Do Wealth and Power Corrupt Everyone?

According to my dad, there's no such thing as a good rich person.  Now, I understand that was probably a hyperbole.  However, there might be a certain amount of truth in that statement but I also contend that people in the upper echelons of the socio-economic hierarchy are not inherently more evil than others.  Rather, it is more likely that wealth and power corrupt whoever possesses them.

This came to my attention even more lucidly while reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.  The first chapter begins with Columbus' arrival to the West Indies and his successful genocide of ALL the Arawak natives on the island.  This chapter is followed by the horrible conditions that African slaves had to endure as well as those of the white indentured servants.

Were the Spanish, the Dutch, the French, the Portuguese, and the English worse people than those from other countries?  I doubt it.  A much more plausible explanation is that they encountered civilizations that had many desirable resources and the former had the ability to take what they wanted by will.  (If you're interested in the exact details of how and why the Europeans dominated the globe, read Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.)  If the Chinese were the first ones to actively explore the New World, then perhaps they would be the ones who would have conquered the Americas and wiped out virtually all of the Native Americans off the two continents.

One of the more interesting ideas from the book had to do with class struggle during America's colonial period under the British.  The basic idea is that well-educated middle and upper-middle class Americans like Sam Adams, James Otis, Jr. (the man who famously coined the phrase "Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny"), and many other famous Bostonians (credited for planting the seeds of the American Revolution) would rally support against the powerful British and Tories in Boston by summoning the American lower class, riding on their angst, grievances, and frustrations caused by the unfair taxes and laws imposed by the British Parliament.  Of course, the leaders of the American Revolution succeeded but the poor remained poor, the slaves remained enslaved, and the oppressed remain oppressed.  Note that the American government continued its territorial expansion by killing off more Indians and witheld women's suffrage, just as the Europeans did.

This social phenomenon of the bourgeoisie using the proletariat by promising the latter a better life under new social rule (followed by the former never following through on their promises after they acquire their power) is usually mentioned in world history classes when discussing the French, Bolshevik, and Cultural Revolutions.  But one should not underestimate the ubiquity of this important pattern for America is not immune.

How might this be relevant to you?  If you're one of my friends reading this, you're probably a Democrat and will vote for Obama this coming election.  You're well-educated and you think that big businesses are the bane of our society and their CEO's are nothing but greedy fat-cats who don't care about Americans.

BUT, would you still be voting for Obama if you were among the super-wealthy in America?  Probably (and statistically), you wouldn't.  It's more likely that you'd vote for Romney who promises not to increase your income tax.  If that's the case, then who are you to morally condemn the millionnaires and billionaires who are simply voting in their interests?  After all, that's what you'd do.

By the way, I am NOT saying that any of the atrocities committed by the rich and powerful are justified.  Wrong is wrong.  Rather, this is merely a reflection on human nature and that maybe we should think twelve times before we judge those who abuse their social advantages.  In a way, they're victims too.

People Are From Africa

I'm surprised by how many very intelligent people don't know that humans are originally from Sub-Saharan Africa.  It's true!  Most of human evolution took place there, even before Australopithecus.  In fact, the two Great Apes that are our closest evolutionary cousins (chimpanzees and gorillas) are still mostly in Africa.

Also, most fossil evidence of early Homo genus members are concentrated in the eastern parts of Africa.  I say "most" because many of them wandered out to parts of Eurasia (i.e. Neanderthals in Europe, Denisovans in Siberia, and Homo erectus in China and India).  There are some competing theories about the precise details of the most recent parts of human evolution, but there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that at least the main bulk of human genetic material came from Africa.  There is some evidence that other human-like species evolved in Eurasia and then interbred with the African Homo sapiens.  Comparing Neanderthal DNA to humans' shows that an estimated 1 to 4 percent of French and Chinese have Neanderthal ancestry.

Just to clear up any confusion: Neanderthals looked almost exactly like modern humans.  In fact, they were probably more intelligent since their craniums were larger than ours, implying that their brains were bigger too.  They were also much stronger than us, especially in terms of upper body strength.  It is unclear why Neanderthals became extinct.  One hypothesis is that humans were more aggressive and vastly outnumbered them.  When the two came into contact, humans would usually kill them or sometimes absorb them into the human gene pool.

One question: why aren't we all black?  Once people started moving out of Africa, they needed to absorb more sunlight since the sun's rays are less intense further from the Equator.  If you had too much pigment in your skin (from melanin), you wouldn't absorb enough sunlight to produce vitamin D in your body.  If this happens at an early age, you develop rickets where your legs become cross-legged.  Thus, natural selection produced people who eventually had fairer skin.

Why does any of this matter?  For starters, it's fascinating!  We now have a better understanding of where we came from and how we developed as a species.  In evolutionary psychology, it is helpful to have a better understanding of prehistoric human conditions and behavior to know how they might have influenced ours.

Secondly, I think this is an important tool in eliminating racism and perhaps nationalism.  The fact that we are all of African descent should liberate us from thinking that one ethnic group is better than another.  At least, that is the hope.

Importance of Core and Lower Body Strength

Walk into a gym and observe the difference between the average man's workout routine from the average woman's.  It seems as though all the benches are always used up by men doing all sorts of bench presses and flyes.  If they are at the squat rack, they are often doing barbell curls to pump up their guns.  Men are the ones doing all the tricep extensions on the cables.  The only core exercises men seem to care even remotely about are all sorts of crunches, sit-ups, and leg raises (if that).  Then you observe the women and you notice that they are far more concerned with cardio and leg strengthening movements (especially the adductor/abductor and leg curling machines).

Men can learn a thing or two from the women at the gym.  Men are so obsessed with how their upper bodies will look at the beach, that they often neglect their lower bodies.  Ironically, their upper bodies would be even more impressive if they incorporated exercises like squats and deadlifts to their regimens.  This is because heavy exercises involving compound movements using the legs and the core produce an anabolic effect that stimulates the whole body to grow.

Let me be honest; my legs are not that impressive.  My upper body strength is decent for my weight, but my core and lower body strength could use improvement.  In fact, the imbalance is so big that my bench has always been higher than my squat.  That is not normal and would explain why I had so much difficulty shooting in effectively in wrestling for single and double leg takedowns (the bread and butter of wrestling).

I looked around for different strength training methods and encountered one that my friend Ryaan started using, Starting Strength (created by Mark Rippetoe).  This remarkably simple program has increased my deadlift AND MY BENCH in a WEEK!!!  It has a strong emphasis on squatting three times a week for three sets of five repetitions each time.  I highly recommend beginners, novices, and intermediate lifters to consider Starting Strength.  (If you're advanced, then you're probably already familiar with this.)  There is a nice wiki for his methods: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki

WARNING: The only drawback is that the program requires you to do power cleans which most gyms don't allow.  If that is the case, you can substitute rows or hang cleans.

Korean Culture: The Good and the Bad

NOTE: I would like to emphasize that by "Korean culture", I am focusing on South Korean culture.  I am aware that North Korean culture is distinctly different but some of those differences are hard to pin down since there is relatively little information available.

After my freshman year of college, like the good second-generation Korean-American that I am, I made my hajj to the motherland via Harvard Summer School's study abroad program.  The coursework was rather minimal so I had plenty of time to explore various parts of South Korea and meet relatives who I hardly knew.  I was excited to embark on this six-week journey from which my recent ancestry came.  (Of course, most of my human ancestry is from sub-Saharan Africa.)

As much as I enjoyed my visit, there were certain aspects of the culture that caught me off guard.  Upon much reflection, I have concluded that most of their social norms were positive but there were some that I thought were downright immoral.

The Bad:

1. Homophobia- This is one problem that no one can deny.  Yes, homophobia permeates cultures around the globe, but South Korea's is embarrassingly high for a developed country.  There isn't even much formal political discussion dealing with LGBT issues.  Ironically, straight men can hold hands as they walk in public, the traditional clothing could easily fit in a gay pride parade, and a lot of male K-pop stars look quite effeminate and androgynous:

2. Racism- Again, the painful truth comes out.  Many Koreans don't like the Japanese, Chinese, and immigrants from other countries.  They don't even like half-Koreans very much.  What puzzles me even more is why they are racist against blacks.  Here is an interesting video of Hines Ward (half black, half Korean) speaking about this issue: 

However, I think their racism is not much more severe than most other countries'.  Racial tolerance is a relatively new human phenomenon.  I agree with my dad who thinks that the United States has made much more progress in settling racial issues than other countries have because of America's unique history.  I could continue ranting about racism but I'll save it for another post.

3. Sexism- Despite its hyper-patriarchal culture, South Korea has made more progress on this issue than on the two issues mentioned above.  The main reason for this is simple: women are becoming better educated.  More and more women are becoming doctors, lawyers, politicians, and academics.  However, Koreans still have a strong sense of Confucian values and women are expected to be subservient to men.

4. Superstition- This is just more annoying than it is bad.  Koreans have some weird, irrational beliefs about the unluckiness of the number four, fortune-telling, the relationship between blood type and personality, fan death, and many others.


The Good:

1. Family- I was amazed by the strength of family ties in South Korea.  Even relatives who were quite removed from me and had never met me before treated me with unrestrained hospitality.  I was really blown away.  It was from this visit that I began to understand why family values are so important.  Even as I am typing this article, I am thinking about how thankful I am to have such caring relatives abroad.  Wow, I really miss that part of my experience in Korea.

2. Environmentalism- I remember buying a pack of chewing gum and taking out a piece while walking outdoors.  I soon regretted it because I couldn't find a garbage can to throw away my wrapper.  That's when I realized how clean the streets were.  It drove me nuts, but I found a Burger King where I could throw it out.  But then I noticed that people didn't throw away the paper cups in the trash after they finished their drinks.  They put them in a separate area to be reused!  Wow, that's commitment to recycling, my friends.

3. Health- It's just a fact that there are far fewer overweight people in South Korea (including percentage) than there are in North America.  Genetics may be one component but many of them make a conscious effort to stay thin given the stigma attached to being even slightly chubby.  They watch their diets and many of them engage in regular physical activity.

4. Work ethic- The South Korean work ethic is incredible.  Whether they apply it to their jobs or studies, they really push themselves to the limit.  It was one of the Asian Tigers during Asia's economic boom in the mid-late twentieth century and its GDP (at roughly $1.12 trillion) is the fourth highest in Asia (after China, Japan, and India), nearly double Saudi Arabia's.  This is despite the fact South Korea has only 50 million inhabitants (less than a sixth of the US population), spent much of the past century as a developing nation, and was deprived of the little natural resources it had to the Japanese during the latter's colonial occupation.  Their hard work has resulted in certain economic inefficiencies (e.g. education inflation), but overall they are doing quite well.

This was just a short list of the main points I wanted to mention but I might add more on in the future.  Feel free to disagree with me on any of the points but I'm certain that most people who are familiar with the country would agree on all the issues I stated.

Three Subjects Everyone Should Study

School will be back in session in a couple of months so I thought I'd give some early advice on picking classes for the new semester.  This is the same advice I gave to my younger brother who will be a freshman at Harvard this fall and to all of my students.

1. Psychology- This is by far the most important one.  Not only will you have a better understanding of how others think and behave, you will have a deeper understanding of the inner workings of your own mind.  I enjoy almost every subfield of psychology (developmental, abnormal, humanistic, analytical) but the most important ones for the average person to know are social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology.

2. Economics- You don't have to know it at a highly advanced mathematical level. Knowing the essential concepts will suffice: supply, demand, market equilibrium, taxes, diminishing marginal returns, unemployment, GDP, Keynesianism, et cetera.  Two semesters that cover micro and macro should be more than enough.

3. Statistics- All the sciences use large sums of data that need to be analyzed through statistical methods.  In addition, having a strong grasp of statistics can help you make better decisions in moments of high uncertainty.  It may not come easily to some of you, but it is worth knowing well.

An excellent book that touches upon the importance of each of these subjects is Thinking: Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, the 2002 Nobel laureate in economics for co-founding behavioral economics with Amos Tversky.  Kahneman is a top authority among social scientists, in the same league as John Maynard Keynes, B. F. Skinner, Jean Piaget, Jürgen Habermas, and Noam Chomsky.

(Optional) Computer Science- We live in an era full of computers and their ubiquity will only increase as time goes by.  Unfortunately, most people don't know what computers are or how they work.  They use the Internet, but what is the Internet exactly?  Is it a really just a series of tubes?  Eventually, you will need to know some basics of computer science as they start merging with our bodies and perceptions of reality.  (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, look up The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology by Raymond Kurzweil.)

Five Essential Weightlifting Exercises

What are the most important exercises you should do in the gym?  That really depends on your goal.  Most young people go to the gym to look better.  Athletes go to increase their strength and overall fitness.  Older individuals go to maintain or strengthen their bodies.  Although these goals may not always overlap, there are some movements that everyone should perform.  I will list them here in order of importance.  Here are The Big Five:

1. Squat- This is by far the most important lift you can do.  It strengthens your legs and core while stimulating muscle growth for your whole body.  However, it is very difficult and make sure you use proper form in order to avoid injury.  Make sure to squat below parallel to get the most out of the movement.

2. Deadlift- The deadlift is the best full-body strength exercise.  Again, make sure you use proper form or you can risk permanently damaging your lower back.  Strongly resist the urge to sacrifice form to put on more weight for this one.

3. Bench press- Although benching is not as important as people make it out to be, it still is the best exercise for developing upper body strength since it strengthens your chest.

4. Bent-over row- To be honest, I was tempted to put this above the bench press or at least have it tied for third on this list.  I find this movement more difficult than the bench press but it is the best move for developing your back.

5. Shoulder press- The press is definitely the best shoulder exercise.  There's just something about lifting weight over your head that makes you feel really really strong!

I know that I probably left out some of your favorite weight exercises.  A lot of guys might complain that I forgot to rank the bicep curl.  As much as I enjoy curls, I have to admit that curling to make your arms bigger is mostly for show.  Curls don't directly develop functional strength the way the press or the row does.  The same goes for leg and tricep extensions, flyes, calf raises, and pull downs.  By all means do them if you want to.  I usually do them too.  I just give The Big Five priority over the others.

A lot of men fall into the trap of only training their upper bodies.  Even then, they only focus on benching and curling.  Trust me, they should focus on developing their lower bodies as well.  They will have a more complete, well-rounded look.  In addition to looking stronger, they will be stronger too.

I began weight training for sports in middle and high school so my focus was initially on developing strength (mostly upper body).  To this day, I confess that I am still more focused on increasing my strength but I do put some emphasis on overall fitness and aesthetics.  I hope this helped.

Interesting Mixed Martial Arts Facts

I've decided to take on a new hobby so I'm trying out MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).  I went to the nearest gym from where I live and took one 1-hour lesson in MMA and one 1.5-hour lesson in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu).  Here are some interesting things I've learned:

1. MMA gyms are WAY more expensive than many other martial arts gyms or dojos.  Even the best deals are $100+/month for membership fees.  Compare this with boxing gyms where the prices are around $40/month.  If you're poor, MMA can be especially tough to break into.

2. There are a fair amount of women who workout at MMA gyms.   They seem particularly interested in boxing and kickboxing but there was also one in my BJJ class.  This may be an incentive for some of you.

3. You should be in good shape before you start.  These gyms often advertise saying that you don't need to be in good physical condition beforehand, but I disagree.  You can't expect someone who is severely overweight or very weak to do takedowns and be repeatedly taken down for an hour.

4. Wrestling is by far the best base for MMA.  If you don't know how to wrestle and want to do MMA, then start wrestling.  Even if you are more of a striker, you can benefit from learning takedown defenses and escapes from the ground.  The only reason I was able to keep up with guys who had been doing MMA and BJJ for several months to over a year (even though today was my first day doing any of this) was because of my wrestling background (which isn't even that extensive).  In fact, the only guy who I really had trouble rolling with was a dude who wrestled in college.  He easily took care of all the wrestling moves I sneaked in.  The others had trouble taking me down, didn't really know much about wrist control, and couldn't really submit me.  (Then again, it could have been the people I rolled with more than BJJ itself.)  There's a reason why many of the best mixed martial artists are also wrestlers (e.g. Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Jon Jones, Dan Henderson, Dominick Cruz, and many others).

5. Despite my praise of wrestling, I will say that wrestling is not complete.  My stance was initially too low which made me vulnerable to knees and kicks.  Submissions are still foreign to me and so are guards (since a wrestling match is over when you're pinned).  BJJ is a nice complement to wrestling.  Alternatively, you can just ground and pound the guy once you have strong ground control.  That said, you should also learn a martial art like boxing or Muay Thai to develop your striking skills.

6. MMA is a great way to get in better shape!  I hate running so I'd rather grapple or strike something to condition my body.

I'm going to try kickboxing, wrestling, boxing, and maybe even some kung fu in addition to more MMA stuff.  Anyways, you should give it a shot!

(Note: For MMA classes, they might ask you to take wrestling, BJJ, and kickboxing classes beforehand.  However, if you're a wrestler then they'll probably let you start right away.)