Life is a Finite State Automaton

Life (at least mine!) can be characterized as a Finite State Automaton (FSA). For the uninitiated, I quote Wikipedia - "A finite state machine (FSM) or finite state automaton (FSA), or simply a state machine, is a model of behavior composed of a finite number of states, transitions between those states, and actions. It is similar to a "flow graph" where we can inspect the way in which the logic runs when certain conditions are met. A finite state machine is an abstract model of a machine with a primitive (sometimes read-only) internal memory."

Oh yes, I think I have only finite memory and finite processing power up in my head! Also, after giving some thought, I've realized that many situations, circumstances or simply levels of existence can be classified as various finite 'states'! My lifetime passes by staying and transitioning between these states. The transitions depend on external stimuli from the world as well as my current state of mind - hence, more specifically, it is a Mealy machine! This is so because there is an 'output' at/before/after every state transition, and this depends on both the state and the stimulus, which is the 'input'. But of course, not always does the stimulus have to be from outside. It could be from 'within' as well, hence it is an 'intelligent' machine that can acts on its own, not a dumb automaton after all!

Nevertheless, I've managed to identify and isolate some of these states of existence. This may not be comprehensive, but I've given examples to make my point clearer. However, I'm sure the list cannot be infinite, since life itself is finite!

1. Chill State:
Oh yeah, my favorite, totally brain-dead existence! This is when I do totally random and arbit things for fun, timepass, etc. This includes facebook (used to be orkut), movies, youtube (used to be tv), web surfing, going out with friends, 'genning' around etc. This is basically to relax and recuperate! Not only is this the most common, it is also the most difficult to get out of. The amount of mental and physical inertia involved in getting out of this state is incredible!

2. Sleep State:
Not much to say here except that it is good and important to get enough sleep! Sometimes, I get dreams (and nightmares!) but most are usually transient and are forgotten after waking up.

3. Creative State:
This is a special state, when I invent good/funny/arbit quotes (quite common), or think of stuff to write/blog about like philosophical/personal/random stuff (e.g, thinking of writing about this article!), do a drawing/painting (very rare), think of poems/pithy couplets (ultra rare!), etc. This state is quite unpredictable and is also difficult to sustain.

4. Scientific State:
This is another special state, when I think of not-as-fancy-as-creative scientific stuff like solutions to the problems that I explore as part of my research, or abstract mathematical stuff, etc. This state is slightly more predictable than creative state, but is equally difficult to sustain!

5. Writing State:
Okay, it might seem weird to have this as a separate state, but it closely tied to creative and scientific states. My head has to transition to this state in order for me to deliver a good piece of writing, like my blog posts, or papers/reports/slides that I write, etc. In this state, I go 'into' the piece of writing mentally and subsist at that level till it is done. Of course, depending on the nature of the writing, I frequently hop between this state and either the creative or the scientific states. Often, when the piece of writing is too large to finish at one go, I transition to the chill state in between! As expected, this is my current state of mind as I write this article.

6. Knowledge Internalization State:
Quite a fancy name I agree, but this is basically the state of mind when I am reading, listening keenly, observing the world, etc. This could be in various forms like studying the course matter for an exam, reading research papers, learning new technical stuff, reading/watching news, listening to good debates, speaking to knowledgeable people like elders or profs (not all of them!), etc. This also includes be situations like facing failures, loss of something, etc., wherein I learn important lessons of life itself (meta-life!). Obviously, this is a very crucial state to grow as a person. This state is many times a precursor to the scientific and creative states. Currently, I believe this to be your current state of mind as you read this article.

7. Knowledge Dissemination State:
This state is closely related to the writing and knowledge internalization states. Basically, here I disseminate my thoughts to the world, in various forms like talking, arguing, discussing, doing, etc. In fact, the writing state can be viewed as a special case of this, but it is so important in itself, that I think of it as a separate state. Once something is written, if I have to speak about it, then I transition to this state. This also involves analysis and answering questions, facing the world, etc. by digesting and recreating whatever knowledge has been internalized, apart from the output of the scientific and creative states. So this includes activities like answering exams, interviews, etc!

8. Philosophical State:
Despite all knowledge flows and vagaries of reality, there are times when I ponder over stuff that are beyond normal human understanding. This primarily includes thinking and concluding about stuff like, what is the purpose of life, what is God, etc. Often, this is the state that I transition to when I get bored or fed up with the other states! And this leads me back to any those, depending on the stimulus. Sometimes, my existence in this state invites ridicule! This state also involves things like introspection of things that are input to me from the knowledge internalization or other states.

9. Null State:
This is very special state when my mind is completely blank - null! This could be because of various reasons, and in this state I feel nothing, think nothing and do nothing! It is almost as I forget the universe and I don't exist at all - I suppose that sounds shady enough! Transition to this state is mostly involuntary. It includes cases when I spend so much time in the philosophical state to realize the futility of life (!), and then move to this state to spend some time in 'emptiness' in order to recuperate. Or it could be things like a sudden cool scientific discovery of my own (huh?), following which I move to this state momentarily. For the most part, this state is highly transient and unstable, and I eventually move to a stable state.

There are a few other minor states, like Chores State, which includes things like eating, bathing, traveling here and there, etc., especially when I have to apply my mind to them, etc., but they are not particularly interesting on their own. Of course, they become interesting when I transition momentarily to other states, e.g., internalizing observations from the world while traveling, new creative/scientific ideas while bathing (eureka moments!), etc.

Many times, I swing between some of these states so fast that it becomes difficult to ascertain what state exactly I am in, but by and large, my mind would be stationary in one state (most often the chill or sleep states!)

Also, there is the question of 'feelings' like happiness, sorrow, anger, etc. I think these feelings are just 'attributes' of the state of existence, they are not states in themselves. E.g., I could write something in anger or out of happiness, I could be happy or sad when I chill out, etc.

So now, all that remains is for me to draw the state transition diagram. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it so happens that the FSA is so complex (or simple) that I could transition from any state to any other state (kind of like a complete graph)! The labels that go on the edges are highly variant, since they depend on external as well as internal stimuli, and the outputs are also highly variant. I can think and categorize them, but they might end up being separate articles themselves!

Ah finally, we've come to the end of this article. I think I've spent enough time in the creative and the writing states for this. Now I think I shall transition to the chill and the sleep states!

Achieving Against All Odds

Naga Naresh is one of those incredible people who achieve against all odds, and inspire many others along the way. I've seen him myself and have also seen his story on various posts and news articles. I thought it might be good to share his story through this blog as well:

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/jul/28sl1.htm

They say reality is stranger than fiction. I now realize that this is the kind of stuff that classic movies and stories are made of :-)