day ends around 11pm after which they begin washing huge pans, bowls and cutlery just by the road. Clinging sounds of metal fill the air as they wash and carry their kitchenware inside their homes.
「書店的三面有便宜的食物攤子。它看來們是被住在攤子後面的房子的老人擺的。他們晚上11點結束然後在路上開始洗盤子，碗和刀類。把洗好餐具帶進家去時響叮噹的聲音瀰漫四周。」

Every night I watch as the soapy water sweeps the edges of the road. The bookshop shines under white light which illuminates a thick haze of smoke.
「每天晚上我看到肥皂水沿著路邊。亮的書店外面白光點亮飄著的濃煙。」

When you enter the bookshop, you can find shelves of books with a sign on top that says "18+". Nothing suggestive is apparent on or in any of the books here. A small fraction of the books are accessible to all. It seems a rather dull bookshop where the line between coziness and congestion diminishes.
「進入書店後你會看到書架有“18+”這個標誌。可是書上或書裡沒有提示情色的事。所有書的小部分是大家易取得。這家店好像個無聊的書店，這裡舒適感跟擁擠的差別幾乎不見了。」

The bookshop sticks out like a sore thumb in this neighborhood. It just feels like it shouldn't have been here. The people sitting outside the shop appear to be misfits. They shouldn't have been this way.

「這家書店在這個鄰里看起來有點奇怪。我覺得它不應該這樣。外面坐的人好像跟社會不能結合的人。他們不應該這樣。」

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A Perspective on Information Redundancy in Languages

This thought occurred to me while I was watching a Taiwanese movie - 逆光飛翔 (Touch of the Light). It's a movie based on true events of a blind person with an innate talent for music. It was the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Movie Oscar. While watching the movie, I was using Mandarin subtitles. I was a bit nervous in the beginning wondering how much I would understand without relying on languages I am familiar with.

Redundancy in Information Theory in layman terms is the amount that could be subtracted from a given piece of information without actually affecting the data delivered to the recipient. Mandarin has fairly less amount of redundancy compared to English. It has no articles and you have to rely on the context to find out the tense. Actually, Mandarin is highly contextual in nature.

While watching the movie I was surprised by how naturally I could follow the course of events in the movie. The first half of the movie is not much predictable while the second half is the exact opposite. It's obvious that a predictable plot leads to redundancy in information. But I was amused even a mundane setting had a strong correlation with the words being spoken in the movie. Given a few keywords, expressions of the characters and an empirical approach to the movie plot, I had little difficulty following the movie. 

Surprisingly, when I used to have conversations with people here in Mandarin a few months ago, even though I was well aware of the context and the subtleties in tone, I found it hard to follow the conversation I was part of. But why was it so easy to get in the flow of events of totally unrelated people in a plot totally unrelated to me?

The guess the answer lies in a few assumptions I think hold more or less true -

1. The amount of people involved in usage of a language is directly proportional to contextual information which helps one make an educated guess about what the speaker is talking about. In a dialogue, there are only two people involved and there exists no prior knowledge about the subject. On the contrary side, the viewer is aware of the subject most of the time.
2. Grammar is more or less a redundant concept. It doesn't help relay any additional information; rather it helps reduce the 'noise' or randomness in the information. A lot of Asian languages have minimal usage of Grammar compared to English, Hindi or a few romance languages. When watching a movie in a language you are not familiar with, one can easily catch the keywords and connect the dots without any need for scrutinizing the grammar. While having a dialogue, if you are a speaker you need to focus on the grammar part (if you wish to). 

I believe the  presence of redundancy mostly contributes to the beauty of a language. There are exceptions of course - one aspect of beauty in poetry is how minimal and terse it can be. It plays a big role in subjective evaluation of a language. If you consider language strictly as a mode of delivering data, the concepts of grammar and sentence structure assume little significance.

While reading a book written in Mandarin two days ago, I came across a section where the author narrated her experiences while living in Africa. It was only after an hour that I realized I couldn't figure which tense the author was narrating the story in - past or present. But from the contextual knowledge that she was talking about her past experiences, this knowledge wasn't even required. 

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