Post from MR about an Ivy League grad who asked "what should I do with my life?"
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/04/max-wants-to-know-what-to-do.html
From a young age we're taught to follow our passions. The myth goes, just follow your passions and you'll live a happy, fulfilling, wealthy life. But Max brings up a good point - what if you don't know what your passion is? It seems like you either have a passion or you don't. Tyler admits he doesn't have a good answer to the question. The best he can do is tell Max not to worry about it, "passion isn't a value in and of itself." At first this answer sounds like a cop out. But the more I think about it the more I like Tyler's answer. Why are we assuming that having a passion is a good thing?
As I started writing this post I browsed some quotes about passion. After reading a few dozen quotes something struck me, this whole idea that passion is a good thing is a relatively modern idea. When talking about passion modern writers and thinkers usually say something along the lines of Hegel: "Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion." But classical writers and philosophers write about passion very differently, usually something along the lines of Cicero: "He only employs his passion who can make no use of his reason." Clearly these two writers have very different views of passion. To what extent these reflect social values of the time, I'm not sure. But I would guess that modern thinkers embrace passion, or at least view it more highly, than the Greco-Romans did 2000 years ago.
So has this passion thing gone too far? Are we teaching too many children to follow their passions? Is there more to life than finding and living your passion?
I've never had much of a passion. I certainly do a lot of things with passion but I have yet to find that one thing that I feel I was put on the Earth to do. And I suspect I never will. For a long time I've viewed this lack of passion as a problem. What if it isn't a problem? If I was following a singular passion I might have never explored music, economics, Roman history or the writings of Montaigne. What if my lack of singular focus has resulted in all my intellectual and social exploration? As Cicero wrote, passion requires irrationality, a certain lack of reason. No doubt the world certainly needs people who see the reasonable thing to do but decide to do the opposite. But if too many people follow their passion and decide to be writers or artists or play sports who will run our factories, build our bridges? Perhaps Hegel is correct, nothing great is accomplished without passion, but I would add that plenty of good is accomplished without passion.
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Dating Redux
Another article about dating, however what I'm really impressed by here are the comments. This must be the most well written and thought provoking comments section that exists on the internet!
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/fashion/the-end-of-courtship.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I've never been a fan of the hookup culture, not that I have a moral objection to it but its always felt to me rather empty. The author gives a few explanations for it, the still not so great economy, the now higher status of young single women or just plain old fear of commitment. But all of these explanations are grounded in fear. Relationships can be scary, relationships can hurt. Keeping things casual or low-key or unofficial is safe. To each his own, as Homer Simpson once said, "I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/fashion/the-end-of-courtship.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
I've never been a fan of the hookup culture, not that I have a moral objection to it but its always felt to me rather empty. The author gives a few explanations for it, the still not so great economy, the now higher status of young single women or just plain old fear of commitment. But all of these explanations are grounded in fear. Relationships can be scary, relationships can hurt. Keeping things casual or low-key or unofficial is safe. To each his own, as Homer Simpson once said, "I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles."
Monday, January 7, 2013
Too Many Options
8 years ago Barry Schwartz wrote a book titled, The Paradox of Choice. The premise of the book being that when we have too many options to choose from we end up spending way too much time weighing our options and ultimately less satisfied with our choice. A recent article in the atlantic takes this same premise and applies it to dating. With online dating there are so many options you can spend forever looking for that perfect person. And even if you find somebody great along the way the prospect of meeting someone new, someone better is too alluring for some. Consequently commitment and happiness with that commitment becomes weaker. I'm not as pessimistic about the future of human relationships as the author is but I can empathize with Jacob. Its not easy and commitment is always scary. However last Friday I was out to dinner with Liz and she said something very wise. It was along the lines of "listen, no one is perfect so don't beat yourself up over it." Being with someone less than perfect has a cost but so does not being with someone at all. Overall a very thought provoking read.
http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/01/a-million-first-dates/309195/?single_page=true
Resolutions Week #1
So far I've learned that Facebook is shockingly easy to avoid, after uninstalling the app from my phone last week I haven't checked it yet. Google Finance is proving much more difficult to avoid. I swear its an addiction. Its like checking the score of your favorite sports team - except this team plays over 250 games a year and each game lasts 8 hours. Its a work in progress.
My other resolution is also going reasonably well so far. Instead of going through the zenhabits list in the order it was written I've built a spreadsheet and randomized the list. Each week I will write one random item from the list on the home screen of my phone to remind me. For week 1 my lesson is:
Don't compare yourself to others. Much easier said than done. There are some obvious ways that I do this but over the past week I've noticed some more pernicious ways. The obvious ways are the ones that create envy, "oh that person is so lucky they have X,Y and Z, I want that too." The less obvious ways are the ones that create a sense of superiority, "oh I have X, Y and Z and therefore am better/smarter/more attractive than the people who don't." Usually when people write about comparing yourself to others they write about envy. It makes sense, only the people who feel something is lacking will seek out help, either to acquire what they feel they lack or to lose the feeling of lacking. Those who already have what they want probably won't seek out help, but perhaps these are the ones who need to learn this lesson most of all. As humans we're hard-wired to seek out relative status, to feel superior to some and envious of others. To me this sounds like a miserable path through life. Don't compare yourself to others.
My other resolution is also going reasonably well so far. Instead of going through the zenhabits list in the order it was written I've built a spreadsheet and randomized the list. Each week I will write one random item from the list on the home screen of my phone to remind me. For week 1 my lesson is:
Don't compare yourself to others. Much easier said than done. There are some obvious ways that I do this but over the past week I've noticed some more pernicious ways. The obvious ways are the ones that create envy, "oh that person is so lucky they have X,Y and Z, I want that too." The less obvious ways are the ones that create a sense of superiority, "oh I have X, Y and Z and therefore am better/smarter/more attractive than the people who don't." Usually when people write about comparing yourself to others they write about envy. It makes sense, only the people who feel something is lacking will seek out help, either to acquire what they feel they lack or to lose the feeling of lacking. Those who already have what they want probably won't seek out help, but perhaps these are the ones who need to learn this lesson most of all. As humans we're hard-wired to seek out relative status, to feel superior to some and envious of others. To me this sounds like a miserable path through life. Don't compare yourself to others.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
New Years Resolutions (so far)
I'm always looking for more New Year's resolutions so suggestions are always welcome.
So far my resolutions are:
1. Check Google Finance and Facebook no more than once a week.
2. Each week make a concentrated effort to follow one of zenhabits 52 tips for Happiness and Productivity
http://zenhabits.net/handbook-for-life-52-tips-for-happiness-and-productivity/
So far my resolutions are:
1. Check Google Finance and Facebook no more than once a week.
2. Each week make a concentrated effort to follow one of zenhabits 52 tips for Happiness and Productivity
http://zenhabits.net/handbook-for-life-52-tips-for-happiness-and-productivity/
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Doppelgangers / The Cooler Me
A couple of weeks ago I discovered my doppelganger, his name is Guillaume. He's a freelance photographer living in Paris, he rides a Japanese motorcycle and was recently in Prague taking pictures. Needless to say I am quite jealous. So when I saw this article come up in my google reader it got me thinking about Guillaume again.
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/mens-lives/201205/cooler-me-eric-puchner-gq-may-2012-doppelganger
I've never really been one for grand dreams or ambitions. I periodically try to come up with life goals (usually around new years) but I can never come up with something that gets me really fired up. So this year rather than trying to accomplish something I'm going to try to fail at things, at a lot of things, a lot of different things. Here's to 2013, a year of failure, a spectacular failure.
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/mens-lives/201205/cooler-me-eric-puchner-gq-may-2012-doppelganger
I've never really been one for grand dreams or ambitions. I periodically try to come up with life goals (usually around new years) but I can never come up with something that gets me really fired up. So this year rather than trying to accomplish something I'm going to try to fail at things, at a lot of things, a lot of different things. Here's to 2013, a year of failure, a spectacular failure.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Life in your 20's
Brilliant article:
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/21-ways-you-should-take-advantage-of-your-20s/
Let's see how I've done by their standards.
1. If anything I sometimes take too long to respond to people.
2. My attitude is generally that I'm not owed anything by anyone. So I guess this one is a failure.
3. "Never turn down an open bar" - life's motto here.
4. I struggle with this, I'm always afraid that I'll be changing just for the sake of change. It takes me a long time to identify what specifically is making me unhappy.
5. To the fullest.
6. I have no problem when older more successful people pick up the check.
7. Volleyball.
8. Done.
9. Work in progress.
10. Yup.
11. I keep swearing off 4 am bars yet I keep going back to them :)
12. Paris Club was my "weeping puddle of regret"
13. YES!
14. Viva Barcelona!
15. Meh, probably the worst suggestion on here.
16. Since I know a few people who went last year and it made me lose all desire to go.
17. Done.
18. Uhmmm - probably not applicable, unless I decide to start cross dressing.
19. I like the spirit of the idea but I'm not a fan of road trips.
20. Hahahahahaha, so perfect!
21. Probably the most depressing line of the article. I hope its not true.
Brilliant all around, loved it!
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/21-ways-you-should-take-advantage-of-your-20s/
Let's see how I've done by their standards.
1. If anything I sometimes take too long to respond to people.
2. My attitude is generally that I'm not owed anything by anyone. So I guess this one is a failure.
3. "Never turn down an open bar" - life's motto here.
4. I struggle with this, I'm always afraid that I'll be changing just for the sake of change. It takes me a long time to identify what specifically is making me unhappy.
5. To the fullest.
6. I have no problem when older more successful people pick up the check.
7. Volleyball.
8. Done.
9. Work in progress.
10. Yup.
11. I keep swearing off 4 am bars yet I keep going back to them :)
12. Paris Club was my "weeping puddle of regret"
13. YES!
14. Viva Barcelona!
15. Meh, probably the worst suggestion on here.
16. Since I know a few people who went last year and it made me lose all desire to go.
17. Done.
18. Uhmmm - probably not applicable, unless I decide to start cross dressing.
19. I like the spirit of the idea but I'm not a fan of road trips.
20. Hahahahahaha, so perfect!
21. Probably the most depressing line of the article. I hope its not true.
Brilliant all around, loved it!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Income Inequality
Interesting blog posts about how income inequality is greater in the top 10% of incomes. Its all about second derivative, the higher the income the higher the inequality.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/why-so-many-rich-people-dont-feel-very-rich/
Now if we assume two things, (1) relative differences matter more than income level and (2) you mostly interact with people within 10% of your income percentile, then at high-ish income level the problem of inequality becomes even worse from a psychological perspective. Someone who is earning 17% more than you doesn't really live that different of a life, someone who is earning 171% more than you is living in a completely different world. Maybe this is why people get so caught up in i-banking, corporate law or climbing the corporate ladder.
For example, those who aspire to hop from the 30th percentile to the 35th percentile would need to increase their cash income by $4,000 annually (or by about 17 percent); those who aspire to hop from the 94th percentile to the 99th percentile would require an increase of $324,900 (or 171 percent).http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/where-do-you-fall-on-the-income-curve/
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/why-so-many-rich-people-dont-feel-very-rich/
Now if we assume two things, (1) relative differences matter more than income level and (2) you mostly interact with people within 10% of your income percentile, then at high-ish income level the problem of inequality becomes even worse from a psychological perspective. Someone who is earning 17% more than you doesn't really live that different of a life, someone who is earning 171% more than you is living in a completely different world. Maybe this is why people get so caught up in i-banking, corporate law or climbing the corporate ladder.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Brilliance from the Onion
God Distances Self From Christian Right
“What these people are saying betrays a worldview that is, frankly, completely different from my own, and it embarrasses me to even hear my name mentioned alongside theirs,” God told reporters, emphatically. “For example, I’m not into capital punishment at all, or really killing in general, so I’m not sure where that whole talking point came from."Amen.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Something Different
I'm going to try something different here. Instead of writing about facts I'm going to think, write and speculate about a subject that I know little about. Then I'll do some research and see where I was right and where I was wrong.
For the past few days I've been trying to answer, can you choose who you're attracted to? Is attraction innate or a product of society? Is it shaped by past experience or a product of present circumstances? And if I were living somewhere else, in a different time, would I find the same physical features and personalities attractive?
This question really touches a dozen different topics. First, what do I mean by choice. I suppose what I mean is can attraction be willed, if I'm not attracted to someone but for whatever reason I want to be, can I make myself feel attracted to them? So its similar to the question, does believing something make it so? First I'll go over what I already know about this. No doubt part of attraction is due to nature and a part due to society. Fundamentally it is necessary for the continuation of the human race, plus throughout history many of the same physical features have been considered attractive even if other aspects have changed. For example while tanned skin is generally considered attractive today a few hundred years ago it signaled farm work and peasantry and consequently not leisure and nobility. So there are certainly components of both.
But how big are these two components? As I grow older, have more experience and my circumstances change will what I find attractive change as well? Or is my current perception of attraction set for life? And if it does change should I consider how it will change in my choice of a long term partner? So far over the last 14 years or so there really hasn't been much change, with the exception of being attracted to women my age - thankfully as I've grown older I'm no longer attracted to 14 year old girls. But that makes me wonder if I was or if that attraction was just a product of my circumstances?
Now that I've been writing for a while I realize that I haven't made clear what I mean by attraction. Its one of those things that easier to feel than to describe. In the spectrum of positive and negative feelings it certainly falls on the positive side. Being around someone I'm attracted to makes me feel good and being apart creates a desire to be with them. I can simulate the feeling of attraction via certain thoughts, not much differently than simulating happiness or sadness, but can I change the trigger for those feelings? Its hard for me to think about WW2 and not feel sadness, much less force myself to feel happy while thinking about it. Is it similarly difficult to change who we find attractive?
And finally is there is a difference in all this with respect to men and women? Is one sex more influenced by society? More capable of shaping their feelings?
For the past few days I've been trying to answer, can you choose who you're attracted to? Is attraction innate or a product of society? Is it shaped by past experience or a product of present circumstances? And if I were living somewhere else, in a different time, would I find the same physical features and personalities attractive?
This question really touches a dozen different topics. First, what do I mean by choice. I suppose what I mean is can attraction be willed, if I'm not attracted to someone but for whatever reason I want to be, can I make myself feel attracted to them? So its similar to the question, does believing something make it so? First I'll go over what I already know about this. No doubt part of attraction is due to nature and a part due to society. Fundamentally it is necessary for the continuation of the human race, plus throughout history many of the same physical features have been considered attractive even if other aspects have changed. For example while tanned skin is generally considered attractive today a few hundred years ago it signaled farm work and peasantry and consequently not leisure and nobility. So there are certainly components of both.
But how big are these two components? As I grow older, have more experience and my circumstances change will what I find attractive change as well? Or is my current perception of attraction set for life? And if it does change should I consider how it will change in my choice of a long term partner? So far over the last 14 years or so there really hasn't been much change, with the exception of being attracted to women my age - thankfully as I've grown older I'm no longer attracted to 14 year old girls. But that makes me wonder if I was or if that attraction was just a product of my circumstances?
Now that I've been writing for a while I realize that I haven't made clear what I mean by attraction. Its one of those things that easier to feel than to describe. In the spectrum of positive and negative feelings it certainly falls on the positive side. Being around someone I'm attracted to makes me feel good and being apart creates a desire to be with them. I can simulate the feeling of attraction via certain thoughts, not much differently than simulating happiness or sadness, but can I change the trigger for those feelings? Its hard for me to think about WW2 and not feel sadness, much less force myself to feel happy while thinking about it. Is it similarly difficult to change who we find attractive?
And finally is there is a difference in all this with respect to men and women? Is one sex more influenced by society? More capable of shaping their feelings?
What I've been up to (while not blogging)
The past 5 weeks have been pretty crazy but pretty incredible, thought with little time for blogging. After getting my wisdom teeth out I went to Europe for 10 days, Barcelona and Munich. It was my first time in Europe since 2004 and it was incredible! Looking back it was one of the best, if not the best vacation of my life. The trip also confirmed a long held belief of mine that its not so much where you go but who you go with. For the last few years I didn't really travel abroad at all, unless you count the Caribbean. And I hate saying this but it was largely because traveling with my ex was not very much fun. We just weren't on the same page on a lot of things. We didn't really get into fights when we were on trips but it just never felt right - though I guess that was a broader issue in the relationship. I also don't have anything against traveling alone but its difficult to justify a solo week long trip to Europe when you're in a serious committed relationship. Now I did find some incredible traveling partners who were on the same page about nearly everything and it worked out incredibly. Further evidence that who you go with is just as important as where you go. Maybe that's good advice for life in general.
Anyway, in summary Europe was great, it was my first full week of work since 2009 - and I feel ready for another! Lots of random funny stories, many of which probably shouldn't be made public :). Barcelona may be my favorite vacation city ever, it has beaches, culture, food and nightlife. What more could anyone want?? Though its probably best to visit before the age of 30 since I imagine 5 or 10 years from now I'd have a lot less patience for it. Oktoberfest was pretty incredible as well, I'd highly recommend the Hofbrau tent to anyone who goes. It has the most international people in it but a good number of Germans too. Of the tents we went through it seemed to have the most diverse / English speaking place to go, plus the beer was very drinkable.
After Europe I was in Chicago for 10 days, then off to the West Coast for the wedding of two incredible friends - Jillian and Ilya. The wedding itself was perfect, ideal size, beautiful venue and a great blend of religious and secular elements - I only hope my eventual wedding works out so well! The whole wedding night I could see the two of them in their own world, not entirely separated from their guests but in a world that we could only glimpse into, one which only the two of them know. Seeing this was truly incredible, such a deep and dynamic connection between two people!
Now after all my fun its back to reality, and to blogging. I have piles of work in front of me that I'm dutifully procrastinating! My vacation days have dwindled to nearly 0 so I'm going to be in Chicago for a while. I feel like I've barely spent any time here recently. Last night I was walking around my neighborhood and noticed 3 new places had opened up! Time to do some exploring!
Anyway, in summary Europe was great, it was my first full week of work since 2009 - and I feel ready for another! Lots of random funny stories, many of which probably shouldn't be made public :). Barcelona may be my favorite vacation city ever, it has beaches, culture, food and nightlife. What more could anyone want?? Though its probably best to visit before the age of 30 since I imagine 5 or 10 years from now I'd have a lot less patience for it. Oktoberfest was pretty incredible as well, I'd highly recommend the Hofbrau tent to anyone who goes. It has the most international people in it but a good number of Germans too. Of the tents we went through it seemed to have the most diverse / English speaking place to go, plus the beer was very drinkable.
After Europe I was in Chicago for 10 days, then off to the West Coast for the wedding of two incredible friends - Jillian and Ilya. The wedding itself was perfect, ideal size, beautiful venue and a great blend of religious and secular elements - I only hope my eventual wedding works out so well! The whole wedding night I could see the two of them in their own world, not entirely separated from their guests but in a world that we could only glimpse into, one which only the two of them know. Seeing this was truly incredible, such a deep and dynamic connection between two people!
Now after all my fun its back to reality, and to blogging. I have piles of work in front of me that I'm dutifully procrastinating! My vacation days have dwindled to nearly 0 so I'm going to be in Chicago for a while. I feel like I've barely spent any time here recently. Last night I was walking around my neighborhood and noticed 3 new places had opened up! Time to do some exploring!
Writing is Hard
Writing publicly or for any large audience is gut wrenching. Most of the time I prefer public speaking to public writing because once something is written, saved and published its out there forever. When I'm speaking my words are ephemeral and they seem to hold less weight than the words I write. Consequently whenever I'm writing I will analyze every word, every sentence and every paragraph. I'll go through a dozen synonyms, multiple sentence arrangements and periodically restart the whole thing from scratch. Needless to say this process takes a lot of time, but I'm trying to get better at it. Part of why I started this blog was to force myself to write more. I figure the only way for me to become better at writing is to keep practicing and judge my own successes and failures. Or better yet have others judge my successes and failures - though I get enough of that at work. Although blogging has definitely helped I've found that recently I haven't been writing enough of my own thoughts in my blog.
Today is the unofficial 1 year anniversary of my blog. The actual anniversary was a couple of months ago but that day came and went and I entirely didn't notice. I guess I'm not very good at being sentimental. Maybe that's what I should work on next. Which reminds me that I need to send someone a VERY belated happy birthday message. It seems like for some people being sentimental comes naturally. On the spectrum of rational vs. emotional I fall pretty squarely on the rational side. I've always thought, what's so special about doing something for 1 year? Like one of my friends often says "every day I'm setting a personal record for consecutive days alive." Now I'm starting to think that's the wrong attitude. It's not that there's something extra important about a year but rather that its a convenient time to reflect. I can't spend all my time reflecting, if I did I would never get anything done. But without reflecting every once in a while its all to easy to live without asking "why am I doing this?" or "what do I value about this?"
So what is it that I value about my blog? First is the sharing aspect, here I get to share whatever I might find interesting and my thoughts about it. To me sharing has been one of the most rewarding parts of life, watching other people get excited about things that I get excited about is incredible and hearing their take on it even more so. In a way it becomes a virtuous cycle of sharing. Second it helps me keep track things that I found interesting for later on. On several occasions I've been in the middle of a conversation and referred people to something I've written about in my blog - always an awesome feeling. And finally it helps me organize and focus my thoughts. I find it really easy to get overwhelmed by information and my endless to do list that keeping focus for a blog post, especially one this long is difficult. By forcing myself to sit down and spent 15 or 20 minutes writing and thinking about one subject I feel that I can understand it much better than if I didn't have to write about it.
Now finally what more do I want to get out of it? I want to write more about experiences and feelings rather than thoughts. I try my best to think and write objectively. This is good when thinking about politics or economics but bad for life since so much of life is subjective and its the subjective parts that are unique and interesting.
Today is the unofficial 1 year anniversary of my blog. The actual anniversary was a couple of months ago but that day came and went and I entirely didn't notice. I guess I'm not very good at being sentimental. Maybe that's what I should work on next. Which reminds me that I need to send someone a VERY belated happy birthday message. It seems like for some people being sentimental comes naturally. On the spectrum of rational vs. emotional I fall pretty squarely on the rational side. I've always thought, what's so special about doing something for 1 year? Like one of my friends often says "every day I'm setting a personal record for consecutive days alive." Now I'm starting to think that's the wrong attitude. It's not that there's something extra important about a year but rather that its a convenient time to reflect. I can't spend all my time reflecting, if I did I would never get anything done. But without reflecting every once in a while its all to easy to live without asking "why am I doing this?" or "what do I value about this?"
So what is it that I value about my blog? First is the sharing aspect, here I get to share whatever I might find interesting and my thoughts about it. To me sharing has been one of the most rewarding parts of life, watching other people get excited about things that I get excited about is incredible and hearing their take on it even more so. In a way it becomes a virtuous cycle of sharing. Second it helps me keep track things that I found interesting for later on. On several occasions I've been in the middle of a conversation and referred people to something I've written about in my blog - always an awesome feeling. And finally it helps me organize and focus my thoughts. I find it really easy to get overwhelmed by information and my endless to do list that keeping focus for a blog post, especially one this long is difficult. By forcing myself to sit down and spent 15 or 20 minutes writing and thinking about one subject I feel that I can understand it much better than if I didn't have to write about it.
Now finally what more do I want to get out of it? I want to write more about experiences and feelings rather than thoughts. I try my best to think and write objectively. This is good when thinking about politics or economics but bad for life since so much of life is subjective and its the subjective parts that are unique and interesting.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Gang of Four / A Eulogy
Dear wisdom teeth, it was nice sharing the last 27 years with you but deep down we all knew it could never last. I'm very sorry that our parting was so traumatic for you but it was no walk in the park for me either. I will always fondly remember the meals we've shared, the fights we've had and the friends we've lost. But alas, it is time to move on, I hope you can find it in your roots to forgive me.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Gentlemen, its been a good run
Op-ed in the NYT asks - Men, Who Needs Them? I can't argue with this kind of logic:
If men were cars, who would buy the model that doesn’t last as long, is given to lethal incidents and ends up impounded more often?http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/25/opinion/men-who-needs-them.html
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Moving and Minimalism
Every time I move I'm appalled by how much stuff I have so inevitably I throw out or donate a lot of stuff (i.e. 4 of the 6 sets of xmas lights that I found). I don't think I could get down to 15, 39 or 60 things as described in this blog post but maybe I'll start a donation bag with old winter clothes next month.
http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/you-probably-have-too-much-stuff/?src=me&ref=business
http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/you-probably-have-too-much-stuff/?src=me&ref=business
Saturday, July 7, 2012
No posts in 10 days
There's a big backlog of posts that I haven't had time to write, I'm hoping to catch up a bit this weekend. Between 4 days in new york, apartment searching and clients who actually want me to do work time has been at a premium of late. This month is certainly going to be a transition in many ways. I'm coming up on 5 years at my job - from what I hear it's an important one. Hopefully this will be a transition to higher level role, i.e. creating work for other people and higher level advisory work. Personally there will be a lot of transitions as well, much of my social circle over the past few years is moving away. Although all the going away parties are a lot fun they leave a void that lasts longer than the hangover. August will certainly be a rebuilding month, but I do look forward to making new friendships and expanding existing ones. I find it remarkable both how easy and how difficult it is to form new friendships. With the right person it is very easy and very natural, the difficult part is finding those right people. I imagine by winter my day-to-day life will be quite different than it is now - not necessarily better or worse but different. For the most part I think I've become pretty good at accepting uncertainty without worrying too much about it. Its not easy since people are hard-wired to hate uncertainty but there is some comfort in not knowing what the future holds - without surprises life would get pretty boring.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
wow wow wow
For those of you not familiar with TED talks (technology, entertainment and design) I would highly recommend either subscribing to them on itunes or checking out the website. The TED conference is put on by a non-profit several times a year all around the world. Leaders from various fields come and give 15-20 minute talks about a subject they're passionate about. I've probably listened to nearly a hundred at this point and there are many excellent ones - but tonight one in particular just blew me away. Jill Taylor, a neurobiologist, had a stroke 16 years ago. She had the opportunity to study her own brain as it was shutting down. Though she survived but it took her 8 years to fully recovery. Hearing her story is equally haunting and uplifting.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
More on the Absurd
A lot of people look down upon theists for having such strong beliefs without any evidence. But what about atheists? Aren't atheists making a similar leap of faith without any evidence? Yes, we know a lot more about the universe than we did 4000 years ago, but we've barely scratched the surface. So much remains unknown. And how much remains unknowable? Uncertainty is all around us, we can choose to ignore it or at this blogger argues be liberated by its embrace:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/05/15/152745489/the-liberating-embrace-of-uncertainty
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/05/15/152745489/the-liberating-embrace-of-uncertainty
The Opposite of Loneliness
I was in a pretty lousy mood Saturday night / Sunday morning. I couldn't sleep, I was stressing out about the upcoming week, my next apartment, my career, my family, my relationships - no matter how hard I tried I couldn't stay asleep. I tried all my usual distractions: music, fiction, dark chocolate, comedy, porn but nothing was working for me, I couldn't shut my brain off. After hours of alternating 30 minutes of sleep with 30 minutes of drowsy consciousness, I gave up and went to Chipotle for breakfast. While eating my burrito bowl I was browsing some articles on my phone and stumbled on this link titled The Opposite of Loneliness, written by Marina Keegan for Yale's commencement paper. Just days before she died in a car accident. It was one of the most depressing things I'd ever read. Yet somehow it almost instantly made me feel better. In many ways its quintessentially existentialist, like something out of a Camus novel. Its haunting to read some of her last thoughts:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/may/27/keegan-opposite-loneliness/
"I plan on having the parties when I'm 30. I plan on having fun when I'm old."
"We're so young... we have so much time."
"We can't, we must not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it's all we have."But at the same time, the cure for pride and fear its realizing that our existence is so delicate, so absurd. No amount of stressing out, wishing or praying is going to change the world. We need to get over our pride and our fear and do something about it. In Marina's words "Let's make something happen to this world."
http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/may/27/keegan-opposite-loneliness/
Monday, May 21, 2012
One of the best articles I've read this year
From NY Magazine, titled "Paper Tigers: What happens to all the Asian-American overachievers when the test taking ends?"
http://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/asian-americans-2011-5/
Its not just an article about Asian-Americans but really about what makes people successful and why lots of hard work isn't enough. I find it very fitting that the protagonist (if articles can have such a thing) went of the UofC.
http://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/asian-americans-2011-5/
Its not just an article about Asian-Americans but really about what makes people successful and why lots of hard work isn't enough. I find it very fitting that the protagonist (if articles can have such a thing) went of the UofC.
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