Travel series #1: Hong Kong Subconscious

This is the first blog in a travel series about cities that I visit.

I want to write it in a way that it has learning value for everyone. So please tell me if it isn't helping you or it is too long, too confusing- I love feedback. I thought I would write really concise blogs on my recent travels that highlight only one concept or theme in each article. I'll try to keep it short and flesh out the concept. The theme for this blog post is struggle, the human condition and networks.

Hong Kong Harbour after a Typhoon

When you usually visit a new city, your mind starts racing. Your conscious mind has many new thoughts, words, ideas, smells and feelings that enter into your mind and body in such a short period of time. It takes days after you have left the city to process all of these in your subconscious mind. I like to think that the total human mind is split into two parts; the conscious level and the subconscious level. These are like two language layers that are processing on different tempos. Only after your subconscious level has been able to deal with all of this new data and then goes through its own process of categorising it and analysing it, can you start to calm down again. The question is, do you really want to calm down? This heightened sense? Is it a good thing? I usually find that I can think clearer in the conscious level when traveling and after travel.

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. – Anonymous

One of the most densely populated cities on Earth. A good place to conduct thought experiments on human network theory, blockchain and geographic representations of human networks.

So how is this relevant to Hong Kong? Well exactly that happened. I went to Hong Kong to start a new entity and had to do some intense work. I won’t get into that here as that is a whole subject in itself. What I want to concentrate on in this article is a deconstruction of my subconscious thoughts after I visited Hong Kong.

Well to understand this from my own point of view I thought I would firstly throw all preconceptions that I have out of the window. Then I will start re-building a base again like lego bricks to try and piece together my own definition about the new city.

Essentially I want to ask the question- what is the vibe of Hong Kong? Is a a positive process flow? What is happening on the deeper level of the city as a whole?

Someone said, if you want to build a good base, firstly destroy the old one and then rebuild from fresh [1]. So I am going to do this.

Science progresses best when observations force us to alter our preconceptions. [1]

Ok, so I threw out all pre-ideas, preconceptions to destroy the old lingering thoughts in my mind. These are a list of ideas that pop into my head when I consider the words Hong Kong. Bruce Lee, British Colonial Outpost, Harbour, Financial Centre, English Speaking, China, Pearl Delta, Mountains, Hot, Humid, Busy, 1980s, 1990s, handover, King George V, Jacky Chan, Internal Affairs, food, wealth, wealth management, banks, legal system, democracy, 2046.

Now all of those words are out there and listed above, I don't want to talk about them alot again in this article. This is like a mind exercise. List all of your preconceptions, then throw them out. Later, think about a feeling, a feeling that won't go away even after a few days of visiting a city. That feeling for me, is still there, lingering. For me, it is struggle. I don't know why this concept has not gone away from my feelings after 4 or 5 days after visiting the city. But, it is staying with me.

Some mental scenes that have stuck with me are these and they helped shape my feeling about the city.

Maybe the most vivid image in my mind that has still stayed there. It is the image of a man walking down the road with his dogs in Kowloon early in the steamy morning heat after a rainstorm. He had no shirt on, unbrushed hair. He was slightly elderly and his demeanour was that of loneliness. It wasn't a negative loneliness, it was deeper than that and at the moment I still can't understand it. My subconscious is still processing. Hold that thought.

A second image that is burned into my conscious is that of a man dressed well. He was walking in the early morning through a grey tunnel. He would have had to have been at least 70 years old. He was trying his absolute hardest to walk fast to work while carrying his briefcase. He was tall and proud. But, his actual speed was much slower than a stroll. He was in the struggle. He was smiling and said good morning to me. I would say that he was enjoying his struggle. It is a positive feeling for me.

I spent a total of two days and two nights and my overall impression is this. People are in a struggle. It is a self imposed and competitive struggle. They are struggling to save and invest their money. What others perceive of them in the densely competitive environment is what they hold dear to their souls. This is quite obvious as an outsider. I am not to judge either, and shouldn’t. They are very efficient and precise people, and savvy with their investments. But, as mentioned- the human condition is complex and it doesn’t centre totally around money or investments. But these people are humans share a bond with all other humans. They know that the struggle to improve is a long road, and can take generations and they are not thinking in a selfish or individualistic way. This human bond extends beyond cities and countries. The bond is through the networks that they create. Modern networking bonds like Steemit are a great example of that and I am very glad to have found it and thank the tireless efforts of @dan and @ned plus the core community.

I feel that Hong Kong is definitely a great place to visit to learn about oneself and also the human condition. The greater struggle for survival. For me, that greater struggle is a collective struggle, and something that I enjoy. There are many problems out there in the world, and, increasingly we are running out of time to solve them. Our old systems are struggling to keep up. We need to invent new technologies to solve the problems of tomorrow. We are all struggling.

Yes that's right, that is bamboo! They still use bamboo for scaffolding in Hong Kong. It works and it is efficient.

Hong Kong itself is a highly functional city with a lot of working involved. People have aspirations for their whole family and their own networks and this is an excellent thing. The free market does look really functional here on the surface. But that is something I would have to investigate more, as many times what you see on the surface is sometimes just an approximation of a closer truth.

Now I want to bring in one preconception. One important topic. Hong Kong will be absorbed back into greater China after 2046. How will this process happen? I think nobody knows. It might be one reason why I can see people very active and very much in a struggle. They know something that I don’t. And that is interesting. It might be a good thing or a bad thing, we just don't know right now. The world in 2046 might look very different to now.

Overall I had a very positive experience in the city. I got to see another side of human beings and the densified network affect in one geographical location. I am excited to investigate and learn about the city deeper in the future. It is only the beginning of my own struggle in understanding. We are all struggling and it is up to us as humans to either make that a difficult or a beautiful struggle.

If you want to read more about networking, entropy, evolutionary economy and the constructural law of the universe, I highly recommend The Nature of Value by @nick-gogerty . It has to be one of the best books I’ve read in the last year. It also helps me frame my structured, and unstructured conscious and subconscious thinking when working as an entrepreneur. I also highly recommend following some of the posts by @limitless . A tireless believer and writer always curious to learn and evolve. If you want to learn more about what we are working on please visit Solcrypto and ElectriCChain. These are big 40-year projects that we are heavily involved in.

[1] http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=preconceptions