In this post I'm going to talk about why I usually don't suggest studying more than one foreign language at once to people. Mainly, this is because learning a new language will involve you to train thinking in a new model (i.e. language); anyone who is proficient in a …
read moreCorona Virus Diary, Part 41
This post is about models of the world and symbol shuffling. I will describe how words act as symbols for concepts and how we our communication with one another is limited by shared understanding of systems. This way of looking at things answers questions like,
- Why is it so difficult …
Corona Virus Diary, Part 40
Today I am going to ramble about "science" versus business books, pop psychology, etc.
Many people treat "science" as a collection of facts. The next level is to consider "science" as a collection of facts derived through a particular methodology. 1 Both of these levels of "scientific" understanding presume a …
read moreCorona Virus Diary, Part 39
This weekend I went camping with some friends, which was very nice. Taking some time away from work and normal scheduling can be a very productive thing, I think. It's good to step back from stuff, re-evaluate priorities, etc. from time to time. In the future, I'll make it more …
read moreCorona Virus Diary, Part 38
In California, I hear we have some additional guidelines about wearing masks and social distancing and all that.
A bunch of stuff broke earlier, so I had to go out on some errands. It seems that stores (which I imagine are under close(er) scrutiny) are by-in-large making visible efforts …
read moreCorona Virus Diary, Part 37
We are now midway through June.
What's going on with COVID-19?
With regards to Coronavirus stuff, I think that the numbers that really matter most are: are there shortages of hospital facilities?
This is an important, practical way to look at things because it is saying are we seeing worse …
read moreCorona Virus Diary, Part 36
Today I will extol the virtues of paper books (aka "dead tree" book) in one particular domain: language learning. Specifically, I'll be looking at language learning materials for the purposes of reading.
Wanting nice stuff
Briefly I was wanting an e-ink display; it seems that some cool new things are …
read moreCorona Virus Diary, Part 35
Today I continue off yesterday's notes on In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon, which I take to be representative of Theravada Buddhism. 1
Karma and Suffering
It seems in Buddhism, suffering in the world is not totally chaotic or random. This can be interpreted …
read moreCorona Virus Diary, Part 34
Corona Virus Diary, Part 33
The day felt rather slow today, though not in a bad way. It felt like a deliberate, rather than reactive day. I've (literally) slowed down my metabolism (not eating so much right now) so this may be affecting my perception of stuff as more even paced and calm.
Reflexively, I've …
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