This is my project that organize an article a week about what I learned & thought.

・Topological Space

Topological space is a distinct concept related to the realms of mathematics and spaces.

Unlike the conventional mathematical spaces, which are closely associated with quantitative measures such as distances and coordinates, topological space doesn’t focus on exact numbers.

That is, in a topological world, a right triangle and an equilateral triangle are literally indistinguishable, a square and a circle also share with no divergent characteristics.

There are various definition to express a topological space, yet the most universal version involves the concept of an open set.

Topological space can be denoted as (𝑋, 𝜏), if 𝑋 and 𝜏 satisfy the follwing axioms:

・The empty set and 𝑋 itself belong to 𝜏.
・Any arbitrary (finite or infinite) union of members of 𝜏 belongs to 𝜏.
・The intersection of any finite number of members of 𝜏 belongs to 𝜏.br>

Moreover, in this context, 𝜏 is a set of open sets called a topology on 𝑋.

Topological space is a crucial notion in mathematics, and is extensively utilized in modern application in physics, computer science, and economics, etc.

Furthermore, the people who study topological space with animated passion develop it as a new field, Topology（拓撲學）.

・I May Be Wrong: And Other Wisdoms from Life as a Forest Monk

There was a book on the leaderboard at Eslite that tightly caught my attraction in a mediocre afternoon.

It is felicific with the life elucidating from the perspective of Buddhism but not inappropriately fanatical. Furthermore, there is no grandiosity in the book, all it devoted to the reader is about genuine thoughts with the lucid life experience of the author, Björn Natthiko Lindeblad.

In the book, the author was originally a successful businessman in Sweden. However, though he seemed to grab a bunch of accomplishment in secular recognition, he did not feel any kind of happiness, not at all.

So in a placid moment of his day off, he tried to meditate with a supreme serenity, finally, he made an intrepid decision for his life. That is, to become a Forest Monk at a country temple in Thailand.

During the isolated time as a forest monk, he came up with some notions of life and self-perception with wisdom and purity.

For example, Björn maintained that we should not take all of our thoughts for granted. On the other hand, we needed to realize that some of them might be wrong and had better not to totally buy in them.

Another example is that Björn claimed that there wasn’t a definite path for the future. That is, if we kept trying to construct the concept of the world with the thoughts like “the things should be XXX”, then we might be tougher to embrace the variety and be more somber.

Björn returned to the secular life, ultimately. Mainly influenced by the health issues, Björn brought his inspiration to the humanity, and embraced the society again.

In the past, I really wonded whether the mindset and purity held by the people in religious place can survive in the secular society.

Surprisingly, Björn is a wonderful example.

It is not because his belief could be impeccable to beat the challenge in his life. In contrast, it is all about his confusion and despair, and how he dealed with them with such an extraordinary accordance.

・Flow

Flow, or perhaps more understandably for Chinese reader as “mental flow”, is a supreme state of humans.

Omnipresent in diverse activities, flow empowers us and elevates us to an impeccable euphoria.

According to psychologists Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, an experience of flow encompasses six factors:

1.Intense and focused concentration on the present moment
2.Merging of action and awareness.
3.A loss of reflective self-consciousness.
4.A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity.
5.A distortion of temporal experience, as one‘s subjective experience of time is altered.
6.Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience.

Moreover, we can also utilize a two-dimensional approach to evaluate mental states.

The first axis is the degree of challenge, and the second is skill level. Only when these two axes are in harmony can we immerse ourselves in the flow.

If the degree of challenge is daunting and skill level is relatively low, we might experience anxiety. Conversely, if the degree of challenge is low and skill level is brillent, then we may experience boredom.

Even if we manage to enter the flow, maintaining it can be challenging.

Nevertheless, the extraordinary happiness that flow brings compels us to seek and cherish these moments, striving to sustain them as long as possible.