Life Optimization: Dealing with God's Math

Two years ago I ever discussed with my bestie mastering data science, I said to him "If all of my problems are able to optimize in mathematical models, I think I can manage and handle them well, I know how to decide proper solutions, and you will think how cool I am". It was not without reason, one month before, he shared his MIT courses account and I learned about math optimization for transportation modeling. It's too complicated for me who hasn't held college books for a long time. He just frowned his forehead and might be felt how desperate I am to understand some papers.

Anyway, it's just a preamble to start my writing. I don't want to explain what's the journals, why I have to conceive the scientific work, and so on. Moreover, cause of the short course triggered me to depict a math modeling of my life. Let me show you, but never take any serious. I share it because it's a kinda pity if I only save the picture on my mobile phone.

What do you think? Am I so good enough in math?

Absolutely nope, LMAO.

To be honest, it's a very simple math optimization, some of you maybe will laugh at my paperwork. The reason behind making the paper scribbles is COVID-19 which I think destroys lots of aspects of human life. For instance, I have created my 2020 failure flowchart caused by COVID-19, including setting an objective function, defining constraints, and simulating the model used by Solver (Add-in provided by Ms. Excel). After running the program, the outcome is an error and I need to repeat the process next year and probably add another objective function, adjust constraints, etc.

Can you envisage how easy our life is if all of the problems are able to calculate and simulate in software? Yes, exactly we will generate optimum solutions and take a good decision. Unfortunately, Excel or any advanced software has a huge distinction with God's authority, it's unforeseen and sometimes illogical. My father ever gave a piece of advice that "God's calculator is very different with human calculation, somehow 1 + 1 will never have resulted in 2, perhaps 8, a thousand, or other numbers depending on God's want".

I remember my lecturer taught me that "there is no good or bad decision, in math optimization only recognizing optimum solution because you need to consider all constraints". It means that you don't need to blame your decision when it seems to go wrong or doesn't work as well as your plan. You don't need to worry exaggeratedly when you have to decide something as long as you have already considered all of the consequences.

Let me give you an example, when I decided to resign from my prior company, most of my colleagues commented "Zulvah, seriously? You must be joking? How dumb are you? and bla bla bla" Leaving my comfort zone will never be easy for me but I know what I do and have already calculated the risks. As long as I can receive the consequences, so what's the problem? Even if someday I am failed cause of my today's decisions, of course, I will be sad and maybe until draining my tears but that's fine, at least I have been trying.

Human beings can make any plans they want, but God decides their success or failure. Yet, we always have a chance to set up what we want, right? Obviously, we can optimize our decisions with math by calculating all risks.