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Maintenance vs growth
Stephen King said that he doesn't need to write down the good ideas because they just won’t go away. And similarly, good questions just won't go away. I have one such question for you. It pops into my mind with surprising regularity, and it helps see my situation more clearly....
Serendipity of the city
I walked into a pole yesterday. But just like I did after I hit it, let us take a couple steps backwards and use the event to showcase something that I think more of us could seek: serendipity. With that, back to the story. ...
Moving
Nostalgia sneaks up on you. One moment you're having a Thursday, the next your eyes are bleary, and you think of what was and what might never be again....
Apt, not best
We're always looking for the best way to do something. The best way to write, cook, code,... And so on. Maybe 35% of the Internet is about the best way to do X....
Over-compensate
We all have our idiosyncrasies. We differ, however, in how we deal with them. And what haunts me is that I see many people who never deal with a particular idiosyncrasy and it defines their life....
The 4 Specters of Modernity
Many people are faced with old, familiar problems: get water, get food, get shelter. While these problems still exist, they are on the decline overall (Stephen Pinker has some arguments to support that)....
On beauty
A rainbow. A painting. A gaze. Beauty takes many forms.
Beauty makes you pause. It makes you take in. It makes you notice....
Re: learning
I've been learning more lately, catching up on the last few years of web development tools and frameworks. It's mind-numbingly complex at times. There are solutions that are an absolute overkill for most sites. But anyway....
A bulwark of personal relevance
In the past, the world was navigated primarily through active engagement. Yes, you could dilly dally, but it was harder. You couldn't just sit and be entertained forever, unless you were a king, and even then the "foreverness" was usually quite limited....
Reality flows
When you think of the word reality what image comes to mind?
To me, I see flows. Think Brownian motion....
Not pieces, masterpieces
Our lives are much more fragmented, as a fundamental consequence of technology. One thing I have not explored yet is how that influences the artists of the Internet....
Self-stimulate like Leonardo
When I think about Leonardo da Vinci, one word comes to mind: self-stimulation.
No, not that kind. Let me explain....
A forcing function for excellence
A forcing function is any task, activity or event that forces one to take action and produce a result....
Lower vs Higher Self
Our mind is an interplay of base desires and noble goals. You can call it System 1 and System 2, basal ganglia and prefrontal cortex, or Lower and Higher Self. In the context of this article, the specific terms don't matter. The fact is, the tug of war between these two parts of us is ongoing. It never stops....
A reason to be excellent
We're wired for survival. But if near-term survival is close to guaranteed? What then?
It's never been easier to be mediocre....
This is your montage moment
Training montages are fun. From Rocky to Kung Fu Panda, they showcase how the underdog transforms into the hero. Months are compressed into minutes....
The Age of Existential work
The work of atoms is largely in the past. Now, we work with bits.
While bits are more comfortable to deal with, they are also ephemeral and copyable. This affects the human psyche, especially for those who could describe their work as "content creation."...
On walking a 100 km in a day
Last summer, a friend asked me if I wanted to do a 100km walk in Germany in September. I said yes. I'd meet a bunch of Internet friends in real life, and it'd be challenging. At that point, I had no idea just how much....
A way of being
When you think about the greats in any field, you get a sense of their personal style. The way they talk, the way they dress, the way they carry themselves....
Stranglehold of forms and formats
Bruce Lee was a philosopher, among other things. One quote that is widely circulated online is:
Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own. —Bruce Lee...
The Trivireality
Scroll social media for 5 minutes, and tell me: how many of the posts you see are trivial?...
The soft tyranny of convenience
Convenience creates a subtle kind of tyranny.
When everything presented to you is convenient, a minor inconvenience will be a big deal....
Notes on Environment
Technology + environment
- From a behavioral perspective, technology = environment.
- The best kind of code does not require effort from its consumer to bring enormous benefits. It becomes a useful part of the environment.
...
Defragment your life
Fragmentation used to be an issue with old hard drives. Files got placed wherever there was a couple bytes of unclaimed space....
Where do you get your novelty fix?
We love novelty. Just the fact that something is new is enough to catch our attention....
On work, off work
I could be working right now, but I am not. Instead, I'm writing this.
You could be working right now, but you're not. Instead, you're reading this....
A to B through the C(ity)
Cities bare the rawness of everyday life. I went to dance the other day and on the 15 minute ride, I observed as I do. I'm a simple village man, fascinated by the big city life. ...