The Universe Consists of Only One Image

Abstract Colorful Universe Wallpaper by Tom

I mentioned before about Hokky Sitongkir [1], whom I met and talked with at the 3rd TEDxJakarta [2]. His talk started with the introduction on how all things share a similarity between them. I agree with him, because I’ve also found this to be true, except that I use my own term for it: the universe consists of only one image.

I see this again and again whenever I ponder on a problem or a philosophical matter. Even though they maybe different aspects of life, but I always find that we can find a common thread that ties them all together. For example in my case, being a musician and dealing with the shifting music industry landscape that is happening led me to learn about copyright and its true nature – and that has lead me to understand about human self interests.

Hokky also says that we cannot solve a problem using only a single approach or a single method – we need multiple approaches to view the problem from a holistic point of view. So not linear problem solving, but organic problem solving: finding the connections between seemingly unrelated items but using our creativity to bridge the gap and find a genius solution. This is the true power of our human talents.

The simplicity approach

I keep hearing over and over how my friends say that: it’s complicated. Well, let me tell you now that: it’s not. It’s only complicated because you make it complicated – and if you are willing to put aside your drama addiction for a while, you’ll see that the solution is often simple.

This is because principles stay the same. Whoever wherever whatever whenever you are, the principles do not change. Therefore the problems do not change, and the approach we use do not change either – they are timeless and unaffected by any dynamic human progress introduces into our culture and history.

Love has always been an issue – it has always caused tragedies, family feuds, and even launched 1,000 ships [3]. Money has always been the object of pursuit for the majority of people, and economics has always suffered from the many reincarnations of recessions, depressions, and crashes. Politics has always been about the politicians, and never about the people.

Did I mention the simplicity approach?

That’s why I am careful to make claims. Who are we to say that we are the most advanced society in the history of the Earth? Who are we to say that our health is better, our technology is better, our education is better? We cannot prove any of this because it would be difficult to make a quality by quality measurement between the different cultures and eras throughout history.

We assume we are always the best, and also the worst. We assume that our problems are the most complicated – that nobody has ever felt the way we do, nobody has ever had it as tough as we do, and (in the case of music) nobody has ever sounded like we do [1]. I say that this is wrong, because the truth is we are simple beings with predictable problems – we just don’t want to see ourselves that way because then we lose the security of complexity.

So, next time you have a problem, realize this: at least one hundred million other people before you have gone through the same. So don’t make a big drama production over it – just find out the core of the problem and solve it as elegantly as possible. Learn the principles of living and then apply them to your life – and you will find that happiness has always been around the corner, waiting for the day you wake up.

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*This is an ongoing series about the talkers from TEDxJakarta. To receive updates on the next articles, you can subscribe to the feed HERE.

[1] For more on his thoughts, check out: Bandung Fe Institute, a research facility based on complexity
[2] Special Report: 3rd TEDxJakarta, 2009
[3] Quoted from the song “If” by the music group Bread, depicting the Trojan War
[4] Many indie musicians, when asked who they sound like, claim that “our sound is completely unique, we don’t sound like anything you’ve ever heard”. This claim is easily broken.
[5] Photograph by Tom. Beautiful, isn’t it?