Alan's Miscellaneous Stuff Bloghttps://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/2021-06-03T00:00:00-07:00Corona Virus Diary, Part 1282021-06-03T00:00:00-07:002021-06-03T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-06-03:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-128.html<p>I've decided to bring this blog to a close. I think it has served its
purpose of documenting my journey contemplating stuff as the news
cycle does its thing.</p>
<p>Some posts I've done (with newly penned titles):</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-1.html">Japan is running of toilet paper</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-5.html">Information delivery pipelines</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-6.html">First round of predictions …</a></li></ul><p>I've decided to bring this blog to a close. I think it has served its
purpose of documenting my journey contemplating stuff as the news
cycle does its thing.</p>
<p>Some posts I've done (with newly penned titles):</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-1.html">Japan is running of toilet paper</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-5.html">Information delivery pipelines</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-6.html">First round of predictions, May 2020</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-13.html">My "Siberia"</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-24.html">How things get political</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-31.html">Starting research into Orthodoxy</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-32.html">I read Harry Potter to better understand "my generation"</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-40.html">Brief Analysis of "Science" and "Fact Checking"</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-50.html">Practice, Orthodoxy, and Linux</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-51.html">Friendship can't be measured in dollars alone</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-53.html">Second round of predictions, August 2020</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-67.hml">Agency and Failure</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-68.html">About elections</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-71.html">Don't be butthurt</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-76.html">On "Talking points"</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-87.html">Making modern technologies work for you</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-90.html">The real local news</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-94.html">What is "thinking"?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-96.html">How do business and programming differ?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-98.html">Unpacking what "STEM" is</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-104.html">What computers have become</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-106.html">Casting lots</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-109.html">The business of fear</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-110.html">Who is talking?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-111.html">Do stuff!</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-112.html">What is "free speech" anyways?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-113.html">Tinfoil hat post entertaining the possibility that what we think are "satellites" in "low orbit" may be balloons carrying cheap electronics</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-119.html">What games do we play?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-120.html">What is "entertainment"?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-121.html">Avoidng problems through simple living</a></li>
<li><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-123.html">How language/books/media are a tool</a></li>
</ul>
<p>On this site, I think I will plan on continuing to do <em>topical</em> posts,
but I don't find much point in continuing a series called "Corona
Virus Diary".</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1272021-05-28T00:00:00-07:002021-05-28T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-05-28:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-127.html<p>In the past, I've been interested in things like the <strong>Dvorak keyboard
layout</strong> and old text editors—namely <strong>vim</strong> and <strong>emacs</strong>. Why
is this? In specific domains, these tools confer some neat advantages.
To summarize, the Dvorak keyboard layout gives a more comfortable
typing experience as the letters are arranged …</p><p>In the past, I've been interested in things like the <strong>Dvorak keyboard
layout</strong> and old text editors—namely <strong>vim</strong> and <strong>emacs</strong>. Why
is this? In specific domains, these tools confer some neat advantages.
To summarize, the Dvorak keyboard layout gives a more comfortable
typing experience as the letters are arranged in such a way that you
can type the most common letters without moving your hands from the
"home row". Key presses are more balanced between your right and left
hands. Vim and emacs are both <strong>text editors</strong>—programs used to
type stuff. For programmers, system administrators, and other "power
users" being able to quickly create and edit files is a valuable
skill.</p>
<p>Practically, however, the world has moved beyond many of the
applications for these tools. If you were tasked with choosing how to
do information technology in a small community from scratch, you very
well might teach these tools and keep things simple. People would be
able to work very efficiently and wouldn't need to learn much more
computing beyond some basic UNIX stuff.</p>
<p>However, in our modern world, this is not the case. It would be a real
pain to try to <strong>retrofit</strong> emacs or vim or some other old editor to
try to program in the "new style" of <strong>web frameworks</strong> like Angular
or React (yeah yeah... I know it is a "front end library"!). Simply
put, "modern" software development is designed for "modern" tooling.</p>
<p>To work on mastering cool old tools can be educational—you are
studying case studies of things that worked well with certain
limitations. LARPing as a 90s programmer and using vim to do
everything may be a fun way to practice solving some well-defined
problems by writing simple command line programs. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> However, for
"real world" applications (that is, what bosses might demand) you are
probably better off just using whatever the current "industry
standard" is...</p>
<p>This is my basic conclusion from enjoying using lots of "retro" or
specialized stuff/techniques—it isn't worth it to try to do
things in a <em>different</em> way if it isn't paying. Take the lessons from
it (e.g. keyboard commands are useful) and then move on; it is not
worth the overhead to try to customize the world to your
idiosyncracies. Just be normal!</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Aside from web programming, this is where most of my experience is. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1262021-05-19T00:00:00-07:002021-05-19T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-05-19:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-126.html<p>What is "10 minutes"? If you're running late for something, it may be
all someone needs to feel relief; if you're doing a workout, it may
feel like prolonged torture. When we are at rest, it is easy to look
at time abstractly—e.g. I can play to study …</p><p>What is "10 minutes"? If you're running late for something, it may be
all someone needs to feel relief; if you're doing a workout, it may
feel like prolonged torture. When we are at rest, it is easy to look
at time abstractly—e.g. I can play to study something for <em>15
minutes a day</em>. Actually blocking out the time and setting down to do
that thing makes time seem much more... personal.</p>
<p>To get the most out of our time, it is important to carefully use it
(which could mean getting someone else to help make a schedule),
otherwise it easily can "slip through the cracks". Retroactively,
anybody would probably say, "oh yeah I wish I did 20 minutes of
[productive thing] everyday" (for example, lifting some weights to get
stronger). Why doesn't this happen?</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1252021-05-18T00:00:00-07:002021-05-18T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-05-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-125.html<p>The mechanics of distraction are often like this. There is something
you know you should be directing your attention to—for instance,
paying attention to the road while driving so you can do so safely.
Distractions are like "suggestions" that try to lure your attention
away. A billboard showing a …</p><p>The mechanics of distraction are often like this. There is something
you know you should be directing your attention to—for instance,
paying attention to the road while driving so you can do so safely.
Distractions are like "suggestions" that try to lure your attention
away. A billboard showing a tasty looking burger may get your mind on
what to eat next leading you to start imagining different meal
options, provided you do not forecfully direct your focus back to the
main activity you are doing.</p>
<p>On the Internet (which for many people means "the workplace"), the
physical set up of this is a bit more subtle. If you're doing
something like gardening work, you can make sure to direct your eyes
and posture at the plants and soil in front of you. However, computers
offer a sort of "unified interface" by which all sorts of things may
be viewed/done—e.g. games may be played, shopping may be done,
information may be looked up and so on. What makes things even more
difficult is that oftentimes the nature of the software we use is
designed to generate <em>more</em> distractions—infamously smartphones'
default notification settings.</p>
<p>Fighting distractions may involve changing habits as well as
"settings"—including physical arrangement of stuff. For example,
having your browser open to a <em>blank</em> page rather than some splash
screen with attention-grabbing headlines may be an effective way to
help <em>get to work</em> upon sitting down at a computer. Another strategy
that I've come to increasingly appreciate is to <em>actually shut down
your computer when not in use</em>. Many people leave their machines on
essentially all the time, especially laptops and other portable
devices. By design, this is easy; it takes time to start up and turn
off devices so it is much for convenient to leave devices on...</p>
<p>Or is it? It is convenient if you want to <em>spend more time on your
device</em>. It makes it more seamless to roll plop down on the couch and
check your phone. Does it make it easier to make a phone call you need
to make, to follow up on an email that has been sitting in your inbox
for a long time, and so on?</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1242021-05-16T00:00:00-07:002021-05-16T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-05-16:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-124.html<p>Years ago (at least five or six?), I had this idea that I only wanted
to get "consumables" as gifts. That is, stuff like food/drink, cash,
etc. The idea was that one source of <em>problems</em> in our lives is the
accumulation of a bunch of stuff that isn't particularly …</p><p>Years ago (at least five or six?), I had this idea that I only wanted
to get "consumables" as gifts. That is, stuff like food/drink, cash,
etc. The idea was that one source of <em>problems</em> in our lives is the
accumulation of a bunch of stuff that isn't particularly useful.</p>
<p>I think I understand a bit more why I had this intuition.</p>
<p>Sometimes I find that things I own drive my decisions rather than the
other way around, which should be the case. What should be is that we
make use of the things we have for some other goal. Instead, I may
find myself saying "well, I already own XYZ; so how should I make
choices to make use of XYZ?"</p>
<p>There is nothing <em>inherently</em> wrong with a bicycle, or a microwave, or
even some useful books. Let me pull out a quote I learned of studying
statistics:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To the hammer, the whole world looks like nails</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Imagine owning a hammer and therefore thinking that everything you did
should involve maximally efficient hammer usage.</p>
<p>What is absurd is the presupposition that hammers are the best tools
for <em>every job</em>. Certainly, there are certain tasks in which a hammer
is the best tool. But for everything? We know this isn't the case.</p>
<h2>Technology, generally</h2>
<p>A more recent realization I had is that we might look at other sorts
of tools we have, such as <strong>computers</strong>, and then think about the
world like in the hammer example above. Just because computers <em>can</em>
be applied to many domains, does that mean we should maximally
computerize everything?</p>
<p>While the world may be heading in this direction (and therefore it
doesn't hurt to learn about computers and how to interact with an
increasingly "digital world"), I personally do not think that we have
any sort of moral imperative to push the world towards a more
interconnected/digital/global/etc future.</p>
<p>Problems such as "sharing information among scholars" might seem
urgent to some; but really, we can do this via e-mail. What is more
important is that the relevant parties are able to find and contact
each other. How this happens is a topic for a different time.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1232021-05-15T00:00:00-07:002021-05-15T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-05-15:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-123.html<p>Continuing on the topic of <strong>tools</strong>; how can writings be useful?</p>
<p>Many books are tools. We can look at for what ends they are created.
For example, dictionaries are often created to help people do reading
and writing of other books. Reference books are so-called because you
refer to them …</p><p>Continuing on the topic of <strong>tools</strong>; how can writings be useful?</p>
<p>Many books are tools. We can look at for what ends they are created.
For example, dictionaries are often created to help people do reading
and writing of other books. Reference books are so-called because you
refer to them when trying to do something else (e.g. writing a letter,
interpreting some written message).</p>
<p>Some types of books are a bit harder to figure out. What is the
purpose of a <em>novel?</em> Many people write books to <em>make money</em>. Many
"classics" are written for more elevated purposes I
think—expressing enduring truths to audiences in accessible
language. Probably similar things can be said of games. These just use
new media (i.e. the platform you play them on; visuals/sound/etc) but
may be created with the same purposes that many books in former times
were most popular for. Growing up in the 90s, I saw stuff like
<strong>magazines</strong> everywhere (still in supermarkets and some places you
can see them)—what is the purpose of these?</p>
<h2>Rituals of Modernity</h2>
<p>I think I've heard the present era called a kind of new "golden age of
television". One effect of the wide availability of so many different
options of things to watch is that as a society (and I'm writing as a
Californian) we often lack much common ground. Most of the co-workers
in some office may watch <em>some</em> show together, another group of
friends might only watch Japanese anime. Another household might only
watch re-runs of old shows. And many may choose to not watch <em>any</em> TV
shows or even own a TV/streaming device/etc.</p>
<p>Since 2016 at least (I'm sure all of these tactics/actions go back
further, but with the Trump presidency is when many people started to
look at these things more closely), the <em>News</em> has re-asserted itself
as a kind of "common ground". Whether we're talking about public
policy, required trainings, or even conversation openers, the News has
re-asserted itself in a kind of "secular clergy" role. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Whereas a religious community might find itself re-united proclaiming
teachings passed down, people eagerly await for headlines to offer
them <em>new</em> guidance. That's why it is called the <em>news?</em> Haha.
Interesting etymology to maybe investigate later.</p>
<p>Much News offers a <em>mediated</em> view of the world. Rather than
hearing/seeing things directly, we have reality interpreted to us
through words, images, sounds, etc (most people can recognize how a
news network they <em>don't like</em>, e.g. Fox news for people who identify
as "left leaning" employs these tactics; a <em>theatre!</em>) And so we see
contrasts of how stuff is framed—a <em>peaceful protest</em> or a
<em>riot</em>; maybe even an <em>insurrection?</em> Feelings are attached to labels
through repetition such that we can effectively <em>feel</em> what is being
conveyed even if <em>programming</em> is just running in the background.</p>
<h2>Back to tools</h2>
<p>So what use do lots of "current events" media/writings/etc have? One
might find it useful to keep their own records on stuff, for example
through recording dates of births, marriages, deaths, and so on.
Likewise there is book keeping required for doing business. Then,
there are things like this blog (as well as YouTube videos and other
things made by "everyday/normal" people) which kind of act as logs or
points of discussion for relatively small groups of people—maybe
you can consider them almost like "taking <em>minutes</em> for meetings".
Looking back at this blog for instance I can see what sorts of things
captured my attention enough to write about.</p>
<p>Just as individuals may do this, organizations can (and sometimes
<em>must</em>) report on their activities as well, and very often they have
people working in <strong>public relations</strong> (PR) to do this in a very
deliberate way.</p>
<p>Governments, corporations, and the like are no exception. Particularly
in a relatively <strong>democratic</strong> society where people are expected (or
at least <em>asked</em>) to have views/opinions about stuff, it is the <em>modus
operandi</em> for many parties to pester the public. Advertising!</p>
<h2>Priming, trial balloons</h2>
<p>Two other functions of lots of media these days is <strong>priming</strong>
(getting people ready for some stimulus) and <strong>trial balloons</strong>
(testing the public's response). You can see how "click bait" is used
with the latter; for example, last year at this time, you would
probably have a lot more negative reaction to "vaccine passports".
Now, I imagine that the public at large is more ready to accept this
(I haven't looked at any numbers).</p>
<p>An initial "trial balloon" may have shown a largely negative reaction.
Emphasizing "public safety", sowing fear about "cybersecurity/fraud",
etc may push people to move from initially viewing some kind of
digital passport as scary/evil to something familiar (you already have
a social security number, don't you?) and necessary for protecting the
public (you wouldn't want <em>just anyone</em> to be able to drive a car,
would you?).</p>
<p>Priming is getting a response ready; so for example, there is a lot of
talk about "cyber attacks". I'm not going to be surprised if we hear
about (probably Russia, North Korea, or Iran) how the US is <em>under
attack</em>—<code>digitally!</code> Talk about cyber attacks is often
associated with how much more interconnected our world is and how we
might experience problems with infrastructure etc. So our leaders
pushed us to make everything interconnected with computer systems
(Internet of Things and more) and now... oh no! We're vulnerable to
cyber attacks?!?!??!</p>
<h2>Recognize the genre, don't just read the words</h2>
<p>Texts are tools; so are laws and many other "programs" that run our
world. Rather than taking the naïve approach that some people looking
out to help us are just giving us cool/useful things to think about
(this is kind of subjective; enterprising people will seek out and
find relevant information) we can see how words, images, and sounds
are used to get things done in our "high tech" society.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Some may call it "the mainstream media" or "the legacy media" <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1222021-05-09T00:00:00-07:002021-05-09T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-05-09:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-122.html<p>I started watching some videos by this fellow, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkB8eF4ATHl4Jm1BeCZgQ9A">Uneducated
Economist</a>.
You can think about "economy" in terms of something like US dollars...
and then you can think about it more broadly in terms of the exchange
of goods and services (and how stuff like supply, demand, taxation,
etc impact this …</p><p>I started watching some videos by this fellow, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkB8eF4ATHl4Jm1BeCZgQ9A">Uneducated
Economist</a>.
You can think about "economy" in terms of something like US dollars...
and then you can think about it more broadly in terms of the exchange
of goods and services (and how stuff like supply, demand, taxation,
etc impact this). The channel linked here is useful for looking at how
stuff is happening "from the ground up" rather than from fancy
theoretical concepts.</p>
<p>On this blog I've done some discussion of how many of the contemporary
"new" things we have are just transformations of older, existing
technologies; for example, if I think about how I use a computer
<em>functionally</em>, I'll find that the main tasks I do have to do with
communication. What might have been in the past things like <em>letter
writing</em> or <em>creating a newsletter</em> (to post on some physical board)
somewhere).</p>
<p>We can look at systems/society at large in a similar way, and thus
apply ancient wisdom. For instance, we have relatively new things like
<strong>cryptocurrencies</strong>; we can then ask, <em>what sort of things are
these?</em> Analyzing cryptocurrencies as something that has been around
since as long as human civilization (e.g. "people essentially treat
bitcoin like <em>gold</em>) we can see past all of the buzzwords/hype and
better understanding what is going on.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1202021-04-18T00:00:00-07:002021-04-18T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-04-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-120.html<p>Doing anything has <em>costs</em> because our time is not infinite. There are
many sayings out there about how you "can't buy more time"—yet
often we go through great lengths to <em>save money</em> even if this means
using up a lot of time.</p>
<p>The Internet has brought this sort of …</p><p>Doing anything has <em>costs</em> because our time is not infinite. There are
many sayings out there about how you "can't buy more time"—yet
often we go through great lengths to <em>save money</em> even if this means
using up a lot of time.</p>
<p>The Internet has brought this sort of thinking to great scale. Many
people like to play "free games", even if these games will have ads,
spam/robots, and other undesirable elements of gameplay. If you are
going to spend dozens of hours a month playing a game (or more?) why
would you endure such things?</p>
<h2>What value do you attach to your own time?</h2>
<p>Growing up, it can seem like <em>time is plentiful</em> but other things,
like money, is what is most short. So we treat our time cheaply and
try to maximize things like... saving dollars. Of course saving and
investing now can pay off a lot later—I don't think we should
recklessly <em>consume</em>. However, it is important to not only make our
time "work for us" (in investments, including buying tools for the
work we do) but also to value our time.</p>
<p>What sort of activities are simply not worth your time?</p>
<h2>"Entertainment"</h2>
<p>Suppose you work a job, 9 AM to 5 PM, 5 days a week. If you wanted to
accomplish some other goal, such as learning another language, when
would you do this? Many people recommend doing difficult things first
thing in the morning. So, suppose you study Spanish from 7:30 to 8:30
then commute to work on weekdays. Chances are that as time goes on you
will become increasingly proficient at Spanish, provided you have some
at least halfway decent study materials.</p>
<p>Other activities you might choose to do in the morning may be
<em>counterproductive</em>. For example, eating the wrong sort of breakfast
may make you feel sluggish and therefore become unproductive during
the workday. Engaging in unhelpful conversations, looking at things
that give you distracting thoughts (e.g. scrolling through Instagram
and getting ads targeted at you that get you thinking about various
products throughout the day), etc may set you up for a wasted day.</p>
<p>Upon arriving home, what do you do? For people with families the many
accompanying responsiblities, problems often present themselves. Young
working professionals and other "independent actors" have more
choices.</p>
<p>Many advertisements will try to give you the message "you deserve XYZ"
and try to convince you to introduce something into your life as a
kind of reward. More careful consideration and good advice can let you
know if you are actually hurting yourself through escapism...</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1212021-04-18T00:00:00-07:002021-04-18T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-04-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-121.html<p>Time and attention cannot be replaced; a day cannot be redone. On the
other hand, you <em>can</em> earn more money. So it is a false equivalence
that "time is money"—as the saying goes "money can't buy you
more time". Time and attention well spent will continue to pay you …</p><p>Time and attention cannot be replaced; a day cannot be redone. On the
other hand, you <em>can</em> earn more money. So it is a false equivalence
that "time is money"—as the saying goes "money can't buy you
more time". Time and attention well spent will continue to pay you
(e.g. if you have cultivated <strong>virtues</strong>, built up good
relationships). However, lots of money made and spent today might
leave you no different (or worse) tomorrow; imagine earning a
$150k/year salary in some high tech job and you have a proportionally
scaling luxurious lifestyle... ...and then you get laid off. Having
bet your lifestyle on some "guaranteed" income where do you then find
yourself?</p>
<p>If you had spent your time/attention doing useful things like
developing strong attention, learning generally useful technologies,
and so on and so forth, then this discipline will continue to pay you.
However, if you landed some position as a grifter and really didn't
learn anything... well now all you have is burnt time.</p>
<h2>"There is no such thing as a free lunch"</h2>
<p>Doing some (residence) moving has been educational.</p>
<p>Getting items for "free" has a heavy price. When we take on additional
possessions (or hobbies/interests for that matter), we not only need
more <em>physical</em> space, but we also give up the time that is needed to
manage these things.</p>
<p>As previously mentioned here, I've done some buying and selling on
Facebook marketplace. This will make you appreciate (normal) stores
for their convenience—buying or selling things can involve a
lengthy process of figuring out logistics, buyers/sellers flaking,
etc. So what may have <em>sounded</em> like a $40 "profit" may end up being
an hour of time spent over a fews days dealing with the listing(s),
communications, etc. That being said, if you accept a bunch of stuff
for free and then intend to go sell it, you may end up spending a lot
of time doing so. Of course if you could afford to <em>pay</em> someone to do
Facebook marketplace for you full-time, I think you could effectively
use it to clear out lots of items and maybe even make some decent
money. However, for most people that just have <em>too much stuff</em>, you
find yourself with a much bigger time sink than say... having an
estate/garage sale for a day.</p>
<p>One way to avoid lots of complication is to stay focused, acquire
things that are useful and/or easy to resell or give away, and to
avoid "novelty" items, cheap decorations, etc. Rather than buying a
(fake) plastic plant, why not just keep a nice (real) house plant? If
you really gotta purge a house plant, you return the plant to the
earth—humans have been doing this for as long as they've been
around. You can avoid dumpsters/pollution/trouble...</p>
<h2>"Out of sight, out of mind."</h2>
<p>Introducing complication to your life means more time spent sorting
through your confusion.</p>
<p>Not seeing what is happening doesn't mean that it is not happening.
For instance, many people think it is somehow <em>virtuous</em> to do more
cooking than eating out. Now, certainly learning some cooking is a
useful thing to do... however, to elevate cooking too much is not
good. Without a proper kitchen, proper cooking can be very difficult.
But I don't think it would be right for you to try to build out a
really fancy kitchen for an occasional homecooked meal so you could
say to yourself "aha! I'm a responsible adult". Better is to learn
some simple, effective cooking with minimal supplies and save more
complicated cooking for when you have access to a more complete
kitchen.</p>
<p>Americans try to do a lot of things at home. For instance, many people
buy lots of expensive exercise equipment. This is fine if you use it
frequently; you can have a very nice setup this way. However, for many
people (e.g. those dwelling in small-ish apartments), it makes more
sense to make use of a gym, the outdoors, or even friends' equipment
(with their permission of course) rather than dishing out the extra
dollars for more stuff that takes up more space.</p>
<h2>Payment</h2>
<p>People give you money in order to sove problems for them. Although
"free stuff" may <em>sound</em> like you are getting a really good deal,
maybe more of what is going on is kind of the opposite—sometimes
I may agree to take on some burden—e.g. accept an item from a
family member which I really don't want <em>effectively so that family
member cannot "feel bad" about "throwing something away". But what
often happens is that the issue of extra item ABC is pushed onto </em>me*
and that thing is "out of sight, out of mind" for the giver.The gift
is to the giver.</p>
<p>This isn't to say that we <em>shouldn't</em> give things away; rather when we
get things "for free" we should consider what we are going to do with
the items we get and be willing to say "no" when we are unwilling or
unable to shoulder some additional burden.</p>
<p>It is better to prevent problems than to have to work through and
correct them (which takes more time, energy); so if you can avoid
buying stuff you'll have to "get rid of" (e.g. some rando "gift item")
then this takes away the "should I throw it away?" burden from
yourself or another person. On the other hand, gifts like flowers,
food items, etc (I call these "consumable") more intuitively have a
short "lifespan".</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1192021-04-10T00:00:00-07:002021-04-10T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-04-10:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-119.html<p>Why are <strong>video games</strong> so popular these days? I will answer this
question from my own experience—probably some of the thoughts I
will put here will mirror some readers' experiences.</p>
<h2>Type of games</h2>
<p>First, we should point out that there are many different sorts of
video games. What kind …</p><p>Why are <strong>video games</strong> so popular these days? I will answer this
question from my own experience—probably some of the thoughts I
will put here will mirror some readers' experiences.</p>
<h2>Type of games</h2>
<p>First, we should point out that there are many different sorts of
video games. What kind of games people are drawn to may be a useful
type of "personality test", ha!</p>
<p>I was always drawn more to "story" and "puzzle" games and while I did
enjoy cool <em>game mechanics</em> in action games, I was never drawn getting
really good at some action game. Lots of other people are just the
opposite; a fast-paced shooter where reaction times are key may be the
bestest game ever.</p>
<p>On the other hand, many people are drawn towards "sandbox" or
"world-building" type games that don't really have some goal. Whereas
I enjoy the clear beginning and end points of working through a puzzle
or story, some people are drawn to games where "farming" or just
overseeing stuff by doing some repetitive task is the main thing you
do.</p>
<h2>Why I lost interest in most games</h2>
<p>I think one of the big reasons people play games is to exercise some
kind of <strong>agency</strong> and for <strong>escapism</strong>. I remember wanting to play
games after a long day at school, doing homework, and so on. Whereas
most of my day was structured on <em>coersion</em>—more or less being
forced (rather than "asked") to do all sorts of stuff, video games
offered a place where you could build out things how you like (RPG),
experiment and lose a lot and still keep playing and get better
(action games), or just engage some story different from what you've
been told about how the world works (story-driven games).</p>
<p>Many kids grow up without many responsibilities. Besides going to
school and getting grades, they aren't given much control over stuff.
Even "cleaning one's room" can be hard for some people—parents
and others might object to throwing away stuff, doing major
re-organization, etc. So the comfortable default is to kind of just
let stuff keep on going how it is, even if the space could be better
used. This I think is one of the most important lessons I got from
moving out—even if you don't have everything else figured out
yet, taking control of your own space puts you in a different sort of
mindset.</p>
<p>This is to say, there's a difference between "digitally designing your
dream room" and then going out and re-arranging stuff in a space.
Digitally, lots of actions are easier such as: creating a new thing,
deleting stuff, undoing actions, etc.</p>
<p>On the other hand, using physical materials, all of these actions come
at a price. So spending your time doing <em>anything</em> becomes a much more
costly endeavor. If you go to work, even working a job that does not
pay so much, you get more resources to work with in exchange for your
time/labor. Here, you know that trying something new (e.g. picking up
a new hobby) costs something precious—suppose you work 9 AM to 5
PM, 5 days a week, like many people do. You want to be to bed by 11
PM.</p>
<p>While we are younger, time doesn't seem as valuable (whereas
money/resources often do, more so than for more established people).
So young people often play a lot of games. I've played my fair share
of games (I wouldn't ever call myself "addicted"), but I've certainly
spent many hours playing games I could have put to some other more
useful purpose.</p>
<p>You can find countless YouTube videos of people documenting their
experiences, including getting out of addiction.</p>
<h3>Putting the Pedal to the Metal</h3>
<p>I lost interest in video games by becoming a full-time LARPer. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> By
this, I don't mean faking/pretending, but rather <em>using useful ideas
which are often modeled in video games</em> in order to get results in the
"real world". For example, in many games there is an aspect of
"grinding" or "farming"—doing some repetitive task that may
actually be kinda boring. Oftentimes people will enjoy listening to
music, podcasts, and so on while doing this.</p>
<p>If you're going to "grind", why don't you at least get paid for it?</p>
<p>Depending where you live, this might even be kind of fun. For
instance, do you think spending 8 hours picking strawberries is a
better 8 hours spent than training some game in a video game? There
are many things you will notice/learn while working outside—from
the bugs and birds around you to how people organize themselves and of
course the task you're directly doing. You'll better understand
strawberries better than you ever have before if you spend a bunch of
hours with them.</p>
<p>My "exit" of games came through earning my first paychecks—very
modest at first, from part-time work while at school and then later my
monthly-stipend as a graduate student. What happened though was I had
enough to live on my own so I could start trying out and figuring out
how stuff worked <em>outside</em> of games. I was born into the "matrix" of
education (schooling works very differently from the "real world")
where you really aren't allowed much freedom and the things you learn
are often things you should probably <em>unlearn</em> (and it isn't getting
better in most parts of the USA, from what I can tell).</p>
<p>If you're coming from a family that already has some money, you might
not "have to work" in the sense that say... your parents have their
house paid off and you are able to live there indefinitely <em>if you
wanted to</em>. Others have to learn really fast to take care of
themselves—</p>
<p>The point here is that when you do start working and have agency over
some resources (namely your attention, time, money...) then you can
start applying the big-brane strategies you may have read in video
game guides <em>but to your own life</em>.</p>
<p>I'm not a video game hater—I've learned a lot from video games,
they often have memorable visuals, characters, music, etc. However, I
think that once you break outside of video games, you may find that
the best parts of video games do not compare to their "base reality"
analogs.</p>
<h3>"Digital revolution?"</h3>
<p>A bunch of nerds that hate (physical) work tricked much of the middle
class into becoming useless, in terms of doing work <em>directly on the
physical world</em>. Merchants, scholars and others have also been affected.</p>
<p>There are different "traps" people can fall into. For me, I fell into
the "science/technologist" trap—I took the time to read many New
York Times bestsellers and contemplate the implications of the
worldview espoused by many silicon valley CEOs, public broadcasting,
etc.</p>
<p>Our culture is permeated with images/ideas/idioms that reflect certain
assumptions about the world. For instance, consider the game of
<strong>chess</strong>. Not only can the boards be kinda creepy and masonic
looking, the whole idea of the game is that "battle conforms to a
fixed set of rules". The superior strategist who plays according to
these rules wins.</p>
<p>Now, in the "real world", there are not fixed rules like this. For
example, there is always the possibility of some <em>weather event</em>
making movement from here to there slower or faster than anticipated.
Similarly, life isn't "turn based". You can see how the rise of <strong>Real
Time Strategy</strong> (RTS) games was an exciting development because it
allowed game designers to model battles in a potentially faster-paced,
more engaging way than board games like chess.</p>
<p>Talk of AI, robotics, and all of that, has gotten many people scared
into persuing "knowledge" work. They hear a story like <em>AI beat
such-and-such at GAME</em>, and then there is all this widespread fear
about humans getting <em>replaced</em>. Returning to the chess discussion
above, we see a fundamental misunderstanding about the
world—that it is something that we can <em>calculate</em> given
sufficient resources. I don't think that this is true for most "big
events"; obviously you can get pretty consistent measurements for all
sorts of processes (that's why cooking instructions work!), but I
don't think you can do stuff like accurately calculate the age of the
cosmos...</p>
<h3>Bad Foundations</h3>
<p>But as I've critiqued many times in this blog, oftentimes the "skills"
that people learn in the modern world are often NOT <em>BASED</em>. For
instance,</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>SIMPing</strong>: being a subservient sycophant on a resume so <em>senpai</em>
will notice you</li>
<li><strong>Bullshitting</strong>: look at just how many articles there are on
"imposter syndrome"—maybe this is because many of the dogmas
of modernity are in fact bullshit, and you can detect it</li>
<li><strong>Absurd Arrangements</strong>: for the purpose of <em>money</em> or <em>convenience</em>
or something else, people will outsource all sorts of things they
should probably do themselves (e.g. "early childhood education")
while vainly persuing some "career" set out by corporate overlords.</li>
</ul>
<p>There is nothing wrong with using existing technology
insofar as it is useful and there will be many people that choose to
develop new technologies. Does this mean that we need to adapt the
entire worldview of many leading technologists? (look at talks
sponsored by companies like Microsoft, Amazon, etc)</p>
<p>Different sorts of people fall for different traps. As I described
above, I fell for the "brainy" worldview and considered myself a
big-brane guy for thinking about these myths. Now I can see how that
mindset acted against me as well as those around me. For others,
buying into the current regime may take forms like,</p>
<ul>
<li>Believing naively what PR departments tell you—e.g.
such-and-such organization says they're "helping kids" so they
definitely are helping kids! <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></li>
<li>Echoing/promoting parties with agendas you don't understand; e.g.
"standing in solidarity" with a bunch of leftists because you want
to oppose "racism"; repeating slogans</li>
<li>Buying into "entertainment"</li>
</ul>
<p>With regards to the last point—I think there is nothing
inherently wrong with video games; they're a new kind of art form.
Novels, likewise, I don't find evil. But we need to make proper use of
everything—this includes art, music, games, and so on.</p>
<h2>Gamers rise up!</h2>
<p>The recent-ish "GME (GAMESTOP GATE)" story of normal "retail"
stockholders using Robinhood to make the many members of the financial
establishment sweat by exploiting market rules.</p>
<p>Lots of young-ish adults (zoomers, millennials, gen-x) realized that
the "rules" they've been operating in largely according to how they
were taught—e.g. aspiring to just get a corporate job and be
well-paid, buy a house, etc—have cracks, and they found an
<em>exploit</em>.</p>
<p>The gamers realized that if they could apply their gamer-tier
strategic thinking outside of "games" but into the increased digitized
world, that they could begin winning bigly in many aspects of "real
life"...</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p><strong>Live Action Role Playing</strong> is a term used first to talk about
when people dress up as knights and wizards and stuff and run
around acting out some fiction—as a slang term it is also
used (usually in a derogatory way) for pretending to be a certain
type of person—e.g. talking on the Internet like you are
some super cool computer hacker. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Follow the money; look at what is actually being done. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1182021-04-07T00:00:00-07:002021-04-07T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-04-07:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-118.html<p>There's this quote that is attributed to Bruce Lee that goes something
like,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don't fear the man who has practiced 10,000 (different) kicks, but
the man who has practiced the same kick 10,000 times.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another way to state this—it is better to be
<em>very good/effective …</em></p><p>There's this quote that is attributed to Bruce Lee that goes something
like,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don't fear the man who has practiced 10,000 (different) kicks, but
the man who has practiced the same kick 10,000 times.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another way to state this—it is better to be
<em>very good/effective</em> at one (simple) action than to add confusion and
variety prematurely.</p>
<p>Economists will talk about <strong>scarcity</strong>. We have finite time,
attention, and resources and so on. Now, if you get better at doing
some one action, it becomes cheaper and cheaper to do. You can beat
out all your competition doing that one action. In lots of RPG-type
video games, characters have "skills". In many, many games what you do
is "max out" one single skill first rather than distributing your
skill points broadly across many. In playing the game, your <em>one</em>
powerful skill will drive your play style. As you progress through the
game, you will probably use more than one skill (otherwise the game
would get boring), but the general principle still applies—it is
important to get very good at one thing at a time. You might be able
to do the "bare minimum" for some other things to have more options,
but it will be your strong skill(s) that really do most of the work
for you.</p>
<p>Continuing on this RPG game analogy, your character will probably have
stats like "STRENGTH", "INTELLIGENCE" and "DEXTERITY". In a typical
game, different character classes will make use of different stats. So
a swordsman might have very high strength and some dexterity whereas
some kind of wizard/magician character won't need very much strength.
Does this idea apply to "real life"?</p>
<p>Insofar as our <em>bodies</em> are concerned, I think this does apply. For
instance, if you train a lot of upper body strength, this may be
helpful for swimming or chopping down trees with axes. However, this
will add extra weight for a long-distance runner that doesn't help
with long-distance running so much. So our bodies can "optimize" to
fit particular activities we do. Likewise, people necessarily have to
focus on learning different things—if you want to get good at
playing guitar, you're going to have to decide whether or not you are
right or left-handed first. Then you train your right hand to do
certain things and your left hand to do other things. Coordinated
together, you make music. But your knowledge is tied up in your body.
If you flipped your instrument upside down and reversed your hands,
your knowledge wouldn't be able to instantly transfer/manifest itself
<em>in your playing</em>.</p>
<p>This is why it is important for us to <em>do</em> and to <em>practice</em> and not
just have "head knowledge" about how stuff works. "Idle knowledge" is
knowing how to do something—e.g. <em>learn another language</em>, but
then <em>not doing</em> it. Most of our hours should not be spent in just
"learning" (like attending class, learning theory), but in the
<em>practice</em> of activities whereby our theory becomes something that can
affect change on the spaces around us.</p>
<h2>Computer Mediated Action</h2>
<p>Computers (and software, more broadly) are complex tools that
<em>mediate</em> our actions. Whereas writing a letter by hand on a piece of
paper is pretty direct, the convenience of using a computer comes at
the price of fitting everything to the form that <em>a machine</em> likes.</p>
<p>One could argue something similar is going on playing a piano vs
playing a harp; the machinery itself constrains the types of actions
that can be done. Loss of control in certain areas allows more
efficiency or options in others.</p>
<p>As tools themselves become more complex, we see a lot of off-loading
of "skills" to machines themselves. So rather than skills, but
<em>knowledge</em> of <em>what</em> to do becomes important for doing more.</p>
<p>Since we have computers, lots of people do a lot less handwriting.
Many people feel awkward/uncomfortable writing by hand because they
are so accustomed to typing on keyboards—or even more abstract,
using the input methods of things like smartphones and tablets.</p>
<p>Is this a problem?</p>
<p>Insofar as our tools behave as we expect them to, then there isn't a
problem. However, what I have noticed is that when skills are highly
dependent on a very delicate/particular arrangement of stuff, you can
quickly find yourself in trouble if you don't have more
basic/fundamental skills. For example, very specialized knowledge in
one programming language (say, <code>FORTRAN</code>) can allow you to work very
effectively on systems that use that language. However, you will need
a lot of time to get "up to speed" working on a new system. Working in
a whole different domain entirely will require even more specialized
training. So a scientific computing <code>FORTRAN</code> expert will not readily
be able to do PHP web programming.</p>
<p>If all the computers went down for some reason, there would be even
more trouble.</p>
<p>This is the trouble with a lot of "high tech" learning. Relying on
specialized systems too much means humans forget how to do that one
kick that Bruce Lee fears and instead turn us into 10,000 different
kicks people who don't really know that they're doing. Dissipation of
energy and attention!</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1172021-04-06T00:00:00-07:002021-04-06T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-04-06:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-117.html<p>Ice Age Farmer put out <a href="https://www.iceagefarmer.com/2021/04/06/absolute-slavery-zero-carbon-agenda-deconstructed/">a
video</a>
video in which he pointed out a common pattern for introducing global
changes. Start with some grand narrative, e.g. <em>climate change due to
carbon emissions</em>. Then, take some terrible exemplar of what something
current looks like—e.g. a factory farm. Next …</p><p>Ice Age Farmer put out <a href="https://www.iceagefarmer.com/2021/04/06/absolute-slavery-zero-carbon-agenda-deconstructed/">a
video</a>
video in which he pointed out a common pattern for introducing global
changes. Start with some grand narrative, e.g. <em>climate change due to
carbon emissions</em>. Then, take some terrible exemplar of what something
current looks like—e.g. a factory farm. Next, beat this
easy-to-hate <strong>strawman</strong> as a representative with some entire
position—in this example <em>people should be free to consume
meat</em>. Furthermore, no explanation is given for how the current
situation arose. Why is meat production so centralized these days to
begin with?</p>
<p>Narratives like the one above pull on the emotional strings of people
based on a truth—factory farms look nasty. But then, this image
is tied with things that are not so directly related to it. Does
sustaining human populations <em>demand</em> farming as we currently have it?</p>
<p>Going in the other direction, we can see how all sorts of things get
attached to labels like <strong>"education"</strong> and <strong>"science"</strong>. Getting
smeared as being "against education" or "against science" emotionally
manipulates people based ont he <em>positive</em> associations of these
terms.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1162021-04-05T00:00:00-07:002021-04-05T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-04-05:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-116.html<p>Cleaning out some stuff in my room, I noticed that I have often kept
packaging for various stuff—for instance, the original box that
came with some electronic gadget. At times, this has been helpful for
getting more resale value buying/selling used stuff, but overall it is
a space-hogging …</p><p>Cleaning out some stuff in my room, I noticed that I have often kept
packaging for various stuff—for instance, the original box that
came with some electronic gadget. At times, this has been helpful for
getting more resale value buying/selling used stuff, but overall it is
a space-hogging activity that doesn't do much good.</p>
<p>It was through buying and selling used stuff that I first recognized
this habit I had picked up and learned how to get over it. Usually,
buying used stuff, you <em>don't</em> get the original packaging. And I found
that this was just fine—I haven't ever really wished I had the
original packaging for anything I own.</p>
<h2>What is given?</h2>
<p>This got me thinking that indeed it is true <em>the most precious things
don't come in packages</em>. What comes in packages? Manufactured goods.
People, animals, plants, rocks—these things do not come in
packages. Nor do many human-made things. Candles, desks, shelves, and
other products of traditional crafts <em>may</em> come in packages but this
need not be so. And they certainly don't come with bar codes all the
time like computer chips do, which require unique identifiers.</p>
<h2>Tools and "Consumables"</h2>
<p>We should understand that things don't last forever, just as we don't
get infinite time to be alive on this earth. When I die, what will
happen to my stuff? Hopefully the things I have will be useful to
<em>someone</em>, so that everything I have can be put to good use. Not
having as much stuff makes things simpler for obvious reasons.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1152021-03-31T00:00:00-07:002021-03-31T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-31:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-115.html<p>By examining our own habits (and individual actions), we can look at
how the choices we make impact the people and institutions around us.
For instance, growing up going to school, most of us probably had some
classes we liked more and others we liked less. Was this simply an …</p><p>By examining our own habits (and individual actions), we can look at
how the choices we make impact the people and institutions around us.
For instance, growing up going to school, most of us probably had some
classes we liked more and others we liked less. Was this simply an
issue of the <em>subject matter?</em> More so than this, we have
teachers—some are more effective than others— as well as
our classmates who "make or break" our experience. Some class might
have been very nice to be in not because the "material" was
interesting or engaging, but because the classroom offered a
"platform" to make friends, learn from mistakes without unduly strict
punishment, and so on.</p>
<h2>I've been to vending machines</h2>
<p>Why would anybody use a vending machine? An automatic box to feed
money to large corporations—for products that are likely not
very good for you. Yet I have used vending machines many times. Why is
this?</p>
<h3>Lack of planning/preparation</h3>
<p>One reason one might use a vending machine is because adequate
prepartions were not made. For example, understanding that you will
want something to eat at a lunch break at the office, why go to the
vending machine and choose among those choices? A moment of reflection
will reveal that with a little bit of planning you have many more,
<em>and better</em> options.</p>
<p>The ritual of going to a vending machine, looking at the glowing
lights, pondering what will be appetizing...</p>
<p>While this may be temporarily entertaining/engaging, I doubt many of
us reflect back on our time in front of vending machines as
particularly <em>good</em> experiences. Rather, we became enchanted by those
glowing rectangles and settled for a worse option than we could have
had if instead we had used our minds to set up a better system before.</p>
<h3>Lack of self-control</h3>
<p>Suppose you did pack yourself a nice lunch, but then stumbled across a
vending machine. Impulsively, pulling out the wallet, searching for
payment, we indulge ourselves in some <em>secret eating</em>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Lying awake at 3 AM, do I say "drinking that energy drink was a really
good idea"?</p>
<p>Small choices are not without consequences and the sooner we begin to
learn from our errors—rather than ignoring or
justifying—we can become less confused.</p>
<h2>Changing ourselves first</h2>
<p>The <em>modus operandi</em> of the modern "activist" is to rage at the world
for institutional change. With the vending machine example from
personal experience, I aimed to show how even seemingly small/simple
things we do can be instrumental in "fueling the beast"—first
the passions within ourselves, and then through that, the world which
responds to our requests.</p>
<p>As we notice the effects of evil in the world, the politicians market
to us to <em>vote this way</em> or <em>vote that way</em> to make change. I don't
think this is how change happens, though maybe some laws will get
passed and stuff.</p>
<p>Rather, by taking control of our thoughts (and through that, our
actions) we become the vessels by which "things get better". </p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Interestingly, <strong>secret eating</strong> is listed among the
<a href="http://www.innerlightproductions.com/2013/01/st-peter-of-damascus-virtues-and.html">passions</a>
to be overcome. In modern cultures, enjoying a little snack is
seen as something small and innocuous—maybe something to use
as a reward after completing some arduous task. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1142021-03-29T00:00:00-07:002021-03-29T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-29:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-114.html<p>What needs to be said? Anybody who has put forth great effort to try and change
themselves (or somebody else) will know that "talk is cheap"—while wise
words will help someone who has already decided to turn away from their old
mistaken ways, speaking much is wasted effort on …</p><p>What needs to be said? Anybody who has put forth great effort to try and change
themselves (or somebody else) will know that "talk is cheap"—while wise
words will help someone who has already decided to turn away from their old
mistaken ways, speaking much is wasted effort on someone who has decided to not
listen. In fact, saying more may have the opposite effect—we call this
<em>nagging</em> or <em>pestering</em> people.</p>
<p>A lot of marketing/"communication" training these days goes against this idea.
Rather than simply <em>giving people what they ask for</em> (e.g. you give a loaf of
bread to someone who can see/smell that the bread is good), we learn techniques
for telling people that they "need" things that they don't need or engineer
desires/wants within people.</p>
<p>I used to get excited about a lot of products and technologies. I was
interested in how I might "improve the world" by developing something new and
exciting. The longer I've studied technology, however, the more I've come to
the conclusion that there really isn't much for me to do in the area of
<strong>research</strong> (I was a graduate student). We already have all the tools we need
to "solve" the problems of the world. It is not a lack of technology, but
rather a lack of wisdom in how to use the tools/materials/etc that we already
have which prevent us from living what is called the <strong>Blessed life</strong> in the
Psalms.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Blessed <em>is</em> the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
(Psalm 1:1)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When we misdirect our thoughts and use what we've been given to chase vain
desires, we labor in futility.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1132021-03-27T00:00:00-07:002021-03-27T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-27:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-113.html<p>Where I am from, they would tell you to look up at the sky and see the
stars—balls of gas millions and millions of miles away. They would say to
visit them, you need to travel <em>light years;</em> light goes really fast, and a
year is a long time …</p><p>Where I am from, they would tell you to look up at the sky and see the
stars—balls of gas millions and millions of miles away. They would say to
visit them, you need to travel <em>light years;</em> light goes really fast, and a
year is a long time, so the distance light goes in a year is <em>really far</em>.
These are not distances that you or I can readily conceptualize apart from
equations. Stars are distant, the story goes, and we can't actually see what
they are doing <em>right now.</em> Rather, we're looking into the past, seeing dim
"light echoes".</p>
<p>Certain <strong>stars</strong> behave differently; that is because these are <strong>planets</strong>.
Likewise, you may see airplanes, satellites, and other objects in the night
sky—that's how the story goes at least.</p>
<p>In the night sky, you can view the moon. But curiously we only see one <em>side</em>
of the moon. The "dark side of the moon" is hidden from us; due to how stuff
rotates, we only see one side of the moon.</p>
<p>Visiting an observatory or looking through a telescope, you may be able to
confirm facts like "Mars appears reddish" or that some pattern of stars
(constellation) has indeed moved from here to there in the sky.</p>
<p>However, there seem to be an absence of "intermediary photos"; we are lacking
in <em>missing links</em> from what we can observe and confirm with our strongest
lenses/cameras available to normal people here on Earth and the images that
cost parties like NASA ga-ba-jillions of dollars to produce. For some reason,
despite having really good cameras, images of space use a lot of computer
graphics. Curiously, the quality of the images (c.f. <em>photographs</em>) we have of
"outer space" seem to parallel graphics and image manipulation technology
capabilities which we know Hollywood and now big video game studios have.</p>
<p>Some additional observations/questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Why does the <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/moon-daytime">moon in the
daytime</a> appear as a transparent
disc, roughly the size of the sun? <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></li>
<li>Why can't I find any <em>photographs</em> of satellites in space? <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></li>
<li>Why do "satellite TV" dishes get pointed at nearby towers, rather than upward
towards where you would expect a thing in "low orbit" to be?</li>
<li>Why does the United Nations' flag depict a disc/flat earth?</li>
<li>Why does the earth look pretty disc-like/flat in <a href="https://youtu.be/6WlI24rv__g">actual video
footage</a>? Note too how lens distortion and
other optical effects can change how we see "lines"—e.g. a GoPro is a
"wide" lens, whereas if you are taking a portrait, you'd typically use a
narrower setup.</li>
</ul>
<p>We are told that we are living under "secular" governance, or that there is a
separation of church and state here in the United States. I think that this is
not the case—rather we have a state religion that asks for complete faith
in the <strong>Astronautic fathers</strong>; that is, that we unquestionably believe the
reports of very few people who are literally federal agents to construct a
worldview. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>The implications of adapting the NASA religion are far reaching. Firstly, an
account like the "big bang" presents the idea of creation <em>ex nihilo</em>; stuff
just <em>coming to be</em>. Everything is regarded as fluid/changing, bolstered by the
speculative theory of Darwinian evolution (and a million variations thereof; it
is not a unified account). <sup id="fnref2:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup> While you can try to cope and reconcile this
with a traditional religion view like many Roman Catholics and liberal
protestants try to do, this train of reasoning leads to the view that <em>God
created death</em>. So you must believe that creation is good "just because" trying
to smash these things together.</p>
<p>For a while I tried to reconcile the NASA worldview with an interpretation of
the Bible I was taught. But as described above, stuff didn't really line up
with my intuitive understanding of what is "good". Why not embrace a Buddhist
position where all life/creation is suffering that we must somehow <em>transcend?</em>
In Internet lingo, <code>MAKE IT STAHP!</code></p>
<p>Providentially, through studying "science" further—learning "how the
sausage is made"—I came to understand how empty a lot of the "knowledge"
of our day is. <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup> Quantifying/counting stuff and applying a formal model
doesn't imply you understand something better, just that you've created a
system to try to optimize for something. Consider how Chipotle might have a
speedier setup for ordering certain types of burritos, but it doesn't "solve
the burrito problem" any <em>better</em> than less corporate options; doing more sales
of a particular form doesn't mean you found the "best burrito model".</p>
<p>As issues came up, I began to ask simple questions based on observations, like
the ones I brought up here. Simultaneously, I began to learn about the
esoteric/occultic leanings of many key figures in our scientistic era. For
example, you can look at the history of
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychonautics">psychonautics</a> and how bad brits
interested in drugs and eastern mysticism have influenced American culture in
all sorts of areas—entertainment/arts/music, government, education, and
so on. You can find public information on how <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons_(rocket_engineer)">Jack
Parsons</a>, a key
figure in the US Space program, as into creepy <a href="https://www.gaia.com/article/aleister-crowleys-famous-thelemites-a-misunderstood-magick">Aleister
Crowley</a>
occultism.</p>
<p>"Science" has never been separated from "religion", though the specifics of how
<em>scientia</em> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techne"><em>techne</em></a> (from which we
get the word <em>technology</em>) are done and split up have changed. In 2021, the
cult of <strong>STEM</strong> (Science Technology Engineering Math) effectively means
learning/practicing the Babylonian arts of our current age—trying to
numerically predict the future, attempting engineering a stable society. <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">5</a></sup></p>
<h2>Filtering Technological Applications from Worldview</h2>
<p>Lots of the "science" of our era produces <em>no practical results</em>. For example,
there is no real "practical" application of Darwinian evolution. Believing some
speculations about bones you've never seen and other unfalsifiable claims
passed as facts will not influence your work beyond maybe getting you fired for
being a "science denier". You can lay bricks, carve wood, program computers,
make trades and so on without a care in the world for <em>hominid</em> this or that.</p>
<p>Similarly, it practically doesn't matter if you believe the world to be round
or disc-shaped. Experientially, the world is flat; you know if you jump up, you
will fall back down to the ground. It doesn't matter if you explain this with
"gravity" and other equations.</p>
<p>Globe-zealots may get angry at you and tell you that their worldview is
<em>obvious</em>. But if you approach the world with child-like wonder, asking simple
questions, you will find that lots of the <em>scientia</em> of our day isn't accepted
based on solid proofs, but rather on <em>trust in authorities</em>.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Traditional cosmology accounts will refer to the sun as the "greater
light" and the moon as the "lesser light", governing timekeeping/seasons <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>You can find lots of photographs of "satellites" on the ground, CG'd
images, and photos of "lighter than air vehicles", and fancy kites. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Note too how people talk about "the vaccine"; but really there are a
whole bunch of different treatments, many of which <em>are not vaccines</em>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a><a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref2:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>Language tells us a lot; The Latin term
<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scientia#Latin"><em>scientia</em></a> from which the
English word "science" comes from means "knowledge", not something more
narrow like "that which emperical tests have not yet falsified". See Luke
Smith's <a href="https://notrelated.xyz/">Not Related!</a> podcasts for some accessible
takes on how science is done and the limits of modern man's understanding. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>In the book of Daniel, Israelites under captivity also learned the
arts/culture of the day—there isn't a contradiction between learning
current technologies/methods and understanding where
esoteric/occultic/religious elements are introduced <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1122021-03-26T00:00:00-07:002021-03-26T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-26:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-112.html<p>The "original encryption" of symbolism, different languages, allegory, and
parables cannot be silenced. As I've been exploring in my <em>Search Engine
Stupidity</em> series, a lot of players in this world now are trying to control
speech (and through this <em>thought</em>) via "data-driven"/algorithmic approaches. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Ultimately, this approach is futile …</p><p>The "original encryption" of symbolism, different languages, allegory, and
parables cannot be silenced. As I've been exploring in my <em>Search Engine
Stupidity</em> series, a lot of players in this world now are trying to control
speech (and through this <em>thought</em>) via "data-driven"/algorithmic approaches. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Ultimately, this approach is futile because the correspondence between <code>tokens</code>
(the characters/forms that we recognize; what computers can count) and meanings
is not fixed. Furthermore, the "<em>sum of the parts</em> is not equal to the <em>parts
of the sum</em>" (might have butchered this quote a bit). You can string together
words together in many ways—this is a fundamental idea in "generative
grammar"—how we can systematically build up meanings from a finite set of
rules. Simply blocking some <strong>keywords</strong> (including <code>hashtags</code>) <em>cannot prevent
meanings from being conveyed</em>. Indeed, <em>silence</em> too communicates...</p>
<h2>I don't expect "free speech"</h2>
<p>While having <strong>"free speech"</strong> is something many of us would <em>prefer</em> to have,
there are many reasons why this isn't some kind of normative requirement for a
"free/functioning society".</p>
<p>In the United States, we have seen certain parties at time press for more "free
speech" to allow the spread of all things lewd, crude, and rude. Then, when
"free speech" means revealing deeds of darkness then suddenly we get a
narrative of <em>fighting disinformation</em>. Lol.</p>
<p>I think a lot of these things are simply <em>outside of our control</em>. What we can
do, however, is learn to use language(s), symbols, and more to say what needs
to be said. We can move with swiftness some "algorithm" (implemented by people,
of course) cannot keep up with.</p>
<p>One thing I find kinda funny about all of this is that the way to do this isn't
<em>technical</em> so much as it is <em>personal</em>. Meaning, the tech/channels we have
available now are perfectly adequate for all sorts of communication. But it
takes tact to navigate them without getting banned and stuff. Obviously, you
don't want to use naughty words that will get your accounts flagged, blocked,
shadow-banned, etc. Operating in this way, you can utilize big platforms like
Facebook, Google, Twitter, and so on—extracting maximum value—while
not capitulating to their ideological agendas.</p>
<p>It is an <em>inversion of subversion!</em></p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p><a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-1.html">Part 1</a>, <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-2.html">Part 2</a>, <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-3.html">Part 3</a>, <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-4.html">Part 4</a>, <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-5.html">Part 5</a> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1112021-03-25T00:00:00-07:002021-03-25T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-25:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-111.html<p>Likely, you've heard the phrase "learn by doing". Indeed this is often the most
painless way to learn—we start by doing something relatively simple and
gradually build/add to our responsibilities. Before long, with steady
application of effort, we are able to do very complex things we probably
couldn't …</p><p>Likely, you've heard the phrase "learn by doing". Indeed this is often the most
painless way to learn—we start by doing something relatively simple and
gradually build/add to our responsibilities. Before long, with steady
application of effort, we are able to do very complex things we probably
couldn't have imagined ourselves doing (being unfamiliar with what goes on
such-and-such domain).</p>
<p>As an example from my own background, we can look at <strong>tech work</strong>. Many of the
most competent tech workers today got their start playing with equipment,
setting up their own systems, sorting their media collections, and so on and so
forth. Through these activities, they came to realize they needed certain tools
(e.g. a text editor to modify configuration files) to efficiently get certain
jobs done. Learning largely happens "on demand" as well in the relaxed
environment of sharing tips and tricks with other people working on similar
problems.</p>
<h2>Why don't young people have "useful skills"?</h2>
<p>A common complaint about millenials and zoomers is that they "don't know how to
do anything". Often this is true, but we have to look at <em>why</em>. One reason I
think that young adults of today don't know how to do a lot of "practical"
stuff is that that were not given "practical" things to learn with—</p>
<p>For instance, many young people today do not drive. They do not have a garage
they can work on cars in. Is it surprising that many young people today have
little to no knowledge about mechanical car things?</p>
<p>On the other hand, as illustrated above with the IT worker example, many young
people have spent countless hours dealing with computers, smart phones, and
stuff like that. People come to know the tools that they are spending a lot of
time with.</p>
<h3>Schooling</h3>
<p>What do people learn in school? Critics will often point out that schooling
optimizes "test takers" or paper shufflers (maybe digital <em>symbol shufflers</em> in
this era).</p>
<p>Indeed in school, you might learn how to <em>be on time</em> and how to <em>follow
orders</em>, but in terms of taking personal responsibility, design new systems,
and effectively take care of existing systems, schools are often some of the
worst places to learn things.</p>
<p>I have experience working with and running numerous student organizations. Now,
for these student organizations, there is always the hanging spectre of "end of
term" or "graduation". Students' commitment and involvement in these
organizations is (rightly) tempered by how long they will be involved in them.
So it is no surprise that it is difficult to retain good "club members" for an
organization that is pushed to the back-burner of ambitious students'
priorities—the students that get the best grades, aspire for the highest
paying careers, and so on and so forth know how to limit their commitment to
student organizations and instead optimize their time for involvement in the
areas that count the most. Oftentimes those organizations are ones in which
students will not have much agency in choosing <em>how stuff is done</em> or even what
<em>goals/policies</em> are set up; they are just integrating themselves into
massive/existing things (e.g. unions, professional societies, ...<code>secret
societies</code>).</p>
<h2>The solution is to do stuff</h2>
<p>People who come from a lot of school will not profit from just complaining
about how hard stuff is. What I wrote above, I hope, doesn't read as a
<em>complaint</em>—I'm just trying to state how stuff is and why people like me
(who have been through a lot of school) face particular sorts of challenges.</p>
<p>How do we move beyond the handicaps that schooling has imposed on us?</p>
<p>I think that the main thing to do is to start <em>doing stuff</em>, even if for very
cheap or free at first. Smart/practical students already know this—many
people are born into this position as they work jobs to pay their way through
school. For people that come from more privileged backgrounds though, this is
often a new challenge. How do you operate outside of "the matrix" of the
establishment?</p>
<p>Here, the humility of not being "above" any kind of work, the willingness to
learn from "less educated" people, and a desire to actually <em>do stuff</em> rather
than just being a grifter off of some perk of legislation or paper shuffling
becomes essential. We must practice doing "good/honest work" to be able to do
it steadily, for long periods of time. The sooner we are able to get a start at
it, the more we can learn and build up skills and capital to move beyond the
"risk-free, guaranteed return" myth of how the world works, pushed by the
technocratic elites of our day and age.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1102021-03-24T00:00:00-07:002021-03-24T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-24:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-110.html<p>It is very politically correct to frame any trouble in terms of "the pandemic".
To talk about <strong>coping</strong>, days "blurring together" (forced meme
"<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blursday"><strong>blursday</strong></a>"),
and how pharmaceuticals and other products of "the machine" can help us "just
get by". <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> It is almost as if everyone is being <em>encouraged</em> to …</p><p>It is very politically correct to frame any trouble in terms of "the pandemic".
To talk about <strong>coping</strong>, days "blurring together" (forced meme
"<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blursday"><strong>blursday</strong></a>"),
and how pharmaceuticals and other products of "the machine" can help us "just
get by". <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> It is almost as if everyone is being <em>encouraged</em> to embrace the
idea that they are traumatized and then to trust state-sanctioned solutions to
solve their problems.</p>
<p>The "mainstream narrative" pushed in one form or another by all major media
outlets is one of surrendering agency and capitulating to a kind of gnostic
worldview in which reality is cruel and impersonal, and only throught he
mediation of a kind of "<strong>Scientist/expert</strong>" priest class can we hope to make
progress. You are allowed to think how "trippy" quantum physics is and marvel
at the latest cosmology "discoveries". <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> Certain parties will be more than
happy to sell you various products aid you in <em>forgetting</em> what has been done or
to <em>distract yourself</em> from what is going around you.</p>
<p>Consider some slogans going on,</p>
<ul>
<li>"trust the experts"—let the establishment make decisions for you; don't
question the narrative</li>
<li>"build back better"—note the "666" in <em>6uild 6ack 6etter</em>; people in
power tore down the "old order" and are now trying to market a
"<strong>sustainable/green</strong> future of increased surveillance, more restricted
freedoms, and living arrangements that make us more tightly bound to
governments and major corporations. </li>
<li>"stop XYZ"—regardless of what XYZ is, "activism" of this sort often
amounts to <em>doing nothing</em>. Giving people the illusion of being influential
by joining in official outrage sessions provides a cathartic release in a
controlled setting from the perspective of administrators</li>
</ul>
<p>Note that the people pushing all of these things have massive budgets <em>and</em>
platform control. So while it may seem like "everyone is talking about
such-and-such", we see how social media platforms, bill boards, and signs
around the city, and other places where people advertise are monopolized by the
same parties with the same sorts of funding sources pushing the same sorts of
narratives.</p>
<p>Here, I'm not just calling "fake news" on everything—I will in fact cite
many major media outlets themselves reporting on who they are and who funds
them:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/10/28/499495517/big-media-companies-and-their-many-brands-in-one-chart">"Big Media Companies And Their Many Brands — In One
Chart"</a>
(2016) by NPR.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.cpb.org/">Corporation for Public Broadcasting</a> — "A
Private Corporation Funded by the American People"; while news outlets like
NPR or the BBC in the UK may sound "neutral" in that you might presume that
these organizations are just "working in the public's interest", closer
examination reveals they are just as "for profit" as other companies, only
they have a different model for getting revenue and project a different image
to the public.</li>
</ul>
<p>Big money and big government are behind both "private" and "public" media, and
they are work together to push the same sorts of narratives. <strong>Big Tech</strong> has
emerged over the past couple decades as a partner in crime. Look up how these
various big players buy up or assimilate smaller companies/organizations to see
how the octopus spreads its tentacles.</p>
<h2>"Main Street" vs Wall Street</h2>
<p>So does everything suck? Of course not. The establishment players I'm talking
about are are bank-rolled by coercion (taxes you don't really have a choice
about paying or not; big corporations can weaponize laws/lawyers like smaller
players can't). They are nearly everywhere and continue spreading their influence.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://nypost.com/2021/02/27/why-bill-gates-is-now-the-us-biggest-farmland-owner/">"The real reason why Bill Gates is now the US' biggest farmland
owner"</a>
(New York Post, 02/27/2021)—meanwhile, "normal people" struggle to own
any land at all</li>
<li>5G pushed on you; you didn't have to ask for it</li>
<li>Electric/self-driving cars means surrendering your autonomy; where does
electricity come from? Does manufacturing this stuff cause a lot of
pollution? A quick investigation will reveal that the "green revolution"
probably does more harm than good for the earth.</li>
<li>Proliferation of <strong>veganism</strong> and plant-based ultra-processed foods; just
look around town, you'll see all of this stuff</li>
</ul>
<p>There is a multi-front push for consolidation of control by some very powerful
people. Most people aren't "in" on some giant conspiracy—we all need
money to feed ourselves and/or our families. That being said, you only need <em>a
few villanious actors</em> and then a lot of people who will just "go along with
the program" to pull off schemes of evil design.</p>
<p>So don't go bully your local bank teller—that won't help anything. Do,
however, choose to spend money on "main street" (i.e. small, medium-sized
normal people businesses) and avoid giving control to the power hungry badguys
when you can!</p>
<h2>Outrage</h2>
<p>Events to express <strong>outrage</strong> over are being fed to shotgun style to the
population. If the race-baiting communists of BLM don't "get you", then maybe
talk targetting <em>your</em> demographic will be more moving (e.g. Anti-Asian crimes;
talk about the Mexican border). A one-size fits all fear-mongering scheme is to
talk about more regulations for firearms—more careful discussions about
what sorts of weapons people use to commit crimes (illegally acquired) and</p>
<p>Participating in state-sanctioned outrage doesn't help anything; it keeps your
hands tied and makes you passion-driven and ineffective. Power hungry people
would like you to be trapped in a rage-cycle because then you are
tamed—it is like playing with a cat with a laser pointer. Only the laser
dot is stories given to you by the news and the cat is your attention. </p>
<h2>Independent Voices</h2>
<p>Rather than naively trusting the big boys' news narratives, getting the
perspectives of people "on the ground" gives a fuller picture of what is going
on. This isn't a "Democrat vs Republican" or even "Right vs Left"
issue—transcend the <strong>dialectic</strong>.</p>
<p>Here's some people I've watched lately (these are not overtly political or
religious channels; useful information for anyone interested):</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQMnBA3CS502aghlcr0_aw">Coffeezilla</a>—especially
valuable for his work uncovering scams/pyramid schemes</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwi9Hu0rE5eblY4NiyTyX1A">ThisIsJohnWilliams</a>
real estate investor formerly based in California who discusses many finance
related topics, including current events/taxation/etc</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyawG3aTE7RmNQcFQskDWcw">Academic
Agent</a>—based
British guy who discusses topics like pop culture and economics</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7YOGHUfC1Tb6E4pudI9STA">Mental
Outlaw</a>—lots
of tech and corporate topics as well as practical info on DYI computing</li>
</ul>
<p>In this day and age where it is increasingly difficult to find more
"independent" takes via search engines (including Google, "the Youtube
Algorithm), sharing/spreading links <em>the old fashioned way</em> is often the best
way to be <em>ackshually</em> informed, I think. </p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/G0VbvYdtiXk">Don't KNow What Day It Is? Thank COVID.</a>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>E.g. through <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7_gcs09iThXybpVgjHZ_7g">PBS Space
Time</a> where a guy
talks in front of computer generated images about the nature of the cosmos <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1092021-03-18T00:00:00-07:002021-03-18T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-109.html<p>Fundamentally, what a <strong>business</strong> does is exchange some good or service for
some form of payment. So if you buy a chair for $30, you give the business $30
somehow and then they get a chair to you, somehow. Business can of course be
more <em>abstract/complex</em>. Insurance, for instance …</p><p>Fundamentally, what a <strong>business</strong> does is exchange some good or service for
some form of payment. So if you buy a chair for $30, you give the business $30
somehow and then they get a chair to you, somehow. Business can of course be
more <em>abstract/complex</em>. Insurance, for instance, has deals where you pay some
(hopefully) small-ish agreed upon amount at regular intervals. The insurance
company will then give you large sums of money in the case of whatever events
you are buying insurance for come to pass—e.g. a forest fire, theft, etc.
That is of course, how stuff is <em>supposed</em> to work by the textbook.</p>
<h2>Essentials</h2>
<p>"Normal expenses" include things like groceries, clothes, and tools for work. </p>
<p>But life has gotten more complicated in the modern era. Using some kind of
<strong>credit</strong> is extremely common—people go into debt for daily purchases
with credit cards as well as get into complex payment plans for bigger things
like homes and cars.</p>
<p>It is quite "expensive" to live—that's why we have this term
"<strong>affordability</strong>" or even "<strong>livability</strong>" to talk about how in some places,
you can work <em>reasonable</em> hours and earn enough money to pay your expenses and
still have time to do other things versus other places where you might work 3
part time jobs and sleep for 4 hours each night to barely get by.</p>
<p>"Everyday business" involves what you practically need to get by
day-to-day—food/water, clothing, and shelter. Then, there's everything else.</p>
<h2>Creating Demand Creates Business</h2>
<p>Beyond food/water, clothing, and shelter, there is <em>everything else</em>. This is
where most of the money in the world is. Day by day, most people take care of
"everyday business" stuff in one way or another—this could mean living in
a tent, getting free Costco samples, and wearing the same clothes for three
decades. Yet, all the <em>essentials</em> are met. This is not dating advice.</p>
<p>So people begin to produce things that go <em>beyond the basics</em>. Any large city
will have many foods—not just to allow you to stay alive but to draw you
in with artistic arrangements, various combinations of ingredients, and
ingredients like salt and oil that can make nearly any product of the earth
taste rich. People will rent land/office space and provide various
services—whether it is a barber shop giving haircuts or an ice skating
rink, you can exchange payment for people to give you access to things you
can't or won't do yourself.</p>
<p>Up to this point, we're still talking about fine and honest business.</p>
<h3>Fear</h3>
<p>Where business gets bad is when it begins <em>preying</em> upon "customers" to create
more demand. You can say that businesses that do this fail the "vibe
check"—they add more negativity to the air without offering additional
help, drawing in more money through harmful messaging.</p>
<p>The past year, 2020, has been super-charged by fear-based business. People will
purchase additional security (like cameras to monitor their homes), protective
equipment, and arrange the structure of their lives to <em>avoid risk</em>—at
least this is the selling point.</p>
<p>Note that "fear is contagious"; so if one person is afraid of something (e.g. a
darkmatter wave perturbation thingy) then suddenly others will begin to feel
they too are <em>licensed to fear</em> this same thing. In modern jargon, we call this
"<strong>raising awareness</strong>'.</p>
<p>So I might "raise awareness" of anti-Alan discrimination by making all sorts of
posts all over social media so that other people too can be afraid of anti-Alan
discrimination and help spread my message. Maybe they'll even buy a T-Shirt or
something from me.</p>
<h3>Coercion</h3>
<p>Some "businesses" you have to interface with whether you want to or not, albeit
indirectly. This is where <em>taxation</em> comes in. Governments dish out tons of
money all over the place, and you often have little to no say in what's going
on.</p>
<p>I would put <em>compulsory</em> education in this category; we're forced to pay for
schools whether we like what they're doing or not. Nobody is really against
"education" in the real sense of teaching people how to do useful stuff. </p>
<p>But what's happened little by little is that terms like "education" become
equated with particular instantiations/institutions such that if you oppose
some group—like a union—you will likely be branded as
"anti-education" and called mean names like a Luddite Dummy-head.</p>
<p>Other forms of profiting off of coercion come from making money off of
mandatory training, licensing, and regulating. Here, you don't really "make/do"
anything—you're in the business of getting people in trouble.</p>
<p>This is not to say that there isn't a real need for regulation. I've read my
Ayn Rand and I'm not one of these "anarcho-capitalist" types. The issue is
whether the regulators and regulations are doing what they're supposed to do or
if they are simply getting in the way of good, honest business.</p>
<p>In 2020, many small businesses had to shut down. Rules related to the Big Coof
(TM) meant that restaurants had to change much of how they operated and put a
lot of space to waste—chairs stacked on tables in empty restaurants... </p>
<p>Business owners were required by law to follow these guidelines. Breaking rules
of course <em>is</em> possible, but you might get in trouble especially if you're
surrounded by snitches.</p>
<p>I'm sure some businesses profited greatly from this all—many probably
popped up just to meet new manufactured needs. You can see scores of
"designer/fashion" masks, fancy COVID this-and-that posters, etc. None of this
was "free"—people got paid handsomely to perpetuate this narrative.</p>
<h3>Scams/Fraud</h3>
<p>What I'll call a <strong>scam</strong> is a business built off of a model of a <em>fake problem</em>.
If I tell you that you have some illness which you don't have and then convince
you to pay me a lot of money for a product that does nothing, all I've done is
lie and deceive to make my quick buck. This is a scam/fraud.</p>
<p>Ask yourself—do you think scam/fraud can occur at scale, even by our
"sacred" institutions? Do shiny advertisements and snappy websites <em>prove</em>
anything beyond lots of money spent?</p>
<h2>Problems will present themselves to you</h2>
<p>If you have a tooth ache, I don't need to tell you that <em>you should visit the
dentist</em>. Someone with a tooth ache will most likely start seeking out options
themselves to a problem they know they have. "My tooth is hurting and it is
distracting me from other things I need to give my attention to!"</p>
<p>A lot of media is in the business of telling you about <em>problems you didn't
know you had</em>. One might call this <em>meddling in business that is not your own</em>.
Who does it profit to get enraged about issue XYZ when you are not in a
position to do anything about it?</p>
<p>And the activist replies, "Oh, but <em>you can</em> do something about it. Give my NGO
money and help spread awareness".</p>
<p><code>Money printer go brrrrrr...</code></p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1082021-03-16T00:00:00-07:002021-03-16T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-16:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-108.html<p>Just recently, we had "Daylight Savings Time" something-something in
California. I heard at least one person complain about software problems with
this. The <em>quantification of time</em> remains a complex issue that you probably
shouldn't ever try to write software for yourself unless you are a specialist
with a deep understanding …</p><p>Just recently, we had "Daylight Savings Time" something-something in
California. I heard at least one person complain about software problems with
this. The <em>quantification of time</em> remains a complex issue that you probably
shouldn't ever try to write software for yourself unless you are a specialist
with a deep understanding of this topic. I will not go into extensive details
about the specifics of stuff here as to not tire you (the reader) and because
I wouldn't know what I was talking about.</p>
<h2>Everyday Experiences of Time</h2>
<p>Each day begins with the rising of the sun and ends with the setting of the
sun. You can verify "midday/noon" by when the sun is directly
overhead—you can see this by how shadows are cast.</p>
<p>During different seasons, we would say the days are <em>longer</em> or <em>shorter</em>. In
this sense, we can understand time in a <em>relative</em> way. Timing events like
<em>when to wake</em> and <em>when to sleep</em> with the seasons, you can see how the
generic "8 hour workday" of the modern world does violence to how we might more
naturally experience time doing some work more closely tied to the earth.</p>
<p>So the sun gives us a rhythm for each <em>day</em>.</p>
<p>When counting more than one day, we look to the moon. The moon will appear
differently on different days of a <em>month</em>. Note the word
<a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/month">"month"</a> comes from a form
meaning <em>moon</em>. In other languages I have experience with, we also find that
this is the case. For instance, in East Asian languages the character used for
months is the same one for <em>moon</em>.</p>
<p>Calendars measuring time based on cycles of the moon—<strong>lunar
calendars</strong>— have been developed in many different civilizations. The
following line from the Psalms plainly states this reality we all experience:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knowest his going down.<br>
(Psalm 104:19, <a href="https://biblehub.com/kjv/psalms/104.htm">KJV</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You may have heard something like "Chinese people used the <em>lunar</em> calendar,
but in the modern world we use a <em>solar</em> calendar". This is a big
oversimplification of this complex issue of counting time—Wikipedia on
the Lunar calendar says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The most commonly used calendar, the Gregorian calendar, is a solar calendar
system that originally evolved out of a lunar calendar system.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our current "best" calendar (the Gregorian calendar) is a smash-up of lunar
this and solar that with additional calculations mixed in. I couldn't recreate
it off the top of my head. I'll let Microsoft and stuff keep track of it for
now...</p>
<h2>Modernity on Time</h2>
<p>Fluent English speakers will be familiar with the phrase "like clockwork".
Clocks, for many people, represent <strong>precision</strong>. A clock represents the
accurate accounting of time past. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Luxury watches are something people
spend thousands of dollars on because among other reasons people admire the
craftsmanship of a visible and audible "mechanical genius". To behold a
well-made clock is to see the apex of human hands buildling automated
quantification—while a digital "quartz" watch may be more accurate, this
opacity of this sort of device (you can't see <em>how it works</em>; it is like a
"black box") makes it far less... romantic. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>To the modern person, a "day" is not so much defined by the cycles of the sun
and the moon, but by a quantification imposed by "the establishment". A day is
24 hours, we are told, and of those you should spend 8 working, 8 sleeping,
around 1 on a lunch break possibly, and the rest attending to various other
duties. For many, the "6 day work week" doesn't exist. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup> You get
"productivity" obsessed people trying to "squeeze more work out of less hours".</p>
<p>Indeed, for the modern person, we are often trained to think of time <em>not as
humans</em> but rather <em>as machines</em>. A boss does calculations—"how many
widgets per an hour can I produce and at what cost?" This boss may then add or
remove coffee machines, raise or lower rages, and exercise other buttons,
switches, and levers to extract as much <em>hourly output</em> as possible from his
(or her) hybrid workforce of humans and machines.</p>
<p>Our bodies groan under the unnatural structure of this quantified toil. Looking
at what people <em>ackshually</em> do in offices, you will be unsurprised to find a
lot of "slacking off". This isn't just because people are "lazy"—it is
also because we are trying to "install" largely "incompatible software" on
ourselves.</p>
<p>This isn't to say that <em>nobody</em> actually works as they do in business school
theory. Rather we can look at how certain "rhythms" of switching between
various activities (as well as social arrangements) are more or less <em>natural</em>
to us.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I've heard that is is bad luck in Chinese (folk) culture to give a clock
as a gift. This is because it is like "counting down till death". <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>See Wikip on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism">Romanticism</a>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Genesis describes the creation of the world in six days, with rest on the
seventh. Have any cultures ever successfully gone against this pattern? <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Written Communication, 20212021-03-16T00:00:00-07:002021-03-16T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-16:/pelican-test/written-communication-2021.html<p>What follows is an analysis on various forms of <em>written</em> communication and how
to make these tools useful to you. Choose the right (write? <em>har har</em>) tool for
the right job!</p>
<h2>What is available</h2>
<p>Most modern people make frequent use of at least a few different tools to do
written …</p><p>What follows is an analysis on various forms of <em>written</em> communication and how
to make these tools useful to you. Choose the right (write? <em>har har</em>) tool for
the right job!</p>
<h2>What is available</h2>
<p>Most modern people make frequent use of at least a few different tools to do
written communication. Here they are:</p>
<ul>
<li>e-mail</li>
<li>messaging apps (Messenger, LINE, WeChat etc)^[1]</li>
<li>websites (static)—sites you go on to "look up information"; contrast
this with a <em>dynamic</em> website like Facebook which has constantly
changing/updating content</li>
<li>books and other print resources</li>
</ul>
<p>Each of these tools have properties that make them well-suited for certain
jobs, but terrible fits for others. Through my experience being an Internet
nerd, I will share how to use and <em>not</em> use these tools.</p>
<h3>E-mail</h3>
<p>The basic form of these things is pretty fixed for now. While Gmail and other
"modern" e-mail applications might introduce new (anti-)features like various
notification this-and-that, the basic functions of e-mail have now been
established for decades. The name <strong>e-mail</strong> accurately expresses what it
is—electronic (or <em>digital</em>) mail.</p>
<p>E-mail is good for longer-form, carefully written messsages. For instance, many
people will still go to e-mail first for the purposes of...</p>
<ul>
<li>Reaching the author of a book/paper with a question</li>
<li>Contacting a company to inquire about job openings/offerings</li>
<li>Checking up on a friend/relative who doesn't use social media like Facebook,
Instagram, etc</li>
<li>Detailing/documenting some situation or issue and sending a report to
relevant parties</li>
</ul>
<p>Like physical mail, dealing with e-mail often involves the issue of dealing
with some accumulating pile of <em>unread</em> or <em>unsorted</em> messages. Before Gmail
became widespread, people also had to <em>delete</em> messages to manage a finite
amount of storage space. Gmail made the idea of "archiving" mainstream—
never deleting anything so Google, federal agents, and maybe you, can easily
search past messages for relevant information you won't "throw away" on
accident.</p>
<p>This <em>archiving</em> ability of e-mail makes it useful as a <em>log of
communications</em>. So suppose you need to have some work done on your home.
E-mail communications provide a "paper trail" to make sure everything gets
taken care of, workers are fairly compensated, and so on and so forth. Trying
to track these things through a messier chat log would be difficult. Having
clearly written but thorough e-mail messages written with the intention of
being easily searchable and providing documentation beats an app like FB
Messenger.</p>
<p>E-mail is thus <em>good for doing work</em> that involves clear, intentional
communication. It discourages idle talk because you know that your chatter will
be more junk to sort through later. <em>You will annoy yourself later</em></p>
<p>E-mail is not so good for "pinging" people, multi-party (more than two people)
conversations or sending messages that require more than text and/or a couple
of images. Many people (myself included) don't constantly watch their e-mail
inboxes while working. You probably have better things to do than to stare at
your mailbox waiting for the postman—unless you're a dog. So to reach
someone "instantly", a phone call, a message on a chatting app, etc may be a
more sure-fire way to establish contact. Or, of course, you can schedule a time
to call via e-mail.</p>
<p>Threads with a lot of people are difficult and confusing to read—not much
more to say on this one.</p>
<p>Finally, the form of e-mails is limited by the medium. If you have to present
information in a very specific way (e.g. you have a gallery of photos to
share), then linking to a website <em>in an e-mail</em> is preferable to a chain of 25
e-mails each with a giant <code>.jpeg</code> attached to it.</p>
<h3>Messaging Apps</h3>
<p>Messaging apps are useful for havin conversations in the "digital world". While
I think a lot can be said about how "face-to-face" or "in-person" conversations
are superior to online conversations, I think we can appreciate how in the
modern world most of us often have to interface with the <strong>digital veil</strong> which
rests above "base reality".</p>
<p>Like different physical places, different chatting platforms have different
properties. In 2021, <strong>Discord</strong> is the de-facto "chat room" app for NEETs
awaiting government stimulus checks. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> It is a useful place to connect with
interest-centered communities—e.g. computer programmers, digital artists,
and organic farmers.</p>
<p>Facebook messenger is a go-to place for "real life" contacts. Many people
around my age (millennial generation) understand that Faceboook "glows", but
this is acceptable for nearly all "normal/everyday" conversations. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>
Deciding where to meet a group of friends under surveillance cameras is already
being watched and recorded, so you might as well use the nice IT infrastructure
big tech provides to facilitate such a meeting.</p>
<p>Most people you see walking around, sitting on benches, etc with mobile devices
probably are using some chat app. <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup> A fact of 2021 is that lots of people do
much of their chatting online. So getting skilled/comfy in these platforms can
be helpful for getting stuff done.</p>
<h3>Websites (Static)</h3>
<p>I'm a big fan of <em>static</em> websites—that is, websites that aren't
"social", fueled by ever-changing data contributed by users. You can think of a
static website like a print resource you can access via a phone, computer, etc.</p>
<p>Think about useful information you might want to look up:</p>
<ul>
<li>Recipes to cook</li>
<li>Manuals for machines, programming languages</li>
<li>Charts, reference books, etc</li>
</ul>
<p>Rather than having a ginormous (paper) library, having easily searchable
digital documents can be nice.</p>
<p>At their best, these resources are freely available, don't annoy you with
advertisements, and display nicely on a wide variety of devices (like desktop,
tablet, mobile).</p>
<h3>Print Resources</h3>
<p>Print resources can't be changed by some central server and thus are a valuable
decentralized data store. <em>You</em> are in charge of the security of these things.
You won't be "gaslit" by Big Brother so easily with these materials.</p>
<p>The cost of this is convenience; oftentimes using paper resources may be a
slower, more complex process than using digital technology.</p>
<p>Maybe in the long run, however, this is actually good. For instance, I learned
how to read/write lots of Chinese characters via the "old-fashioned" pen and
paper methods. I am not sure I could have learned what I have with only digital
resources.</p>
<h2>Summary</h2>
<p>In 2021, digital written communications are everywhere. Understanding various
properties of each common form of digital communication can be helpful for
avoiding useless "innovations" and making the most of existing platforms.</p>
<p>If e-mail does something better, you gain no advantage having everyone in your
project switch to some new fancy chat service. Likewise, trying to smash
something that is better done via chatting to e-mail will make your inbox bleed
and lead to confusion. Some things need no "discussion"—static webpages
<em>without</em> comments and stuff can be best for lots of content.</p>
<p>Thinking first of the <em>work that needs to be done</em> and then choosing the
appropriate tool is better than trying to use some one tool for 8 hours a day
(just because it is in some job description made by some HR person).</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Different nations seem to have their favorite "preferred" app. Likewise,
there will be online communities centered around particular apps—lots
of privacy concerned people like <strong>Signal</strong>. Neckbeards (<em>ackshual</em> or in
character) enjoy <strong>Discord</strong>, Crypto enthusiasts like Telegram... <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Not Employed, in Education, or Training <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>"Glows" refers to federal agents, government surveillance, etc.;
Facebook/Messenger clearly isn't a "free" and "privacy-centric" platform. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>I don't have a source. Go back to reddit, nerd! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1072021-03-09T00:00:00-08:002021-03-09T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-09:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-107.html<p><strong>Libraries</strong> of earlier times were primarily collections of (paper) books.
Nowadays, many things which may have been previously stored on paper are found
in databases on servers. A "digital transformation" is largely complete. </p>
<h2>There are lots of different sorts of books</h2>
<p>When modern people think of books, people often think …</p><p><strong>Libraries</strong> of earlier times were primarily collections of (paper) books.
Nowadays, many things which may have been previously stored on paper are found
in databases on servers. A "digital transformation" is largely complete. </p>
<h2>There are lots of different sorts of books</h2>
<p>When modern people think of books, people often think of types like <strong>novels</strong>
or "non-fiction" books—documents on history, politics, etc.</p>
<p>Likewise, we have practical books like <strong>cookbooks</strong> and manuals. Many (most?)
people don't bother using paper books for these. Instead, they'll look up
recipes online, access the most recent documentation for some machine...</p>
<h3>Digital assets</h3>
<p>Another type of "library" is an (originally) digital collection.
Libraries of digital assets can be things like,</p>
<ul>
<li>Software libraries</li>
<li>3D textures, models</li>
<li>Stock images</li>
</ul>
<p>Artists might buy reference books full of many images of a particular
type—e.g. birds, swordsman poses</p>
<p>Once you have a useful set of pre-made things, you can compose them in ways
that are useful to you provided you have the necessary skill. Libraries save
time because you don't have to re-do "re-inventing the wheel" or doing
"original research" (which can be costly and time consuming).</p>
<h2>The dangers of (digital) centralization</h2>
<p>The new digital way of doing libraries has a lot of problems. Crucially, if a
"client-server" setup where you access a library through your terminal (e.g.
smartphone, web browser), you <em>do not control the resources you are accessing</em>.
While practically, we cannot control everything we use—the modern way is
to be in a highly networked world—certain stuff which we access everyday
is probably best left de-centralized.</p>
<p>One example of this is a "music library". Nowadays, many people turn over their
music listening to a service like Spotify. What happened to having a curated
collection of carefully selected things to listen to? Now <em>somebody else</em> can
alter your music collection remotely.</p>
<p>Centralized control means that 3rd parties (big corporations, governments) can
control what information people have access to. Obviously, this can be used to
"control the narrative", to-down.</p>
<h3>"You don't know what you're missing"</h3>
<p>People born into this system of digital centralized control will not have the
same experiences of browsing libraries, open forums of discussion, and other more organic means of <em>discovery</em>.</p>
<p>Rather, information is being fed to people like how a <em>guided tour</em> seeks to
contextualize and control how visitors see some place.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1062021-03-01T00:00:00-08:002021-03-01T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-03-01:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-106.html<p>One tool for decision making is <strong>casting lots</strong>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Often, we aren't sure
which of multiple choices is better. So rather than being held back by
<em>inaction</em> ("paralysis by analysis"), we can appeal to some <em>random</em> process
to give us a decision. I use the word "random" here in the …</p><p>One tool for decision making is <strong>casting lots</strong>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Often, we aren't sure
which of multiple choices is better. So rather than being held back by
<em>inaction</em> ("paralysis by analysis"), we can appeal to some <em>random</em> process
to give us a decision. I use the word "random" here in the sense that <em>you</em> don't
know whether a coin will come up heads or tails—we'll go with the
intuitive notion of this rather than try to formalize it with complicated
maths.</p>
<p>The method of casting lots is easy; just assign options to outcomes and run a
random number generator, flip some coins, etc. Studying some probability
theory (<strong>discrete math</strong> generally is probably useful too) can show you more
sophisticated things to do.</p>
<h2>Action!</h2>
<p>Getting organized can make the tasks of many (most?) days well laid out.
Sometimes, however, we may be asked questions or asked to make decisions on
things we don't really have a clear "reading" on. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> Bashing your head
against a wall probably isn't going to make anything more clear plus you have
other things to do. How should you proceed?</p>
<p>Casting lots is an application of <strong>faith</strong> in that you are deciding to free up
your attention/focus from some present issue and accepting whatever outcome the
"random" process gives you.</p>
<p>Rather than being stuck <em>doing nothing</em>, you <em>trust a process</em> having done
other preparations/thinking already.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Today I looked at Acts 1:26 <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>I've been with groups friends who have spent too long answering some
question like, "where should we go to eat?". As I've gotten older, I've found
that things I've taken for granted in the past—like meeting up with
friends—can actually be a very difficult thing to happen. If you only
see some friend like... once a year, do you really want to waste time talking
about <em>where to eat?</em> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1052021-02-26T00:00:00-08:002021-02-26T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-26:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-105.html<p>I've been doing some learning on digital media—graphics, video editing
and so on. There's tons of money going into this stuff because we're all being
made to interface with the world through what academics call <strong>Computer
Mediated Communication</strong>.</p>
<p>There's some more spooky angles to this—people in developed countries …</p><p>I've been doing some learning on digital media—graphics, video editing
and so on. There's tons of money going into this stuff because we're all being
made to interface with the world through what academics call <strong>Computer
Mediated Communication</strong>.</p>
<p>There's some more spooky angles to this—people in developed countries are
being physically isolated (remember "<strong>(deep) social distancing</strong>") from
another and asked to get all of their information through digital channels such
as news websites, YouTube, and so on. What this means is that we are expected
to trust a description of reality based on second-hand sources. Truly, we don't
<em>know</em> that the things we see on TV or in the movies are as <em>they are presented
to us</em>.</p>
<p>Researching <strong>advertising</strong> or "how to lie with statistics" or even magic (as
in showmen/illusionists) will show you how a lot of deception is done <em>at
scale</em>.</p>
<p>To better understand stuff, an approach I've been taking is to <em>see how stuff
is done</em>. So for example, you might here all this hype about "cloud computing".
Anybody can go look up information about how this stuff is <em>actually</em> put
together and see behind the corporate buzzwords.</p>
<p>This is real education—learning how things work so you can properly
discern what is legit and what isn't.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1042021-02-23T00:00:00-08:002021-02-23T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-23:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-104.html<p>I looked over this piece, <a href="https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2021/3/250710-the-decline-of-computers-as-a-general-purpose-technology/fulltext">"The Decline of Computers as a General Purpose
Technology"</a>
which I found on Hacker News (via <a href="https://skimfeed.com">skimfeed</a>, a news
aggregator). Indeed there are generic "personal computers" suitable for demands
of school/work/etc. The Chromebook is a microcosm of the browser-based
"subscription machine"—by choosing …</p><p>I looked over this piece, <a href="https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2021/3/250710-the-decline-of-computers-as-a-general-purpose-technology/fulltext">"The Decline of Computers as a General Purpose
Technology"</a>
which I found on Hacker News (via <a href="https://skimfeed.com">skimfeed</a>, a news
aggregator). Indeed there are generic "personal computers" suitable for demands
of school/work/etc. The Chromebook is a microcosm of the browser-based
"subscription machine"—by choosing to operate on a Chromebook a user is
seeking a low-cost, functional solution to what most people do with technology:
<em>interfacing with Big Tech</em>. Users with more specific needs will know they need
other tools. For instance, a business may know they need to purchase servers, a
gamer may know about the latest fancy graphics cards, and a YouTuber may know
some things about audio and video equipment and network speed requirements.</p>
<h2>Diversity via Hierarchy</h2>
<p>Consider <em>birds</em>. Different birds have different ways of living; some have long
necks to dip in the water, other birds have beaks that are effective at
different tasks—pecking holes, crushing seeds, etc.</p>
<p>This is a general pattern we see everywhere; and as described above with
technology, <em>we can't really get away from this pattern</em>. While we might try to
impose requirements to standardize systems (consider: a fast food chain),
hierarchy always seems to come back and similar sorts of divisions are found
again and again. </p>
<p>With "computers", of various kinds we're seeing patterns like...</p>
<ul>
<li>Everyone is expected to have a "smartphone" (nowadays usually just called a
<em>phone</em>); this is used to verify ID and stuff</li>
<li>You are expected to have a mailbox (e-mail) and a "desk" (office software)</li>
<li>People have various forms of "recreation"—notice how gaming has become
more "inclusive" in that it includes people of all ages, male and female,
etc; watching videos online is something most people do</li>
<li>Social media accounts as well as accounts on big platforms like Amazon and
Ebay are analogs to various places you may go—the marketplace, social
gatherings etc</li>
</ul>
<p>The above things form the digital "person" which governments, employers, etc
can track you with. Having the hardware of a phone is basically all that is
required for this. This is the "baseline" urban person.</p>
<p>Now, there are ways in which we can "upgrade" our digital "person". I once
jokingly said something like, "if you give me a laptop, I can do ten times as
much as I could without one"—indeed many of the "skills" that people
train themselves for these days rely on certain <em>systems</em> being in place.</p>
<p>Going above and beyond the baseline phone'd "person", we have different
divisions. First, there are the "latest phone" type people; often, these people
are well-paid so they can enjoy the latest equipment to... go on and post to
social media, buy stuff through platforms, etc. This is like <code>Normie++</code>; this
sort of person doesn't need to possess any specialized technical knowledge or
anything, but because of their place in society they are distinguished by
having a fancier phone. This is similar to having expensive, name brand
clothes.</p>
<p>Next, there are the technician "power users" of the first order. Often these
people have laptops or desktop computers. They understand a little bit about
what they are using beyond the average uncritical user. I would put many (PC)
gamers into this category; they are aware of different machines—otherwise
they might just purchase a console and play games in the sort of "uniform" way
that a <code>Normie++</code> would. I'll call this group <code>PC Gamers</code>.</p>
<p>Then we have <code>Capitalists</code> who don't just <em>consoom</em> with their electronic
devices; they actively are involved in getting money in some way or another by
making use of their technology. These people approach computers not just as a
"home" for the digital "person", they operate on computers as a business. I
would include "content creator" types in this category—for them, places
like YouTube are not just for play/exploration—they are for <em>business</em>.
People directly involved in buying/selling good and services related to
augmenting the digital "person" are here.</p>
<p>Another group of people I'll call <code>untouchscreenables</code>. These people reject
the digital "person" as much as possible OR are people that simply can't/won't
learn the "new way of doing things". In some respect, these people are "out of
the system", but in other ways they are simply just <em>not inputting into the
system</em>. You see, social media sites may create <strong>shadow profiles</strong> of you,
inferring your existence from other people's communications... <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Finally, there are the <code>Feds</code>. These people may be literal federal agents, or
they might be people like big tech workers who have direct sway over hardware &
software (the "fabric" of the matrix) and digital "persons".</p>
<p>The categories I give above can of course be debated, reformulated, and so on,
but the general point is that <em>there is a hierarchy</em> and we can find <em>distinct
types</em>. In the natural world, we can see how different animals have different
characteristics. Likewise, we see that people fall into patterns. And even in a
new, human-made thing like the Internet and this big network of machines, we
don't see everyone becoming a build-a-PC hobbyist nerd. Rather, we see distinct
classes arise.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>This is one reason I choose to keep social media. Even if I delete my
profiles, I'll expect them to "still be there". So at least I might have some
control if I keep "my" accounts... <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Law and Code, Impersonal systems2021-02-22T11:57:00-08:002021-02-22T11:57:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-22:/pelican-test/law-and-code-impersonal-systems.html<p>Today I thought a bit about <strong>software licensing</strong> mostly in simple human
terms—I was thinking about this considering the fact that all widely used
pieces of software will contain software licenses in their <strong>source code</strong>.
In what ways can we understand "law as code"?</p>
<h1>Nerds just wanna coooooooooode</h1>
<p>I …</p><p>Today I thought a bit about <strong>software licensing</strong> mostly in simple human
terms—I was thinking about this considering the fact that all widely used
pieces of software will contain software licenses in their <strong>source code</strong>.
In what ways can we understand "law as code"?</p>
<h1>Nerds just wanna coooooooooode</h1>
<p>I think many people that get into software just like writing programs. With a
nice environment, it feels great to order symbols, seamlessly translating
thought into characters on the screen, which in turn can <em>do work</em> even outside
of machines.</p>
<p>Open Source and Free Software enthusiasts will be the first to tell you about
how licensing not only affects <em>which software you have to pay for</em> (with US
Dollars or your favorite fiat currency), but perhaps more importantly <em>what
kind of software gets developed</em>. That is, different licenses and approaches to
<em>software engineering</em> lead to different sorts of projects & outcomes. </p>
<p>Hobbyists (people that just like working with computers) will often have
attitudes like,</p>
<ul>
<li>"I don't care if anyone re-uses my code if they find it useful"</li>
<li>"I want to use software I can freely copy, modify, distribute, etc"</li>
<li>"I have more trust in publicly available software that can be <em>audited</em> by
3rd party specialists"</li>
</ul>
<p>On the other hand, business owners might have concerns like,</p>
<ul>
<li>"I want to use software that is as inexpensive as possible"—this not only
includes paying for things like Windows licenses, it also includes stuff like
<em>wages for employees</em></li>
<li>"I want to outsource/distribute risk if possible"—if Microsoft or
Google can deal with expensive security, this would often be preferable to
dealing with the potentially very high legal costs of getting sued</li>
<li>"I want to appeal to customers"—a business owner might feel that
choosing more established/conservative solutions is preferable to using
cutting-edge tools as these things have been proven to deliver value to
customers. On the other hand, a startup might try to appear to be
"cutting-edge/ahead-of-the-curve" by adapting unconventional, experimental
technologies.</li>
</ul>
<p>We thus might find that hobbyists want to work with things that businesses
don't. Hobbyists might want decentralized, idiosyncratic setups while
businesses may opt for standardization (even if it means working with "boring
technology"). Businesses might not trust home-brewed solutions as much as
"official" solutions, even if a programmer could demonstrate how some Windows
setup or something is in many ways worse than some custom free software stack.</p>
<h1>Law as a Platform</h1>
<p>When talking computer stuff, you <em>must talk about "big tech"</em> to understand the
shape stuff takes. For instance one reason someone might choose to use Windows
over Linux is because of <strong>hardware support</strong>, often in the context of playing
games on a fancy graphics card or something. The software choice of Windows is
based indirectly on the fact that big companies like Microsoft, Intel and NVIDIA and
so forth can work together behind closed doors to make certain "stacks" (or
"configurations") perform better than others. You might only be able to "fully
utilize" some graphics card by running a handful of proprietary pieces of software.</p>
<p>Legal considerations about what information you can/can't access is very
important for companies that fund research. Assuming some business is operating
to make money (and by extension gain power through market dominance), the big
companies that are able to fund research at big scale don't want to just
swallow all the costs of what they're doing without special benefits.</p>
<p>Legal documents are a higher level of "code" underwhich instructions to
machines are written.</p>
<p>You can think of programming as dealing with "legal documents" in different
scopes. For example, in Browser Land, people typically use JavaScript to
<em>govern</em> what buttons do, maybe how some UI elements move around, and so on. In
"real life", you likewise have rules to determine stuff like <em>when trash gets
picked up</em>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Both law and computer programming can be realms where <em>morality</em> doesn't exist;
rather there is some other stinking pile of complications by which judgements can be made.
That is why there can be silly "legal loopholes" that "don't make sense". Code
might work but not be "elegant". In both cases, you have beastly systems that
are crucially <strong>impersonal</strong>.</p>
<p>The project of <strong>automation</strong> is often doing something like taking <em>personal</em>
aspects out of work (which could involve dishonesty, negligence) by putting
completely subservient machines in the place of human actors.</p>
<h2>What protocols can(n't) guarantee</h2>
<p>Consider the whole idea of a <em>protocol</em>. We can guarantee data is transmitted
in a particular way with protols like HTTP; on the other hand, it would be very
difficult to get another person to correctly transmit some message
word-for-word orally.</p>
<p>While we are able to guarantee some form of "data integrity", we clearly can't
ensure some message is effectively communicated if we consider actual
<em>meaning</em>. We've all read things we didn't understand well, even if the
characters forming such-and-such texts were correctly transmitted.</p>
<p>Thus we have law, code, and more in place to help remove error and make things
more effectively. But what often happens is we just created alternative, often
increasingly absurd systems that operate by <em>rules</em>—but these rules do
not necessarily "map to reality" to accomplish basic goals like "facilitating
communication" or "satisfying material needs" better than older, non-digital
technologies.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>It is not coincidental that many terms in computer stuff broadly
correspond to "real world" analogs—consider <strong>garbage collection</strong> in
relation to the previously stated analogy. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Search Engine Stupidity, Part 52021-02-18T00:00:00-08:002021-02-18T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-18:/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-5.html<p>I found a video, <a href="https://youtu.be/jti77KQKYuc">How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Humanity - With Dr.
Paula Boddington</a> (Jonathan Pageau, 02/18/2021)
which provides analysis on lots of the ideas I started to explore here in this
blog. </p>
<p>Notes with timestamps follow,</p>
<ul>
<li>01:00—introduction to "pop science" conception of this topic; people …</li></ul><p>I found a video, <a href="https://youtu.be/jti77KQKYuc">How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping Humanity - With Dr.
Paula Boddington</a> (Jonathan Pageau, 02/18/2021)
which provides analysis on lots of the ideas I started to explore here in this
blog. </p>
<p>Notes with timestamps follow,</p>
<ul>
<li>01:00—introduction to "pop science" conception of this topic; people
coming up with "Codes of Ethics" for AI ("Artificial Intelligence"); in order
to do this right, you have to get more fundamental issues clarified. For
instance, what are <em>people</em> (and what are systems we call AI)</li>
<li>05:10—AI gets "personified"; "intelligence" viewed as the pinnacle of
human existence</li>
<li>06:10—when do we <em>want</em> to replace humans? enhance humans? clearing a
landmine is a good use-case for not using a human. but what about <em>enhancing</em>
humans? bias towards the "cognitive"</li>
<li>07:10—image of <strong>golem</strong>; popular in 19th c w/ Frankenstein and stuff.
It is a kind of <em>mirror;</em> reflects our ideas of morality. Making people
"better" usually means something like... adding power/capacity.</li>
<li>08:30—"AI <em>dethroning</em> humans"; anthropological issue of the place of
humans relative to other things and creatures in the world</li>
<li>09:30—What are humans being "dethroned" at? Obviously, we have machines
that can travel faster than people, lift heavier objects, etc. Is winning at
chess/go/etc similar?</li>
<li>10:20—"underdog/revolutionary" story dominant in the West. <em>Desire</em> for
AI takeover, alien takeover... cuckolding? Stories from Greeks</li>
<li>11:30—technical impossibility of "general intelligence"; beyond this
issue is <em>what people believe is true</em>. We don't even <em>know</em> if other people
are conscious; how can we tell that machines are? We operate in the world
with <em>assumptions</em> about how stuff works. e.g. we assume people are more
important than animals</li>
<li>13:50—<strong>idols</strong> as the <em>creation of a body to host intelligence</em></li>
<li>14:40—we <em>trust</em> big tech in the same way the ancients trusted their
gods; system set up so you are forced to interact with these entities</li>
<li>16:00—some people <em>looking forward</em> to "superintelligence", others
afraid—a <strong>false dichotomy</strong> in that we're already in this system.
Similar to in ancient times, through a <strong>"priestly caste"</strong> the will of these
things is explained to us. Nowadays, this caste includes tech elites.
Superior in understanding? Do you want to entrust your fate to them?</li>
<li>18:25—analogy of "ethics of weapon making"; can you impose an ethical
system on AI? or, just recognize moral implications</li>
<li>20:20—the way we think about <strong>privacy</strong> is shaped by how we use
technology. Technology is changing the way in which we interact with each
other <em>in its own image</em>. There is a kind of parasitic relationship between
info tech and people.</li>
<li>21:30—humans as "sex organs of the machine"; 22:30— however, we
should also recognize the agency of tech oligarchs in operating/directing the
machine</li>
<li>21:50—without the Internet, social media, etc the whole COVID phenomena
we are experiencing now wouldn't be possible. Lock-downs wouldn't be
possible.</li>
<li>24:20—"In reality, there was no lock-down. There were just middle class
people hiding with working class people delivering stuff to them"</li>
<li>25:00—digital interactions strip lots of things from
interactions—"body language", smells in the room, etc; we sense lots of
things in places where we meet people</li>
<li>25:40—social media as <em>entertainment brought to the person-to-person level</em></li>
<li>26:30—<strong>electricity</strong>, electricity going beyond our bodies</li>
<li>27:00—we can <em>sense</em> people looking at us. Animals too have all sorts
of ways of perceiving. Digital tech is extremely focusing/limiting</li>
<li>28:00—digital interactions "clean up" interactions—this makes me
think too of how all these cartoon avatars/profiles and stuff are popular.
People are trying to get rid of the "messiness" of interactions</li>
<li>29:10—<strong>attention</strong> as the basis of reality; LIKE mechanism as a
measure of attention. Quantifying attention.</li>
<li>30:20—attending to a person is a very complex thing. LIKE as a
"currency of attention" is rather crude in that all sorts of ways of paying
attention can be reduced to the same thing—all "likes" counted the
same, regardless if some video/article/etc is <em>life-changing</em> or just seen in
passing. quantity > quality</li>
<li>32:00—the system itself ("turning attention into currency") limits the
extent to which ethics can be applied</li>
<li>33:40—reducing intelligence to quantity, mechanizing this—humans
are treated like animals or machines</li>
<li>34:40—FB and Twitter recognized you <em>get</em> people via attention. Setting
up a "false god" they didn't yet realize the way to optimize attention
grabbing is by appealing to the "<strong>lizard-brain</strong>" (base passions)</li>
<li>36:00—intelligence comes from <em>humans</em>; human output is fed to
machines. Horrendous jobs of <strong>content moderation</strong>. Actual <em>people</em> doing
the labor; it is false to say machines are doing this. Rather, poorly paid
people are</li>
<li>36:40—human intelligence is "farmed" and fed to machines</li>
<li>37:30—Unlike the film <em>The Matrix</em>, humans are being farmed for
"intelligence" rather than body/heat</li>
<li>38:00—whole system is really "energy hungry"; rather than having
endless leisure because machines do all the labor for us, what do we find?</li>
<li>39:50—Genie and the wish; people wanted something, but didn't think of
the <em>side effects</em></li>
<li>40:00—"hate speech" detection. Can machines detect irony? Or all the
people that inform the machine algorithms? Can you get rid of "bias" to begin
with? Cultural issues!</li>
<li>41:15—social media itself <em>fuels</em> the creation of "hate speech". People
are trying to control a thing they themselves created. Anonymization,
physical distance, and so on gives people more opportunity to unleash darker
aspects of themselves. Efforts to control these problems (online) end up
spilling out into "normal society". Things like "dogpiling" in comments
sections don't occur so often in normal interactions. Unfair oustings also
less common.</li>
<li>43:45—weird "appeal process". How can you appeal some action if you
don't even know what you're being accused of? Opaque rules</li>
<li>44:50—people working on problems of "hate speech" have certain
assumptions; they don't seem to realize how these rules might be applied to
them</li>
<li>46:30—contradiction. <em>Unification</em> with the dominance of a particular
sort of English. E-mail autocompletion. On the other hand we see
<em>fragmentation</em>, e.g. in the multiplication of different gender categories.
Marginalized groups have their voices amplified so they appear as larger
portions of society than they actually comprise. This in turn leads to more
attention <em>against</em> these people.</li>
<li>50:20—weird upside down world "created" to combat "hate"; margin has to
be <em>promoted</em> in this inverted hierarchy. "Activists" boosted in this
<em>attention economy</em>.</li>
<li>52:00—AI effectively boosts the power of the <em>leading players</em>; e.g.
<em>What appears on the first page of Google?</em> people are fighting over this.
Clearly there are <em>people</em> behind this.</li>
<li>52:50—handwavy explanation of "Oh, it's the <em>algorithm</em>"; we know this
isn't true and that people bake their biases into things... Is there even
such a thing as an "unbiased view of the world"?</li>
<li>53:50—problem isn't <em>getting rid of bias</em>, but rather <em>imposing your
bias</em> on others. Refusing to acknowledge problems... imagining things are
more "equal" when in fact there is just a <em>different</em> hierarchy.</li>
<li>55:40—are <em>emotions</em> seen as the problem? ironic because the whole
system is based on <em>manipulating</em> emotions; AI are better because they don't
have emotions, yet they exploit our emotions?</li>
<li>57:00—relationship of tech companies to <strong>politics</strong>. Tech company
people are <em>unelected!</em> This is compounded by lock downs where we're all
forced to look at screens for a long time each day. A totalitarian system.</li>
<li>58:20—we shouldn't despair. Some people have tried to set up
alternatives (and then we see these got attacked); it seems control from big
tech is extremely strong... 1:01:00—but maybe people are getting ready
to "let out". Studying AI technology can be like a <em>mirror</em> reminding us to
look at what we (people) are.</li>
<li>1:00:00—taken for granted that private conversations are "shady"</li>
<li>1:03:00—lots of work on AI ethics stuff is "utilitarian" or
"consequentialist"; definitions of intelligence like "being able to take
steps to reach goals" (<strong>instrumentalist</strong> type view). "Enlightenment" ideas
of rationalism/reason, like Steven Pinker type stuff.</li>
<li>1:04:40—but we can have <em>lower</em> and <em>higher</em> goals; understanding
intelligence in terms of goals might be fine, but we have to consider what
sorts of goals we can have, and to identify <em>quality</em>.</li>
<li>1:09:05—we need to realize that we still have free will; we should use
our will and also think about what sorts of lives we want to live</li>
</ul>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1032021-02-17T00:00:00-08:002021-02-17T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-17:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-103.html<p>You may have heard that it is often better to <em>start slow</em> and <em>learn
correctly</em> first rather than jumping to (overly) advanced learning.
How is it that we find out what it is to <em>learn correctly?</em> In modern times,
sometimes this is tricky.</p>
<p>With respect to technology stuff, there are …</p><p>You may have heard that it is often better to <em>start slow</em> and <em>learn
correctly</em> first rather than jumping to (overly) advanced learning.
How is it that we find out what it is to <em>learn correctly?</em> In modern times,
sometimes this is tricky.</p>
<p>With respect to technology stuff, there are endless details one might master.
For instance, if someone says that they are going to study some
"coding/programming", this could mean any number of <em>bossing around machines</em>,
generally. Probably the first coding I did was trying out some exercise in a
book; for others it was programming graphic calculators. I don't think the
"entry" into programming matters so much—</p>
<p>There seem to be distinguishing marks between good vs bad (or skilled vs
unskilled) <strong>technologists</strong>, regardless of specifics of technology.
Anybody can copy and paste some code or go through a tutorial to reproduce some
results someone else designed—similarly, it is not too difficult to
follow a recipe or tutorial video to cook some dish <em>once</em>.</p>
<h2>Experience & results as a measure of success</h2>
<p>What distinguishes a more skilled technical practioner is being able to adapt
some (familiar) toolset to whatever problems/demands arise. For some things,
like web programming, it may be necessary to learn more tools/techniques as
approaches people take change. A skilled coder will know not to get too caught
up in any one technique because experience teaches how transient fads in
technology are. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>A distinguishing feature of people that have at some point <em>enjoyed</em> working
with technology is that they experienced a sense of freedom "experimenting" or
"hacking" with their tools. This sort of person tends to enjoy a kinda
"reward/feedback" loop, writing more and more programs (or equivalently with
other tech, using some toolset like a hammer and nails) and thus—given
adequate self-criticism/awareness—iterative improvement.<br>
On the other hand, a "purist" might get too obsessed with some one <em>thing</em> that
prevents them from making progress. Let's suppose a person early on decides that
"I will be a <em>python</em> programmer". Well, this might work out for a while, but
what happens if/when python specifically falls out of a favor? <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>An experienced and skilled technologist will be able to recognize what is
really new/different and what is just marketing or unhelpful abstraction.
For example, in the world of web programming, there are a lot of different "Web
Frameworks" which give various ways to smash together HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
which are the fundamental "building blocks" of the (front end) web. You might learn
some new system like <strong>Angular</strong> or <strong>React</strong> in order to <em>generate</em> a site
that is HTML, CSS, and JavaScript "under the hood". Now, anyone skilled in
using one of these frameworks will tell you that having a good grasp of the
<em>basic</em> underlying HTML/CSS/JavaScript is essential for knowing what the
framework can and can't do. You need to understand <em>why</em> big tech companies
invested so much money into developing these frameworks—without a good
understanding of the <em>problems</em> some tool is supposed to solve, it is hard to
make good use of it.</p>
<p>We typically don't say "I'm going to practice <em>using a pencil</em>" or "I'm going
to go do <em>hammer exercises</em>". Rather, we'd practice handwriting/drawing or
building fences or have some other more concrete goal.</p>
<p>Without some kind of goal, it is hard to tell if we're getting better at what
we're doing or if we're just going in circles becoming increasingly
idiosyncratic but not any more effective. Clearly, you can spend lots and lots
of time doing <em>something</em> that nobody ever asked you to do—many aspiring
"creative" types may pour hours and hours into some projects nobody asked for.
Are they getting better at what they do?</p>
<p>Some way of evaluating stuff is needed to make progress.</p>
<p>Thus the heading here, <em>experience & results as a measure of success</em>.
The skilled technical practioner can't progress in increasing their skill if
they cease to work by building stuff.</p>
<h2>Regaining focus</h2>
<p>There are some underlying technologies that change slower than
others. Understanding the essentials of "base" underlying technologies can be
thought of as the tech equivalent to "returning to fundamentals" and thus
locating the things that need to be <em>learned correctly</em>.</p>
<p>By learning some basic things well, it is much easier to get to the
<em>comfortably building</em> stuff phase as opposed to the <em>recipe look-up phase</em>.
Like learning to write stuff, we first learn how to combine smaller parts, and
then we find that we can piece together increasingly longer-form pieces.</p>
<p>One way I have lost a lot of time (and focus) is by getting too caught up in
over-complicated tooling/configurations. Back in the day, I think this was less
of a problem as the early computer users couldn't really complicate computing
beyond how complicated it was inherently—you might have <em>no choices</em> with
regard to which programming language was available to use with your machine!
Now, you can find <strong>listicle</strong> upon listicle comparing/ranking your many, many
choices of programming language, database, cloud service, etc.</p>
<p>I'm finding a useful heuristic is to <em>ignore</em> these and turn instead to,</p>
<ul>
<li>What is the market demanding? You can learn technologies based on what you
know people will pay for</li>
<li>Learning fundamentals; the more (useful) technologies they are common to, the
better</li>
<li>Understand <em>problems</em> before (proposed/complex) solutions—this is to
say, <em>know what sort of thing you want to build and why</em> before getting too
attached to some new tooling/technique</li>
</ul>
<p>I'll use "computer stuff" as a case study. If you are doing any kind of
software development, chances are you're going to be using <code>git</code> for source
control. It would probably be a good idea to learn some of that well (enough).
Similarly, all over the Open Source software world, you see UNIX/Linux stuff
everywhere—probably most of the tools used today are connected with this
tradition. So it makes sense to get comfy with how people have used these
systems to do stuff for a long while. Learning terminal/command-line stuff
might seem archaic and overly complicated until you understand what problems it
solves and how it is useful—first try interacting with any remote system;
chances are you will need <code>ssh</code>. You will find that learning all these
text-based commands is really useful for describing and repeating actions.
Compared with something like GUI-based mouse motion recording, you can see that
a whole class of problems—such as how big your monitor is—vanish as
dimensionality is collapsed.</p>
<h2>Sometimes, we have too many opinions</h2>
<p>Knowing a little bit about a whole bunch of different things is a quick way to
become a scatter-brained, opinion filled person. Is this a good state of affairs?
For getting stuff done, it probably isn't. It would be better if you were more
effective at acting in the world and had no time for endless opinion spouting
(or perhaps even worse, being butthurt because other people don't listen to or
respect your opinions).</p>
<p>Thinking that you are right, it can be hard to see this in oneself—surely
I have all these opinions because <em>I know what I'm talking about!</em></p>
<p>I think it is better to just get good at what you do. Therefore, by sheer
results, others will go do you and <em>ask you how you got your results</em>. Your
opinions will be <em>solicited</em> rather than <em>unsolicited</em>.</p>
<p>nobody is making u read my blog, btw... lol :D</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Note that the people who <em>make</em> tools aren't usually the same people who
use them. Making swords is different from being a practicing swordsman;
likewise with lots of technology stuff, domains like computer science
(theory), hardware, making software libraries, writing applications, and
setting up IT infrastucture may involve very different day-to-day activities. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Xah Lee's <a href="http://xahlee.info/comp/comp_index.html">Computing and Its
People</a> essays/links offer many
insights into interactions between people, technologies, and
business—e.g. which programing languages have succeeded and why? <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1022021-02-16T00:00:00-08:002021-02-16T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-16:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-102.html<p>Just a little rant on tooling today. I've been returning to some UNIX learning
stuff, which has me again studying the problem of "personal computing"
generally. As <em>modern</em> people, what relationship do we have with computers?</p>
<p>The tools we have affect how we approach problems. Windows is very <em>corporate</em>
(as …</p><p>Just a little rant on tooling today. I've been returning to some UNIX learning
stuff, which has me again studying the problem of "personal computing"
generally. As <em>modern</em> people, what relationship do we have with computers?</p>
<p>The tools we have affect how we approach problems. Windows is very <em>corporate</em>
(as in big tech, corporations) so the solutions that appear to someone who has
bought into the Microsoft ecosystem are often very, well... <em>Microsofty</em>.
Indeed, there are tried and true ways to do lots of things by handing over
control to Microsoft. These may not be the most "elegant" solutions with
computers, but they do Just Werk (TM).</p>
<p>If we move beyond the names of particular products and instead start to think
about stuff in terms of <em>simple actions</em> we are doing, I think that we can
often arrive at much better solutions than the "one-size fits all"
<em>enterprise</em> solutions.</p>
<p>For instance, let's suppose you're trying to solve the problem of "backing up
files". What you want to do is to make sure that certain data which is
important to you is saved on multiple pieces of harddrive (e.g hard drives).
Now, a typical solution to this problem is to use some <strong>cloud</strong> service like
Microsoft's OneDrive. Automatically, files local to your machine are copied
and saved across mutliple servers <em>owned by Microsoft</em>. For many customers,
this is an acceptable arrangement. They trust that Microsoft will do a good
job making sure they don't lose their files in the event of something like...
spilling coffee on a laptop. </p>
<p>However, there are many disadvantages to just using the "default" option.
Firstly, what if <em>you</em> want to own/control the hardware you're saving stuff
on—you might not want to give Microsoft all your data. Or, maybe you're
okay giving Microsoft <em>some</em> data, but you prefer to not have other data on
foreign servers. "One-size fits all" solutions typically don't offer finer
mechanisms of control to set up what you want.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you build your own solution—this is one thing I'm
working on—you solve the original problem of backing stuff up, but <em>you
don't need a third party</em> (like Microsoft, Dropbox, etc) stepping in. You are
more <em>robust</em> by being decentralized—problems affecting big corporations
need not affect you. Similarly, you can be aware of just <em>how</em> you scale your
own solution; this might mean buying up cheap used computer hardware to make a
more robust system through redundancy/copies.</p>
<p>It is hard to start thinking about <em>alternatives</em> if the tools you have always
suggest a particular way of doing things—</p>
<p>This is one of the reasons I kinda detest smartphones. Smartphones are all
about doing stuff <em>how an app tells you to</em>; on the other hand, even some
relativelys imple machine like a kitchen timer or a pencil can be used
in infinite ways of <em>your</em> choosing.</p>Easy File Transfer with OpenSSH2021-02-14T00:00:00-08:002021-02-14T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-14:/pelican-test/easy-file-transfer-with-openssh.html<p>Today I learned that <a href="https://www.openssh.com">OpenSSH</a> allows you to easily
transfer files on a local network! I've started setting up some home network
stuff to learn how "the cloud" works better and was pleasantly surprised how
easy this was.</p>
<h2>Setup</h2>
<p>OpenSSH is the de-facto standard for remote access via <code>ssh</code>. So …</p><p>Today I learned that <a href="https://www.openssh.com">OpenSSH</a> allows you to easily
transfer files on a local network! I've started setting up some home network
stuff to learn how "the cloud" works better and was pleasantly surprised how
easy this was.</p>
<h2>Setup</h2>
<p>OpenSSH is the de-facto standard for remote access via <code>ssh</code>. So if you want to
log in from one computer to another, chances are you're going to be using
OpenSSH in 2021. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>From a Linux machine, make sure you have a <strong>ssh server</strong> set up. See the
section under <strong>Server usage</strong> on the ArchWiki article on
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OpenSSH">OpenSSH</a>.</p>
<h2>Filezilla</h2>
<p>On Windows, I installed <a href="https://filezilla-project.org">Filezilla</a>. I entered
in the IP address of my home (Linux) server, my username and password and
selected the <strong>SFTP</strong> protocol from Filezilla's easy to use GUI.
I could then easily copy files from my client (Windows) machine to my server
through my wireless network.</p>
<h2>Alternatives to "the cloud"</h2>
<p>Knowing how to do many "cloud computing" tasks yourself is a practical thing to
learn to take control of your data and understand the "magic" behind services
offered by big tech.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>This very blog post is being written from a Windows computer connected to
a FreeBSD system via OpenSSH! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1012021-02-13T00:00:00-08:002021-02-13T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-13:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-101.html<p>Today I decided to try to make some old computers I have talk to each other.</p>
<p>The first thing I did was spin up a local web server. This gave me a website
viewable over my local network.</p>
<h2>Python web server</h2>
<p>Using an old laptop running Linux (Manjaro), I ran …</p><p>Today I decided to try to make some old computers I have talk to each other.</p>
<p>The first thing I did was spin up a local web server. This gave me a website
viewable over my local network.</p>
<h2>Python web server</h2>
<p>Using an old laptop running Linux (Manjaro), I ran</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>python3 -m http.server <span class="m">8000</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>I found my ip address with <code>ip address</code>. It was something like
<code>192.168.1.NNN</code>, where <code>N</code> is some integer. I am just doing stuff on a
wireless network, so I looked for my ethernet card thing.</p>
<p>I went onto a browser on another computer (a "normal" Windows machine) on this
same network. I typed in the URL bar, <code>192.168.1.NNN:8000</code>.</p>
<p>My files were visible! Web server started successfully! I have created my own
little digital kingdom!</p>
<h2>SSH server</h2>
<p>Craving unlimited power, I followed a tutorial by <a href="https://austingwalters.com/configure-ssh-on-an-arch-linux-server/">Austin G.
Walters</a> on
setting up an SSH server.</p>
<p>Basically this means, I can log into my Linux machine from another computer
(terminal).</p>
<h2>Meta Posting</h2>
<p>This post is authored using the Linux machine from a Windows machine. Wow!</p>
<h2>Motivation</h2>
<p>What I'm trying to do is learn more about technology by using many of the tools
already available to me. There are many trends in tech I don't really
like—e.g. the "mobile-first" approach and bloated web apps everywhere.
But clearly the Internet can be a very useful tool. So, by looking at networks
and more "backend" type stuff I hope to get the skills to actively work on
engineering the sort of Internet I would prefer. </p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 1002021-02-12T00:00:00-08:002021-02-12T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-12:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-100.html<p>Is it time to throw a hundreth post party?! Nah; let's instead talk
about how <em>counting</em> and numerical measures in general are used as
(artificial) markers.</p>
<p>What is the significance of a 100th post? That a blog has been going
on for a while? Why not celebrate a 98th post …</p><p>Is it time to throw a hundreth post party?! Nah; let's instead talk
about how <em>counting</em> and numerical measures in general are used as
(artificial) markers.</p>
<p>What is the significance of a 100th post? That a blog has been going
on for a while? Why not celebrate a 98th post? Especially considering
that I don't write new posts here on a regular schedule (e.g. daily),
what does "100" even signify?</p>
<p>Here is where we start to talk about <em>meaning</em>. Different numbers <em>do
mean different things to people</em>.</p>
<p>If Bitcoin goes above $50k soon, that will be a psychological
significant marker. It is "halfway to $100k".</p>
<p>Numbers are words we use to describe reality just like other words.
For many people, just adding numbers to stuff makes it sound "smart".
Spouting a bunch of numbers is sufficient to confound many people and
make them accept you as an expert. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>The Cult of Data-Driven Decision Making</h2>
<p>People these days are obsessed with counting stuff and then turning
knobs and flipping switches to optimize things. While certainly there
is a time and a place to optimize stuff, the efficacy of optimizations
can only help as far as the underlying assumptions about how some
system works.</p>
<p>So for example, an educator might optimize some cirriculum such that
students score as high as possible on some kind of standardized test.</p>
<p>Has <em>LEARNING</em> therefore been optimized?</p>
<p>Well, the students may improve at taking some specific type of test,
but this doesn't imply that education got "better" in a more holistic
sense.</p>
<p>Similarly, people might apply this sort of thinking to topics like
diet. Someone might try to go for a maximum "low-fat" or "low-carb"
diet. Sure, there are correlations between certain metrics, but does
optimizing for one of these things miss other important "big-picture"
questions like <em>what is my relationship to food</em> (to begin with).
Furthermore, only looking at metrics like those found on nutrition
fact labels may not distinguish between important considerations about
what we're eating—is "grass fed" the same as "normal" meat?</p>
<p>Putting on the blinders of numbers can be helpful for focusing and
improving certain systems. However, as illustrated by the <strong>thought
experiment</strong> of the "Artificial Intelligence" system that decides to
exterminate all humans in order to optimize paper-clip production,
narrowly specified goals (often which rely on some numeric accounting
thing) can lead us to engineer our own destruction.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Please don't use this tactic. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 992021-02-11T00:00:00-08:002021-02-11T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-11:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-99.html<p>A common thing you'll hear from people who've "made it" is that <em>they
didn't teach XYZ in school</em>. For instance, who went to public school
to learn <strong>personal finance</strong>?</p>
<p>Indeed, there are a great many things you don't learn in school
because "good schools" typically prepare you to be a …</p><p>A common thing you'll hear from people who've "made it" is that <em>they
didn't teach XYZ in school</em>. For instance, who went to public school
to learn <strong>personal finance</strong>?</p>
<p>Indeed, there are a great many things you don't learn in school
because "good schools" typically prepare you to be a certain type of
person: employees or professionals. Many people have led lives
thinking very little about money—they get paid enough at work to
pay the bills, and so they pay the bills. And then, taxes, insurance,
and other potentially complicated things get handled automatically
through an employer.</p>
<p>The way a lot of money stuff works in the "free world" seems... rather
sinister. First off, there's the whole thing about <em>fiat</em> currency;
our US Dollars are based on what? They are debt, backed by the belief
that such-and-such will pay back such-and-such. And so more and more
tresury notes can be "printed" (or integers added to bank accounts) as
the powers at be see fit to stimulate the economy, boost certain
initiatives, and so and and so forth.</p>
<p>On the level of <em>personal finance</em>, <strong>microeconomics</strong> pretty much
makes sense in that you have some income (money goes in) and expenses
(money goes out). Provided your numbers are right, you can take out
loans to <em>get more money now</em> and agree to pay back money on some
schedule (e.g. mortgage payments). Likewise, you can get yourself into
a lot of trouble digging yourself into a debt hole that only some sort
of legal action (bankruptcy, gov't forgiving college loans, etc) can
free you from.</p>
<p>What's totally backwards is that the things that might count as
sensible for what <em>you</em> do might be the exact opposite of what the
really rich (and therefore powerful) people of this world do.</p>
<p>For instance, it is a pretty safe idea to <em>not spend money you don't
have</em> via avoiding debts for most people, most of the time. Exceptions
can be made for some stuff like taking out a mortgage with a low
interest rate to start a family home if you don't have tons of cash to
hand over immediately.</p>
<p>Yet the operating principle of our currency is doing lots of
borrowing—the US Dollar isn't tied to economic activity (look at
how much stuff has slowed down this past year, yet stock prices are
higher than ever). Our political leaders can choose to support and
fund ideas pretty much nobody would want to give any money to through
financial vehicles you and I do not have access to. Regardless of
whether or not you like how US Dollars work, you're compelled to pay
taxes in US Dollars. There is no "social contract"; you are coerced to
operate within a system that is not of your design and choosing.</p>
<h2>Not doom-spiraling</h2>
<p>The point of this post isn't to complain and "doom spiral", but rather
to highlight the fact that <em>one of the main metrics by which people
today measure success is a very broken measuring stick</em>.</p>
<p>A similar example would be <em>fame</em>. Do people become famous because
they are of good character and have lots of talent? Anyone who is
seriously into some skilled thing (such as guitar playing or oil
painting) will likely tell you that there are many famous things that
are <em>over-rated</em> while other lesser known things that are
<em>under-appreciated</em>. While there is a subjective aspect to this, it
goes without saying—being a "better" musician doesn't mean the
"free market" proportionally rewards you.</p>
<p>It would be wrong to base how we think we're doing on a broken
measuring stick like wealth; a person with a 1 million dollar "net
worth" isn't 10 times better than a person with an 100k "net worth".
Indeed, the personw ith an 100k net worth might be a contributing
member of society, providing valuable services while the person with 1
million dollars net worth might be sitting on their butt sipping
mojitos and getting cheeto crumbs on your couch.</p>
<p>Leftoids correctly give critiques of how big bad billionaires get into
power through capitalism first, and then monopolizing stuff and
putting anti-competitive laws into place.</p>
<p>But the Rightards also correctly point out how the problem isn't
<em>capitalism</em> itself (which I'll understand as "economic freedom").</p>
<p>Really, as a society, I think most people want the same thing—a
large degree of economic freedom without overly bigly doing wealth
inequality. Sure, we'll always have more rich and more poor people (we
<em>need</em> these differences so richer people can be charitable, so we can
organize labor, etc). But this isn't so much of a problem if even
working class people can have a reasonable standard of living (and not
be enslaved by debt).</p>
<h2>Off-the-spectrum thinking</h2>
<p>The stuff above isn't to say "we should do something <em>in the middle</em>
of what Republicans and Democrats" say. Ha! Surely you don't think
Democrats represent "the left" and Republicans represent "the right",
and you can just be a reasonable person and choose something "in
between"?</p>
<p>We're not measuring flour to bake cookies here.</p>
<p>A more useful approach, I think, is to look at what
<strong>tools/instruments</strong> (including financial ones) are available, and
how we should (not) allow these things to be used, if at all.</p>
<p>So, for instance, there's this thing called <em>credit</em>. Lots of people
would like to use it. What sort of uses are proper for it? Should you
be able to get some naïve person signed up on some horrible contract
that gets them enslaved for life? I would argue that our lawmakers
<em>should</em> protect people from stuff like this. You <em>can</em> buy a shovel,
but you will get in trouble if you hit someone on the head with a
shovel. This doesn't mean shovels are bad, that only specialists
should be allowed to use shovels, etc.</p>
<p>The whole "right" vs "left" dialectic is annoying because it gets
people to say, "you are either Karl Marx or Ayn Rand". Well, bucko,
did you know that a clever commie would say let the capitalists build
up stuff and then seize the means of production? To think in terms of
"left vs right" is to be an <em>early stage</em> or <em>late stage</em> utopian. And
that doesn't work.</p>
<p>What I think is more important to understand is to see what tools are
available to us and how to best use those—for each individual
this will be different. This <em>IS NOT</em> a nihilist perspective; it is
just to say that I don't think you can have a purely "secular" moral
system based on ideas like "muh free market" or even some hand-wavy,
vague notion like "human rights" which corresponds to what some club
of globalists find out makes you feel good from their decades of
research into social engineering.</p>Restoring a user, practical Linux2021-02-10T00:00:00-08:002021-02-10T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-10:/pelican-test/restoring-a-user-practical-linux.html<p>I am no Linux guru, but usually if I went to get something done I am
able to. In this post, I will document how I solved a particular
problem in a fast and easy way.</p>
<h2>Problem: I really broke my system</h2>
<p>I had a pretty old computer running Arch …</p><p>I am no Linux guru, but usually if I went to get something done I am
able to. In this post, I will document how I solved a particular
problem in a fast and easy way.</p>
<h2>Problem: I really broke my system</h2>
<p>I had a pretty old computer running Arch Linux. I was using Gnome as a
Desktop Environment and stuff was getting pretty slow. I tried to have
a boring, stable setup, but I ended up having a system that got hung
up a lot. So I wanted to remove Gnome and use a lighter-weight desktop
environment thing like LXDE or XFCE. Unfortunately, when uninstalling
Gnome, I did some reckless commands that also uninstalled a bunch of
important packages. So I ended up with a system that couldn't even
connect to the Internet to re-install those packages.</p>
<h2>Solution</h2>
<p>My solution to this issue was to reinstall my base operating system
but leave my home directory intact. This way I could fix all the
things I wanted to fix and not have to go through some complicated
restoration procedure. While nothing super-important (or not already
backed up online) was on this computer, having to manually re-do a
bunch of configurations and stuff would be no fun, so it was
preferable to repair my existing system rather than starting anew.</p>
<h3>Partitions helped</h3>
<p>Fortunately, I had my system set up such that I had a separate root
(<code>/</code>) and home (<code>/home</code>) partition. So, it would not be too difficult
to isolate those things that needed fixing and those things that did
not.</p>
<h3>Installation</h3>
<p>I opted for installing <strong>Manjaro</strong> Linux, an Arch-based distribution.
I downloaded the ISO, used Rufus on a Windows machine to set up a
bootable USB drive, and then entered the graphical installer. I chose
manual partitioning. Doing this, I had to set some "flags" (not sure
on the exact terminology here). Basically I had to tell the installer
where <code>/</code>, <code>/boot</code> and <code>/home</code> were. I reformatted my boot and root
partitions, but left the home partition as it was because I didn't
want to delete my files there.</p>
<h3>User Stuff</h3>
<p>That went smoothly. I just used the installer to make a new user. With
that new user, I created a user account for the main user I was using
on my old system using <code>useradd</code>. As I didn't want Manjaro to add all
sorts of configuration stuff automatically, I chose to setup this new
user (I'll call it <code>alan</code>) from the command line.</p>
<p>I tried logging with <code>alan</code> after doing this—uh-oh! didn't
work. I was returned to Manjaro's login screen thing.</p>
<p>I guessed the problem had to do with permissions. So, I searched up
how to change the permissions of my existing <code>/home/alan</code> directory
which was left over from my broken install.</p>
<p>Then, to make sure I could run any command from <code>alan</code> via <code>sudo</code>, I
needed to edit <code>/etc/sudoers</code>. I did this with <code>sudo visudo
/etc/sudoers</code> from the account I made with Manjaro. I uncommented the
line giving sudo permissions to the <code>wheel</code> group and then I used
<code>usermod</code> to add <code>alan</code> to the <code>wheel</code> group.</p>
<h3>Success</h3>
<p>I successfully logged on with <code>alan</code>, installed some software, and
wrote this blog post. All my files and stuff are there.</p>
<h2>Lessons</h2>
<p>The specifics of how to do something in Linux can be mind-numbing. For
this reason, I don't even try to do lots of things—like dealing
with audio and video issues. However, if you have a basic idea of what
you want to accomplish, doling common tasks like dealing with
partitions and users can be surprisingly easy.</p>
<p>Search engines are good for solving technical problems. If you know
exactly what you want to search for, search engines are very good at
returning you relevant results. Fortunately, Linux problems often
involve weird strings (e.g. program names) that aren't confused with
non-computer things. Usually adding the word "linux" or "arch" or
something easily narrows a search to relevant stuff too.</p>
<p>Through solving real world problems that come up, you can learn more
about how computers work, software is organized, and so on and so
forth. If you choose a lazy option like using an automatic installer
like I did here, you can avoid looking at many things you don't care
to struggle with too.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 982021-02-08T00:00:00-08:002021-02-08T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-02-08:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-98.html<p>Today's post treats <strong>STEM</strong>—Science Technology Engineering
Math—and how an emphasis on training people in these areas fits
into a broader narrative of <em>what</em> society is and how individuals
<em>should</em> fit into it.</p>
<p>You may have heard some quote about "technology being
indistinguishable from magic" or something similar. Indeed …</p><p>Today's post treats <strong>STEM</strong>—Science Technology Engineering
Math—and how an emphasis on training people in these areas fits
into a broader narrative of <em>what</em> society is and how individuals
<em>should</em> fit into it.</p>
<p>You may have heard some quote about "technology being
indistinguishable from magic" or something similar. Indeed this is
often the case, as I will lay out in this article—the complexity
of modern technology often requires people to be highly specialized,
and thus put in containers/modules/departments in which they have
relatively narrow knowledge of how <em>the system</em> as a whole operates.<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>The good and practical</h2>
<p>Clearly, there are many things you can learn from studying STEM. In
terms of "soft skills", the STEM fields have objective criteria by
which to evaluate students. It is not a clear-cut question which of
two essays is better, however a definite winner can be declared
between which of two student performed some large number of
calculations correctly.</p>
<p>Studying STEM fields trains students to be careful and to recognize
when they make errors. It can also teach teamwork, as working on
complex projects with teams will require breaking up tasks, some
people taking up leadership roles, and so on and so forth. In
contrast, students in fields like the humanities may find that their
in-depth studying and hard hours of work are often spent
alone—for some students this can lead to agnonizing self-doubt
("imposter syndrome") while for others, unwarranted self-confidence
can produce more confusion rather than clarity in the academic space.</p>
<p>You can look field by field, but generally speaking you will find many
viable, well-compensated career paths in STEM.</p>
<p>The stereotypes about immmigrant parents wanting their children to go
into STEM mainly—I think—have to deal with this idea of
good economic opportunity. That is why, if you instead landed a job as
a lawyer or a highly paid real estate agent or so on and so forth,
this would be OK in the eyes of most "practical" people. You probably
wouldn't be accused of abandoning the noble pursuit of truth and
giving up on engineering utopia. Rather, you would be recognized for
having chosen another path that pays the bills and is respectable in
society.</p>
<h2>"Science", "Technology", "Engineering", and "Math" are Different</h2>
<p>Here's some broad definitions,</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Science</strong>: using testing to improve methods of doing things </li>
<li><strong>Technology</strong>: using tools</li>
<li><strong>Engineering</strong>: building stuff</li>
<li><strong>Math</strong>: shuffling symbols</li>
</ul>
<h3>Science</h3>
<p>To talk about "science", you will need to understand the model(s) you
are working with. Someone could work in a lab, take measurements,
dispose of toxic chemicals, and so on <em>without understanding why they
are doing what they are doing</em> (at least from a <em>scientific</em>
perspective; that person probably knows they want to keep their job
and get paid).</p>
<p>The term <strong>"science"</strong> is used in many ways. One common way it is used
is "the consensus view of (expert) scientists". So a person that is
called a "science denier" is one who rejects a main stream view which
is predicated as being a "scientific fact".</p>
<p>Philosophically, the above views are quite... uninformed. Statistical
methods (which are used in all sorts of science) offer a practical
solution to <em>the problem of induction</em>—how do we move from
particular observations to generalized patterns? Statistical methods
allow us to make sense of many measurements, manage the "noise" of
accident/variation, and then use that information to refine models
about how stuff works.</p>
<p>Lots of the <em>math</em> of the Science of STEM has to deal with creating
well-defined (mathematical) models of stuff. For instance, if you're
predicting some fruit fly population will grow <em>exponentially</em> you
will need to have a mathematical model to describe how some
<em>independent variables</em> you control (like number of flies you are
starting with, how much of some sugar solution you're feeding them
with) corresponds with some <em>dependent variables</em>, probably the
population of flies, but you might also study other things like <em>rate
of mutation</em> by counting flies born with 4 eyes or something.</p>
<p>Note that for science to "work" you just have to do the scientific
paperwork, propose more experiments, and so on. Science doesn't have
to produce <em>results</em> beyond some <em>information</em>, e.g. that X works
better than Y to get Z result.</p>
<h3>Engineering</h3>
<p>Let's contrast the above thing with <strong>engineering</strong>, which I called
"building stuff". <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> Engineering might use many models developed by
scientists. Engineers apply models to solve "real-world problems". So
in addition to having engineers build things like rockets, we can also
have "engineers" building other types of systems. The two areas I have
looked most at are <em>productivity/workflow</em> and <em>software engineering</em>
(and also the intersection of those two areas).</p>
<p>One thing I realized being in the social sciences is that lots of the
engineering that is done is for the purpose of <strong>social
engineering</strong>—that is, designing how society at large should
run. Let's give some examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>Education: figure out how to get students to assimilate bodies of
knowledge, develop certain attitudes towards institutions/authority</li>
<li>Personality tests: quantify traits to optimize things like "career fit"</li>
<li>Linguistics: measure and correlate aspects of speech with societally
relevant categories—race/ethnicity, gender, class, etc <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></li>
<li>Software engineering: creating the systems/channels by which people
communicate, shop, submit homework assignments, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>Note that engineering requires you have the <em>infrastucture</em> in place
to implement some system. You can't do much with software engineering
to a place that isn't already all hooked up to computers. In today's
world, where everything from banking to grocery deliveries gets routed
through digital channels, software engineering controls powerful
systems indeed. Studying "education" as a type of engineering requires
that you have the schools/system set up in order to dispatch the
products created by scientific teams (who look at stuff like
standardized tests). Without a homogenous/controlled setting, the
<em>science</em> that feeds the engineering can't be done.</p>
<h3>Technology</h3>
<p>Is becoming a plumber pursuing a STEM career? I would say <em>yes</em> in the
sense that a plumber deals with plumbing technology; they maintain
systems that require specialized training to work on. Simialrly, in my
work as a web programmer, I've described myself as an "<strong>internet
plumber</strong>". I work with the (data) pipes of the Internet, usually
working on making pretty sinks (front-end, web design) which can
interface with existing services (pipes, sewage system).</p>
<p>The tech industries of 20 or so years ago might have been dealing with
big UNIX mainframe things, writing <code>bash</code> scripts, and so on and so
forth (nerd talk). Nowadays, lots of tech work takes new
names—such as <strong>DevOps</strong>.</p>
<p>What brings all "technology" work together is that you are <em>using</em>
previously engineered things (which may be informed by <em>scientific</em>
studies).</p>
<h3>Math</h3>
<p>Math is shuffling symbols according to rules. You can know what is
"right" and "wrong" in math because you're dealing with abstractions.</p>
<h2>What isn't STEM</h2>
<p>As discussed above, lots of STEM has to deal with designing,
manufuacturing, and using technology. Obviously, there's a lot of
interest and money (no pun intended, har har) behind this
stuff—as a society, we're constantly pushing towards a more
"technological" society. You can see this in all sectors of industry,
from agriculture/farming to healthcare to education. Much of it is
centered around <em>technology</em>.</p>
<p>So, what is <em>not</em> STEM? One way I think about this is... disregard or
indifference to technology. You can use whatever technology is
available to you as it is useful, but your activities need not be
driven by technologies.</p>
<p>Consider,</p>
<ul>
<li>A restaurant that uses traditional methods of preparation</li>
<li>A teacher that likes to use the blackboard, memorization techniques,
and other "low-tech" solutions</li>
<li>Organic farming </li>
<li>Trader/merchant—will use stuff like stock exchanges, but would
just as easily trade at the Bazaar in another time and placd</li>
<li>Going for a walk/run, lifting heavy objects, doing
calisthenics—doesn't need the latest fancy "exercise science";
sweat and discipline are the essential ingredients</li>
</ul>
<p>Note that the above approaches are not "un-scientific" in the sense
that you can certainly test stuff, learn from data, and so on and so
forth <em>and also choose to go with an older, time-tested way of doing
things</em>.</p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>Pushing STEM sounds good in the sense that we want people to be able
to live lives where they can work hard, increase in understanding and
learn to better serve one another with whatever tools are available.
For this reason, it is a pretty politically correct thing to promote
STEM broadly and ideas like "teaching kids JavaScript" sound appealing
to many.</p>
<p>Stepping back though, we can see how the promotion of STEM is
predicated on a kind of technophilic worldview—a society that is
built around the continued development of technology and pushing these
things into all aspects of life.</p>
<p>Just as talk about "globalization" has been presented as a kind of
inevitable thing that will just happen to us, we hear similar talk
about how we're just going to <em>have to deal with robots and
Aritificial Intelligence replacing humans</em>. Why is this?</p>
<p>As discussed in this article, it all falls under the ideology of lots
of STEM-think—designing systems that are engineered to be
fault-proof (by getting rid of the pesky human element) <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup> The
prevailing narrative is that using technology, we've created a
healthier society, where we have better control of disease and famine,
and where equality/human rights are better than ever.</p>
<p>You can go for a walk outside and let me know if you think that is the
case.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>That is, you can be doing specific tasks—like writing
programs—while being completely unaware with where the
funding comes from such that you can write those programs, to what
purposes your programs will be used, and so on <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>I first thought a lot about this contrast between <em>science</em> and
<em>engineering</em> when I read Elon Musk's biography by Ashley Vance; a
kinda modern "classic" like that thick tome on Steve Jobs <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>This is "<strong>sociolinguistics</strong>", but other subfields of
linguistics are put to the same purposes. For example, an
ethnographic study may be sponsored by a group that wants to
introduce a particular type of education to a relatively isolated
people group <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>You can't give a vending machine a complicated custom order; by
designing systems that limit choices you can engineer away
"inefficiency" through constraint <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 972021-01-27T00:00:00-08:002021-01-27T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-27:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-97.html<p>The subject of this post is <strong>idle learning/study</strong> which can be
contrasted with learning/study that is <em>profitable</em>. I've been very
guilty of learning about all sorts of stuff—often things that
nobody asked me to learn and really that nobody near me is too
interested in.</p>
<p>The reasons …</p><p>The subject of this post is <strong>idle learning/study</strong> which can be
contrasted with learning/study that is <em>profitable</em>. I've been very
guilty of learning about all sorts of stuff—often things that
nobody asked me to learn and really that nobody near me is too
interested in.</p>
<p>The reasons I have done this so much are many, but there are some big
trends. First, we have a culture (in the West, United States) that
gives some prestige to "trivia" in these sense of "knowing random
stuff". One might say that much of entertainment is predicated on
this—more sports games, for instance, generate more statistics
for people to know about. Without some immediate work/task in front of
me or another clear goal, I have been lead into a lot of <em>idle study</em>
to just do <em>something</em> potentially useful in times when I lacked
direction. Second, there is the matter of <em>ego/pride</em>. You may be
aware of the "condescending nerd" stereotype—some tech
professional looking down on everyone who doesn't have the exact
domain-specific knowledge he does. There is a sense in which the IT
guy is <em>right</em> in that he does know stuff others don't. But the
arrogance of the IT guy is misplaced in that his own skills may go
obsolete (and so he could get fired), there are other people more
skilled than him even in his domain, and of course the people he is
looking down on probably know lots about other (useful) things he
doesn't know—e.g. a CEO may be hiring him to do some tech stuff
as to not have to waste valuable time with some really confusing
technology.</p>
<p>Third, I think that having general world knowledge and doing
exploratory study of various things is not bad in of itself.
Similarly, <em>cake</em> itself isn't evil, but of course you shouldn't eat
cake everyday. Similarly, getting distracted by random this-and-that
when there are more important matters to attend to.</p>
<h2>"Market Backwards" Approach to Learning</h2>
<p>I've been studying some entrepreneurs on YouTube. Specifically, I've
been looking at the work of <strong>FIRE</strong> (Frugal Investment Retire Early)
type approaches. Lots of interesting people in this sphere...!</p>
<p>One fellow, Sam Ovens, shared a thought I found particularly helpful
in a video titled something along the lines of "You don't have to be
an expert" (I'm typing this on a slow computer so I will not dig up
the specific video now—we can discuss the idea even without me
digging up the timestamp and URL!). What Sam shared was this idea of
the <strong>"market backwards</strong>" approach.</p>
<p>Rather than getting some skills (e.g. <code>LEARN TO CODE</code>) and then
rushing to the market to see how those skills may fit in to the
current marketplace wherever you may happen to be (this would be
called the "market forwards" approach), you <em>start with the market</em>,
looking at what sorts of problems people have which they would <em>pay
money</em> to have solved.</p>
<p>Then, you can learn the appropriate skills in a short-ish period of
time to accomplish whatever you need to. For many things, you don't
even need to become an expert. Let's look at <em>creating a website</em> for
instance. There are many Wordpress experts out there—should you
become one of these people? Maybe if you have a job lined up, this may
be a good idea (that is, there is a <em>market waiting for you</em>).</p>
<p>A better approach, however, might be to hire out the appropriate nerd
labor <em>OR</em> to just use some adequately flexible template type system
that is already tried and true in the marketplace to accomplish your
website building needs. Rather than hiring or training an expensive
developer (this may be spending $100k or so a year), you can learn
enough about web technologies to know what <em>you want</em> and then take
care of the business side of things making sure the right work gets
done rather than wasting your time being frustrated over some large
tech company's choices of software design.</p>
<h2>Advantages of Exploratory Learning</h2>
<p>Knowing various things about various stuff can be useful for getting
connected with different people, finding new clients, and so on and so
forth. Retarding language learning, you may have heard that "just a
little bit of time spent learning the language of a country you are
going to visit will really impress the locals".</p>
<p>More generally—people appreciate it when you put forth even a
little bit of effort to understand them—this often means
understanding what sorts of problems they have to deal with. This also
might mean <em>business opportunitites</em> for you; by listening to people
and finding out what they need, you also position yourself to figure
out how to have a mutually beneficial relationship where you provide
the desired/good services. </p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 962021-01-26T00:00:00-08:002021-01-26T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-26:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-96.html<p>For those out there with some experience bossing around computers, you
may have heard the terms "<strong>higher level</strong>" versus "<strong>lower level</strong>"
programming. "Lower level" work refers to doing things <em>closer to the
hardware</em>—working with computer architecture, sensors on
Raspberri pis, and stuff like that. You are <em>closer to the …</em></p><p>For those out there with some experience bossing around computers, you
may have heard the terms "<strong>higher level</strong>" versus "<strong>lower level</strong>"
programming. "Lower level" work refers to doing things <em>closer to the
hardware</em>—working with computer architecture, sensors on
Raspberri pis, and stuff like that. You are <em>closer to the machines</em>.
In contrast, "higher level" programming deals with stuff closer to the
"end user". So, doing front-end web programming "higher level"
programming relative to working on optimizing operating systems. As
these terms imply, higher vs lower level programming is a <em>relative</em>
thing, and one should not get too caught up bickering and in
categorizing stuff.<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>What is the lowest level programming? Using some definition of
"programming" that is "giving instructions to machines", the simplest
instruction is probably to flip some switch on or off. The "computer"
this can be implemented on can be any number of things. For example,
you could do arithmetic on an abacus, in which the switches are itself
the "display". You could likewise communicate over long distances
using a system of flags to send coded messages.</p>
<p>The "higher level" programming beyond this then is organizing systems
such that work you want to get done is done consistently—and if
you set it up correctly, with little or no intervention on your part
(as the "programmer").</p>
<p>In this sense, we can call <strong>entrepreneurship</strong> as an even <em>higher
level</em> of programming than say JavaScript web applications. We can say
"<strong>business</strong>" is the operation of systems/programs set up by the big
branes and risk takers who connect <strong>inputs</strong> (money, labor) to
<strong>outputs</strong> (money, goods, services).</p>
<p>As explored in some earlier posts, really, each person is a kind of
"small business" in the sense that we all have to buy stuff, spend
money, and so on and so forth. Just how we get money to fund our
habits differ from person to person—some people work a normal
9-5 job, others do trading of some sort (e.g. real estate, stocks),
some mostly inherit wealth, and so on and so forth. Likewise, everyone
lives <em>somewhere</em>—not everyone has a house of course, but we all
occupy the same earth together.</p>
<p>Given that we are all capable of doing all sorts of labor, and by
virtue of being alive and having <em>time</em> each day, the question
presents itself—towards what ends will I use <em>myself</em>, a being
cooler than any gaming PC ever?!</p>
<p>Establishing discipline, getting organized, and being focused on goals
are essential things to do when writing effective computer programs.
Similarly, when we look at organizing <em>higher levels</em> of how <em>we</em>
operate, we can seek to improve the efficiency of our operations. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Many nerds on the Internet, for instance, have had the debate
"what is <strong>programming</strong> vs <strong>scripting</strong>, wherein "scripting"
usually implies a relatively high level language. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>On YouTuber Alex Becker's channel I heard this funny
thing— "everyone is who they want to be in the Sims". That
is, in some video game, if you could <em>choose</em> how to live a
fantastic life given some inputs and outputs, most people would
live quite differently than how they live day to day (e.g. just
<em>click a button</em> to go get exercise everyday; how many people do
this?). Often, it is what are called the <em>passions</em> in traditional
Christian writings that we yield control to, and in doing so
subject ourselves to doing things we wouldn't allow ourselves to
do if we were somehow "disembodied" or looking at our bodies from
a "third person perspective". <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 952021-01-20T00:00:00-08:002021-01-20T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-20:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-95.html<p>You can often identify groups of people by the words and phrases they
use. For instance, members of the same corporation may be familiar
with some same corporate jargon and likewise those that make up the
"fandom" of some book series/movie/etc may often share
allusions/references to that …</p><p>You can often identify groups of people by the words and phrases they
use. For instance, members of the same corporation may be familiar
with some same corporate jargon and likewise those that make up the
"fandom" of some book series/movie/etc may often share
allusions/references to that thing when conversing with one another.</p>
<p>The language of famous people is no different—through the
repetition of particular phrases, symbolism, and associations (who has
met with and interviewed whom) you can begin to construct <strong>graphs</strong>
(in the sense of "graph theory") showing the associations of people
and what sorts of ideologies they espouse.</p>
<p>I've been kind of slow on realizing the above points, because as a
<em>nerd</em> it is easy to get lost in useless details. Hyper-specialization
can lead a person to be vulnerable/dependent on <em>very</em> specific
systems/configurations. For example, if you had a law practice that
specialized in exploiting on aspect of the law, a sudden change in the
law would really disturb business—you would have to find some
other niche and hope that your customers stay with you even though the
initial service you provided isn't available anymore.</p>
<p>I hear programers saying similar sorts of things. Programers today
aren't using the same technologies (at least ono the <em>surface</em>) that
were used ten or twenty years ago; there are different abstractions,
workflows, and so on that people must interface with everyday. A
developer of a couple of decades back may be impressed by the degree
of automation in many of today's tools—but this same developer
might also be appalled at the state of "software bloat" and waste of
computing power and human hours to get things set up and running.</p>
<p>Of course learning your tools well is always valuable—no matter
what you're doing, it is a good idea to do a good job at it. However,
it is also important to not be naïve and to recognize that there are
people that lie, scheme, plot, etc with no regard to you and your
well-being.</p>
<p>It is for this reason that it is imperative to <em>not become isolated</em>
but to know that just as there are people "above" us that organize
trouble, we too have the freedom to organize peacefully in such a way
that we can support one another against those who desire harm for
others or ill-gotten gain.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 942021-01-16T00:00:00-08:002021-01-16T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-16:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-94.html<p>"Thinking" is a term with many different senses in English.
Here are some,</p>
<ul>
<li>Considering</li>
<li>Deliberating</li>
<li>Imagining</li>
<li>Calculating (especially in modern times where computer and brain
comparisons are so widespread)</li>
<li>Repeating (e.g. to memorize something)</li>
<li>Worrying (to which someone might say to you, "quit <em>thinking</em> so much!")</li>
<li>Planning</li>
<li>Analyzing</li>
</ul>
<p>Sometimes …</p><p>"Thinking" is a term with many different senses in English.
Here are some,</p>
<ul>
<li>Considering</li>
<li>Deliberating</li>
<li>Imagining</li>
<li>Calculating (especially in modern times where computer and brain
comparisons are so widespread)</li>
<li>Repeating (e.g. to memorize something)</li>
<li>Worrying (to which someone might say to you, "quit <em>thinking</em> so much!")</li>
<li>Planning</li>
<li>Analyzing</li>
</ul>
<p>Sometimes people decide to "think out loud", which may mean talking
and having someone else listen—or, more similar to what I'm
doing here—put some words on a piece of paper or text document
(if you like to use computers sometimes).</p>
<h2>Over-thinking</h2>
<p>The idea of <strong>overthinking</strong> is that at a certain point, <em>analysis</em> of
some situation is done. You <em>know what you have to or should do</em>, now
<em>will you do it?</em></p>
<p>Overthinking means avoiding doing concrete actions you already know
should be done and instead engaging in additional "thinking".</p>
<h2>Failure to think</h2>
<p>On the other hand, <strong>not thinking</strong> is usually used to refer to
someone who does something impulsively, without understanding what
would be to a more discerning person <em>obvious consequences</em> of some
action. For example, if a friend signs up for some scam and pays a
whole bunch of money, you would say that this friend wasn't thinking
properly (did they just give into emotions, greed?). Likewise you
might say this friend failed to do a correct action—such as
consulting someone more trustworthy and knowledgeable about
investments—and rushed into something without patience.</p>
<h2>Institutionalized Wrong Thing</h2>
<p>Many habits of thinking are taught in educational institutions that
can do more harm than good. I've been coming to the conclusion that we
(collectively as a society) place an overemphasis on <em>creativity</em> and
<em>calculating</em>, exemplified by the enthusiasm of many to get involved
in <strong>game programing</strong>. While I don't think there's anything
inherently wrong with game programing itself, the reasons people might
get involved in a field like this seem to often stem from certain
ideas about thinking which are prominent in popular culture.</p>
<p>Firstly, there is <em>creativity</em>—which to a modern person often
means something like "making something new". So rather than turning to
time-tested, known methods and forms for doing stuff, kids are
encouraged to blaze their own path and introduce new innovations. The
big tech companies in particular like to push this idea of the "Iron
Man" technology hero or corporate idea-person.</p>
<p>One problem with this—pointed out by <strong>Sam Hyde</strong> in many
skits/videos—is that you get armies of useless "artist" types
who are unwilling or unable to participate in "real work" and instead
insist on the importance of their "creative" projects in writing, art,
music, film, and so on.</p>
<p>Now, this is not a tirade against <em>individuality</em>. We are all
unique—whether we want to be or not. But it is telling that many
people are encouraged down paths that lead them to be vain,
egotistical, bitter, angry, and also "unsuccessful" in terms of
money/reputation. This is what so many so-called "creative" people
experience.</p>
<p>Game programing also involves lots of tedious <em>calculation</em>—what
is programing anyways, besides giving instructions to computers?
Calculating is often very difficult (it can be hard to write software
solutions) and it takes a lot of time and effort to become a skilled
programer—not everyone can do it.</p>
<p>...and what results are produced?</p>
<p>While I enjoy playing games from time to time, there is a kind of
consensus that "playing too many games is a waste of time".</p>
<p>Whereas growing, processing, selling and distributing healthy food
wouldn't be called a "waste of time" by anyone (we all need food to
live), devoting most of one's time and energy to produce
<em>entertainment</em> seems a bit off as a mainstream path to encourage
millions of young people down.</p>
<p>Less nerdy types might take to the activity of creating a <em>brand</em>. As
with games, I don't think that this is inherently bad (you have to
know who to trust—brands can help us know who we are interfacing
with). But what difference does "brand" make if all your choices come
from the same slave-labor factories with near-identical looking
logos/graphics (thinking about a lot of "fashion" these days)?</p>
<h2>Doing versus "thinking"</h2>
<p>This post explores the idea of how "thinking" often is a vain, futile
activity—especially in many of the forms our mainstream/popular
culture encourages it. <em>Do NOT try to think of 100 more Pokémon</em>. You
have better things to do.</p>
<p>Rather, we should allow proper time to reflect, deliberate, and so
forth (maybe paired with going for a walk, keeping a little notebook
in the car...). But then most of our time should be turned to <em>doing</em>
things that we know we should be doing.</p>
<p>Building a <strong>schedule/routine</strong> is an effective way to reduce the
amount of time spent dilly-dallying and <em>get to work</em>. This is because
you will spend less time in deliberating "oh, what should I do next?"</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 932021-01-14T00:00:00-08:002021-01-14T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-14:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-93.html<p>The question of <em>who</em> (or <em>what</em>) to trust is of utmost importance.
Since we do not have unlimited time and resources, we must make
choices about what we rely on for new information or reference
materials.</p>
<p>Walking into a book store and choosing to read one of the top selling …</p><p>The question of <em>who</em> (or <em>what</em>) to trust is of utmost importance.
Since we do not have unlimited time and resources, we must make
choices about what we rely on for new information or reference
materials.</p>
<p>Walking into a book store and choosing to read one of the top selling
books—this is not just "reading" or "learning" plain and simple.
You are approaching some material with a purpose. Maybe you're looking
for,</p>
<ul>
<li>advice on how to get past a particular business problem</li>
<li>distraction</li>
<li>affirmation to continue to doing what you're doing</li>
<li>how the mind of a different <strong>worldview</strong> thinks</li>
</ul>
<p>Reading popular books, you must sift through jargon, empty
speculations, opinions, political agendas, and more. That being said,
you <em>can't believe in everything you read</em>. "Reading" broadly is often
presented as an activity that is generally good to do.</p>
<p>While obviously reading (or re-reading) <em>certain</em> things can be
useful, it is silly to say that just <em>reading a lot</em> is good in the
same way you wouldn't want to spend all your time talking to the same
people again and again <em>if you did not have good reason to trust those
people</em>. You <em>could</em> call up a robot telephone thing and talk all day,
but this probably would be terrible...</p>
<p>So, who do we trust? What kind of reading is good to do?</p>
<h2>Heuristics for finding useful information</h2>
<p>First, you want to find people to read who have <em>demonstrated their
success</em>. Books by smaller authors in specific domains are often good
for this. Learning how to do some basic computer programing, you hear
about such-and-such professor who is really good in such-and-such
area, or such-and-such business person who made such-and-such project.</p>
<p>Technical reading is often evidently useful in that it shows how to
get <strong>material results</strong> using a particular methodology.</p>
<p>Under "technical reading" here, I'll include cookbooks, workout
guides, and even self-help type books that give instructions on how to
do things—e.g. the <em>Getting Things Done</em> methodology by David
Allen, which I've referenced at least a few times here.</p>
<p>When we start talking about "business success", billionaires,
investing, and that sort of thing, I think stuff gets a little bit
shakier. You can ask,</p>
<ul>
<li>What background does the author of my book come from? (e.g. rich
family? poor family?)</li>
<li>How does this person <em>really</em> make money? (e.g. is it really just
<em>making a better product</em>, or is it more about tax loopholes,
government contracts, insider connections etc.)</li>
<li>What belief system does this person have? (e.g. are they
"non-spiritual"? an occult practioner?)</li>
</ul>
<p>Questions like the ones above are important to look at because they
can be more revealing of what sort of thing you are going to be
<em>actually</em> told in some reading. Whereas "dry" technical literature is
pretty self-explanatory, uncritically accepting the advice of people
that live really differently from you or I in many respects (e.g. Mark
Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Elon Musk...) can be an
actually counter-productive thing to do.</p>
<h3>General points versus what is of the times</h3>
<p>Many programing books I've gone through attempt to illustrate general
principles using some specific language. So, while the specifics of
the languages used and their implementations may change over time,
these books contain more general information that can be useful in
designing software regardless of what software is currently
available—hence "software engineering" versus "C++/python/etc".</p>
<p>The point made above can also be applied to advice on investing,
property management, etc. This is because these things depend on a
particular environment, such as <em>California law in 2021</em> and <em>federal
reserve notes</em>. Just like how Microsoft might update your computer or
introduce some new software standards without your permission, so too
policy/law-makers may change the "playing field" on which you operate.</p>
<p>So when reading stuff, it is not enough to say "oh, Peter Thiel is a
really rich guy, so he must know how to invest so I will read his book
and learn". While I'm sure you can learn a lot from reading stuff by
any rich person, you should take into consideration what is <em>general</em>
(and thus true in your situation with regard to what you're doing) and
what is specifics, speculations, filler/fluff or just
deception/propaganda.</p>
<h2>Repetition and Re-reading</h2>
<p>In the modern era, there is an emphasis on <strong>novelty</strong> and
<strong>consumerism</strong>. For a while I was using goodreads and reviewing
books. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing to do, but I
think it is biased towards a particular sort of reading which I don't
think is often the best sort to do.</p>
<p>What is better—(a) to read 20 books in a year, or (b) to re-read
one good book 20 times and know it very well in a year?</p>
<p>I think that overall, (b) is probably better. Repeated over some
decades, you might find yourself knowing twenty or thirty books really
well. That seems like a better lifetime investment than kinda, sorta
remembering 500 books to me.</p>
<p>Just like it takes time to have a conversation with someone else, to
think over what they've said, to ask them to clarify certain
stuff—in the same way, good books aren't just "consumables". You
wouldn't want to meet people just to increase your Facebook friends
count (hopefully)—similarly, what profit is there for you to
pride yourself on <em>the number</em> of books you've read?</p>
<p>If you've read 100 books but learned nothing, that's just silly!</p>
<h2>Clear thinking, discipline, and application of effort</h2>
<p>Reading itself is a means to an end. Just as you wouldn't want to
spend your whole life on an exercise bike, it would do no good to
spend your whole life just consuming books. You work on developing
physical fitness (in the absence of nearby mountains, lakes, etc) so
you can enjoy other things later as well as <em>to instill discipline</em>
which in turn gives you more <em>freedom</em>.</p>
<p>Reading similarly is a useful thing to do in order to develop
effective ways of thinking, approaching problems, and so on.</p>
<p>There have been very physically fit people who never used
gyms/exercise equipment (e.g. people with a physically demanding job
they do skillfully) and likewise there have been very smart, effective
people who were illiterate.<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> </p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>Let us come full circle and return to the question of <em>trust</em>.</p>
<p>There are lots of people telling you to read lots of
things—should you just read <em>all the things?</em> Obviously, if you
have things to do, you don't have time to do this. Instead, you might
prioritize the things that already interest you, something a friend
read (in order to strengthen a relationship with that friend),
something that will very likely be useful to you...</p>
<p>One thing a little above average IQ people (search up the
"<strong>Redditor</strong>" character for more info) might get flattered by is
being regarded as a "bookish" or "learned" person. This often makes
them the biggest suckers to indoctrination appealing to their "nerdy"
sensibilities. Smugly sitting in a book store reading the latest
popular "science" book, they may look down on people that flip through
People magazine at the grocery store checkout. They may scoff at the
New Age store (though they may be simultaneously dating a significant
other they met at some Yoga studio)—though they themselves
simply trust everything that is being told to them by the Scientist
Wizard Prophets. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>Just as we decide which <em>people</em> in our lives we trust, we should also
examine the extent to which we trust various institutions and the
official messages they put forth—this includes book
publishers—particularly if they are tied to very rich people.
What sort of content is being offered to us and why? What <em>isn't</em>
being promoted?</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>There probably still are, but in modern times most people get
some basic literacy it seems. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>These figures might not even really do science—they might
work as policy makers and get paid a lot of money to say stuff,
relying on PR stunts and emotional appeals and exercising their
powers to silence disagreement <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 922021-01-12T00:00:00-08:002021-01-12T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-12:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-92.html<p>Clarifying the purpose of things is a helpful way to find out what
is(n't) essential to your day to day workflow, cut costs, and improve
productivity.</p>
<p>Young adults especially—upon getting some "disposable
income"—may be quick to start accumulating "fun" things,
equipment for various hobbies, and so on …</p><p>Clarifying the purpose of things is a helpful way to find out what
is(n't) essential to your day to day workflow, cut costs, and improve
productivity.</p>
<p>Young adults especially—upon getting some "disposable
income"—may be quick to start accumulating "fun" things,
equipment for various hobbies, and so on and so forth. What is the
<em>cost</em> of this sort of behavior?</p>
<p>If you are actively involved in doing some activity such as <em>playing
the piano</em>, then of course it makes sense to have readily accessible
keyboard nearby. No explanation is needed for objects that readily
present themselves as useful for the activities you choose to do
day-to-day.</p>
<p>What about various "decorations", "hobbies" and other things you may
be involved with? Here, I think <em>what sort of living situation you are
in</em> is crucial to consider. If you are in a house/place you expect to
be in for the forseeable future, then I think it can make sense to
have lots of stuff—e.g. specialized seasonal clothing and
decorations. These may be items which you use year after year, if only
for a month or two out of the year—I don't see any inherent
problem with this.</p>
<p>However, if you are fresh out of college (or still attending a
university), in a city you don't plan on being in for the "long run",
and so on, then I don't think it typically does more harm than good to
purchase stuff other than tools and things that will be useful to you
daily in an obvious way—like if you play decide to play some
videogames sometimes, you may have a gaming console.</p>
<p>The scenario you want to avoid is having to deal with a lot of "stuff"
that serves no real purpose to you. Because if you spent a couple
thousand dollars over a year on various things and then at the end of
the year you have to move and you end up <em>having to throw away most of
this stuff</em>, when what have you done really? You've generated more
waste in the world through consumerism instead of focusing on quality
goods and how to use your time and energy to do useful work for
yourself and others.</p>
<p>In the coming days, I'll be working on doing some "cleaning out" of
various items—updates will be posted here about how this process
itself helps me gain clarity and focus on refining my actions.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 912021-01-09T00:00:00-08:002021-01-09T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-09:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-91.html<p>Today, I'm just collecting up a few hopeful useful thoughts I came
across.</p>
<h2>Some tips from watching TechLead</h2>
<p>The past couple days I was watching some videos of this YouTuber with
a channel called TechLead. I assume much of his audience is
nerd/engineer types. So he makes a lot …</p><p>Today, I'm just collecting up a few hopeful useful thoughts I came
across.</p>
<h2>Some tips from watching TechLead</h2>
<p>The past couple days I was watching some videos of this YouTuber with
a channel called TechLead. I assume much of his audience is
nerd/engineer types. So he makes a lot of good points for people that
tend to fall into traps like getting obsessed with retro video games
or trying to optimize everything with technology.</p>
<h3>Don't get overly attached to some technology/methodology</h3>
<p>To be skilled in some programing language or technology is not a
<em>problem</em>, but to be overly concerned with technical details and
problems while failing to deliver a product is no good. Being a
successful "software engineer" means being able to get things done
with technology. Sometimes, this will mean focusing on marketing and
human-to-human aspects of working with tech solutions, rather than
crafting the "perfect technology".</p>
<h3>Don't waste your time trying to make people think you're right</h3>
<p>If you produce results, no explanation is needed. People who fail to
get things done can often explain for hour after hour <em>why</em>
such-and-such didn't work. They may be correct in a lot of their
analyses, but this doesn't help anyone if they don't apply the lessons
they learned.</p>
<h2>Study notes</h2>
<p>Memorizing stuff happens little by little. Trying to memorize too much
at once will make you discouraged and may disrupt a routine of
day-by-day repetition, which will produce memorization.</p>
<p>Studying consistently—even if not much—day by day is more
powerful than putting in a huge effort every now and then.</p>
<p>In popular psychology/business books, people will talk about the force
of <strong>habit</strong>.</p>
<p>By working hard each day and slowly refining our methods to do better,
we can become people that know things and can do things that only come
with long experience. Sure, reading a short articles can give you the
"general idea" about lots of stuff—this is like fast food
compared to the "nutritious meals" of working through problems.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 902021-01-08T00:00:00-08:002021-01-08T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-08:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-90.html<p>Small economic decisions—how you spend your money—can
produce big advantages both for you and the parties you interact with.
While often, we're forced to use big businesses like Amazon or Walmart
to take care of specialized immediate needs (e.g. getting some
specific battery), many of the purchasing …</p><p>Small economic decisions—how you spend your money—can
produce big advantages both for you and the parties you interact with.
While often, we're forced to use big businesses like Amazon or Walmart
to take care of specialized immediate needs (e.g. getting some
specific battery), many of the purchasing choices we make can
facilitate building up connections with those around us as well as
with people who share our more niche interests around the world.</p>
<h2>The real local news</h2>
<p>The real local news comes from eyewitness accounts of events. When
interacting with people—of which buying/selling is an excellent
opportunity to find new people—you are positioned to lend a
listening ear to hear not just what news networks have to tell you,
but to hear what is going on in your local neighborhood. Does what you
are told through mass broadcast reflect the "on the ground" reality?</p>
<p>Speaking with different people is also a very good opportunity to find
out about stuff you may have never thought of. For instance, suppose
you were thinking of a new activity to take up to help improve your
fitness. Then, you hear some people chatting about a hiking meetup.
Well, either you'll be so likeable you'll get an invitation upfront
<em>or</em> now you have the idea of something to look up.</p>
<p>Before there were targeted ads on Facebook, Google, and the like, this
is one of the primary ways people discovered things.</p>
<h2>Profit from stocks, shop at local businesses</h2>
<p>Companies like Amazon and Google are here to stay with us for a while.
Being aware of how they can harm local networks doesn't mean to <em>not
use them</em>, though this choice might be a good one for some people.
Rather, we should become aware of the role each of us plays in the
conquest of big business so we can each do our part in "fighting back"
against changes that do not have to be "inevitable".</p>
<p>Here's a thing many people did in the early to mid 2000s: (1) check
out a produce <em>in person</em> in a brick and mortar store, (2) buy thing
thing cheaper online.</p>
<p>The above practice hurt many businesses (I don't have numbers on me,
but you can see how this could be harmful—the physical store
locations got no profit while providing some service).</p>
<p>We can kind of flip around this scenario. You can read reviews for
products online from big companies like Amazon who have to hire a
bunch of tech nerds to support such services. Then, you can find some
product elsewhere (offline, from the original vendor), making use of
the Amazon services but <em>not giving Amazon money</em>. Touché!</p>
<p>Another thing to do is to "park" money in big companies via stock
trading. You know these people have government contracts and other
means of "guaranteeing" income in ways that smaller businesses don't.
By using stocks as a means to keep up with inflation and other forces
of the Establishment which are outside of your control, you can
effectively <em>take from the rich</em> and <em>give to the poor(er)</em>. Like...
erm... Robinhood. I'm not a paid sponsor, but I do use that product!</p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>You are like your own little business, whether or not you like it. You
do buying and you do selling (often this means <em>your time</em> or
<em>services</em> by being an employee, choosing to live with certain people
to cut down expenses, and so forth).</p>
<p>Taking on this perspective, you can see how even your small purchasing
decisions can have big effects, when added up. Consider the project of
<em>starting a web business</em>. Your business doesn't feel like a business
until you <em>make some transactions</em>. This could be as local as
following through on asale on Facebook marketplace or Ebay or having a
full, custom website—the situation is such that your "business"
is just theory <em>until you follow through and money is transferred for
goods/services</em>.</p>
<p>You probably can't land a contract with the government or a big
corporation tomorrow. But, you might be able to sell stuff you aren't
using in your home, offer some services setting up a printer or
getting some mobile work station thing working, or something else
"small scale".</p>
<p>All large corporations do is organize many more people into doing a
whole bunch of small tasks, often with large centralized data stores.
Realizing this, you can seize on many opportunities that fall through
the cracks of the standardized products of big business and offer
better, more <em>personal</em> goods/services through your own unique flavor
of economic participation.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 892021-01-04T00:00:00-08:002021-01-04T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-04:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-89.html<p>A few days late, but happy 2021 everyone! Let's strive to live this
year better than 2020.</p>Work2021-01-04T00:00:00-08:002021-01-04T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2021-01-04:/pelican-test/work.html<p>In this essay, I will try to "un-abstract" the notion of <strong>work</strong> (or
"toil", "labor"). Work <em>is not the same thing</em> as making
money—evidently, there are many people in this world who have a
lot of money through no application of effort on their own
part—e.g. getting …</p><p>In this essay, I will try to "un-abstract" the notion of <strong>work</strong> (or
"toil", "labor"). Work <em>is not the same thing</em> as making
money—evidently, there are many people in this world who have a
lot of money through no application of effort on their own
part—e.g. getting money through inheritance, winning the
lottery, or having profited from some form of speculation or
investment. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>The issue of the nature of "work" is an important question to answer
because if work is something beneficial to us that we should be
doing most days of the year, it is good to know what this means so
that we can do this.</p>
<p>In modern times, many of us have been quite detached from
understanding the nature of our work, who we are working for, and to
what ends we are doing work. Oftentimes "debates" about work are cast
in terms of false dialectics—e.g. being <em>pro</em> or <em>anti</em>
technology. We need to move beyond that level of discussion—the
presence of certain technologies is a fact of reality. That being
said, in the areas we do have a say in what is going on, we can seek
to be wise in determining where and when to introduce new technologies
versus where the latest fancy thing doesn't add any improvement and
may undermine the most important aspects of our business—how it
brings together people in mutually beneficial ways.</p>
<p>I am writing this essay to think through what it means for me to use
my time in a prudent way and also to share whatever insight I might
have so that you my readers too may use your time better. The hope is
that we better understand how to <em>work together</em> in this respect. By
more clearly characterizing what it means <em>to work</em> I aim to be able
to better able to apply my own efforts to get things done in the world
and establish meaningful connections with those around
me—whether in my physical vicinity or through the Internet.</p>
<p>Let's get started!</p>
<h2>Types of Work</h2>
<p>Below I'll describe some types of work people do as well as providing
some commentary on the modern manifestations of these roles.</p>
<h3>Workers</h3>
<p>The most obviously work-like type of work is "manual" or "physical"
labor. You can recognize this sort of work without much difficulty;
often it will involve a lot of repetition. Raking leaves, laying
bricks, and transporting items all fall under this category.</p>
<p>Even people who mainly do "intellectual labors" (which I'll discuss
further on below) can benefit greatly from doing physical work. I
think this is one reason why you get a lot of people who are
professionals in white collar fields taking up a "hobby" like
carpentry or gardening—there is something that cannot be
replaced in directly working with materials using our hands and simple
tools.</p>
<p>In the current age, most people have the idea that it is good to "get
exercise"—do physically exerting movements to become stronger,
maintain fitness, etc. We've kinda cleaved work between the actions of
sitting at a desk for many hours a day and then getting ourselves to
"work out". While "working out" is built into physical labor like
chopping firewood, the modern person must choose to seek out physical
exertion, otherwise weakness sets in. This takes discipline. Insofar
as the above actions contribute to making a healthy body/mind, I would
call working out a kind of manual labor or training. Training a
healthy body lends to an effective, alert mind. This being said, it is
important for the white collar office worker to view physical fitness
as something <strong>essential</strong> to work—arranging pencils and
paperclips on a desk all day isn't work (it is idling); the least you
can do is be a physically fit.</p>
<p>I also include being a <strong>messenger</strong> in various capacities under this
sort of manual work. You can think of how in older times, you might
literally have a runner who carries a tablet from one location to
another in order to share some important information. Nowadays, we
likewise often have to do the work of relaying messages—this
could mean sharing links, posting on a bulletin board, etc. Note, this
is not to suggest that that going on Reddit or Discord counts as
"working hard"—rather I am making the point that it does take
effort/application of will to decide to be the vehicle by which
messages travel. Naturally, you should ask yourself <em>whose</em> messages
you are sending and for what purpose...</p>
<h3>Managers</h3>
<p>The job of a <strong>manager</strong> is to organize workers. If a manager
understands the nature of the work of the workers this is better
because then the manager won't try to make useless/impossible/etc
demands. Lots of programers will complain about project managers who
tell them to do things which are very difficult to implement (and
hence time consuming and expensive)—a skilled manager
understands the nature of demands placed upon workers and can allocate
time and resources appropriately.</p>
<p>Challenges managers face include</p>
<ul>
<li>Logistics—having the right stuff in the right place at the
right time</li>
<li>Resolving disputes with or among workers</li>
<li>Hiring workers and ensuring they get paid</li>
<li>Scheduling</li>
</ul>
<p>Nowadays, this general "manager" type might be called by many names.
We have layers of management in larger organizations—a company
may have a CEO above <em>middle managers</em> who in turn supervise workers,
for instance. "Human Resources" (HR) people might be called managers
who specialize in the hiring/paying of workers.</p>
<p>On a day to day basis, we all have to do a little "self-management".
That is, a properly managed person has a <em>plan</em> for what they need to
do and when they need to do it. It more traditional societies, this
management was often done for people, but in our more "free societies"
where there isn't much of a default routine given to many people, it
is necessary for us to manage our time and resources to make sure the
things we want to get done do get done.</p>
<p>Subtypes of managers include property managers, estate managers, and
(software) project managers. The essential feature uniting all of
these groups is that they organizing <em>how</em> work is to be done though
they might not be directly involved in the "actual" work the of
putting the hammer to the nail. That being said, managers and managing
isn't bad/evil—without the oversight of managers, the scope of
complexity of projects is severely limited. Good management means that
larger scale projects can happen.</p>
<p>Note that in modern times, when machines can replace a lot of the
sorts of work people may have done (e.g. software relays a message
where a person may have previously done this), each of us takes on
more responsibilities as a manager.</p>
<h3>Merchants</h3>
<p><strong>Merchants</strong> buy and sell stuff. They're important for <em>liquidity</em> of
assets—that is, being able to exchange things for money, the
generic medium of exchange. Merchants can support themselves if they
are skilled at buying at lower prices and selling at higher prices as
well as by employment under managers, who may use merchants to buy and
sell stuff for them.</p>
<p>Traders are kinds of merchants, but they often go between businesses
rather than being directly "customer facing". Shopkeepers are kinds of
merchants and may have to deal with many issues like,</p>
<ul>
<li>theft, fraud, security, etc</li>
<li>managing inventory</li>
<li>dealing with different weights, measures, and media of exchange</li>
</ul>
<h3>Artisans/Craftsmen</h3>
<p>Merchants often sell items created by <strong>artisans/craftsmen</strong>. Artists
and craftsmen are similar to workers, but might be called more
<em>skilled</em> in that their crafts can't just be done by any able-bodied
person—time and dedication must be put into study and learning.
I consider jobs like video editing, computer programing, and
traditional crafts like painting, woodworking, tailoring and so forth
to fall under this category.</p>
<p>You may have heard a self-styled communist talk about seizing the
"means of production". For craftsmen, this means being able to own the
tools to do work. Companies like Adobe exploit starving artists by
requiring these artists to <em>rent</em> products like Photoshop through a
subscription type model. Thus, the digital artist can't own/control
their tools. Sometimes, artists work for large companies that have
<em>corporate licenses</em> such that away from their company,
artisans/craftsmen cannot even use the tools they work with for their
own purposes!</p>
<h3>Judges, Lawyers, and Regulators</h3>
<p>Finally, there is the category of the judges, lawyers, and
regulators—these people establish and enforce the rules by which
all the other groups operate. Included here, one might put
politicians, lobbyists, and other occupations that involve
talking/writing to order society. </p>
<p>These roles don't provide "goods" or "services" in the sense that
everybody is under their jurisdiction, so they don't need to appeal to
customers. But examining evidence, making decisions, and so forth can
take a lot of time and energy, so I think these occupations do count
as "work" in sofar as evidence is being examined, good decisions are
sought...</p>
<h2>Knowledge/Study</h2>
<p>In order to do certain sorts of work, it is necessary to learn/study
to know how certain systems are put together or to know some set of
steps to take. When getting started doing something like cooking, for
instance, a cookbook or instructional video/article "teaches" you in
that it enumerates what steps need to be taken to succeed in an
job.</p>
<p>Different sorts of jobs will have different requirements. Engineering
fields, for instance, require a lot of specialized training—you
can't just read a recipe and successfully troubleshoot an engineering
problem. However, complex systems are often designed to be
<em>compartmentalized</em>—there are some services you can do to "fix"
your car (e.g. pump up tires) for which you don't really need any
specialized knowledge for.</p>
<p>There are more general things to learn—I think you might call
this <em>wisdom</em>. Then there are the specifics of how things in the world
work, which I will call <em>knowledge</em>. Wisdom is the same from age to
age, though specific knowledge, models, and tools will differ from
industry to industry. It follows that wisdom is helpful to possess in
any situation—this can then be used to discern what sorts of
knowledge is useful/profitable in a given situation.</p>
<h2>Computers and Work</h2>
<p>Above, I discussed a bunch of different types of work as well as what
it means to learn/study, which is often a prerequisite for doing work.
I will now move into discussing what exactly <strong>computers</strong> are, what
all of this "Aritifical Intelligence" buzz is about, and why we
should(n't) be afraid of "being replaced by machines".</p>
<p>Nowadays, we have people attempting to use computer systems to replace
both managers and workers. Robots/mechanical machines are the "lowest"
level here with "Artificial Intelligence" decision making at the "top".
"Platforms" take the place of storefronts as <em>e-commerce</em> blooms.</p>
<p>I think that one of the main effects of the development of IT
infrastructue is the <em>centralization</em> or <em>consolidation</em> of a lot of
control as well as the "atomization" of individuals and the tighter of
<strong>institutional coupling</strong>—you are more reliant on a central
system (i.e. the Internet) to do stuff.</p>
<p>People wouldn't change over to this system if there weren't <em>any</em>
enticing offerings. The Internet does make many sorts of actions
easier. Perhaps what is most tricky to deal with, I think, is this
general problem of <em>filtering</em> or <em>ranking</em> that we have to deal with.</p>
<p>As explored in other blog posts, people outsource lots of their
thinking and decision making to search engines. Large corporations
like Google therefore get to decide what sorts of things we see first,
what we take as mainstream/normal, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>What we call "Artificial Intelligence" is often nothing more than
handing over decision making to non-personal parties. Now, we're
seeing the "driverless car revolution"—this means turning over
transportation/traveling to big corporations like many people have
decided to put our trust in "fact checkers" to interpret the sea of
information on the Internet.</p>
<p>Really, lots of these new technologies don't <em>solve new problems</em>;
even the automobile didn't "solve" a problem that horse/buggies didn't
already do—rather, we saw a transformation of the types of work
people were doing to be more tightly coupled to an industrial
system—in the case of automobiles, the roads and highways and
the cities that rely on them.</p>
<p>The analysis I offer in this essay can be used to clarify how exactly
AI technologies are being used to replace human participation in the
world—as I see it, this is mainly in the field of "decision
making". But this is only possible to do after the road is paved
through standardization and subsequently setting up things to be more
mechanical and less human.</p>
<h2>Contrasts</h2>
<p>Given the definitions of what work <em>is</em> and some forms it can take, we
can look at what is not work.</p>
<p>Consider the state of being a "couch potato"—this usually means
reclining on a couch and passively watching TV/movies/etc. <em>Reclining</em>
rather than being <em>upright</em> is associated with not working. Often this
is done with snacking or inattentive eating of some sort. The couch
potato indulges various <strong>passions</strong> and does so <em>passively</em>; rather
than <em>actively</em> laboring to improve, the couch potato does what is
<em>easiest</em>. This sort of (lack of) activity doesn't even involve
reaching out, engaging other people, and opening up oneself to
rejection, verbal abuse, etc. The couch potato chooses the <em>path of
least resistance</em>—doing that which pretty much has no chance of
"failure". The plan is to fail.</p>
<p>"Idle talk" is not work. While it takes discipline, care, and
attention to speak succinctly in a forthright matter, to talk just for
the sake of talking or distracting oneself or others is not working
and can get you in trouble. I'm guilty of lots of speculation and
writing just to write, even here in this blog.</p>
<h2>Notes for 2021 and Conclusions</h2>
<p>As we enter a new year, we see how work continues to be affected by
the ongoing COVID stuff. Many, many people are under or unemployed.
What is to be done?</p>
<p>It is important to understand that there is a difference between how
many dollars a person has and how much/hard they work. In some areas,
such as developing physical fitness or manual labor, there is a more
direct correlation between care/effort put in and results—even
still work eventually is "undone" through aging and eventually death.
Likewise, we don't take money down to the grave. That being said, work
can be a very good and helpful thing to us all for building
disciplined, keeping focused, and avoiding <em>idle hands</em> which may lead
us to bad places. Conversely, many people who landed comfy jobs,
inherited money, bought bitcoin at the right time, or otherwise <em>don't
have to work</em> in order to "get by"—it is is important for those
in this camp to not waste time idling.</p>
<p>We should likewise be "frugal" (not <em>miserly</em>) in the sense that we
aim to be efficient rather than wasteful. Do you <em>eat to live</em> or
<em>live to eat</em>? Nothing wrong with enjoying nice food when you have it,
but working an extra 20 hours a week to blow on (unnecessary)
alcohol/drugs/luxuries might not be the most prudent use of
time—especially if these things aren't consumed in a way that
develops something else, such as (human) networks.</p>
<p>No matter where we are now in terms of location, money, status, etc.
it is important to manage the resources we have available to us
(especially time) and work hard.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Another essay may treat this topic of "investment" vs
"speculation" <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 882020-12-28T00:00:00-08:002020-12-28T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-28:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-88.html<p>How can writing a blog like this be useful? This log has become a kind
of diary, but it also reflects <em>how</em> I think (or have thought) about
stuff. For instance, in earlier posts, you can see some speculation,
descriptions of how I understand things as I look at more …</p><p>How can writing a blog like this be useful? This log has become a kind
of diary, but it also reflects <em>how</em> I think (or have thought) about
stuff. For instance, in earlier posts, you can see some speculation,
descriptions of how I understand things as I look at more materials,
and so on.</p>
<p>If I learn something useful, hopefully I will remember it so I can
learn from and continue to apply that wisdom/knowledge.</p>
<p>Maybe by writing that stuff down and explicating a bit more at how I
arrive at such-and-such thought can be helpful not only for me to
remember useful things, but may even be helpful for someone in who
finds themselves in a similar situation... to learn from what
does(n't) work for me.</p>
<h2>Accountability</h2>
<p>Frequent blog posting will for me mean making sure I have worthwhile
things to report. Have I been lazy and negligent, or am I working on
myself such that I have things to share about the struggles I will
naturally face. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>Things for this week</h2>
<p>When "studying", shorter and concentrated sessions are often
preferable to longer and distracted sessions. Ten minutes of paying
attention is better than an hour gone by without thinking in front of
some books. Less "intellectually laborious" time can be spent on
manual tasks, exercise, etc.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>In this lifetime, the fight is never over. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 872020-12-26T00:00:00-08:002020-12-26T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-26:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-87.html<p>While the forms which many of our modern technologies take are new,
the <em>basic actions</em> we do with them are not. It follows that wisdom
handed down for hundreds of years can be helpful in discerning
good/proper uses for these things, though it may take some work to
"translate …</p><p>While the forms which many of our modern technologies take are new,
the <em>basic actions</em> we do with them are not. It follows that wisdom
handed down for hundreds of years can be helpful in discerning
good/proper uses for these things, though it may take some work to
"translate" specific statements of old to the applications in the
present day.</p>
<p>How would you <strong>describe</strong> many of the tools of today to someone from
hundreds of years ago? Most of the <em>actions</em> we do on a computer are
just variations on things that people as a collective have known for a
long time.</p>
<p>A computer (laptop, desktop, smartphone) smashes together many tools
into a new form—at once, it can be a writing station, drawing
board, and library. As such, it can also be the means by which we
request (or provide) numerous services—the same standard for
what services we <em>should</em> and <em>shouldn't</em> request still stand. As one
should not wander the "red light district" of a city, so too we
shouldn't do this online. Idle talking and negligence in work can be
practiced on computers just as they can be in face to face
interactions. Simularly, empty speculation, gossip (in the sense of
relaying stuff you've heard but don't know), and straight up <em>lying</em>
can be practiced. In recent times, there is a lot of talk about "cyber
security" and protecting against scams and attacks and
stuff—there is a way in which people need to of course be
prudent themselves and not get tricked/duped, but this doesn't mean
that we should naïvely trust governments and/or big corporations to be
arbiters of truth for us, telling us what <em>is</em> and <em>isn't</em> of the
world. Sending letters isn't bad, but people can send letters with
truth and love or with guile and deception.</p>
<h2>Modern Technology Challenges</h2>
<p>Evidently, many people do not enjoy working with the computer
interface as much as they do using "traditional" tools like pen and
paper. Yet most of us find ourselves in a time/place where we are
surrounded by these things whether we want to be or not—chances
are that the readership of this very blog post are looking at this
from a web brorwser of some sort.</p>
<p>I think that the main way computers can be dangerous are
<strong>distraction</strong> (and related, <strong>suggestion</strong>). While you can align
your body to focus on a very concrete/physical task, like working on
laying bricks in front of you, setting up a computing environment to
be useful is a bit trickier. You won't find yourself laying bricks
with a host of distractions in front of you as readily as a computer
interface presents these things—here I'm thinking of how
<strong>social media</strong>, <strong>games</strong>, and other things we might do on a
computer can present themselves right in front of you as you try to
complete some task. It is like... trying to lay some bricks, and then
having all of these marketer/lobbyist types circling around you
offering you free samples so that you will engage with them instead of
doing your work at hand.</p>
<p>The mind also easily wanders without "natural" stimuli. Most of us
cannot read for hours on end—it takes concentration and
discipline to read for a little while, and then we need to rest and do
something else. We typically do not read for hours and hours each day.
Advertising often stalks our appetites; it is a predator and we are
its prey.</p>
<p>In Internet slang, we have some interesting terms. First instance,
people might speak of <strong>"food porn"</strong> or even <strong>"fear porn"</strong> (doom
and gloom news stories to stimulate you in feelings of fear/anxiety,
eager to "learn" more from the edge of your seat). Years ago, I'd
probably laugh at these terms and not realize the association between
various <em>stimulating</em> content in these not overtly sexual ways and the
other bad stuff you shouldn't look at. Yet much internet "content",
including the aforementioned <em>genera</em> operate by the same
mechanism—they appeal to the
<a href="http://www.orthodox.net/confess/a-list-of-the-passions.html"><em>passions</em></a>
such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>mindlessness</strong>, <strong>idleness</strong>, <strong>idiocy</strong> (e.g. silly, pointless
videos, using YouTube as distraction/noise)</li>
<li><strong>coarseness</strong>, <strong>loquacity</strong>, <strong>spurious knowledge</strong> (e.g. being
rude, arrogant, useless on some Internet forum; acquiring
"expertise" in something that is beneficial to nobody and talking
excessively about your fruitless endeavors) <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></li>
<li><strong>soft living</strong>, <strong>listlessness</strong>, <strong>overeating</strong> (e.g. loitering
around eating snacks and/or drinking on the computer while "doing
nothing")</li>
<li><strong>love of popularity</strong>, <strong>attraction to what is fleeting</strong>,
<strong>frivolity</strong>, <strong>mindless friendship</strong> (easy things to do on social
media sites)</li>
<li>all the stuff associated with "actual" porn in its many forms (can
include "fashion", animations/games, and more)—includes efforts
put forth to acquire it, distribute it, profit from it, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>I list the things above confessing I have personal experience wasting
many hours with all of these activities. While none of these
activities may appear to be a really "big crime" like mugging someone
in the street, cheating on your spouse, or using occult magic to sell
your soul for fame and riches, they are (seemingly) small steps in
that same direction of non-repentance and soul staining badness. If
you are a spineless blob in front of your PC saying "at least I didn't
<em>kill</em> anyone", you are wrong—you're killing yourself slowly,
wasting what you've been given (especially time/attention), and
likely facilitating many others in the same path.</p>
<h1>Using tech correctly</h1>
<p>By articulating some of the ways tech can be used in a
self-destructive and how "work" at the computer can turn to vice at
the literal click of a button, I aim to learn to correct my own
behavior.</p>
<p>Considering how we spend our time—not just "overt/outward"
behavior, but looking at the things we access with our senses and
think about—is something that is difficult to do. Better to
recognize the errors in our ways now and steer towards doing right now
while we have the chance rather than distracting ourselves and being
filled with regret later.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Don't be the <strong>Discord mod(erator)</strong> meme! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 862020-12-18T00:00:00-08:002020-12-18T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-86.html<p>When reading and studying (physical) books, there is more going on
than just reading <em>words on a page</em> which also happens when reading
off of a smartphone or a PC. There is spatial information—where
some words appear on the page. There is the overall look and feel of
the …</p><p>When reading and studying (physical) books, there is more going on
than just reading <em>words on a page</em> which also happens when reading
off of a smartphone or a PC. There is spatial information—where
some words appear on the page. There is the overall look and feel of
the book. There is the position in the book we note by the feel of the
pages of the book in our hands. All of these things can contribute to
us <em>remembering</em>.</p>
<p>Computers and smartphones create a kind of unified window which makes
content <em>homogenous</em>. Whereas you would readily be able to tell the
difference between a real oil painting and a cheap print, digital
technology reduces both of these to the same viewing screen. Computer
technology levels everything to <code>0</code>s and <code>1</code>s.</p>
<p>It is thus unsurprising that it can be difficul tto "judge a book by
its cover" with respect to lots of mass media—the trashiest of
content can have the highest production value cover. High quality
content might be found on a website that looks like it was made in the
90s when computers were considerably slower than they are today.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 852020-12-17T00:00:00-08:002020-12-17T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-17:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-85.html<p>What follows are some practical notes to myself; they may be useful to
you too.</p>
<p>"Multi-tasking" isn't so much of an issue as failing to <em>integrate</em> a
multiple activities working towards a common goal. When doing any
complex activity—take <em>driving a car</em> as an example—you
must take charge …</p><p>What follows are some practical notes to myself; they may be useful to
you too.</p>
<p>"Multi-tasking" isn't so much of an issue as failing to <em>integrate</em> a
multiple activities working towards a common goal. When doing any
complex activity—take <em>driving a car</em> as an example—you
must take charge of many controls. There's the gas and brake pedals,
steering, checking the mirrors, and so on. So in a way, driving a car
is "multi-tasking". For a skilled driver, it doesn't feel this way and
indeed many actions happen automatically without conscious thought.
Why is this? It is from having practiced a number of procedures and
being able to seamlessly move from task to task <em>without even
enumerating those tasks</em>.</p>
<p>To continue on this driving analogy, we can consider things that can
distract and endanger drivers. A ringing cell phone, a pet blocking
the driver's view, a blinking indicator light... There are many things
that can make a driver perform worse than they can.</p>
<p>In our "work weeks", we can likewise look for things that prevent us
from "driving along" in an integrated way. With a car, you'll want to
check your parking brake when you start driving. But having checked
it, and started driving, this thing should be out of mind and out of
sight. Similarly with our workdays, there can be things that are
potentially very distracting—consider some site or communication
platform that you check. Without giving yourself guidelines about how
often you do(n't) check things like email (or in 2020: Slack, Discord,
etc) you can easily find yourself sinking a lot of time into
<em>checking</em> or mindlessly browsing and not getting much done at all.</p>
<p>YouTube and other sites that give notifications can present similar
distractions. Rather than just watching one or two videos <em>you know
you want to watch</em> and then moving on, you can find yourself engaging
in an extended "web surfing" session, spending hours longer than you
planned as one video leads to the next.</p>
<h2>Tactics</h2>
<p>There are many tactics one can employ to counter the issues describe
above. Here are some:</p>
<ul>
<li>Schedule activities for a full schedule that doesn't allow for much
slacking off; e.g. have an hour-by-hour routine that leaves little
room to get distracted if you follow it with discipline</li>
<li>Turn off/log off of distracting apps after checking them at a time
you select in advance—make sure to get rid of notifications
too</li>
<li>Intentionally quit or postpone projects (including engaging in
"social" activities like playing online games) that are out of
control</li>
<li>Find accountability to keep you on task</li>
</ul>
<h2>Work is hard enough already</h2>
<p>It should go without saying that you should cut out any
counter-productive behaviors. If you are accustomed to eating a giant
lunch that makes you feel sluggish and get distracted, this is an
issue that you should address. If you are cluttering your workspace
such that you have no space to do what you need to do, then it may be
a good idea to invest a bit of time in improving the organization of
your workspace before pushing yourself with a demanding schedule.</p>
<p>When alone, give up notions of self-indulgence and instead focus on
how you can train yourself to do better. When possible, reserve
enjoying activities like eating and drinking nice things to when you
are with others—in doing so, you can simultaneously work on
building enduring connections with people around you.</p>
<p>I have done stuff like drank beer while playing video games for many
hours during a day where I didn't get much else done. Do not have days
like this—your time is more valuable.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 842020-12-16T00:00:00-08:002020-12-16T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-16:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-84.html<p>Some issues with many of the <em>platforms</em> of the Internet is that they</p>
<ol>
<li>subject your work to centralized control </li>
<li>restrict the <em>form</em> of the content you can produce</li>
<li>may exercise editorial control over your content</li>
</ol>
<p>The idea of centralized control here is that by doing something like
uploading a video …</p><p>Some issues with many of the <em>platforms</em> of the Internet is that they</p>
<ol>
<li>subject your work to centralized control </li>
<li>restrict the <em>form</em> of the content you can produce</li>
<li>may exercise editorial control over your content</li>
</ol>
<p>The idea of centralized control here is that by doing something like
uploading a video to YouTube, you are giving YouTube control over a
lot of data. If you don't keep your own backups, YouTube might delete
your work. On the other hand, the old adage that "when you do
something on the Internet, assume it is there forever" rings
true—you can never really be sure that a platform like YouTube
deletes something when you click the <em>delete</em> button. For all you
know, they have some big file collection of "things users wanted to
delete". No matter what types of legislation are passed, you are
forced to trust third parties to be faithful to their word. Oftentimes
your arrangements with a big platform are very impersonal—you
are one data point, not a client to have a personal relationship with.</p>
<p>The second point here relates to <em>what form content you make</em> can
have. On Facebook, for instance, posts can only be so many characters
long, cannot contain things like charts or even bold or italicized
text, and will appear on users' screens in a way you have little
control over. Formats like YouTube's videos now <em>appear</em> much more
free—a kind of blank canvas to share content in many formats.
However, any prolific video creator who makes relatively "high
production value" videos will be able to tell you about how copyright
strikes and other issues can erase hours of careful editing effort.</p>
<p>The third issue raised here is one that is very pertinent to anyone
making any even slightly -controversial content—you may bet
"shadow banned" (removed from searches) or outright censored/deleted
for your work.</p>
<h2>Solid foundations</h2>
<p>While there is no <em>final security</em> in anything material in this world,
we can look ahead at how certain platforms/places are more likely to
cause us trouble than others and seek more <em>robust</em> solutions.</p>
<p>For instance, having a <em>physical library</em> is a good way to make sure
you can access certain texts. While you may maintain digital copies
for purposes like quick searching and indexing, it is not difficult to
see how electronic copies (or even worse—streaming/subscription
services) can work against the person interested in storing/archiving
valuable knowledge.</p>
<p>Before investing a lot of time in doing something like <em>building a
YouTube following</em> it is prudent to listen to people who have already
invested thousands of hours into these platforms and then had their
work demonetized or removed. Could they see this coming? How did they
prepare? What did they wish they did(n't) do?</p>
<p>One strategy I'm trying here is to make all my stuff (mostly writing)
in an easy to copy and distribute format—git source controlled
text files. So while today I may be using GitHub pages, I understand
that GitHub might go bankrupt or decide to delete a lot of content or
something else in the future. In such a case, I could just use a
different host for the pretty generic files I have.</p>
<p>Archiving audio/video material is more complicated because these files
are typically much much larger—that is a topic I may have to
look into further in the near future.</p>Modern UIs and the Rejection of Hierarchy2020-12-16T00:00:00-08:002020-12-16T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-16:/pelican-test/modern-uis-and-the-rejection-of-hierarchy.html<p>I've been doing some listening/watching of Jonathan Pageau's <a href="https://thesymbolicworld.com/">Symbolic
World</a> content which has got me
thinking about symbols and meanings of lots of things around me. In
this post I want to share a brief analysis of <em>ways to interact with a
computer</em> and how even in this area …</p><p>I've been doing some listening/watching of Jonathan Pageau's <a href="https://thesymbolicworld.com/">Symbolic
World</a> content which has got me
thinking about symbols and meanings of lots of things around me. In
this post I want to share a brief analysis of <em>ways to interact with a
computer</em> and how even in this area we see a <em>leveling of hierarchy</em>.</p>
<h2>File Hierarchies</h2>
<p>Those familiar with Linux or any UNIX based operating system will know
that the typical organization of a systems's files is hierarchical.
Typically there is soom <em>root</em> denoted <code>/</code>. Below that there is often
a directory <code>/home/</code> under which users will have their personal files.
My user files are under <code>/home/alan/</code>, for instance. Users can then
organize their files further with directories like
<code>/home/alan/Documents/</code>, <code>/home/alan/Downloads/</code> and so on and so
forth.</p>
<p>Like a tree where each branch becomes a "mini tree" in a kind of
recursive process, we can see that individual projects/programs often
employ a similar structure. Using the <code>tree</code> utility, for instance, I
can view the hierarchical structure this very file is found in.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>├── content
│ ├── [...]
│ ├── corona-virus-001.md
│ ├── corona-virus-002.md
│ ├── corona-virus-003.md
│ ├── [...]
│ ├── qwerty-theory.md
│ ├── search-anarchy.md
├── Makefile
├── [...]
├── README.md
└── tasks.py
</code></pre></div>
<p>Each file has its place. To use a <strong>static site generator</strong> you must
put files in their correct place—alongside other similar
files—otherwise you probably won't get the result you're going
for <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>To become familiar with a system or software project, you will need to
learn <em>where to find everything</em>. That is, <em>what are the positions in
the hierarchy</em> and which files to go to in order to change the
program's behavior. A skilled developer or administrator will know
many quirks or tricks of some particular system.</p>
<p>Skilled developers of course aim to make systems that are easy to
learn about and scale readily.</p>
<h2>The Flattened Search-based Model</h2>
<p>The MacBook tries to get rid of the need to understand file
hierarchies and become familiar with projects like in the examples
above. Using the Finder application, users simply <em>search</em> and the
computer (rather than the user) is tasked with finding the relevant
files.</p>
<p>You have probably met someone with a very messy (computer) desktop.
Today's powerpoint, last week's powerpoint, and e-mail attachments
from some party you probably don't need to know about all litter the
same (digital) space of the disordered desktop. For this sort of user,
the Finder approach provides much help—nowdays, you might not
even need to choose meaningful <em>names</em> for files because the Finder
application might search <em>within</em> files and make up keywords based on
their contents. So <code>Unnamed document.docx</code> might contain the words
"biology homework" and a search for "Biology" might be able to point
to this file even though the user didn't even bother to give it a
meaningful name.</p>
<p>The Finder approach thus allows (or even <em>encourages</em>) a sort of
"organizational bankruptcy"—giving up on keeping stuff
well-ordered. You might as well dump everything into a folder called
"Stuff" and let Finder retrieve the appropriate file(s).</p>
<h2>Smartphone App Prison</h2>
<p>The smartphone app model involves making a kind of "jail" for each
thing you do—an e-mail app, a music streaming app, a fitness
tracking app—whereby <em>integrating</em> data between the many things
you do is not easily done on a phone. Unlike on a desktop PC where you
might pull up a spreadsheet alongside a word processor and write up an
analysis or a report on last week's sales, the smartphone shafts most
things into one small self-contained video-game-like interface.</p>
<p>There are some security and marketing advantages to this—of
course you don't want your app getting compromised because of a
security flaw in someone else's app—likewise you want to be able
to monetize <em>your</em> product.</p>
<p>But these advantages are more important for the <em>makers</em> of the apps
rather than the <em>users</em>. It shouldn't matter much where a good tool
comes from as long as it works well, and you shouldn't have to
constantly think about its special features—it should seamlessly
facilitate your work as a kind of extension of your body.</p>
<p>Apps invert this relationship whereby tools are an extension of your
body. Instead, <em>you</em> become a <em>data point</em> in an app's network. Rather
than you exercising agency over a tool, popular apps to gather usage
statistics on <em>you</em> and charge <em>you</em> for how you use the app. The tool
profits from you using it. You are the eyes, ears, and mouth of the
app—the app makes you accept all liability for using it and can
be taken from you at any time.</p>
<h2>Choosing tech, configuring for success</h2>
<p>If you're not going to spend much time with technology, it probably
doesn't matter very much what you do. Most people I know, however, are
stuck using computers and phones for many hours a day—especially
during all this COVID stuff. So we might as well get comfy with how to
best channel these devices to <em>work for us</em>.</p>
<p>PCs are often preferable to smart phones. A well-ordered desktop is
preferable to an indifferntiated pile of files and tools. Similar to
how you might choose to furnish a room for particular
purposes—e.g. as a work room or as a dining room, we can also
set up your computing environments to encourage <em>time well spent</em>.</p>
<p>While many aspects of using computers can be annoying, simple
principles that would be applicable for organizing any workspace,
whether online or offline, can help you be more productive and focused
when using digital technology.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Here, all the files I wrote are in the <strong>Markdown</strong> format
denoted by the <code>.md</code> extension. To make a new blog entry, I simply
make a new markdown file, specify information like the title of my
blog post and the date, and then run scripts in the <code>Makefile</code> to
<em>make</em> my website. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 832020-12-15T00:00:00-08:002020-12-15T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-15:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-83.html<p>Looking at the tools we have in front of ourselves today, an exercise
you can do is to ask <em>what sort of thing</em> is some modern invention.
For instance, before automobiles there were <em>chariots</em>. Now, we have
digital tablets but in earlier times there were <em>stone/clay tablets</em>.
There are …</p><p>Looking at the tools we have in front of ourselves today, an exercise
you can do is to ask <em>what sort of thing</em> is some modern invention.
For instance, before automobiles there were <em>chariots</em>. Now, we have
digital tablets but in earlier times there were <em>stone/clay tablets</em>.
There are a number of <strong>types</strong> of things that seem to be "primitives"
of human experience, at least back to our earliest written records of
large civilizations. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>Computers: Digitalizing Analog Processes</h2>
<p>With computers, we have the <strong>"desktop metaphor"</strong>. Just as you might
have files and folders on a wooden desktop, so people fill their
digital desktops with files and folders. Applications are like various
tools—for instance, you might take out drawing supplies to do
some drawing and likewise there is computer software for drawing,
painting, sculpting, and so forth.</p>
<p>Understanding the more "basic" task of what we are doing (e.g.
<em>writing a letter</em> vs some complicated technical procedure) can help
us be more effective at what we're doing.</p>
<p>People who want to get seriously good at something—for instance,
3D modelling—will need to practice the traditional arts of
drawing by hand or sculpting with clay. It is easy to get caught up in
the myriad of features available in some modern software suite, such
and lose sight of the fundamental things which make our work high
quality. Refocusing on the <em>underlying analog task</em> returns us to what
is natural for us as humans to work with.</p>
<h2>Organization Strategies</h2>
<p>One technique I've talked about at least a few times in my blogs is
the <strong>Getting Things Done</strong> system for organizing many projects and
getting the complexity of an information-driven society <em>out of your
head</em> and onto pieces of paper <em>or</em> some computer system.</p>
<p>This system, and other comparable organizational tools/techniques (see
for instance the <em>kanban</em> system, Trello, and others) provide a way to
get organized in a rather <em>software agnostic way</em>. If you succeed in
getting organized with any one of these systems, it won't matter if
you're using Windows or Mac OS or just a notebook—you should be
able to <em>implement</em> a successful information management office space
for yourself.</p>
<p>In its modern manifestations, probably most people that make use of
these systems use some kind of digital tool. But this is not
necessary—these techniques could have just as readily been
taught to ancient peoples provided they had sufficient command of
reading and writing tools. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> </p>
<h2>Don't mind the tooling too much</h2>
<p>You can look at the "lifespans" of many tools we have in front of us.
Even things we may view as rather old—such as the
<em>piano(forte)</em>—may be relatively new on the timeline of recorded
human experiences. A piano is really a kind of stringed instrument, a
lute or harp thingy with hammers... and there have been very skilled
people at playing stringed instruments through all centuries.</p>
<p>Identifying the more basic action you are doing, you can focus on
mastering enduring techniques which you will apply with your specific
tools, but also which you know you can apply to other tools in the
future.</p>
<p>For instance, to learn to play piano or guitar, you can explore
learning techniques attested hundreds of years ago.</p>
<p>While the popular "science" of our day may give us a new language to
talk about things—e.g. terms from psychology like <strong>flow</strong> of
positive psychology to describe being "in the zone", focused on some
activity—we should not presume that our <em>experiences</em> are
anything new under the sun.</p>
<p>We face the same sorts of challenges that humans for hundreds of years
before us faced—</p>
<ul>
<li>boredom</li>
<li>fatigue</li>
<li>anxiety </li>
<li>envy/jealousy</li>
<li>laziness</li>
</ul>
<p>...by assuming our tooling doesn't make <em>us</em> better, we can learn to
do better work by learning from people more accomplished than us even
if they happened to be using less fancy/specialized tools.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>In linguistics, there is this thing called the <strong>Swadesh list</strong>
which has some basic concepts expected to be linguistic universals <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Maybe they wouldn't even need this if they could put servants in
charge of memorizing short lists of information day by day. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 822020-12-14T00:00:00-08:002020-12-14T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-14:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-82.html<p>In this post I am going to summarize some useful ideas on
<strong>training</strong>. We train ourselves to be able to do things we wouldn't
be able to do without training—for example, you might physically
train for more strength or you might memorize some procedure to do
some work, or …</p><p>In this post I am going to summarize some useful ideas on
<strong>training</strong>. We train ourselves to be able to do things we wouldn't
be able to do without training—for example, you might physically
train for more strength or you might memorize some procedure to do
some work, or you might learn to recognize some kind of system of
patterns (as in programing, reading foreign languages).</p>
<h2>Select a target</h2>
<p>To train <em>something</em>, you need to know what that <em>something</em> is. If
your goals are not very well-defined (e.g. <em>I want to get better at
music</em>) your efforts may be in vain. It is better to have at least
<em>some</em> well defined goal, even if it doesn't have a definite
endpoint—for example, you might strive to do push-ups until the
point of exhaustion to build strength. What is essential is that you
know <em>what actions</em> you need to take in order to make progress.</p>
<p>One easy way to do this for work that involves <em>bodies of knowledge</em>
is to get a good, comprehensive book on a subject or alternatively
some book that is broken up into lessons arranged in some logical
order. Then, your work will be defined by working through the content
in that book.</p>
<p>For example, in learning to play a musical instrument, you can find
many "self-teaching" courses. Typically, these books will progress
through increasingly difficult exercises to build up skills step by
step. With diligently applied effort, you can be certain you will
build your skill. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>Allocate time to make progress</h2>
<p>Once you have selected some target, you need to consistently apply
effort towards achieving your goals. You should be prepared to work a
little bit each day at each thing you want to work at—expecting
to have very long time blocks of applied effort (e.g. 8 hour practice
sessions) is probably unfeasible, especially over sustained periods of
time. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>Patience is key; do not become discouraged if you do not immediately
make fast progress. Instead, focuse on doing a good job on the little
bit you're concentrating on each practice session. Little by little
you will improve. If expert help is available, do seek out correction
to refine your movements. Always seek to refine your movements, but do
not get too caught up on every detail—for instance, if you are
learning a foreign language, your pronunciation may not be perfect at
first. This is okay; you can just concentrate on learning how to
pronounce words in a "good enough" way to be understood, learn how
these words are spelt, and then focus on improving your pronunciation
later.</p>
<h2>"Use it or lose it"</h2>
<p>Do take time to review things you have learned by <em>using the things
you learned</em>. Some things, like memorizing texts, you will "use" by
reciting (whether aloud or in your mind); at a moment when you might
check your phone or watch television, you can instead choose to take
the couple minutes or however long it takes to recite some text to
concentrate and actively recall what you've learned. If this is very
difficult and you mess up, you know where to review and how to train
to not fail next time. If it is very easy, you already have your
reward!</p>
<p>For systematic bodies of knowledge such as <em>how to play an instrument</em>
or <em>how to speak a language</em>, you may have use your knowledge by
exposing yourself to new texts, memorizing things using that system,
or doing work using that system.</p>
<h2>Pitfalls</h2>
<p>You do not want to choose something <em>too difficult</em> for a target. For
example, rather than trying to memorize an entire very long text at
once, you can work on a text line by line. Some texts, like Scripture
(Biblical) is numbered in a consistent way.</p>
<p>To build proficiency in a skill, a mistake I've often made is to <em>fail
to select a new target</em>. I haven't improved musically recently because
I'm not really working on learning to play any pieces. On some
languages, I'm not doing very much either. The way to start improving
at these activities again is to start working on some
target—even if it is only for five minutes a day—which
will require the <em>work</em> of selecting new targets.</p>
<p>Which leads us to the issue of <em>organization</em>. Rather than being an
issue of "lack of talent", lots of skill training has to do with
simply being organized and disciplined. If you can be organized and
disciplined, you can then acquire skills which will allow you to
experience more interesting things—such as freedom of
expression. Freedom of expression only comes after lots of hard work,
however. Prematurely trying to "do your own thing" can lead you to
stagnate and harden bad habits instead of improving.</p>
<p>Therefore, little emphasis should be placed on <em>creativity</em>. It is
better to learn how to do things properly. Then, as each individual is
unique, your individuality will naturally be reflected in your craft.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>You may have to refer to videos, ask questions to people, etc to
clarify the content of a book—what is most important here is
that you have some <em>target</em> to work towards. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Maybe some people do this sometimees, e.g. working on a computer
for 8 hours everyday to master some software; usually, I don't
think this is preferable. Over-work can lead to injury, burnout,
etc. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 812020-12-09T00:00:00-08:002020-12-09T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-09:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-81.html<p>One major time sink is to do destructive activities to oneself and
then have to spend a lot of time undoing or repairing the consequences
of these actions. Sometimes, our work gets thwarted by events outside
of our control; for instance, one might set out clothes to dry in the …</p><p>One major time sink is to do destructive activities to oneself and
then have to spend a lot of time undoing or repairing the consequences
of these actions. Sometimes, our work gets thwarted by events outside
of our control; for instance, one might set out clothes to dry in the
yard and then the neighbor accidentally sprays those clothes with a
hose. Other undoing of work happens through mistakes on our
part—e.g. accidentally deleting some document that took hours to
work on. The topic of this post is mostly about "I'll eat a whole tray
of tater tots and then run miles and miles later to undo the effects
of overeating".</p>
<p>While the logic of the tater tot example given above is pretty easy to
follow, we often undermine ourselves in more subtle ways. In this
post, I'll explore some ways in which I've undermined myself and
clarify some strategies I'm using to try to correct course.</p>
<h2>Clarify what you're doing</h2>
<p>I've mentioned in other places how I used the <strong>dvorak keyboard
layout</strong> for some time. Designed to be better than the default QWERTY
arrangement of keys, the dvorak layout allows for more comfortable
typing. That is what proponents of the dvorak layout, at least, will
tell you.</p>
<p>Assuming that the dvoark keyboard has some advantages for comfort of
typing and over the long run it can help produce repetitive strain
injury (RSI) for people who type a lot, let us evaluate whether or not
in makes sense to use this keyboard layout or another.</p>
<p>The first matter to examine is <em>typing itself</em>—as a tool, as a
technique, as a skill. When and where do we type? For what purposes do
we type?</p>
<p>A person might switch to dvorak for more effective typing, but another
question to ask is <em>should I be spending so much time typing?</em></p>
<p>I think for most people, the answer to this question is <em>no</em>. I say
this as someone who types relatively a lot; you are reading my blog,
for instance. Even if I give myself an ample amount of allowed typing
for a day (e.g. I can send 10 emails, chat online for 1 hour, and
write 2 blog posts), I still think that my relative typing volume is
not so high that I need to further optimize my typing.</p>
<p>Now, if somehow I convinced myself that it was a good idea to type
paragraph upon paragraph of verbose prose on Reddit to prove how smart
I am to the Internet, maybe I would be typing more. But is this a good
use of your time to begin with?</p>
<h3>Premature Optimization</h3>
<p>We can do lots of self-defeating, time-wasting behaviors through
<em>premature optimization</em>. That is, trying to "improve" some aspect of
how we live our lives (e.g. through "life hacks") without adequate
introspection into what exactly it is that we are doing and why the
speed or efficiency of that thing should be optimized in the first
place.</p>
<p>Another topic I've been discussing much in the
<a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/category/interwebs.html">Interwebs</a>
category of this blog is <strong>search engines</strong>. Search engines optimize
for <em>something</em>—giving you a quick big tech approved suggestion
in response to a string of a characters. But to Google everything in a
city isn't the best way to <em>get to know a city and the people who live
there</em>. You are know more familiar than any tourist who pops through
that city if you just ask Google for everything.</p>
<p>So an optimization like "using Google to make choices XYZ" may give
you a <em>faster</em> decision, but it will eliminate important
activities—exploring a city, finding out things for yourself,
speaking with people—from your "workflow".</p>
<p>The Internet may appear to be a convenient way to make things <em>faster</em>
and <em>easier</em>, but by choosing this option you can be self-defeating by
<em>only knowing how to use Google</em> and failing to grasp the uniqueness
of the place you are in.</p>
<h2>Take control of your attention</h2>
<p>Rarely in the West do we talk about <em>knowing too much</em>. Since we begin
schooling, we're told how <em>more reading is better</em> and the image of a
"cosmopolitan person" is someone who reads glossy magazines about all
sorts of world affairs.</p>
<p>While being aware is important—as is being sober and remembering
useful information—there is great danger in being endlessly
distracted and bombarded with unimportant choices.</p>
<h3>The cost of knowing</h3>
<p>I don't use coupons very often, but I know many people are very keen
to chase after deals and promotions. For someone with an already fixed
plan about what they are going to eat, what they will need, etc.,
coupons can be a useful way to cut costs.</p>
<p>However, for the "food tourist", coupons can become a driving force in
one's life, sucking away time and attention for what—saving a
couple of dollars on a burger combo?</p>
<p>Similar things can be said for activities like <em>trading stocks</em>.
Someone who does some investing or trades on a relatively fixed
schedule can benifit from this activity. The person who constantly
checks Robinhood on their phone suffers greatly from watching the ebb
and flow of stock prices.</p>
<p>For a while, I made myself scattered brain by studying too many
languages. Without a plan for "boxing in" what times were appropriate
for which languages, I wasted a lot of time and attention with
questions like, "should I review Japanese now or look at some Spanish
verbs?" For the single-minded, focused individual <em>this isn't a
problem</em>. Similarly, for the person that knows how to <em>outsource work</em>
this isn't an issue; we can develop ourselves in many ways, and no one
individual can know all the languages—obviously. So the
sensible, normal person chooses their battles. Better to do pushups
than learn Hindi grammar.</p>
<p>Some of us are nerds who are slowly learning to do better...</p>
<h3>Toolbound</h3>
<p>To know how to do certain things, you need to have certain objects or
infrastructure around you. While a guitarist might know some general
things about music, a guitarist is much more expressive <em>with a
guitar</em>, which functions as a kind of extension of the body.</p>
<p>It seems that there is a lot of strong dependency <em>by design</em> in many
places—including the corporate world. Many company employees
cannot do most of the things they do at work away from the
infrastructure of their corporations—they use complex software,
navigate complex bureaucracies, make and receive payments through many
mechanisms, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>One way in which we can be very self-defeating is to get overly
involved in some one tool or thing which we <em>do not have good reason
to believe will continue to be around</em>. Of course, for every job, you
must learn some <em>specifics</em> of what you are doing—here I am more
concerned with investing excessive amounts of time in <em>a particular
configuration</em>.</p>
<p>For instance, you might have a very elbaorate set-up of custom hotkeys
in a video game. First, you should ask <em>why you are playing games</em> to
begin with (not to say this is bad, but it should be kept in check).
Second, you should have reasonable expectations about whether or not
the developer of your game will break your keybindings with patches,
updates, and so forth.</p>
<p>There are many frustrated Apple users who constnatly are fighting off
breaking changes to MacOS. Probably the same for Windows. I have
pretty much given up on making custom keys to do things more
efficiently on computers. </p>
<h2>Remain vigilant</h2>
<p>Frivolousness, idle talk, and negligence are the proximate causes of
much pain and suffering. We must be on the guard against
self-defeating behavior by purposely aligning ourselves and working
diligently.</p>Memory and Muscle2020-12-08T00:00:00-08:002020-12-08T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-08:/pelican-test/memory-and-muscle.html<p>Two areas in which many modern people are lacking development are
<strong>memory</strong> and <strong>muscle</strong>. The urban, modern person is told to
constantly make use of new <em>technology</em> which substitutes for these
both. Why <em>remember</em> anything when Google can do it for you? What use
is muscle mass in the twenty …</p><p>Two areas in which many modern people are lacking development are
<strong>memory</strong> and <strong>muscle</strong>. The urban, modern person is told to
constantly make use of new <em>technology</em> which substitutes for these
both. Why <em>remember</em> anything when Google can do it for you? What use
is muscle mass in the twenty first century when cars, forklifts, and
other machines are used for many tasks that in the past required
bodily strength and endurance?</p>
<p>There is no substitute for developing memory and muscle—that is
<em>learning</em>. While we may, over the courses of our lives, make use of
many tools which require some specialized learning, training of both
memory and muscle is essential to be an effective human being, all
around. Through cultivating these, we build discipline and endurance
which can serve us in any times—difficult or "easy". <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>The fragmented mind</h2>
<p>Without training memory, our minds are fragmented. By "training
memory" here, I mean being able to <em>recall and reproduce</em> useful
bodies of knowledge. By a <em>fragmented mind</em> I mean having uncontrolled
attention and will with nothing firm to grasp—a vague idea of
what so-and-so said, or why such-and-such is famous, or even how
such-and-such is put together. A day may be driven by thinking <em>what
is for lunch</em> for the first four hours of the day, punctuated by
recollections of images and sounds from some TV show, followed by
esoteric technical details of some dry read. Then a social interaction
may mean checking a phone for some news—programmed anxiety. Rest
might be found in distraction—whether through music, alcohol,
food, chasing "experiences" or some other mechanism.</p>
<h3>The hyper-literate scatter brain</h3>
<p>Many modern people have knowledge of a variety of
<em>processes</em>—e.g. <em>where</em> to look up some information. But this
is different from mastering a systematic body of knowledge. Indeed you
might know the specifics of how to use a few different dictionaries,
but this isn't the same as developing mastery of some language and
being able to <em>recall</em> words learned and sentence structures for
effective communication.</p>
<p>It is easy for many of us to waste hours and hours "surfing the web",
consooming <em>content</em>—whether through videos or reading articles
or even books.</p>
<p>The main idea bad thing here is that rather than <em>building up</em>
knowledge or <em>training</em>, we are passively allowing the environment to
fragment us our further. Being able to recognize thousands and
thousands of symbols/songs/etc substitutes for the mastery of bodies
of knowledge and we instead entrap ourselves into being stupid N-gram
models. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<h2>You are not too smart for muscle</h2>
<p>In English, we have expressions like "brains over brawn" or even "work
smarter, not harder" which extol the strength of the "genius" or
"braniac" who can outsmart the dumb brute. Indeed, the Anglo world
(and the Western world more broadly) celebrates its big-braned heroes:
Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Lovelace, Turing... (depends on what
domain you're in, but we've all heard of at least some of these people
through schools, libraries, etc).</p>
<p>Much of this talk is to support the <strong>mythos</strong> of the "technological
savior". Life was terrible before XYZ technologies, they say. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>
And so many people and billions of dollars are put forth towards a
<em>cure for cancer</em>, with relatively few people investigating the
discipline of <em>fasting</em>, including its spiritual purposes.</p>
<p>Likewise, many "inventions" or "innovations" of the present era do not
really improve anything—they are just many people happen to use
whereas more generic, older, time-tested ways of doing things suffice</p>
<ul>
<li>A piece of paper with a list of exercises can replace a "fitness
app"</li>
<li>Walking can allow you to spend time memorizing/recalling
information, learn about your environment, <em>and</em> give you exercise
while cutting transportation costs</li>
<li>Skilled use with a single cooking knife means you do not need a
bunch of highly-specific tools</li>
</ul>
<p>Instead of following the above suggestions, the modern person often
lives in fear and hopes upon technology for deliverance. They plug in
<em>product</em> instead of training <em>skill</em>. Training skill often means
repetition, developing muscle, refining movements, and so forth.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>I once semi-jokingly said of myself, "I lose 60% of my abilities when
I"m away from a computer". What a nerd!</p>
<p>Critical reflection on what we <em>know how to do</em> and what bodies of
knowledge we possess may reveal... ...well, we have a lot of work to
do.</p>
<p>I write this post to motivate myself to do better being a competent
human being, and I hope it is useful for some others that may come
across this too. We cannot depend on the US dollar, today's
fashionable technologies, and the latest pop psychology to give us
peace. A disciplined mind and body will do better to prepare us for
the challenges of the world than a comfy job we might happen to have
at one time and place.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Modern times are "easy" in many respects, but appears the bait
in a trap! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Much computer analysis of language has to do with analyzing
sequences of <em>N</em> words or tokens; for instance, <strong>bigrams</strong> are
sequences of two words, <strong>trigrams</strong> are sequences of three words,
and so forth. Such approaches just like at <em>form</em> and then make
mappings between those forms and other things such as images,
combinations of words in other languages, and so forth. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Less commonly discussed is how our technological "improvements"
beget the very problems we're trying to solve. Speculative takes,
such as "we must continue to develop technology because in
millions of years the sun will engulf the earth" OR "we never know
when an asteroid will hit the earth so we must develop spaceships
to colonize other worlds" can be used to bonk non-tech enthusiasts
over the head as "not caring about humanity". <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 802020-12-07T00:00:00-08:002020-12-07T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-07:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-80.html<p>The weather is getting colder as we advance into December. Many people
seem to be <em>just waiting</em> for current stuff to clear up. With respect
to state-wide policy and other administrative issues, most of us don't
really have any say in how stuff goes. Overshadowing all of this is
glowing …</p><p>The weather is getting colder as we advance into December. Many people
seem to be <em>just waiting</em> for current stuff to clear up. With respect
to state-wide policy and other administrative issues, most of us don't
really have any say in how stuff goes. Overshadowing all of this is
glowing LCD screens, broadcasting the latest doom-figures while
disempowering people from doing anything aside from cowering in their
own quarters to "help".</p>
<p>It is tricky to "disagree" with the official narrative at all. This is
how <strong>"science"</strong> is wielded as a bludgeon; people see <em>numbers</em> and
they think <em>facts</em> instinctively. In many posts here I've expressed
thoughts about how numbers are only as meaningful as <em>what we're
counting</em> and how numbers are interpretted rely on the <em>assumptions</em>
of our models.</p>
<p>And so, more than anything, we see an <em>appeal to authority</em> and a
demonstration of <em>faith</em> in the "secular" government of increasingly
less subtle <strong>scientism</strong>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>The importance of engaging reality</h2>
<p>US dollars are <em>a thing</em>, but they're not simple to behold like a
fresh piece of fruit or a pencil. USD, unlike things that are right in
front of you, are freely manipulated by authorities you do not choose.</p>
<p>We all have to live in this world, so it is necessary to deal with
fiat currency of some kind. Some people are good at this "game" and
acquire many more dollars with less effort. What does this metric
measure?</p>
<p>There are other things in life which are far more <em>real</em> than USD in
the sense that their value is immediately apparent outside of the
power of the global financial elite. For starters, there is your body,
your thoughts, and your relationships with the people around you.</p>
<p>Clearly, there are sick, mentally unwell rich people who are despised
by all around them. Likewise, there are poor people who have peace
with themselves and everyone around them.</p>
<h2>Writing a life story</h2>
<p>The clock keeps ticking whether under lock down or not. Prison is a
punishment because the prisoner is deprived of freedom; time they
might spend getting wealthy, enjoying fancy food, etc is taken away.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Spending time indoors, in a room, you can think of <em>what you
know</em> and <em>how you know it</em>. Kids that have to go to school during
lock-down—what are they learning and how do they know it is
true? Much boils down to trust in authorities. Sometimes, we don't
<em>lie</em>, but simply pass on things we were taught (but have not
confirmed for ourselves); we are thus messengers of
<em>misinformation</em>. Some people may try to pass of a "Noble Lie" as
some means to an end. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Speculation2020-12-07T00:00:00-08:002020-12-07T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-07:/pelican-test/speculation.html<p>Much of what we are taught in school amounts to <em>speculation</em>. We're
taught many "facts" that are established by "science"—what
exactly does this mean?</p>
<p>A dive into the <strong>philosophy</strong> of science will introduce you to many
issues such as <strong>the problem of induction</strong> as well as issues of
<strong>epistemology …</strong></p><p>Much of what we are taught in school amounts to <em>speculation</em>. We're
taught many "facts" that are established by "science"—what
exactly does this mean?</p>
<p>A dive into the <strong>philosophy</strong> of science will introduce you to many
issues such as <strong>the problem of induction</strong> as well as issues of
<strong>epistemology</strong>, <strong>metaphysics</strong>, and <strong>ontology</strong>. In plain
language, this means that <em>we need a basis to say we know what we
know</em>. How do we know what <em>exists?</em> What constitutes an
<em>explanation?</em> Pop science gives us some wild stories as "fact" taking
for granted the existence of things like "dark matter" as you see the
light and feel the heat of the sun.</p>
<h2>Speculation</h2>
<p>While it is true we can use mathematical equations to <em>model</em> many
aspects of the physical world, theoretical constructs don't have the
same reality as tangible things that we are familiar with. Indeed some
basic algebra knowledge tells you that you can create any number of
variables, constants, writing equivalent expressions.</p>
<p>What are the criteria for choosing between better and worse models of
the world? Oftentimes people will appeal to ideas like "Occam's Razor"
in discussions if pressed on this issue.</p>
<p>From my experience, what <em>really</em> is involved most of the time is
conforming with the <em>default</em> prevailing worldview and trusting some
experts who "stand on the shoulders of giants".</p>
<p>So, we return to a questio of <em>trust</em>. Whose speculations do we trust?</p>
<h2>Fun and Freedom</h2>
<p>The free mind doesn't get offended by the thought, "how do we know the
earth is round?" or "did we really land on the moon?" This is because
such questions are interesting in terms of epistemology, science, etc
and really... I don't know. I just take the mainstream default
account. Assuming astronauts aren't lying and NASA isn't photoshopping
up thousands of space images with airbrush fun, then we have some
compelling evidence for what we're told about the cosmos.</p>
<p>However, realizing that intelligence agencies and other parties are
masters of psychological manipulation and deception, suddenly the
ground of <em>trust</em> comes into in question.</p>
<p>Really, none of these questions have much direct bearing on our
day-to-day lives; that is why I have classified this post under
"fun"—these are <em>fun</em> things to think about for free minds.
These questions become much more serious, however, when we use
<em>speculations</em> to justify more important issues such as issues of
<em>anthropology</em> (what does it mean to be human?) and <em>theology</em>.</p>
<p>Insofar as the dogmatism of scientism influences important issues such
as "how should I treat other people?" and "what should I be doing with
my time?", we move into a much more serious discussion.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 792020-12-06T00:00:00-08:002020-12-06T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-12-06:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-79.html<p>Lots of this lock-down business comes down to telling other people
what to do. Rather than operating on a principle of <em>personal
responsibility</em> whereby we care for ourselves (and maybe family), we
are now being pushed into a system wherein every other person is
considered a potential threat. The default …</p><p>Lots of this lock-down business comes down to telling other people
what to do. Rather than operating on a principle of <em>personal
responsibility</em> whereby we care for ourselves (and maybe family), we
are now being pushed into a system wherein every other person is
considered a potential threat. The default state is to be fearful and
the way in which we get our top-down orders is primarily through the
Internet—whether through videos, news sites, etc. Big tech has
taken up the role of "fact checker" and many people actively welcome
this development.</p>
<p>There is still much each of us is in control over. While many aspects
of our lives have been affected—e.g. the places and mode in
which we can interact with other people—we still exercise autonomy
over our will. For instance, we can make choices in how we direct our
<em>attention</em>. Do we spend hours getting worked up emotionally? Do we
choose to apply ourselves to learn new skills or do skillful work? Do
we exercise patience with those around us?</p>
<h2>Worldview and Language Reflection</h2>
<p>While studying primarily Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, I remember
being somewhat bothered by the fact that for most of the <em>practical</em>
things I might be trying to accomplish (e.g. using some software to do
some work), the <em>best resources were always in English</em>. Indeed, much
of the Internet has been built in the USA, and developers will by
default turn to English to write documentation, answer questions on
forums, and so forth. Serious programers all around the world use
English primarily in their work.</p>
<p>And so I came to the false premise that English was the most useful
language ever. In certain domains this is true, but there is a suble
assumption underlying this. Namely, there is the assumption of
<strong>progress</strong> of some kind. In the current age, English occupies a very
big role, and lots of info about things of <em>now</em> are in English.</p>
<p>Visiting East Asia, I noticed that in any of the three East Asian
languages mentioned here, there were many more resources for learning
other Asian languages—this includes languages like Vietnamese,
Thai, etc. So I found one domain besides Chinese History or something
very specific where East Asian languages appeared to be much more
useful than English.</p>
<p>A year or so later, learning a bit more about how the Ango-American
establishment works, it became evident to me that English is only the
best language for <em>certain types of stuff</em>, i.e. <em>knowing the
worldview of the Anglo-American establishment</em>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Indeed, you can read
lots of scholarship on say... China... <em>in English</em>. Likewise, on
YouTube, you can watch many videos of people speaking Chinese. What
you have here is a very biased sample of Chinese. Of course you can
learn a lot about China in this way, but it will be from a particular
perspective. You are learning <em>what feds want you to think about
China</em> and seeing some "neutral" cultural stuff (e.g. cooking) mixed
in there.</p>
<p>Now, you <em>could</em> use Chinese to discuss about all sorts of things that
are considered politically incorrect in English. Of course, you don't
want to go around in China and discuss certain political
topics—we all know what some of these are. But it is simply
naïve thinking to presume America/Western Europe isn't full of taboos.</p>
<h3>Domains where English is not dominant</h3>
<p>To find domains where English is not dominant, you need to ask <em>what
sorts of things do Americans/Anglos NOT know about</em>. The histories of
countries around the world and the day-to-day lives of non-Coca Cola
sipping people is one place to start. Ask a question like, "what was
life like in Byzantium?" and you may find that there is better
scholarship in Russian, or German, or French, or some other language.
To learn about the Roman Catholic church, you're probably going to
read some Latin and Italian.</p>
<h3>Conclusions and future directions</h3>
<p>Previously, I had studied Japanese/Chinese/Korean just because I'm of
Asian (Chinese) ancestry and there were lots of people around me of
similar origin (Asian Americans). At university I had the opportunity
to meet a lot of Asian people. So studying these languages was useful
for better understanding East Asia and its diaspora in the West.</p>
<p>Studying history, I learned that the East Asian languages as we know
them are relatively new— standardized languages created around
the early 20th century. The United Nations can translate their
materials into a whole bunch of languages because these languages were
made such taht they could convey UN messages. Modern concepts won't
readily translate into ancient languages, just as translating from an
ancient language isn't a simple plug-and-play exercise as translating
modern texts can be.</p>
<p>Compared with the East Asian languages, the European languages have
longer histories of standardized usage. Particularly in the case of
Latin and Greek, you can go really far back. Languages like Russian
and Slavonic are not as easy to penetrate for the Anglophone, but
these are languages I will keep on studying for their relevancy to
Eastern Orthodoxy.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Learning the above point involved becoming "blackpilled" on the
political nature of universities (which are <em>not</em> just general
centers of knowledge and free inquiry). <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Search Engine Stupidity, Part 42020-11-25T00:00:00-08:002020-11-25T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-25:/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-4.html<p>Talk about how information technology works is often cast in mystical
terms for the "uninitiated". For example, we're often told about these
things called <strong>"algorithms"</strong> that will replace jobs, protect
national security/privacy, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>We should frame these things in simpler, more transparent terms. All …</p><p>Talk about how information technology works is often cast in mystical
terms for the "uninitiated". For example, we're often told about these
things called <strong>"algorithms"</strong> that will replace jobs, protect
national security/privacy, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>We should frame these things in simpler, more transparent terms. All
an "algorithm" is is a set of instructions for computers. When we talk
about "losing jobs to AI", this means <em>people</em> choosing to take humans
out of processes and replace them with machines and then letting
machines handle decision making.</p>
<p>For example, instead of having a receptionist, a business might choose
to have a generic program with a bunch of prompts/menus the user has
to navigate through. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> The precursor to a system like this might be
to have receptionists <em>follow some script</em> obeying rules rather than
using their brains to help customers solve actual problems.</p>
<p>Search engines are similar. You can think of them as a "librarian
program". You can ask this AI thing for some information (using a
<code>search query</code>) and it will return some result.</p>
<p>This process is <strong>opaque</strong>—it is a <strong>black box</strong> you cannot look
into and study directly. Google does what Google will do.</p>
<h2>An Exmaple Algorithm</h2>
<p>Let's try to dress things up to look fancy.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="kd">var</span> <span class="nx">special_topics</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span>
<span class="s2">"federal reserve"</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s2">"tech censorship"</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s2">"9-11 conspiracy"</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="c1">// ...</span>
<span class="p">];</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="nx">search</span> <span class="k">in</span> <span class="nx">special_topics</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="p">{</span>
<span class="k">return</span> <span class="nx">special_topics</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nx">search</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="p">}</span> <span class="k">else</span> <span class="p">{</span>
<span class="c1">// Use default procedure</span>
<span class="nx">normalSearchRoutine</span><span class="p">();</span>
<span class="p">}</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>In this <strong>code</strong> (another word people will use to cloak their
activities in mysticism), we return <em>one type of result</em> for certain
topics and other types of results for other topics.</p>
<p>The user will approach the search engine and not know how this
works—they just enter a <code>query</code> and <em>trust</em> the results.</p>
<h2>Taking your Job</h2>
<p>This is what many of the "algorithms" of big tech are doing. The game
plan is,</p>
<ol>
<li>Take some human job, and make it mechanical/codified (like how a
call center worker may be made to read a script)</li>
<li>Slowly reduce human agency, involvement in these processes. You
might have a system that only has a human to sign off something at
the last step, but the rest of the process proceeds without any
human needing to know/trust another human.</li>
<li>Entirely eliminate humans, reducing the complexity of jobs that
need to be done if necessary—rather than offering custom
jobs, offer a configuration of a handful of options</li>
<li>Collect data, tweak the algorithms, and try to <em>optimize</em> human
interaction.</li>
</ol>
<p>What a bunch of anti-social nerds.o</p>
<p>Many areas of work still must be done with human hands. But we can
expect with more IoT (Internet of Things) technology, robots, drones,
and more that more and more sectors will be attacked.</p>
<p>Consider,</p>
<ul>
<li>Digital music playback (with holograms?!??) over live performance</li>
<li>self-checkout at stores</li>
<li>streaming services</li>
<li>mass-produced goods (often <em>not user servicable</em>)</li>
<li>public education—textbooks and standardized materials</li>
<li>Apple devices (vs building and configuring your own PC)</li>
<li>tract homes</li>
<li>fast food</li>
</ul>
<p>In every case above, you can observe the same general pattern.</p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<p>Exercise your <strong>agency</strong> and take control of what you can. Understand
<em>your role</em> in turning over stuff to "algorithms" and consider
carefully if adapting some new technology actually makes things any
better.</p>
<p>This is not an anti-technology post—indeed I'm writing this from
a computer and publishing it to the Internet!</p>
<p>Rather, this is a reminder that tools should remain tools. And we
should make tools useful to us (humans) rather than shaping our habits
to fit them. You are more than a "cog in the system". You are an
individual and you do not have to <em>try to be unique</em> by flipping the
switches to configure a "profile" for some algorithm to process and
nerds to data perv at.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Often these systems are very annoying. It is easier to talk with
people. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 782020-11-24T00:00:00-08:002020-11-24T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-24:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-78.html<p>Modern life is full of things that are not difficult to understand on
a level of <em>fundamentals</em>, but become increasingly complex in layers
of jargon in their modern manifestation. You can reduce some action
such as <em>buying a car</em> to an exchange of a value store (money) for an
item …</p><p>Modern life is full of things that are not difficult to understand on
a level of <em>fundamentals</em>, but become increasingly complex in layers
of jargon in their modern manifestation. You can reduce some action
such as <em>buying a car</em> to an exchange of a value store (money) for an
item (the car). But if you take the time to investigate <em>just what the
US Dollar is</em> (or any other widely used currency) and then furthermore
what the things you are buying are, you may find that we've come a
long way from getting some coins as payment and using those to buy
bread and olive oil.</p>
<h2>What is the US Dollar?</h2>
<p>Many people have expounded at length on this topic in great detail so
I won't deal with that here. Rather, I will focus on some key areas in
which what we think of as "money" is not some "ideal value storage".</p>
<p>Modern <strong>fiat</strong> (trust-based) currencies are <strong>debt</strong> based. They rely
on rich and powerful people engaged in predatory loaning practices.
Money can <em>be printed</em> <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>, and high-powered politicians and
<strong>unelected officials</strong> will leverage their powers to increase the
integers in their bank accounts without creating anything of value
(e.g. <em>doing work</em>).</p>
<p>Gradually, we're <em>digitalizing</em> money. Many people never deal with
cash at all and few own significant amounts of gold <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. Instead,
we're being forced to do all commerce in a trackable, highly
abstracted way that is looking more and more like "social
credit"—the idea that by being a good citizen you get little
tokens to spend at a institution approved store. In a very simplified
example we can express this like so,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="n">From</span> <span class="n">REAL</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ER</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="n">MONEY</span> <span class="n">to</span> <span class="n">MONOPOLY</span> <span class="n">MONEY</span> <span class="n">to</span> <span class="n">VIDEO</span> <span class="n">GAMES</span>
<span class="n">gold</span> <span class="o">-></span> <span class="n">silver</span> <span class="o">-></span> <span class="n">paper</span> <span class="n">money</span> <span class="o">-></span> <span class="n">fiat</span> <span class="n">currency</span> <span class="o">-></span> <span class="n">social</span> <span class="n">credit</span>
<span class="p">(</span><span class="n">backed</span> <span class="n">by</span> <span class="n">gold</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="n">weaponized</span>
<span class="n">lending</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="n">nanny</span> <span class="n">state</span><span class="p">)</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>I do a bit of stock trading (I use no technical analysis; I just buy
and sell in a "swing trade"-ish style based on who I think is making
money, mostly tech stocks). It seems like a similar experience to how
people might play these really complex video games like EVE Online.
<sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<h2>What is a car?</h2>
<p>There is a sense in which a car is a useful tool you can buy.
Especially if you live in a more rural area, a car can be used to move
people and items, to get from place to place quickly and even to
shelter you from the elements in very bad weather.</p>
<p>In cities, cars are less useful. For many city-dwellers, other
transportation options exist that are easier and require less dealing
with liabilities/problems. If you bought a fast car, you aren't even
allowed to drive fast. A car is like a jail cell for listening to
advertisements, podcasts or both while emitting smog. Or, if you buy
an electric car, you can contribute to gathering up all sorts of
toxins in a concentrated area (e.g. batteries).</p>
<p>Many people use cars as status symbols. Generally, this is unrelated
to the usefulness of cars as articulated in the first paragraph of
this section.</p>
<h2>Buying cars with USD</h2>
<p>I was watching some Sam Hyde <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup>—who has experience with
cars—on YouTube. Meanwhile I was doing some research into money.
That is the direct reason for writing this reflection on cars and
money.</p>
<p>In summary, the USD is largely fake and vice powered and talk about
how it "stabilizes world economies" and stuff, I think, is simply
globalist propaganda/talking points to further erode your monetary
autonomy. Money is not fundamentally <em>bad</em>, but what we typically
recognize as "money" today is far from a stable value store. <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">5</a></sup> A
useful but potentially dangerous tool has been perverted into an
instrument for enslavement.</p>
<p>Cars too can be a very useful tool. Or, like smartphones, computers,
and many other devices, they can be the means by which we entrap
ourselves into more and more stupidity and time wasting and resource
squandering. Paritcularly revealing is the use of cars in cities, in
which very little utility is to be gained from going beyond the most
basic functional cars (used Toyota Corolla or something similar).</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>See the "money printer goes brrrr" meme with a Wojak at the
Federal Reserve <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>I think there have been laws passed about this in the USA too. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Complicated game where you go around in space; there's
economies, wars, and more. I haven't played this game myself. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>Comedian; I pretty much never watch comedy for the sake of
comedy, but Sam Hyde's content contains many nuggets of wisdom and
is pretty funny <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>Unironically, my used Fender Stratocaster—an electric
guitar I own but don't play much—is probably a better value
store than USD. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Search Engine Stupidity, Part 32020-11-24T00:00:00-08:002020-11-24T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-24:/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-3.html<p>In this article, I will discuss some practical solutions for getting
around using search engines.</p>
<h2>Build a library</h2>
<p>Having your own curated collection of useful resources is a fast and
easy way to bypass search engines. For a given topic (e.g. gardening),
you can find out what the most …</p><p>In this article, I will discuss some practical solutions for getting
around using search engines.</p>
<h2>Build a library</h2>
<p>Having your own curated collection of useful resources is a fast and
easy way to bypass search engines. For a given topic (e.g. gardening),
you can find out what the most useful resources are and build a
comprehensive knowledge store whether in PDFs, physical books, or some
other medium (even <em>website bookmarks</em>).</p>
<p>You can make a kind of annotated index reminding you of what all the
resources are, who recommended them to you, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>You can also use tools like <code>youtube-dl</code> to archive useful videos.</p>
<h2>Search through someone else</h2>
<p>Don't ask Siri or "Ok Google" it, instead ask a person you are in
contact with to <em>help you look into a topic</em>. Not only can this help
you strengthen your relationship with others (and show an eagerness to
learn and listen), you can enjoy <em>human comprehension</em> of what you're
asking instead of screaming at a voice-activated "Artificial
Intelligence".</p>
<h2>Consider <em>not searching at all</em></h2>
<p>Looking for a new restaurant to try? Maybe just walk down the street
and try somewhere out. Got a question to look up? Maybe your library
(see section one) has an answer. If you never flip through your
reference materials, how can you gain familiarity with them and use
them effectively?</p>
<p>Remember that for anything you're trying to "learn off the Internet",
there have been people who have learned that thing <em>without the
Internet</em> (for tech stuff like <em>programing</em>, people have learned
similar arts, such as operating machines from manuals).</p>
<p>We have a <em>reflex</em> to turn to search engines when faced with unknowns.
Do the search engines themselves sometimes <em>create these problems?</em></p>
<h2>Approach tools with purpose</h2>
<p>You may have met someone who spends hours upon hours reading Wikipedia
or going down some other rabbit hole. Is this a good use of time? This
is for each individual to evaluate—there are times where it is
important to do deep research dives into various topics. There are
also times to recognize when "enough is enough".</p>
<p>Being pro-active about using tools rather "reactive" or "reflex
driven" is one way to use them more effectively. For instance, you
might tell yourself,</p>
<p>"Today, I'm only allowed 5 Google queries".</p>
<p>Imposing a restriction like the one above forces you to carefully
search and use your computer with more intention. You can even record
what you did and write a blog post on it... lol.</p>
<p>Another heuristic you can ask yourself is, "would it be more useful
for me to do jumping jacks/push-ups/etc than what I am doing now?"</p>
<p>If you are not ending many days of the week <em>physically exhausted</em> but
your sucking at Google's artificial teets for much of the week,
perhaps it is time to leave infantile ways behind and cultivate a
strength you can show. You'll probably sleep better too.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 772020-11-21T00:00:00-08:002020-11-21T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-21:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-77.html<p>Many things are "still going", but around me I can many <em>traditions</em>
getting knocked away one after another. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
Here are a handful of things in no particular order:</p>
<ul>
<li>shopping malls</li>
<li>professional sports</li>
<li>cafes, coffee shops</li>
<li>public school, including "school traditions"</li>
<li>holidays</li>
<li>"work/home balance"</li>
</ul>
<p>Growing up, these things were …</p><p>Many things are "still going", but around me I can many <em>traditions</em>
getting knocked away one after another. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
Here are a handful of things in no particular order:</p>
<ul>
<li>shopping malls</li>
<li>professional sports</li>
<li>cafes, coffee shops</li>
<li>public school, including "school traditions"</li>
<li>holidays</li>
<li>"work/home balance"</li>
</ul>
<p>Growing up, these things were still pretty much in place in a
comparable state to what my parents' generation had. News things like
<em>the Internet</em> came up, but still the Internet was being used to
augment/add upon existing infrastructure, not wholesale replacing it.</p>
<p>I would say that the arrival and popularization of <em>the smartphone</em>
was a kind of "societal inflection point" for how many things are
done.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Much of "American Culture" (or <em>global culture</em>) is pretty new
creation—developed over the past 200 years or so <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 762020-11-20T00:00:00-08:002020-11-20T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-20:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-76.html<p>Today I did some research on the current state of some places in the
USA I've been to. Through sites like YouTube you are still able to
view many videos of "eyewitness accounts"—people with cameras
showing what they see. Likewise, there are the popular big news
companies with more …</p><p>Today I did some research on the current state of some places in the
USA I've been to. Through sites like YouTube you are still able to
view many videos of "eyewitness accounts"—people with cameras
showing what they see. Likewise, there are the popular big news
companies with more "traditional" media type videos. The job of the
<strong>analyst</strong> (you as you watch YouTube) critically) is to piece
together what is going on broadly from these various sources.</p>
<p>Movies, TV shows, and other relatively high budget productions can be
called more <em>tightly controlled</em> than some dude with a phone uploading
some video. A blog like this one is much less "polished" or "refined"
than some book through a big publisher.</p>
<p>These different forms of media have different uses. A higher budget,
more refined document may be useful for seeing some systematic plan
spelled out. It can be "tighter" in that special provisions may be
made to answer possible objections, address shortcomings, and so
forth.</p>
<p>On the other hand, a blog post like what I'm doing here doesn't try to
be "comprehensive". Its value is in how quickly it is
written—"one-session writing" <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> It is similar to a "vlog"
where someone flips on a webcam and starts talking, but it is in text. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<h2>The dangers of repeating "talking points"</h2>
<p>When we repeat some "fact" given by experts, we often carry with what
we are saying an affirmation of some big theoretical framework. For
instance, we can talk about "<strong>mental health</strong>"—looking at
things like <em>depression</em> or <em>anxiety</em>.</p>
<p>There are some "primitives" I think we can agree on here; some days,
we may wake up and feel a particular way. Talking to others about our
experiences, we will find that these things we experience are not
unique to us as individuals, but common to many humans. Getting to
know people better, we can find how the day-to-day choices we make
impact how we think, feel, etc.</p>
<p>Now, if someone I generally trust tells me about their experiences, I
believe what they say in their reporting. But this does not mean I buy
into establishment psychological research, their shifting categories,
and their definitions of various conditions.</p>
<p>Earnest research into many of the <em>sciences</em> of this era will show you
just how rocky of a foundation much of the language we throw around
today is.</p>
<h3>Case study: ADHD</h3>
<p>Growing up, many friends around me were diagnosed with ADD or
ADHD—Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder. Thankfully, I
never had to take any medications, get diagnosed, or do anything
personally with this, but I know many people who did. People in their
mid 20s to early 30s (millennials) in many parts of the USA likely
have very similar experiences.</p>
<p>Here are some <em>experiential claims:</em></p>
<ul>
<li>sometimes it is hard to focus on things</li>
<li>lots of what you are asked to do in school is boring (especially now
with online classes for many)</li>
<li>being able to move around, go outside, etc. often makes me feel
better</li>
</ul>
<p>AD(H)D diagnoses were made to <em>bend kids to accept public school</em>.
Medications and stuff can make people more compliant, and thus more
prepared to "succeed" in a given social framework.</p>
<p>Now, if you "have a conversation with someone about ADHD", you have to
come up with a shared understanding of ADHD to get anywhere. For
instance, if both parties agree that there is indeed some <em>disorder</em>
affecting tons of kids, then the conversation moves to how to solve
this particular problem. What training methods can be employed to make
people accept such-and-such thing (e.g. standardized tests) that they
have a natural revulsion towards?</p>
<p>Conversely, you may have two people talking that don't really "believe
in ADHD" in the sense that they think that the foundations of much of
psychology are from literal mad scientists trying to treat humans like
"guinea pigs" to usher in some utopia/dystopia... Then, discussion of
ADHD may be more along the lines of how some establishment mongers
came up with a label for a particular "inefficiency" wherein humans
refused or were unable to act like the cogs in a machine they were
told to be. ADHD between these people is not discussed so much as a
"fact of reality", but instead as a concept that arose for particular
purposes one might regard as negligent at best and nefarious at worst.</p>
<h3>Use timeless language</h3>
<p>One way to avoid getting caught up in the latest models/fictions of
how the world works is to avoid theory-laden speech. What are things
that are <em>self-evident</em> to us which require no explanation?</p>
<p>In some domain particular to the times, you'll of course have to use
jargon—talking about cars will require using certain terms that
would be innapropriate for talking about horses. However, even here,
we are still at the point of having <em>names</em> for identifiable <em>things</em>,
e.g. parts from different manufacturers. For most people, how a car
works is just "magic". So while you may have names for new things, the
basic way in which you talk about the interactions of those things can
still be "timeless".</p>
<h2>Reading the Times</h2>
<p>Just as <strong>personality test</strong> type online quiz things remain popular, I
remember classmates coming up with collections of the various "mental
health issues" they had.</p>
<p>We now have a pretty extensive catalog of terms—with "official"
definitions as well as colloquial usages—to describe particular
patterns of thinking and behavior modern people attest as they contend
with the violence of the modern world. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>We should not slander other people or call them liars—each
individual can report on their own experiences. However, to impose a
particular <em>model/language</em> to talk about how the world <em>must</em> work is
a kind of modern "Inquisition" (in the sense of <em>forcing religion</em>).</p>
<h2>COVID-19 and Language</h2>
<p>In "police society", we are strongly-suggested to describe our
experience in terms of particular things <em>we are told about</em>. For
instance, you are asked to operate your business, to meet with other
people, and so on and so forth <em>in recognition of how a cadre of
scientific "clergy"</em> tells you how the world is.</p>
<p>Headlines everywhere will refer to <em>this thing</em> that we all are
assumed to be there. We have diagrams, explanations, videos, etc. all
explaining how this stuff works and why such-and-such is <em>reasonable</em>.</p>
<p>Philosophy 101 is... well, you start with some <strong>presuppositions</strong>
about how the world works, you can then <strong>deduce</strong> what follows.</p>
<p>So if you were an power-hungry world manipulator, the thing you would
do to control a bunch of people is to undermine their presuppositions
about what is true. If you can get them to accept a handful of axioms
as "self-evident" then a great many things logically follow.</p>
<p>Here are some things most people I know take for granted,</p>
<ul>
<li>Evolution of mankind from some non-human ancestor</li>
<li>The great expanse of the universe, of which the earth is but a "pale
blue dot"</li>
<li>Social progress in the form of greater social liberty and provisions
for a basic standard of living</li>
</ul>
<p>From these three points, you can put forward pretty much everything in
Orwell's <em>1984</em> or Huxley's <em>Brave New World</em>.</p>
<p>Believing that <strong>human nature</strong> is maleable and that people can be
<em>made better</em> underlies the <strong>transhumanist</strong> movement. The idea is
that humans can be engineered like machines, so why not use whatever
means are available to us to <em>engineer greater human prosperity?</em></p>
<p>Affirming the <em>smallness</em> of the earth itself doesn't seem to me to be
so problematic as <em>Scientism</em> and the importance cosmology within this
framework. Most of us <em>are not aspiring astronauts</em>; the workings of
billions of dollars, space shuttles, and all of this <em>isn't directly
our business</em>. Not working in these areas, I will not speak on the
specifics.</p>
<p>What we must affirm though is that a handful of narratives such as
<em>the threat of nuclear weapons</em>, <em>the "space race"</em>, and the need for
international cooperation in various technologically related projects
form much of the mythos of our present era. Generally, you can also
look into:</p>
<ul>
<li>Imaging/simulation technology; what is it possible to <em>present to
the public</em> and how this does(n't) map to reality</li>
<li>Hollywood and esoteric/occult connections</li>
<li>Intelligence agencies and their role in large-scale world events</li>
</ul>
<p>As we have embarked on "conspiracy theory" thinking here, I just want
to point out that,</p>
<ul>
<li>Saying you <em>don't know</em> about something isn't the same as calling
such-and-such parties <em>liars</em>; many things we simply don't know as
individuals and must accept based on <strong>expert testimony</strong></li>
<li>This is not an attack on <strong>news</strong> broadly—indeed this post
opens by describing the importance of eyewitness accounts and the
experiences of individuals. Rather, I'm advocating <em>not naively
accepting narratives from large media companies</em>, assuming the
people that direct their operations have your best interests in mind</li>
<li>Epistemololgically (how we know what we know), you can see how shaky
much of what we're told is. This is not like trying out a new weight
lifting training routine and finding out you can lift more; we're
going off unverifiable reports from parties we have reasons to be
wary of</li>
</ul>
<h3>Concluding thoughts</h3>
<p>YouTube, the New York Times, Fox News, MSNBC, etc. all have their
problems, but that does not make these sources "bad" or "fake news".
Rather, when trying to find out what is going on broadly, a good idea
is to consider <em>what sources are</em> and <em>what they are not</em>. Simply
outsourcing your thinking about the outside world to a major
corporation the <strong>Bernie bros</strong> would aptly critcize <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup></p>
<p>In this way, I think that the idea of "fact checking" with Google,
Facebook, etc. is <strong>mega-cringe</strong> because it will likely be a lot of
flagging of various trigger words and the cnesorship of materials that
don't follow a particular establishment narrative. Many blindly buy
into this idea because they think that they have access to The Truth
(TM) and that others get wrapped up on wrong-think, so it is necessary
to control the wrong-think through multi-million dollar corporations.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I typically just write one draft in one session, make some
modifications if anything stands out to me, and then publish. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Text is easier to search, easier to archive (takes up less
space, less things that can go wrong than audio/video). Of course
there is information in video that you can't get in text. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>UrbanDictionary is one place you can go to learn about current
usages. It takes discernment to know what is sarcasm, when people
are pushing agendas, etc so do not take everything you read there
at "face value" (this note is mostly for people who speak English
as a second language). <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>Supporters of Bernie Sanders, self-identified socialist and
senator <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Search Engine Stupidity, Part 12020-11-20T00:00:00-08:002020-11-20T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-20:/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-1.html<p>Search engines use <strong>terms</strong> ("search terms") to give you relevant
information. Sometimes, this is pretty straightforward. For example,
<code>weather CITY</code> will conveniently give you a weekly weather forecast
for the place you searched in all major search engines.</p>
<p>Using Search Engines to find this sort of straightforward, homogenous
data is …</p><p>Search engines use <strong>terms</strong> ("search terms") to give you relevant
information. Sometimes, this is pretty straightforward. For example,
<code>weather CITY</code> will conveniently give you a weekly weather forecast
for the place you searched in all major search engines.</p>
<p>Using Search Engines to find this sort of straightforward, homogenous
data is fast and easy. Likewise, you can search things like,</p>
<ul>
<li>Measurement conversions</li>
<li>Prices of stocks, cryptocurrencies, etc</li>
<li>Geographic information, e.g. locations of cities in places</li>
<li>Codified knowledge, like the scientific names of plants and animals</li>
<li>Rules and regulations</li>
</ul>
<p>Really, you don't need a search engine to do most of these things. But
services like Google make doing these things easier than having
tables/charts for how to make conversions, reading over print
publications, etc.</p>
<h2>What search engines <em>dont</em> tell you</h2>
<p>Search engines can spit you back a bunch of symbols in response to a
search query, but it is up to <em>you</em> as an individual to interpret that
information.</p>
<p>Above, I gave some pretty dry, uninteresting search query examples.
Let's look at some other things people might search.</p>
<h3>Spanish language learning</h3>
<p>On the one hand, there is a pretty standardized thing we call
<em>Spanish</em>. There are correct and incorrect ways to conjugate verbs,
use articles with nouns, and so on and so forth. This sort of
information, you can look up. It will likely involve learning some of
the conventions of a popular dictionary (e.g. how do they indicate
what sorts of conjugations a verb uses), but once you learn how to do
this, you can quickly use searching technques to boost your language
learning speed.</p>
<p>You may find that doing a Google search for something like "Spansih
language learning", rather than getting the information like I
described above, you are given links to many <em>products and services</em>.
Now, I am not saying that there is anything <em>wrong</em> with these
products, services, but what I am saying is that what Google is giving
to you is not just "raw information" like in the first set of cases I
introduced in this article (weather etc), but rather you are being
given suggestions on a particular sort of behavior you can follow.</p>
<p>Learning Spanish involves learning some grammatical rules, a bunch of
vocabulary, and getting practice applying this knowledge listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. Search engines may sort many doors to
places where you can do these things, but the search Engine doesn't
necessarily <em>teach you how to learn a foreign language</em> or give you
the means by which to sort through these options.</p>
<h3>History</h3>
<p>Google can probably do a very good job giving you dates of birth and
death of various people, when named battles/wars occured, and so and
on forth. Basically, it can be a good index for historical knowledge
that is establishment accepted and codified.</p>
<p>Google might try to tell particular stories and say who is important
and why through how it ranks its results. Should you just buy the
official narrative?</p>
<p>You've probably heard sayings like "there's two sides to every story".
Likewise, when using Google to find out about history, we should be
critical of what sort of views are favored by Google (they aren't
"neutral").</p>
<p>Note that people will often talk about "algorithms" and what they do.
You cannot seperate algorithms from the people that program them and
the data they feed it. There are some pretty funny terms in machine
learning and AI research like <strong>supervised</strong> vs <strong>unsupervised</strong>
learning and <strong>discrimination tasks</strong>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> </p>
<h3>Tech Solutions</h3>
<p>Engineering takes careful thought and planning. Searching Google will
give you "hot" results—new things that someone is hyping up.
Whether or not these solutions will actually meet your present needs
with the least amount of trouble is a different question.</p>
<p>For instance, consider how nowadays, there is a big push for cloud
computing everything and the "Internet of Things". Searching for tech
solutions, I am guessing you'll get a lot of these things. You
probably don't <em>need</em> these things and they will likely be very
expensive <em>and</em> compromise your privacy, security, etc. That's just
the nature of letting somebody else manage your data!</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Imagine the most racist, micromanaged elementary school you
can—that's what they do with these search algorithms. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Search Engine Stupidity, Part 22020-11-20T00:00:00-08:002020-11-20T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-20:/pelican-test/search-engine-stupidity-part-2.html<p>An Internet friend pointed out to me that my blog was rather
<strong>anti-SEO</strong>—that is, very <em>unoptimized</em> for search engines.
Indeed, this is true. Search engines more easily index and point
people towards certain sorts of content. Many popular websites, which
may not be of particularly high quality, try to …</p><p>An Internet friend pointed out to me that my blog was rather
<strong>anti-SEO</strong>—that is, very <em>unoptimized</em> for search engines.
Indeed, this is true. Search engines more easily index and point
people towards certain sorts of content. Many popular websites, which
may not be of particularly high quality, try to "game" (or <em>optimize</em>)
on these metrics.</p>
<p>Suppose you make a website that has</p>
<ul>
<li>Many pages on many topics</li>
<li>Rather short articles that load quickly</li>
<li>Key words provided in <strong>meta data</strong> <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></li>
</ul>
<p>Such a website may consistently hit top search results. (If you do any
sort of tech, web programing work, you are probably aware of some
sites that do this). But these sites might SUCK. They may seem hastily
written (or even machine <em>generated</em>), just redisplaying information
found and presented better elsewhere,</p>
<p>Maybe to look up one thing really quickly, these sites might be OK,
but overally they are unpleasant to use and ugly. Searching the
official manual/documentation for whatever tech you're using would be
better in most usecases.</p>
<p>Yet sites like the one above often appear at the top of search results.</p>
<h2>The Google favored sites</h2>
<p>Many companies design products to please Google. Much of <strong>Content
Creation</strong> is aimed at producing lots of thing in some form search
engines like (whether Google's, YouTubes, etc) for the purposes of
monetizing some niche.</p>
<p>For example, in the world of technology, many people choose to use
<strong>Medium</strong>. Now, I haven't written for Medium myself, but I've read
articles on Medium.</p>
<p>Lots of things are annoying about Medium to the "end-user".</p>
<ul>
<li>Popups/invitations to join</li>
<li>Intrusive links and other frills to other content</li>
<li>Not owning/exercising full control over your content and how it is
presented</li>
<li>Limited features (not specifically sure of Medium's limitations, but
if you're hard-coding HTML or something you're going to have <em>full
control</em>)</li>
</ul>
<p>Medium makes money from their site and have much more scale than me,
so I'm not being a "hater" here. I'm just pointing out that Google
will favor a "social" type content-generation model like that used by
Medium over a rather than a go-as-I-feel-like-it blog like my own,
which is primarily shared through word of mouth or private
communication.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you can find many "old-style" websites that are
very pleasant to use and have a strong "personal touch". In terms of
just... providing useful or interesting information, these sites are
<em>just as good, if not better than a big site like Medium</em>.</p>
<p>Yet they often lack SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and so they are
far less known. They additionally lack many of the "social"
features—integrations into big sites like Facebook and Twitter.</p>
<h2>Leveraging Social Media and Bypassing Medium</h2>
<p>My own strategy is to make use of social media how I see
fit—e.g. sharing links to friends and colleagues—social
media platforms are increasingly the "marketplace" or common space in
which we are made to meet one another.</p>
<p>However, I try to keep my writings and other files in a less
centralized place; that's why I use <code>git</code>, <code>markdown</code>, and other tools
to make my sites easy to download, redistribute, and so on if needed.
Facebook may very well be around for a while, but if I lose access to
my account, would I also want to lose access to lots of work/effort I
have put into that?</p>
<p>Decentralizing information, making copies, and other techniques
provide a more robust approach to controlling not just how our words
may be shared, but also as a guard against libel, censorship, and
other actions we are vulnerable towards when using social media
platforms.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Data that is <em>about</em> the main data; e.g. a digital camera might
store the date/time of a photo and the name of the model of the
camera used. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 752020-11-18T00:00:00-08:002020-11-18T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-75.html<p>Today's entry is about <strong>knowledge</strong>. Specifically, I want to discuss
the nature of reading information in places like books and websites
and how the activity of reading relates to acting in the world.</p>
<p>Collectively as a society in the USA (I mostly know California), there
is great value placed on …</p><p>Today's entry is about <strong>knowledge</strong>. Specifically, I want to discuss
the nature of reading information in places like books and websites
and how the activity of reading relates to acting in the world.</p>
<p>Collectively as a society in the USA (I mostly know California), there
is great value placed on <em>book learning</em>. And so people with a strong
aptitude for this (e.g. can score high on the SAT, LSAT, GRE) can
often find high-paying employment in a white-collar work environment.</p>
<p>Phrases like "reading comprehension" and "critical thinking" can be
found all over educational materials. How these things are often
tested is by presenting some big block of text (e.g. some reprinted
magazine article) and then asking some questions about that passage.</p>
<p>While learning how to pick apart the meanings of sentences, read
through dense prose with reasonable speed, and and answer specific
questions from written reports is not a <em>bad</em> skill to have, it is
only one technique for understanding the world and it is one that can
be dangerously misapplied.</p>
<h2>Writing and Knowledge</h2>
<p>If you found a piece of paper on the ground in a parking lot that said
something like,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Supermarket
- Eggs
- Milk (Whole)
- Ground beef
- Sesame oil (for Chinese cooking)</p>
<p>Hardware Store
- Wood glue
- AA Batteries</p>
</blockquote>
<p>...you would likely infer that you had stumbled across some kind of
shopping list. Maybe the person using it dropped it while loading
groceries into their car.</p>
<p>The <strong>document</strong> you found isn't like most books or websites, but you
can make a good guess at what it is because you have likely made use
(or seen someone else make use) of a similar type of thing.</p>
<p>You <em>know</em> how to read this document, assuming it is a grocery list,
and because it is not <em>your</em> grocery list, the contents of it don't
really matter. You can help toss it in a trashcan or just leave it
(maybe the person that made it will drive back noticing they lost
their list).</p>
<p>The knowledge/skill you have is how to create and interpret shopping
lists.</p>
<h3>Books, Articles, and More</h3>
<p>Let us now return to <strong>books</strong>, (Internet, magazine) <strong>articles</strong>, and
other publications you will likely see at <strong>newsstands</strong> in airports,
public libraries, and other places where mass-publications are often
found.</p>
<p>We can ask—who produced these materials and for what reasons?
Most people will take published materials at face value, especially if
they haven't tried their hand at publications of any sorts. Magazines
filled with ads can be presumed to provide some interesting "content"
to people interested in fitness, cooking, guns, etc. A <em>news</em> magazine
can be expected to tell you about what is going on the world, maybe
with some opinions/commentary by someone working in say... Iran.</p>
<p>Here is where a grocery list becomes very different from much of the
reading people busy themselves with. A grocery list serves a pretty
specific, self-explanatory purpose. Magazines and popular books often
serve subtler, less-obvious purchases. Consider,</p>
<ul>
<li>A book by a (current) celebrity: probably aims to make you
interested in and/or <em>like</em> this person more</li>
<li>An account of some political/military event; "current events":
likely wants to frame some situation in a way so that you have a
sympathetic viewpoint towards some action</li>
<li>Popular science: get you familiarized and comfortable with some
ideas that may be rolled out at scale (e.g. <em>Personal computers</em>),
sell gadgets/tech</li>
<li>Fashion/beauty stuff: establish trends, sell beauty products</li>
</ul>
<p>The "reading comprehension" skills described at the beginning of this
post prepare you to read and internalize the <em>messages</em> these
publications push. You can <em>repeat</em> what such-and-such and such has
said. But does doing this guarantee you <em>learned</em> anything? </p>
<h2>Talking Points</h2>
<p>Just like you can name endless details about Pokémon or some other
fictional entities, one can be pretty skilled at quickly browsing and
internalizing the <strong>talking points</strong> of various reading materials.</p>
<p>The purpose of many publications is to fill your head with talking
points that in turn lead you to be more sympathetic to other positions
using similar language. For instance, most people don't want to be
called a <em>racist</em>. So there is a lot of literature out there that
pushes talking points explaining why such-and-such is(n't) racist.</p>
<h3>Case Study</h3>
<p>Through the Sam Harris podcast <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>, I've been exposed to
numerous ideas. Here, I'll recall some off the top of my head
(probably won't be hard to find if you try to look them up):</p>
<ul>
<li>The dangers of AI take over (Max Tegmark talk)</li>
<li>Lab grown meat as a way that we can be well-nourished and not have
ethical problems that might otherwise motivate someone to become
vegan</li>
<li>Having regulatory/governing bodies in place to protect public
discourse from <em>fake news</em></li>
<li>Specific doctrines in Islam (mostly Wahabi/Sunni) are incompatible
with liberal western democracy; reform of some kind needed</li>
</ul>
<p>One can listen to hours upon hours of podcasts (or read many, many
books), but <em>learn</em> very little beyond being able to repeat points
like the ones above.</p>
<p>If we look <em>beyond talking points</em> and see what exactly someone is
trying to say/advocate, we can skip a lot of reading homework.</p>
<p>Sam Harris seems pretty transparent about many of his goals; he is a
self-proclaimed atheist who I think is interested in having an overall
peaceful, prosperous society <em>which steers away from a 'greatest
possible suffering' scenario</em>. He seems to espouse a kind of
<strong>incrementalist</strong> approach, wherein we make society <em>gradually</em>
better (as opposed to doing some quick, violent, revolution), and he
seems to be <strong>optimistic</strong> in the sense that he find the accumulation
of "expert knowledge" to be sufficient for guiding humanity as a whole
to have better and better lives, generally, by his definitions.</p>
<p>Thus, someone that is already on board with the general attitude of
Sam Harris will likely find his southing voice and amiable guests to
make for pleasant listening. Talk of new technologies and stuff opens
the door for fun speculation about <em>how the world could be</em>.</p>
<p>Basically, you can read reality as a kind of progressive march towards
a "utopian" type of Science governed society optimized for human
well-being on a kind of minimize-pain ultilitarian metric. </p>
<p>If you are on board with this worldview and in the position to make
policy-decisions (whether locally in your own household, in a small
business or elsewhere), listening to more Sam Harris might be useful
in exposing you to many new "hacks" to progress towards these shared
goals. Likewise, trusting Sam as a calm and knowledgable fount of
knowledge, you may vote along the political positions he espouses too,
trusting that he has your same goals in mind.</p>
<h2>Ramblings about filtering what you read/watch</h2>
<p>Now, if you fundamentally disagree with the worldview of Sam Harris
and think that he is wrong in his most basic assumptions (e.g. as a
religious person, you reject the atheistic scientist "clergy" of
experts) to hear all the details that follow from Sam's worldview will
probably not be interesting or useful to you.</p>
<p>Likewise, if you believe that someone like... Thomas Jefferson was a
fool, a racist, and all the other bad things, you would probably not
benefit much from reading his writings at length unless you were being
paid to do just that for whatever reason.</p>
<p>Getting back to books and articles, I think that <em>looking at the type
of stuff we're reading, we can save a lot of time by actively choosing
to NOT read certain stuff</em>.</p>
<p>On one hand, this is obvious. But for many it is not because growing
up many of us are just told that <em>reading</em> (generally) is good. If
you're reading a non-fiction book rather than watching a TV, you're
being a smart-smart rather than a dumb-dumb, right?</p>
<p>What I'm saying here is that this <em>is not so</em>, and that using basic
"philosophy" techniques of looking at what people's presuppositions
are, we can "cut the chase" with a lot of content and save our time
and energy to do other things.</p>
<p>Probably the fastest way to do this is to talk to knowledgable people
about subjects you are interested in reading about. For example, you
may be looking for a book on <em>how to draw</em>. A friend that is skilled
in drawing might point out a book to you and say "everything in here
is useful for developing your skills except for Chapter 13 where the
author just rambles about some latest educational technique that was
trendy when this book was published". Here, a helpful guide helps you
avoid wasting your time on trying to make sense of some talking points
that might add more confusion than clarity to your main aim.</p>
<p>Conversely, your goal might be to <em>understand another person's
worldview</em>, and so rather than trying to filter out presuppositions
you think are wrong, you might want to read the most "brainwashed" of
the brainwashed books. I've posted reviews on Ayn Rand's <em>Atlas
Shrugged</em> and of many of the <em>Harry Potter</em> books. While I myself was
not naturally drawn to reading these books for the content within them
itself, I wanted to understand how someone that espouses particular
ideology describes the world operating, who appears heroic to them,
and so on and so forth. So I read these books aware of some of the
biases/preferences of these authors and it was helpful for me to
understand why certain ideas appeal to certain demographics.</p>
<h3>"Fact or Fiction"</h3>
<p>Some texts are informative in a pretty direct and obvious way, e.g. a
technical manual on operating some machine or a foreign language
bilingual dictionary. For many other works, however, things are not so
obvious. What is a book on WW1 trying to accomplish?</p>
<p>In this way, reading "fiction" vs "nonfiction" can often be more or
less the "same thing" in the sense that you get story telling in both
genres trying to get people to hold some view or repeat some talking
point in some form or another.</p>
<p>Through reading, we can learn stuff by looking outside of the (often
speculative) words of texts themselves but analyzing first <em>what
people are trying to accomplish</em> with particular documents. oftentimes
people will just come out and say what this is—a Buddhist might
tell you a book is promoting Buddhism by reading it you can reduce
suffering, for instance. Other parties are trickier. Be especially
wary of anyone who claims to be "unbiased" or giving you "just the
facts".</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Sam Harris is famous as one of the "new atheists" who got some
controversy by criticizing Islam. Among other guests, he has done
interviews with many technologists and "science populizers". <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 742020-11-17T00:00:00-08:002020-11-17T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-17:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-74.html<p>In expressing my views on things like the Federal Reserve or the
United Nations, I've been given labels like "cynical" or
"pessimistic". I don't think that this is a fair characterization in
the sense that I don't wake up thinking about how much the world sucks
or how nothing I …</p><p>In expressing my views on things like the Federal Reserve or the
United Nations, I've been given labels like "cynical" or
"pessimistic". I don't think that this is a fair characterization in
the sense that I don't wake up thinking about how much the world sucks
or how nothing I do matters. Quite the opposite—I recognize how
bad lots of things are, but I think that each of us can still choose
to continue <em>in spite</em> of these obstacles.</p>
<p>Analagously, let us suppose you have an old, slow computer. Maybe it
has crashed many times while you were trying to do work. You can
<strong>descriptively</strong> talk about many of this machine's shortcomings and
how it fails to fulfill many needs you have. Likewise, you can reflect
on how it is "good enough" for some things you do and think about how
you can use it more effectively, even if you plan on getting a new
machine eventually.</p>
<p>I think about lots of things in the USA in a similar way. I'm not
"Anti-USA" in that I've lived hear my whole life and I have enjoyed
many things because of the institutions that are in place. However, I
think that it would be wrong to cling to many of the myths/narratives
that are used to "sanctify" our present order.</p>
<p>Caring about a place and its people means being willing to hear
criticism—even if this criticism means that things <em>you may have
invested in</em> are not as good as they may seem. For instance, I've
benefitted from having a college degree. Writing this on a piece of
paper probably makes applying for many jobs, getting credit cards, and
so on easier than if I didn't have this thing. It would be wrong for
me to fanatically defend the college system just because I benefit
from it; if there are legitimate criticisms of higher education I
should not steer away from these just because I am in a position to
benefit from the present way things are.</p>
<p>If I make a bunch of money off stocks, I shouldn't take this to mean
that I'm super smart or deserving either—the system is in a
certain way and I steered my boat to exploit the winds. But this
doesn't mean I've "earned" or "deserved" anything.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 732020-11-14T00:00:00-08:002020-11-14T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-14:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-73.html<p>Looking at the what is going on around me, I think I can predict at
least one more year of a "lock-down" like situation. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Each of us
should ask, <em>how should I spend that time?</em></p>
<p>This could mean considering rather big lifestyle changes. For
instance, if you are a …</p><p>Looking at the what is going on around me, I think I can predict at
least one more year of a "lock-down" like situation. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Each of us
should ask, <em>how should I spend that time?</em></p>
<p>This could mean considering rather big lifestyle changes. For
instance, if you are a single, working person in a big city who is
barely saving any money through working, perhaps it is time to
re-assess the situation and decide <em>is this arrangement worth it?</em> The
answer you come up with may be something like <em>yes, but I need to
spend less</em> or even <em>I need to move back to XYZ less expensive
option</em>. Regardless of where each of us are, we can determine <em>what
degrees of freedomS we do have</em> and carefully consider how to exercise
our autonomy.</p>
<h2>Securing the Means to Work</h2>
<p>Highly "institutionally coupled" types of work—e.g. skills in a
particular piece of proprietary, corporate software—may not as
readily transferable to another domain. Similarly, some jobs are very
highly bound up with the current political/financial/etc institutions.
Is an expert on tax codes this year and expert on tax codes 3 years
from now?</p>
<p>Similar examples of highly specialized types of work that may not be
readily transferrable if the occasion calls include,</p>
<ul>
<li>specialization with a particular type of machine you do not own (e.g
servicing a particular sort of airplane)</li>
<li>programing of various sorts—e.g. being an expert in some 3D
gaming C++ library thing</li>
<li>Specialized cooking, baking, etc that relies on not readily
available ingredients</li>
</ul>
<p>This isn't to say that you <em>shouldn't invest in domain specific
knowledge</em>; rather, I'm making a reminder to myself that in addition
to becoming skilled with whatever tools you are required to work with
for a particular job, one <em>should not lose sight of time management,
more broadly</em>. You do not want to "put all your eggs in one basket" if
that basket can easily be taken away from you.</p>
<p>It is a good idea overall to find ways in which we can do work that
are more <strong>robust</strong> to the winds of what is going on. Ways to do this
may include,</p>
<ul>
<li>Owning high quality tools that can be used to do work, or may be
(re)sold without much difficulty</li>
<li>Maintaining networks of trustworthy friends</li>
<li>Working on physical fitness</li>
<li>Memorizing useful information (e.g. foreign languages)</li>
<li>Learning general techniques to exploit readily available
tools—being able to draw useful diagrams and organize data
into charts can just as readily be done with a pen and paper as it
can on a newer technology like Microsoft Excel and Google Docs <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></li>
<li>Maintaining some kind of log (e.g. this blog) of how you are working
through problems</li>
</ul>
<p>The written log thing is also a useful way to keep you on track and
motivated to continue working through stuff. With accountability to
yourself (and an audience, if you happen to have one) you can more
easily push yourself to keep on working even if you may feel lazy or
unmotivated one day. Routine is very important for making steady
progress.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Look up Klaus Schwab, the <em>Fourth Industrial Revolution</em>, and
<em>The Great Reset</em> for more information about the general
trajectory we can see certain parties <em>try</em> to push. See
[Computing Forever]'s <a href="https://www.bitchute.com/video/33rlMWNJKNE/">How is This a Thing? 11th of November
2020</a>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Another related technique is to <em>learn to use basic features
well</em> while avoiding specialized, "cutting edge" features. For
example, if MS Excel can do some one fancy thing, but Google Docs
cannot, it may be helpful to avoid using this particular feature
and see if you can design a solution around making use of basic
functions which are common to both. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 722020-11-13T00:00:00-08:002020-11-13T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-13:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-72.html<p>From our own experience, we can <em>give testimony</em> to what we have seen,
heard, smelled, tasted, and felt. For things we do not experience
direclty, we are relaying the messages of others. People who knowingly
distort truth—e.g. to conform to some narrative they are paid to
tell—we …</p><p>From our own experience, we can <em>give testimony</em> to what we have seen,
heard, smelled, tasted, and felt. For things we do not experience
direclty, we are relaying the messages of others. People who knowingly
distort truth—e.g. to conform to some narrative they are paid to
tell—we call <strong>liars</strong>. </p>
<p>Nowadays, there is pressure in many directions for people to
relay/repost messages from all sorts of <em>parties</em>. They are asked to
repeat slogans, to dnounce this-or-that. Many people will repeat nice
sounding words out of courtesy to the person asking or simply because
they don't want to imply they are disagreeing with some sentiment by
refusing to do so.</p>
<p>The current "virtual" climate brought upon us by top-down policies in
response to a reported viral threat is one in which we are often
called upon to reaffirm our <em>belief</em> in a particular narrative.</p>
<p>Personally, I have no first-hand accounts to relay about the severity
of this virus stuff. I can see the policies enacted around me and the
damage they have caused, but I cannot say how the often spoken of
biological threat has(n't) threatened me. I obey rules to fulfill a
duty to obey civil authorities so long as they are not asking me to do
anything morally compromising.</p>
<p>As we are seeing organizations deciding what is going to happen in the
upcoming year, what is there to expect? It seems to be... more closing
down of small to medium sized businesses while the large corporations
and government-associated businesses continue operations in accordance
with all the rules.</p>
<p>Since things like money (USD), communications, and increasingly
<em>transporation</em> is so centralized, people are being increasingly
disenfranchised from means to assert their autonomy with respect to
basic things like: which people they meet, where they go, and who they
pay.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 712020-11-12T00:00:00-08:002020-11-12T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-12:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-71.html<p>There is this slang term <strong>butthurt</strong> to describe someone who responds
very poorly to any criticism or joking. We should strive to <em>never be
butthurt</em>, but instead take criticisms—whatever people/parties
they come from—as opportunities to gain understanding of our own
shortcomings and errors so that we can …</p><p>There is this slang term <strong>butthurt</strong> to describe someone who responds
very poorly to any criticism or joking. We should strive to <em>never be
butthurt</em>, but instead take criticisms—whatever people/parties
they come from—as opportunities to gain understanding of our own
shortcomings and errors so that we can improve.</p>
<h2>There are many ways in which I have been "butthurt"</h2>
<p>I am writing about what it means to be "butthurt" because I myself
have experienced this cringeworthy state. Here are some scenarios in
which I felt butthurt,</p>
<ul>
<li>I seek attention, but get none</li>
<li>My <em>effort</em> isn't rewarded (because I did not produce a useful
result)</li>
<li>I focus too much on things I have done (pride) rather than looking
for where I could work to improve</li>
</ul>
<p>The third point here is especially pertinent to nerds. Many nerds will
do something like... neglect refinement of the body. They will think
themselves "brainy" people that are in some sense superior to their
less abstraction inclined neighbors.</p>
<h2>Criticism is helpful</h2>
<p>Criticism is a vehicle by which we can identify where we are "coping"
or "making excuses". Especially valuable is criticism from people that
are more knowledgable than us and remarks from "third parties" (e.g. a
stranger yells something at you). <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>When faced with criticism, we should assume that the person making
this criticism notices something <em>true</em> and examine ourselves to see
how they are right. For instance, if someone says to me "you look
sloppy" in some form or another, this is an helpful reminder for me to
look at my habits and identify ways in which I am being careless and
lazy, where instead I should be vigilant and industrious.</p>
<h2>"But that's just the way I am"</h2>
<p>To say "but that's just the way I am" is often a way to <em>remain
butthurt</em>. The idea is this: some flaw of character is cast off as
some <em>aspect of immutable personality</em>.</p>
<p>Now, I am not saying that different people don't have different
dispositions or personalities. Every human is unique and we can group
people in meaningful ways.</p>
<p>Rather, the point to be emphasized here is that it is of utmost
importants to not adopt a kind of <strong>fatalistic</strong> attittude when we are
dealing with things that are <em>within our control</em>. The mindsets we
assume and how we relate to others are things unlike the weather,
politics, and what your native language are in that we can actively
choose to be changed <em>now</em> with respect to these.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Suffering "toxic" people may constantly insult you—it may be
best to just get away from these type of people because they will
readily suck your time/attention dry if you give them the opportunity. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 702020-11-10T00:00:00-08:002020-11-10T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-10:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-70.html<p>A chilly November breeze pushes fallen leaves across quiet suburban
streets. For the most part, the city scape is still. The robots are
still doing their robot things—traffic lights will change when
proper stimuli are applied, on some streets you can smell gasoline and
hear leaf blowers, and the …</p><p>A chilly November breeze pushes fallen leaves across quiet suburban
streets. For the most part, the city scape is still. The robots are
still doing their robot things—traffic lights will change when
proper stimuli are applied, on some streets you can smell gasoline and
hear leaf blowers, and the glow of television screens can be seen
through the windows of many homes.</p>
<p>Certain "hand-crafts" have been revitalized, in a way. Pumpkin
carvings, political signs with familiar slogans, and the continued
work of restaurants and food delivery people will occasionally break
the stillness of a suburban walk.</p>
<p>Dog-driven exercise/socialization can be seen—perhaps the
majority of other walking people I see outside are doing some form of
pet care. Cats rolling around on the floor and making interesting
shapes continue to be cats.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 692020-11-07T00:00:00-08:002020-11-07T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-07:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-69.html<p>One thing I've bought a lot of is <strong>books</strong>. In the US, growing up,
we're told <em>reading is good</em> and having a large vocabulary is one way
to "sound smart". Heeded uncritically, the advise "read a lot" can
lead you to become more foolish and more vain than if you …</p><p>One thing I've bought a lot of is <strong>books</strong>. In the US, growing up,
we're told <em>reading is good</em> and having a large vocabulary is one way
to "sound smart". Heeded uncritically, the advise "read a lot" can
lead you to become more foolish and more vain than if you couldn't
read at all.</p>
<p>Often talking to people does a lot more than reading books. There's
this idea in the Western world that books are these repositories of
<strong>facts</strong> or "information". Obviously, books typically are filled with
words. But just <em>how to understand the meanings of these words</em> isn't
always readily available. While a car's manual will be pretty
"literal" and straightforward, one could easily read a novel or watch
a movie with little to no idea about <em>who produced that work and for
what reasons</em>. This is very important to know for interpreting many
things.</p>
<h2>The Search Engine View on Language</h2>
<p>Looking at a resource like Google books and/or Google N-grams, you
gain access to lots of information. You can see the earliest uses of
some words, when terms became more/less popular, and compare
frequencies of competing terms, among other things.</p>
<p>Doing this, you can gain access to a lot of <em>facts</em>, such as the word
such-and-such was used more often than some other word during some
period of time. Doing an activity like this, do you learn anything
about what sorts of <em>meanings</em> people are expressing?</p>
<p>In linguistics, there is this term "<strong>arbitrariness of the sign</strong>" for
the idea that the spoken/written <em>form</em> of a word doesn't reflect
anything about what it expresses in of itself—it is arbitrary.
For many, many words, there is a sense in which this is true. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Indeed, we can take old word <em>forms</em> and give them new meanings. For
instance, in 2020 in the USA, when we say "orange man", we all know
who this refers to. Likewise if I started to call people "sleepy" (or
"creepy") it would be understood that I'm probably not talking about
cute kittens taking naps or spooky skeletons on halloween. This old,
familiar terms have taken on new connotations in the present time. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>Nowadays, we are <em>encouraged to throw around words</em> recklessly. Signs
and slogans plaster every street corner. Really, these signs convey
the meaning something along the lines of "I think such-and-such are
the <em>good guys</em>, and if you support such-and-such you're a <em>bad guy</em>".
Add in specifics as you like.</p>
<h2>Meanings First</h2>
<p>Many sayings of wisdom point out the value of practicing silence
and/or seeking silence/solitude.</p>
<p>Words are not "neutral" things that are just "out there". A resource
like a bilingual dictionary is not sufficient for learning a second
language, though it may be a useful tool. In order to understand a
second language, you need to have lots and lots of exposure to
speakers of that language.</p>
<p>While intaking a lot of words and learning how to use language well is
not a bad thing in of itself, it is also not necessarily <em>a good
thing</em>. Just as potatoes might be the best thing to eat for one person
and lemon juice over chicken might be good for another, the diet of
what words we consume can likewise affect our "verbal wellbeing".</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Function of words does often affect form; common words
(including grammatical things like prepositions) across languages,
for instance, tend to be short. Technical words can be longer,
polysyllabic <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>President Trump is called "orange" because of his skin color;
Biden is called "sleepy joe" or "creepy uncle joe" by some critics <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 682020-11-05T00:00:00-08:002020-11-05T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-05:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-68.html<p>Election stuff is going on, but I'm not watching any news. I will hear
what others say and thus kind of follow what is going on, but I
understand that the election outcome isn't really something that is
under my control, so it is a waste of time and energy …</p><p>Election stuff is going on, but I'm not watching any news. I will hear
what others say and thus kind of follow what is going on, but I
understand that the election outcome isn't really something that is
under my control, so it is a waste of time and energy to get worked up
over following it.</p>
<p>The strategy I am describing here—just talking to friends and
stuff but not watching the news—goes beyond "not watching TV"
(and instead looking on the Internet). Indeed the Internet is
plastered with election stuff all over the place. We temporarily have
a new "favorite American past time" (which many non-Americans seem to
take a lot of interest in as well).</p>
<p>No, you cannot just "go on the Internet but not read about election
stuff" if you simultaenously visit popular websites like Facebook or
Youtube. One must more actively filter!</p>
<h2>Thoughts about elections generally</h2>
<p>It is amateur political philosopher hour! Today's topic is <em>why I
don't like elections</em> as a way of governance.</p>
<p>Firstly, the machinations of elections rely on techniques like
<strong>flattery</strong> and <strong>deception</strong>. No matter who your preferred political
candidates are, you must recognize how large elections necessarily
involve lots of propagandizing to <em>get numbers</em>. Numbers are
important, so you have to appeal to the <em>lowest common denominator</em>.</p>
<p>Secondly, elections put pressure on people to <em>get involved in deciding
stuff for other people</em> that they may have no business deciding. I
know nothing about... water rights in Nevada. But some stuff I vote on
may have big implications for that? Someone with a career in political
things might urge me to "get educated" and be active learning about
this-and-that. But for people who are not professional political
analysts, this is really not feasible. At best, you can find someone
you like and trust with good character who follows politics and follow
their voting patterns. Regardless, nobody pays you to do this!</p>
<p>Thirdly, elections are a huge waste of time, energy, and resources.
Insofar as US dollars actually are money in the sense that they
represent value/work done, elections and their side effects are
costly. These costs are recurrent costs as elections happen in cycles.</p>
<p>Finally, there is the question of <em>how well elections actually do at
representing what people want</em>. If most people want a justice in the
sense that crime is punished, a government that is not too intrusive
such that basic civil liberties are preserved, and reasonable taxes to
do stuff like maintain roads and provide utilities... do we really
need <em>elections?</em></p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>It is common in the West for people to defend their current forms of
government as favorable because they are "the best thing we've got,
though all systems are imperfect". I think there is a strong bias here
mainly stemming from,</p>
<ul>
<li>The current system is familiar and so relatively comfortable</li>
<li>Assuming that technology, associated with post-Enlightenment
thinking and models of government, has improved quality of life and
that it would be impossible to have this without
republics/democracies, and</li>
<li>Enlightenment carciatures of other forms of government as totally
depraved/evil/terrible</li>
</ul>
<p>Associated with the last point is the retort, "Oh so you would like to
live in Saudi Arabia?" without consideration of how
democracies/republics have been instrumental in propping up many of
the "third world dictators" we villainize today.</p>Uses and Misuses of Single Page Web Applications2020-11-05T00:00:00-08:002020-11-05T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-05:/pelican-test/uses-and-misuses-of-single-page-web-applications.html<p>Today, there are a handful of popular <strong>Web Frameworks</strong> including
React, Angular, and Vue. What these things do is allow you to use more
<em>programatic</em> ways to spit out websites made of HTML, CSS, and
JavaScript rather than writing the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript directly.
The things these web frameworks …</p><p>Today, there are a handful of popular <strong>Web Frameworks</strong> including
React, Angular, and Vue. What these things do is allow you to use more
<em>programatic</em> ways to spit out websites made of HTML, CSS, and
JavaScript rather than writing the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript directly.
The things these web frameworks make are often called <strong>single page
applications</strong> (SPA) because they involve going to one URL with
<strong>dynamic data</strong> as opposed to having you click links to navigate
through <em>multiple</em> pages. A popular example of a very complex SPA is
Facebook (also the company that creates the React library mentioned
above).</p>
<h1>The Dynamic Web App</h1>
<p>Web Frameworks offer ways to automate tasks such as, repeating
elements. These are the bread and butter of SPAs—relatively
homogenous data presented in pretty UIs.</p>
<p>For instance, on a "newsfeed", you may have a bunch of posts
structured like,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">user-post</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">author</span><span class="p">></span>Alan<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">author</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">message</span><span class="p">></span>
Don't believe everything you see and hear on TV!
<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">message</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">user-post</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">user-post</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">author</span><span class="p">></span>Joe<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">author</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">message</span><span class="p">></span>
Do I hear MALARKEY rising?
<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">message</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">user-post</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">user-post</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">author</span><span class="p">></span>Donald<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">author</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">message</span><span class="p">></span>
Coofefe through a mask. what a day.
<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">message</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">user-post</span><span class="p">></span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>A user that visits your dynamic web app sees this data rendered to
their web browser, whether on a laptop, phone, or tablet.</p>
<p>Data like that above will typically <em>not</em> be "hardcoded" as it is in
the example above. Instead, you will likely have some external site (API)
that gives some data like,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="p">[</span>
<span class="p">{</span><span class="nt">"author"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s2">"Alan"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nt">"message"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s2">"Don't believe everything you see and hear on TV!"</span><span class="p">},</span>
<span class="p">{</span><span class="nt">"author"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s2">"Joe"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nt">"message"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s2">"Do I hear MALARKEY rising?"</span><span class="p">},</span>
<span class="p">{</span><span class="nt">"author"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s2">"Donald"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nt">"message"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s2">"Coofefe through a mask. what a day."</span><span class="p">}</span>
<span class="p">]</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>...and then that data will be "digested" by a web app "frontend".</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>posts.map(post =>
<span class="nt"><user-post></span>
<span class="nt"><author></span>{post.author}<span class="nt"></author></span>
<span class="nt"><message></span>{post.message}<span class="nt"></message></span>
<span class="nt"></user-post></span>
);
</code></pre></div>
<p>An analogy I often give for this is that... the "web framework" makes
a nice looking bathroom: sink, shower, etc. The backend is the
delivery of the water to the proper places. Web developers are
"Internet Plumbers".</p>
<h2>The Web "App" versus the Web Site</h2>
<p>Looking for a job in "coding", you'll probably get most people telling
you to go and learn one of the web frameworks mentioned here because
they are a popular way for large companies to make websites. Social
media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and the like make use of these
sorts of things. For these sites, it makes sense to have fancy ways
for generating <em>dynamic content</em> because they are constantly updating
their databases with things people (and robots) produce and displaying
these things to users as they come in.</p>
<p>It makes sense why companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have
been at the forefront of making many of the modern technologies we use
today when you think about the sort of content they deal with and at
the massive sacale they strive for. These sites value things like,</p>
<ul>
<li>Interactivity (users clicking buttons, typing stuff)</li>
<li>Huge quantities of data</li>
<li>Ease of integrating advertisements, third party components, and
other avenues of monetization</li>
</ul>
<p>In contrast, on a "traditional" website, you cannot get data in "real
time". It is necessary to refresh webpages to <em>ask the server</em> for new
information. "Traditional" webpages are more like books, pamphlets, or
brochures that don't frequently update but nonetheless may contain
lots of valuable information presented (hopefully) in an accessible
way. It is more common for "traditional" websites to have many
custom-made, unique pages as opposed to homogenous "posts" or "tweets"
which restrict what kind of content users can post.</p>
<h2>Choose the tools for the job</h2>
<p>The modern web framework is built for making <strong>web applications</strong>
(apps) that deal with dynamic data. Implied with <em>dynamic data</em> is
interfacing with some kind of database, which often means using a
cloud provider like Amazon's AWS or Microsoft's Azure. Creating a web
app often means committing to working with certain big companies,
using technology you may need to update, and learning more complex
tooling.</p>
<p>As the attractive high paying sort of web jobs will often mean working
with big clients in government, NGOs, and big corporations who collect
lots and lots of data, specializing in making dynamic web apps is a
popular career path for technophilic individuals who want nice things.</p>
<p>On the other hand, making a traditional website can be relatively
straight forward. There are many very smart people who have their own
websites, but but care less about fancy styling. For example, a
college professor may just want to link some publications, give a
contact address, and post one photo. This is not hard to do and
doesn't require hiring a full-time developer.</p>
<p>It isn't really fair to compare an individual's homepage with
Facebook—asking which is <em>better</em> is kind of non-sensical
because they are really two different things. One is a fancy kitchen
sink hooked up to straight to the US government and another may just
be a weekend project for sharing family recipes.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 672020-11-02T00:00:00-08:002020-11-02T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-11-02:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-67.html<p>Many of the difficulties we face are those of our own choosing. Today
was a tough day for me in some ways, but the troubles I can think of
were all of my own causing. Doing web tech work, it is no mystery
today why I had to spend many …</p><p>Many of the difficulties we face are those of our own choosing. Today
was a tough day for me in some ways, but the troubles I can think of
were all of my own causing. Doing web tech work, it is no mystery
today why I had to spend many struggling to make Internet technologies
do stuff. Nobody <em>forced</em> me to choose staring at screens, shuffling
symbols and dealing with complex abstractions was a path I chose to go
down. And so, sometimes I must endure suffering that comes with that
type of work—being humbled by not being able to solve some
problem quickly, sluggishness of body from sitting for long periods of
time, and a mind tired from focusing on details that will probably go
out of fashion within the decade.</p>
<p>Negligence is also a source of troubles. Failure to properly maintain
equipment can lead to dealing with the aftermath of equipment failure.
Likewise failure to maintain good habits and routines will lead to
slow decline.</p>
<h2>Agency in Failure</h2>
<p>Sometimes it is tempting to brag of <strong>agency</strong> in success—what
role <em>I</em> had to play in something that turned out well. Maybe a more
edifying direction to turn to is to see how I have had agency in all
the troubles I bring on myself.</p>
<p>Lots of things we don't choose—e.g. which famliy we're born
into, many aspects of our childhood/upbringing, and <em>accidents</em> of our
personalities.</p>
<p>However, lots of things we <em>do</em> choose and with a little introspection
it is not hard to see how we <em>could have done better</em>. In retrospect,
probably most people would be delighted if they could have "magically"
made it such that they studied such-and-such language, or maintained
relationships with so-and-so, or practiced some skill. On a day to day
basis, though, we neglect to do many things that we might wish we had
done if we could get these things for "free".</p>
<p>Choosing to go to school will bring homework upon you (especially if
you choose a demanding major). Likewise, getting oneself into social
obligations might be costly in terms of you having "time to yourself"
for silence, reading, writing, reflection, etc.</p>
<p>Especially for those that gain freedom to "make their own way" (e.g.
by living on their own) the responsibility of freedom becomes heavier.
While a grade school kid can legitimately say "the government forced
me to go to school", the "college aged" will typically have a weaker
case to make saying that they were "forced" into higher education or
some other arrangement.</p>
<p>Insofar as we claim agency in our success, I'm thinking we should
probably even more so claim <em>agency in our failures</em>. We play a huge
part in being the authors of our troubles until we decide to turn away
from being our own worst enemies.</p>
<p>Recognizing our agency in failure means also recognizing our agency to
choose <em>not to fail</em> when similar trials come our way. Whereas one
might have made bad choices in the past from failing to do research
and being too passive, or conversely being overly confident and
aggressive—there is a common denominator which is <em>how we choose
to live day by day</em>.</p>
<h2>Some ways in which I "shoot myself in the foot"</h2>
<p>Probably one of the main ways I cause trouble for myself is by
"spreading myself too thin"; that is, trying to do too many things and
thus becoming a "jack of all trades, but master at none". This is
evident in my language study; I've spent many hours studying a lot of
languages, but am probably less <em>useful</em> for most practical
language-related applications than someone bilingual in say... English
and Czech.</p>
<p>A related issue is that I lack <em>refinement</em> in many areas. I can pull
of a "good enough/functional" in many areas but then get distracted by
other things and thus <em>choose</em> not to put in the time to "finish what
I've started".</p>
<p>In some things, I think I work fairly hard, but in other ways, I am
often relatively negligent. For instance, I'm only beginning to get
involved in the arts of physical training but I've spent many years as
a somewhat chunky nerd. Like many Americans, I am not too practiced in
many forms of <em>(rote) memorization</em>. I'm relatively skilled at a
handful of forms of "reading" (e.g. scripts of various languages,
software documentation, music...) but am quite underdeveloped in
recitation.</p>
<p>I think there are probably many more ways in which I undermine myself
which I will explore in later posts. The things mentioned here are a
recurring source of me choose failure, however, so I think it is worth
putting in writing here.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 662020-10-31T00:00:00-07:002020-10-31T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-10-31:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-66.html<p>Learning a new domain of any sort will involve learning new
terms—sometimes called (technical) <strong>jargon</strong>. One challenging
aspect of doing this is that you will often have to "overload" words
you already use/know—learn a new specialized application of some
word form.</p>
<p>What is an "Object" in programing …</p><p>Learning a new domain of any sort will involve learning new
terms—sometimes called (technical) <strong>jargon</strong>. One challenging
aspect of doing this is that you will often have to "overload" words
you already use/know—learn a new specialized application of some
word form.</p>
<p>What is an "Object" in programing? For each programing language that
uses "Objects" in some way, there is a different answer to this
question. In JavaScript, versus Ruby, versus C++ (and so and so forth)
you will find that the technical meaning of <em>object</em> differs. To make
matters more confusing, we use the word "object" in everyday speech,
e.g. talking about "objects in a room" or even "speaking objectively".</p>
<p>Conversations can fail in many ways when people use the same word
forms (sounds, spellings) but fail to share the same <em>meanings</em>. In
relatively concrete domains, such as cooking, I think this is
relatively rare. Saying, "please pass the salt shaker" or "this recipe
calls for two potatoes" will be pretty easy to understand.</p>
<p>When moving into realms that involve more abstractions and difficult
to name things, however, problems proliferate. In the programing
example given above, we can see how words like <code>object</code>, <code>function</code>,
<code>evaluate</code>, and <code>return</code> cannot be naively transferred from natural
speech into code. Even English speakers have to learn new, precise
meanings of these terms in the domain of computer programing.</p>
<p>In this way it is silly to say "why don't we make XYZ language
keywords in computer language ABC to make it more accessible to
such-and-such minority group"—<em>everyone</em> has to learn new uses
for symbols when learning programing and the idea that you just do it
in "plain" English is a non-starter. People are not computers. What is
an <code>esac</code> and a <code>fi</code>?!?!?!? <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>In mass media, various words/terms are used to attempt to program
<em>you</em> like a computer. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> Associating a term with very bad feelings
(e.g. <strong>facism</strong>, <strong>alt-right</strong>) and then attaching this label to
someone/something is an easy way to quickly convey the message <em>XYZ is
bad</em>, even if the viewer doesn't have any idea about what <em>XYZ</em> is <em>on
their own terms</em>. Similarly, there are terms that the mass media uses
to instinctively train "positive" reactions—consider
<strong>democracy</strong>, <strong>freedom</strong>, <strong>rights</strong>, <strong>liberation</strong>, etc.</p>
<p>Saying that such-and-such <em>defends democracy</em> and <em>protects human
rights</em> and leads to the <em>liberation</em> of such-and-such-group from
<em>extremists</em> [...] is just a formulaic way to get people conditioned
to repeat slogans. Uncriticially convinced they are on "the right
side" of history, you get people marching for the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea taking for granted that it is <em>democratic</em> and <em>of
the people</em> and that it is indeed <em>a republic</em> (I can accept that it
is on the Korean peninsula, lol). <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>What is the solution to all this confusion? One thing to do is to
<em>refrain from talking about stuff you don't understand and/or is none
of your business</em> (most stuff on the news) and to focus instead on
learning some skill/domain, which will very likely involve learning
lots of specialized vocabulary. I don't know much about <em>cars</em>, but I
am guessing that somebody who does know about cars very often
face-palms at non-"car people" driveling on about car matters they
evidently know nothing about. Regarding car things, it is better if I
listen and just honestly say that I made some decision trusting some
authority, rather than pretending I know about what I'm talking about.
Of course, I could do my own hands-on research reading my car's
manual, watching some YouTube, poking around my car...</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Key words used in some scripting languages. Note all programing
languages will have this-and-that syntactic requirements, like
opening and closing parentheses; these are "artifacts" of the
technology/form of computer programing just like human speech
is shaped by the form of our mouths, noses, etc <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>See <strong>behaviorism</strong> research. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Abusing word forms and their associations often appears as the
"<strong>Word Fallacy</strong>". <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 652020-10-28T00:00:00-07:002020-10-28T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-10-28:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-65.html<p>Most of the time, there is a "low/no tech" way to make progress on
some problem. Yet, very often, we turn toward tech solutions to make
life "easier". What often happens is that the tech over-complicates
things and makes us get wrapped up in secondary concerns that prevent
us …</p><p>Most of the time, there is a "low/no tech" way to make progress on
some problem. Yet, very often, we turn toward tech solutions to make
life "easier". What often happens is that the tech over-complicates
things and makes us get wrapped up in secondary concerns that prevent
us making progress on the main thing at hand.</p>
<p>For instance, you may want to <em>eat a healthier diet</em>. The solution to
this is not hard—you can find someone who knows what they are
doing and <em>copy what they do</em>. The alternative nerd thing to do would
be to lie to yourself and say that by reading XYZ chemistry books and
blah-blah-blah you are somehow making progress at your stated goal.
The solution is already before you if you will be humble enough to
learn from someone who perhaps has read fewer books and received lower
marks in school than you.</p>
<p>Similarly, if you have some need of <em>tracking some data</em>—let's
say where you planted some tomatoes. The quickest way to record this
information may just be to create a simple diagram. Later, you can
digitalize this, compile photos into a blog post, or whatever you
would like to do. To just move on and do more work, however, the low
tech solution of filling out some manual chart (or using a spread
sheet program you are familiar with) or just making a sketch on a
piece of paper may the most effective course of action.</p>
<p>Low tech solutions often are helpful because they don't force us to
make needless categories. If you just pull out a piece of paper and
start writing you won't think about all sorts of nerd questions like,</p>
<ul>
<li>which format to save the document in</li>
<li>which keyboard layout to use</li>
<li>how often to save</li>
<li>how/where to make backups</li>
</ul>
<p>Choosing the simple, but perhaps "slower" solution may be the fastest
way to make a draft of something you can later refine, redistribute,
etc.</p>
<h2>Lern 2 code</h2>
<p>In the modern world, many young people are graduating high school or
college thinking about what to do. "Should I do <em>coding?</em>" they ask.
Then, many struggle to find motivation to continue to learn python or
JavaScript or whatever—and they are burdened by the thought that
<em>they should be learning</em> because "coding" is supposed to be useful
for getting a <em>good job</em>, right?</p>
<p>Computers are tools and having knowledge in some scripting or
something can be useful for automating processes. However, for most
people most of the time, the coding itself will not be the
"bottleneck" that prevents actual work from getting done in the world.
It is for this reason that you see many non-coder people running
YouTube channels, Wordpress sites, etc. and being far more effective
on using the Internet to get things done that symbol shuffling nerds.</p>
<p>To "learn to code" is to learn how to formalize problems in the real
world in a particular way—such that some computational solution
can be applied to them. For example, you may do some buying and
selling; to automate some process, what you may have to do is design
some chart that automatically does some arithmetic. You could do this
in Excel, using some web programing, or even in some ancient software
like Emacs. What is most important, however, is that you do a good job
designing that initial table that you "translate" into code. A few
minutes of careful planning with pen and paper can save hours of
stupid-coding.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 642020-10-27T00:00:00-07:002020-10-27T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-10-27:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-64.html<p>Often, in sunny California, you will run into slogans plastered around
buildings, lining sidewalks, in stores, and in other places where
people frequently go which give imperatives like,</p>
<ul>
<li>READ</li>
<li>SPEAK</li>
<li>VOTE</li>
</ul>
<p>...and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>Now, looking into just <em>who</em> is giving these messages and what they
want …</p><p>Often, in sunny California, you will run into slogans plastered around
buildings, lining sidewalks, in stores, and in other places where
people frequently go which give imperatives like,</p>
<ul>
<li>READ</li>
<li>SPEAK</li>
<li>VOTE</li>
</ul>
<p>...and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>Now, looking into just <em>who</em> is giving these messages and what they
want, it is not difficult to discern just <em>what sorts of things</em> they
want you to read, <em>what sorts of things</em> they want you to speak, and
<em>how they want you to vote</em>. If what you had to say was contrary to
what they were saying and it had the potential "critical mass" to
say... change the course of an election, well you wouldn't expect this
sort of messaging now, would you?</p>
<h2>Content</h2>
<p>Of course it matters <em>what you read</em>, not just that you <em>do read</em>. At
a beginner stage, it may be useful to read any words to get used to
the sounds/spelling/etc of a language, but even so you wouldn't want
to delve into reading mind-warping stuff.</p>
<p>Similarly, <em>to speak</em> usually requires that you practice saying some
words. But you can do useful/normal things like ask everyday life
questions and use language to do work rather than recite potentially
occult incantations "just for fun".</p>
<h2>Filtering</h2>
<p>We live in an age where we are often told <em>more is better</em>. If someone
has read a bunch of Wikipedia, many people will regard this person as
a rather broad-minded, learned person. The acquisition of
<strong>trivia</strong>(l) knowledge is a favorite activity of bar nights, <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
particularly among the self-proclaimed nerd/geek types.</p>
<p>Pride in uselessness—e.g. just <em>reading for the sake of reading</em>
is <em>no bueno</em>. In my own life, I've studied a bunch of languages. Is
that a <em>good</em> thing? If I don't do anything useful with this
knowledge, I'm pretty much just wasting my time—though it could
be worse. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> I don't even tell other people to go study a second
language if they haven't started it, despite having practiced this for
many years. Maybe they have learned something else useful that I don't
know how to do (e.g. how to maintenance on cars).</p>
<p>It is better to <em>filter</em> and guard ourselves against things that are
not good to see/hear/dwell on.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Maybe not anymore due to COVID? I dunno! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Language learning can be a "neutral" activity that can be used
for good; e.g. working out to build a strong body—we can use
the abilities we train for good or evil. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 632020-10-26T00:00:00-07:002020-10-26T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-10-26:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-63.html<p>What is <strong>work</strong>? I consider this as an important question to answer
in order to direct my activities <em>away from being lazy</em>.</p>
<p>To start, there is the most obvious sort of work—physical labor
to achieve some tangible end. For instance, you may have to move some
supplies up a …</p><p>What is <strong>work</strong>? I consider this as an important question to answer
in order to direct my activities <em>away from being lazy</em>.</p>
<p>To start, there is the most obvious sort of work—physical labor
to achieve some tangible end. For instance, you may have to move some
supplies up a mountain or dig a ditch to redirect some water.
Organizing your labor (e.g. using your hands, operating tools) to do
this is an important, universally recognized sort of work.</p>
<p>In the USA, in our present "digital age", many people don't do much of
this sort of work. Particularly if you're living in some urban
apartment, the closest thing you may do to approximate this sort of
job is cleaning your living space or cooking yourself a meal. So what
sort of work is there left for us to do?</p>
<h2>Defining "work"</h2>
<p>In any kind of work, there is some "default" state of things that you
have to exert attention and effort to change. Modern science jargon
might call this <strong>entropy</strong> which biological organisms fight against.
So in the manual labor examples given above, <em>by default</em> there is no
food/supplies at the top of a mountain—through working, we can
make some store of food/supplies at the top of a mountain where these
things would normally not be found. Similarly, normally, the flow of
water would not respect crops planted in some area. By doing work, we
redirect water from where it would go by default such that it flows
where we intend it to go.</p>
<p>Work means applying will, body, and intellect to change how things
are. </p>
<h2>Training as work</h2>
<p>Sometimes, as given in the physical labor examples above, work is
enacting changes on the physical environment. But we probably wouldn't
want to say that "working out/exercising" isn't some kind of work
because activities like that are involving the <em>application of will,
body, and intellect to change how things are</em>. Rather than changing
how water flows in a field, other activities may change how <em>we are</em>
in form, skill, etc.</p>
<p>There is a kind of work that involves <em>learning how stuff is put
together</em>. How to build a bridge, how to analyze the grammar of a
language, how to operate some sort of machinery—these are things
that we don't know by <em>default</em>. It is only through the application of
will, body, and intellect. This may mean forcing ourselves to pay
attention and read some text even if we'd rather go take a nap or eat
a burger; the <em>work</em> is in choosing activity that goes against some
resting state.</p>
<h2>Finding work to do</h2>
<p>During all this COVID stuff, many but not all people have some kind of
job in the sense of <em>role you fulfill for money</em>. Not having some kind
of money-making occupation can be a point of great pain for many
people—when I transitioned to my current day job (web developer)
I endured a period of being NEET (Not Employed in Education or in
Training) for some months—at least on paper/institutionally. In
fact, I was never NEET for too long in the sense that while looking
for jobs and stuff I would work on training my nerd skills and stuff.
So I was "working" in the definition as presented here.</p>
<p>Each of us can look at ourselves and our present situations and ask,
"what is it that needs work?"</p>
<p>Sometimes it will be obvious what needs to be done—e.g. if your
room is really messy such that you can't find things you need, the
work you should probably do is cleaning your room. You will probably
know if you are neglecting to do some physical work on
yourself—e.g. there is some walking/running you ought to do.</p>
<p>In terms of <em>intellectual</em> work, we can take inventory of what we do
and what we don't know and fill in knowledge gaps as is appropriate.
For instance, writing English, I rarely if ever make reference to a
dictionary unless I'm doing something specific like citing the
etymology of a word. Not so with the languages I've studied as second
languages—I know that there is a lot of work for me to do to
make using these languages "comfortable" to use such that using them
ceases to be "work".</p>
<ul>
<li>Can you <em>memorize</em> information you usually look up (e.g. cooking
recipes, some musical piece, a poem, prayers)</li>
<li>Can you extemporaneously provide an explanation for something you
are required to know (e.g. can you pass the "whiteboard interview")</li>
<li>Can you write a book, create a website, or otherwise <em>better</em>
organize information you know?</li>
</ul>Corona Virus Diary, Part 622020-10-24T00:00:00-07:002020-10-24T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-10-24:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-62.html<p>Computers (laptops, desktops) and smartphones are all <strong>tools</strong> which
can potentially be useful to us. Like a chainsaw, however, they can
also be dangerous. Reckless play with these things</p>
<h2>Too fast, too slow</h2>
<p>The computer I'm presently writing from isn't a particularly fast
computer. Using "modern" apps (e.g. web …</p><p>Computers (laptops, desktops) and smartphones are all <strong>tools</strong> which
can potentially be useful to us. Like a chainsaw, however, they can
also be dangerous. Reckless play with these things</p>
<h2>Too fast, too slow</h2>
<p>The computer I'm presently writing from isn't a particularly fast
computer. Using "modern" apps (e.g. web browsers, Discord) I have
crashed this computer many times. But if I stick to dinosaur-style
software usage (e.g. my text editor, browser without many tabs open),
then I'm fine.</p>
<p>However, for getting writing done, this is a very "fast" computer. I
use it as a digital typewriter/publishing machine as well as an
occasional dictionary.</p>
<p>If I were still a student and had a writing homework assignment, I
wouldn't hesitate to hop onto this computer to get stuff done. Trying
to get writing done on a super fast gaming rig with all sorts of fun
games and distracting apps would not be very conducive to hammering
out some prose.</p>
<h2>Identify the task at hand</h2>
<p>Rather than just hanging out with a computer, I've found that it is
helpful to first take a moment or so to <em>remember why I am</em> going on
the computer in the first place. The answer to this question could be
<em>to socialize</em> or <em>to play games</em>—what is important is that <em>you
recognize your intentions with using your tools (computer, phone,
etc.)</em> such that a few hours pass and regret how you spent your time.</p>
<p>With a computer, one can do many things:</p>
<h3>Rest/Play</h3>
<ul>
<li>Chat with friends, maintain networks/communications</li>
<li>Play video games</li>
<li>Experiment with software</li>
<li>Make memes</li>
</ul>
<h3>Work</h3>
<ul>
<li>Study a foreign language</li>
<li>Read/annotate a book</li>
<li>Write programs to get work done</li>
<li>Organize files</li>
<li>Compile research into shareable writings</li>
<li>Do system maintenance</li>
<li>Data entry</li>
<li>Data processing, analysis (e.g. doing something useful with a
spreadsheet)</li>
<li>Keeping a log/diary</li>
</ul>
<p>As you can see, there are many things you can do with a computer that
would likely be more difficult to do with only a pen/paper. Especially
when it comes to sharing the work you have done, digital information
technology is very useful.</p>
<h2>Distractions</h2>
<p>Computers <em>should not</em> be used as a distraction/coping mechanism. Are
you logging on the computer <em>to distract yourself from doing XYZ
chores?</em> It may be time to shut up, get up, and do the work that is in
front of you rather than <strong>derping</strong> around on the Internet.</p>
<p>Similarly, if you are getting caught up in some Internet
argument—you can ask yourself—"to what end am I doing
this?" If the answer to this question is to <em>stroke your ego (by
showing the world how smart you are)</em>, or to make somebody feel bad...
...well you should probably go do something else.</p>
<h2>Not a "Luddite"</h2>
<p>I'm not an advocate of just trashing all the technology and returning
to being a "caveman". However, I also think that we shouldn't
uncritically embrace new technology as "progress". </p>
<p>We're all living in a particular time and place—it is up to each
of us to choose to use what we've been given wisely.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 612020-10-23T00:00:00-07:002020-10-23T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-10-23:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-61.html<p><strong>Idle talk</strong> is to be avoided; <strong>deceptive talk</strong> (lying) is
prohibited. Having been writing blogs of rather informal character for
a while, it would not be challenging for me to just "post something"
everyday—to practice of "producing content" for the sake of
content amounts to deciding on some schedule …</p><p><strong>Idle talk</strong> is to be avoided; <strong>deceptive talk</strong> (lying) is
prohibited. Having been writing blogs of rather informal character for
a while, it would not be challenging for me to just "post something"
everyday—to practice of "producing content" for the sake of
content amounts to deciding on some schedule. Then, from that
schedule, there are endless things to talk about, particularly if you
are topically driven.</p>
<p>Let me give an example—suppose I started to write frequently on
the topic of Spanish (or some other foreign language). I could
document interesting new words I come across and provide short
summaries of more extensive research I do into etymologies and all
that.</p>
<p>This sort of blog is a kind of technical <em>log</em> (<code>blog = web + log</code>)
and diary combination. It is a diary because it is written
<em>diariamente</em>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> The driver for the content of this type of diary
is some <strong>work</strong> outside the log itself (e.g. typesetting some book,
learning about some topic in order to do something). Words follow to
be a useful reference of some time whether that is to review later to
observe how progress has or has not been made or to refer to useful
documented information—I might reproduce a tasty recipe in a
blog, for instance.</p>
<p>Through an activity driven blog, you can make explicit <em>what</em> you do
and (optionally) publish it for others to see if they so choose.</p>
<p>Such a blog isn't just a collection of info, but provides
documentation of a journey. For example, in my experience learning
languages, I've found out lots of stuff that <em>didn't work</em>. I've spent
time doing silly things like <em>learning alternative keyboard layouts</em>.
A log of such foolishness can potentially be helpful for someone who
seeks to follow a similar path—I'm not trying to sell you
products or anything and I don't claim "originality" to these ideas.</p>
<p>A technical blog on programing, wood working, etc. can similarly be
informative. Actively working through problems and then posting
insights into what sorts of design patterns have(n't) worked, whether
the "next big thing" is just an old idea re-hashed, info on
tools/hardware... ...all this sort of information can be useful to
have and if you are looking at it anyways, I think writing a blog can
be a good way to serve others by providing non-nonsense takes on
things. However, it is <em>essential that you work</em> and not just write
about stuff, because tools are tools and knowing the effectiveness of
tools means you have to use them to do work.</p>
<h2>Regarding Political Content</h2>
<p>What is the <em>work</em> that goes into a political blog? To <em>aggregate</em> and
<em>analyze</em> lots of information is an involved thing—to do this
well, you can't just take news sites' word on "face value". You must
famliarize yourself with the actors/parties involved, who is paying
who, and so on and so forth. One might say, you have to become a
"<strong>conspiracy theorist</strong>".</p>
<p>To think that most of news media is just a personal, technical log of
events like the kind of (work) blogs I describe above is
naivety—one musn't be lazy/idle!</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Spanish for "daily" <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 602020-10-06T00:00:00-07:002020-10-06T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-10-06:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-60.html<p>Thus far, I've categorized these blog posts as "news"—initially
I was doing more talk about politics this and that and stuff going on
in the (USA/national) news. Then, this blog has turned to more
narration and reflection mixed in with notes on stuff I've been trying
and learning …</p><p>Thus far, I've categorized these blog posts as "news"—initially
I was doing more talk about politics this and that and stuff going on
in the (USA/national) news. Then, this blog has turned to more
narration and reflection mixed in with notes on stuff I've been trying
and learning. This blog has thus become a kind of diary/log (as the
title suggests) of my experience since around half a year ago when
"the normal routine" was shut down across the world, probably
beginning somewhere around Wuhan China. <sup id="fnref:0"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:0">1</a></sup></p>
<p>I haven't written for some time—I don't want to write to just
contribute some <em>noise</em> to the world. As evidenced by the fact that
I'm not using Medium<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">2</a></sup> or some other more easily "social" blog/article
writing place you can see that the aim of this blog isn't to be
<em>popular</em>.</p>
<p>What I hope this blog to be is <strong>edifying</strong>. For me, it is a useful
tool to gather and present my thoughts on the things that are going on
around me and <em>keep me accountable for the choices I make to write my
life story</em>. So, this blog is a kind of system of <strong>accountability</strong>
for me. Am I causing needless trouble? Engaging in idle or vain talk?
The goal is that the answer to these questions is <em>"no!"</em></p>
<p>I encourage you to <em>stop</em> reading this and do what you need to do if
you aren't finding the words written here useful to you. My goal is to
<em>not waste your time</em> but to help you use it better, sharing my
experiences so you can avoid mistakes I've made.</p>
<h2>Grammar, Memory, Work</h2>
<p>I've been starting to do in-depth study of a few European languages.
Firstly, I'm studying Russian now, which involves learning a lot of
new grammar (e.g. memorizing noun declensions) and unfamiliar
vocabulary. I've learned the basic pronunciation of (modern) Greek to
be able to say and remember Greek words as I encounter them and I've
started to learn Latin as a way to understand the <strong>language arts</strong>
more broadly. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">3</a></sup></p>
<p>I think that language study broadly fits under the category of
"wholesome activities"—activities that are good (or at least not
harmful) to the soul. So while not working on something I have to take
care of (e.g. day job to make enough money to live off of, logistics),
I'm trying to make good use of my time.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/index.html">Language and
Linguistics</a>
website continues to be slowly built up.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:0">
<p>That is, the Coronavirus thing now called COVID-19 <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:0" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>A website especially popular among tech industry people <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>The study of Latin has a long history and knowing Latin
grammar/vocabulary opens up more doors to learn classic rhetoric,
poetry, and more. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 592020-09-23T00:00:00-07:002020-09-23T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-09-23:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-59.html<p>There is <strong>theory</strong>, which can be understood as a (intellectual) model
of <em>how something works</em>, and then there is <strong>practice</strong> in which
theory can be applied to get results. Another word for practice is
<strong>work</strong>, in the case that the thing being practiced is applied
towards some end with effects …</p><p>There is <strong>theory</strong>, which can be understood as a (intellectual) model
of <em>how something works</em>, and then there is <strong>practice</strong> in which
theory can be applied to get results. Another word for practice is
<strong>work</strong>, in the case that the thing being practiced is applied
towards some end with effects in the real world—e.g. you can
<em>practice</em> baking pizzas through your <em>work</em> of making pizzas to
please customers.</p>
<h1>The Nerd's Folly</h1>
<p>The nerd has <em>theory</em> but fails in <em>practice</em>. For instance, a nerd
may have lots of knowledge about health/fitness things in the sense of
<em>textbook learning</em>. Failure to apply this knowledge in practice gives
this person the appearance of a <em>hypocrite</em>—if they are soooooo
smart, then why can they not apply their theory for results?</p>
<p>Babbling on about theory before confirming it experientially by
putting it into practice can be very bad because it can <em>turn people
away from good theory</em> as they look first at the character and results
its proponents put forth.</p>
<p>Nerds ought to inspect themselves and be humble. If they're smarter
than everyone about XYZ software, can they direct a software project
to produce something better than the existing solutions? Many people
<em>can</em> and <em>do</em> quietly labor in this way, doing quality work <em>not
through first announcing their theory</em> but by gradually refining their
methods through tireless toil.</p>
<h1>Working Knowledge</h1>
<p>Knowledge should be useful for some kind of <em>work</em>; that which isn't
can be called "idle", "speculative", etc. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Work can be done on lots of things. There is work on developing
<em>ourselves</em>. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> Also, there is work on the external world for the
purpose of making money, getting food, moving from place to place,
etc.</p>
<p>When theory is in excess or in error, bad theory should be refuted and
discarded and good theory should be retained and put to practice. More
theory (not necessarily <em>new theory</em> <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>) should be sought out when
the the current theoretical resources are insufficient to accomplish
the work at hand.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Speculative need not be bad—there are times when we have
to think of different possibilities of how something might be done
(or how something may have come), and then we make judgements or
decisions regarding these possibilies <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>How a person will interpret this statement will depend on how
you interpret a person—e.g. does a person consist of
mind/body/spirit? <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>You might only know a certain amount of theory, e.g. a handful
of grammatical constructions in a foreign language, but know these
things well. Learning often consists of learning <em>more</em> theory of
that which is already known, rather than doing something like...
making a constructed language and coming up with a <em>new</em> theory. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 582020-09-18T00:00:00-07:002020-09-18T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-09-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-58.html<p>Among other projects, one activity I've been spending more time on
since all the COVID-19 stuff got rolling is ramping up the intensity
of my foreign language studying. In this post, I am going to explicate
why I currently find studying European languages (mainly focusing on
Russian, some French/Spanish …</p><p>Among other projects, one activity I've been spending more time on
since all the COVID-19 stuff got rolling is ramping up the intensity
of my foreign language studying. In this post, I am going to explicate
why I currently find studying European languages (mainly focusing on
Russian, some French/Spanish, a tad bit of German) more worth my time
than making progress studying the East Asian languages, which I've
already spent years studying.</p>
<p>In summary, I am finding that by studying the European languages, I
gain access to much <em>richer</em> materials—much of the content
you'll find in the East Asian languages (especially online) is
derivative of thinking better developed and articulated in Europe. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
Thus, since I'm not living in East Asia, there's very little practical
value to get from studying these languages. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>As I'm not drawn to stuff like... Tang dynasty poetry or exploring
Buddhism more, it doesn't really make sense for me to invest time in
developing skills in the E. Asian languages beyond having
conversational (and maybe blogging) skill. Read all the way through
this article for some practical take-aways.</p>
<h2>Modern Languages</h2>
<p>There used to be something that was fairly common in some circles
called "Classical education". People would learn how to read Greek and
Latin and would learn about the associated civilizations with these
languages.</p>
<p>I haven't looked in depth into the history, but I think starting
especially around the late 19th century, there were big shifts in the
Western world towards studying modern languages. For many, that meant
French which was serving as the "language of diplomacy" as well as
being the language many writers, scientists, and other eminent
intellectuals used.</p>
<p>Now, Modern Languages are often <em>the only</em> languages young students
have available to study in classes. It seems like we have lots of
spicy choices—a large university may offer courses in languages
like Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Arabic or even Quechua (an indigenous
American language). <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>Now, what is the utility of studying modern languages? And, why are
anglophones so notoriously not interested in it?</p>
<p>In short, the Anglophone overlords (e.g. some really bad brits, some
Americans with a lot of money and industry) have pushed the culture of
their societies everywhere. <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup> As with US dollars, English is used and
recognized nearly everywhere in the "belly of the beast" and where its
tentacles touch around the globe. The <strong>soft power</strong> of the Anglophone
world (esp. its American manifestations through things like Hollywood
and now the big tech companies like Google, Facebook, ...Netflix)</p>
<p>Occasionally, you'll get a nerd—like myself—who gets the
idea in their head, "well, I'm of Chinese ethnicity so I might as well
follow through and learn Chinese". Rather than finding my "rich
cultural heritage", I instead find a very shallow, low-brow accessible
culture and then <em>geopolitics</em>. There is some fun and uniqueness to
studying any language, e.g. the sounds of those languages. But in
terms of the <em>content</em> available in many languages—well
sometimes it appears to be <em>feds all the way down</em>. <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">5</a></sup></p>
<h2>A Musical Comparison</h2>
<p>By in large, Asian pop music just copies already existing Western
genres. You can find skillfully executed vocals in Korean R&B, but it
is still basically just the American engineered R&B.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you will find that in "classical music", you see
many different forms of music that don't follow the 3-7 minute
able-to-be-played-on-the-radio (with commercial breaks) format that
characterizes much of popular music today.</p>
<p>The study of modern languages is often like hearing <em>the same 4 chords
mashed over and over again</em> with a different language over it. That's
why it is so easy for people to do stuff like... cover Disney songs in
a whole bunch of different languages. Many modern languages can be thought
of as the "disneyfication" of languages. While there may be some
different in garment and skin color, if the semantics are just the
same voices talking, what new utility does a language offer?</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>If you're going to study foreign languages, don't just be a dummy like
me and study a whole bunch of languages all expressing the same sorts
of things/ideas. This is okay to do if you have people around you with
whom it will be useful to use these languages (e.g. learning Hungarian
because you have a Hungarian co-worker spend many hours with). Rather,
study different languages with <em>purpose</em>—have something you need
to use those languages for. Then, motivation to study will come
naturally. Here's some examples from my experience of how different
modern languages I study can be useful,</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Spanish</strong> is often used in California and can be used to read
non-Anglophone perspectives on things from primary sources</li>
<li><strong>French/German</strong> can be used to explore the thought of people from
centuries past; this is a very inexpensive hobby as many materials
are available on public domain (e.g. through Project Gutenberg)</li>
<li><strong>Chinese</strong> can be used to study how the New World Order is being
rolled out in a different land—you can "jump the language
barrier great firewall" <sup id="fnref2:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></li>
</ul>
<p>What is even better, though, is to study some <em>content</em> first (or try
to <em>do</em> something, e.g. make friends with the people speaking a
different language at the local bakery), and then let your language
learning follow. I would say for lots of "cultural enrichment", you
don't even need to study a foreign language.</p>
<p>You'll learn more from studying Shakespeare in depth than from
studying 2 years of Japanese. This is because you'll spend so much
time just fixated on forms (of characters, of the sound of the
language) studying Japanese, you won't be able to read anything
interesting at all.</p>
<p>Remember: the wise monolingual speaker—or someone using a second
language in accented/broken speech—is much more edifying to
speak with than some clown who speaks seven languages with fluency.
Clickbait YouTube has countless examples of people showing off how
they can show off; does parroting some local flavor <em>teach</em> you
anything?</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Indeed, much of the reason why we have
"Chinese"/"Japanese"/"Korean" to study at all is because these up
and coming nation states in the 20th century sought to emulate the
European powers by creating standardized languages <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>This would not be the case for you if I hade a spouse,
neighbors, co-workers etc. who were more comfortable using one of
these languages; this isn't the case now, though. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Go to <a href="http://bilibili.com">bilibili.com</a>, China's weeb central
site, to see how the Chinese nerd youth are being cultured <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a><a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref2:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>So-called "neoliberals" and "neoconservatives" impose the
primarily Anglo debt driven illusion of liberty around the globe <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>In case you didn't catch it, making an allusion to the phrase
"turtles all the way down". Regarding feds, this is to say that
intelligence agencies would like to broadcast their messages in
many different languages through many different channels, whether
directly or indirectly. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 572020-09-13T00:00:00-07:002020-09-13T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-09-13:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-57.html<p>In this post, I'll describe a phenomenon I'll call the <strong>xenophilic
paradox</strong>. This idea is this: people that are very interested in
foreign cultures often dislike or feel alienated from the place they
themselves are from—while wishing that people of the cultures
they admire do not become more cosmpolitan …</p><p>In this post, I'll describe a phenomenon I'll call the <strong>xenophilic
paradox</strong>. This idea is this: people that are very interested in
foreign cultures often dislike or feel alienated from the place they
themselves are from—while wishing that people of the cultures
they admire do not become more cosmpolitan, they themselves contribute
to making these cultures more in their likeness.</p>
<p>For instance, you may get a linguist who is studying some
population XYZ. The linguist is most interested in talking to
monolingual speakers of XYZ and wishes to learn and understand the
culture of XYZ. However, the linguist is a foreign agent who
necessarily introduces foreign thinking/concepts/etc. upon contact.</p>
<h1>The Weeb</h1>
<p>In the West, there are lot of people that have at least a superficial
interest in places/cultures that they themselves are not ethnically
connected with. For example, there are the <strong>weebs</strong> who fawn after
all things Japanese. Weebs cringe at each other and the Japanese
cringe at weebs. But many people continue down weebdom as a path of
escapism from their issues they refuse to confront.</p>
<p>There is a phenomenon called the <em>itasha</em> or "painful to look at car".
Do a quick image search and you will see many examples of cars
plastered with anime stuff. Why would such a thing exist?</p>
<p>The illustrator exercises control over the canvas they
control—they can establish homogeneity of style, good
composition, consistency with some standards (e.g. <em>how some character
is supposed to look</em>).</p>
<p>The weeb seeks a perfect little ordered world—even if
fictional—which illustrators can depict. Rather than meeting the
people around them, the weeb turns to some 2D ideals.</p>
<ul>
<li>They watch Naruto train instead of training themselves</li>
<li>They drool over cooking mangas while not doing the dishes in their
own living spaces</li>
<li>They spend thousands of dollars on games, merchandise, etc. and fail
to invest in their own futures—the prototypical <strong>consoomer</strong></li>
<li>They nostalgia LARP a childhood they never had (e.g. Japanese high
school drama stuff)</li>
</ul>
<p>Oftentimes, the weeb is self-loathing. So why does the weeb keep on
weebing?</p>
<p>To become a weeb is easy. All you do is choose escapism over work and
let your own psychology drive you deeper and deeper into obscure places.
For some, this may be spending hours creating lewd drawings for very
specific audiences. For others, this may be becoming insufferably
boring to talk to because of having a compulsive desire to share
details about a pantheon of 2D characters to any even slightly polite
ear.</p>
<p>The weeb is able to find some beauty in the things of Japan,</p>
<ul>
<li>fine craftsmanship</li>
<li>appreciation of the natural world</li>
<li>law and order</li>
<li>ethnicity</li>
<li>arts/music celebrating simple, good things</li>
</ul>
<p><em>If only we could be like (idealized) Japan?!</em>, they wonder. Then,
they go to the voting booth and choose all the things that make them
disgusted by their own nations.</p>
<h1>Redemption of the Weeb</h1>
<p>The weeb chooses <strong>false idols</strong>—fictions made up by
men—to place first and serve. Weebness may manifest in having
shelves covered with anime figuirines, meticulously cared for,
cleaned, etc. Computers may be configured all around the <em>experience</em>
of some fictional entity.</p>
<p>Redemption of the weeb takes the same form as someone who worships
money, career/prestige, fame, etc.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 562020-09-09T00:00:00-07:002020-09-09T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-09-09:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-56.html<p>In the city I grew up in, there were many unfamiliar symbols all
around me. Though I am of Chinese heritage, I did not learn Chinese
until I decided to do so myself as an "adult learner". So, returning to
places I spent time in as I grew up living …</p><p>In the city I grew up in, there were many unfamiliar symbols all
around me. Though I am of Chinese heritage, I did not learn Chinese
until I decided to do so myself as an "adult learner". So, returning to
places I spent time in as I grew up living with my parents, my
surroundings have become <em>literally</em> more readable to me now.</p>
<p>There is often a fairly big "barrier to entry" to learn how to read
some new script. Particularly in the case of languages like Chinese or
Japanese, you have to learn to recognize unfamilar forms and associate
those forms with unfamiliar sounds. Once you pass the initial barrier
of getting started, however, you open up the floodgates to learn a
whole lot very quickly.</p>
<h2>Living in a bilingual dictionary</h2>
<p>I don't spend very much time at all actively studying Spanish.
However, just by living in California and taking the time to try to
decipher bits and pieces of written Spanish (materials/signs/etc. are
often translated), I feel pretty comfortable in (formal) Spanish.</p>
<p>Other parts of the world have different sets of languages. In East
Asia, it is easy to study at once Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
because in major cities where tourists are likely to be you will often
see information presented in all three of these languages plus
English.</p>
<p>If you learn the basics of reading some other script and also know how
to look up unfamiliar words (whether on your phone or using paper
resources), you can quickly learn lots of vocabulary with very little
effort.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>시작이 반 이다.<br>
Starting is half the battle</p>
</blockquote>
<h3>An anecdote</h3>
<p>Let me share with you how I began learning Korean. Growing up through
grade school, I had many classmates of Korean ethnicity. One day, I
got bored in class, so I asked a classmate to show me how the Korean
writing system worked.</p>
<p>I got very interested because I liked how Korean sounded and looked
and found Korean people pretty interesting too (they acted with
<em>intensity</em>). Stashed away somewhere, I probably still have some of
the scraps of paper I used in those days I first started studying
Korean.</p>
<p>Now, in 2020, lots of "Korean" content is popular globally. I would
like to say that I started learning Korean "before it was cool". I
don't actually really care much for current Korean music, movies, etc.
(if I consoomed anything, it would be from decades past; 아저씨 처럼
나 옛날을 기억해).</p>
<p>Learning to read and speak some Korean fairly early on in my life has
enabled me to not over-romanticize or chase Korean things <em>just
because they are foreign</em>; Korean stuff in fact feels more familiar to
me than weird stuff like the American Top 40 chart.</p>
<h2>Code Switching</h2>
<p>Linguists have this term "<strong>code switching</strong>" for when people drop in
words/phrases/etc. in another language. For example, I might say,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yesterday's test was <em>no bueno</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A bird pooped on my head. Am I angry? <em>C'est la vie.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>This too is a means by which people can become familar with lots of
foreign language stuff.</p>
<p>As much as it pains me to say, there are many weebs on the Internet
who are familiar with a fairly large number of Japanese words and
phrases from anime. From <em>sensei</em> to <em>senpai</em>, meme shitposting
netizens all over the globe are making Japanese a kind of <em>lingua
franca</em> of Internet weebdom.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>おまえはもう死んでいる<br>
Omae wa mou shinde iru. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The multilingual blog</h2>
<p>Overall, I think that is a good idea to <em>preserve standard orthography
when possible</em> as well as provide any <em>helpful information for
reading/interpreting foreign language words and phrases</em>. That is why
for all the alphabet languages (including Korean) in this post I have
just used standard orthography. Anyone that cares enough about the
specifics to learn Korean can easily look stuff up.</p>
<p>For languages like Chinese and Japanese where you can't learn the
script so easily, it is helpful to have some kind of phonetic gloss.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你看得懂没有?<br>
Nǐ kàn-de-dǒng méiyǒu?<br>
Can you understand what you are reading?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can type all sorts of languages without setting up anything fancy
on your computer using <a href="https://www.google.com/inputtools/try/">Google Input
Tools</a>.</p>
<p>I think this way of doing things is preferable over trying to invent
ad-hoc Romanization systems (or even using established, but not widely
known systems) <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. There can be lots of confusion over different
transliterations, so presenting some foreign language stuff <em>only in
transliteration</em> can lead to potential corruption of meaning/intent.</p>
<p>On the other hand, preserving standard orthography means that it will
be easy for people that do want to find out more to find out more to
do so. If you're feeling generous, providing helpful information to
language learners is a considerate to thing too! <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<h2>Challenge for English speaking natives</h2>
<p>If you haven't done so already, it probably won't take long to learn
the basics of reading French and German words. Here's two strategies
you can learn to do this:</p>
<ul>
<li>Learn the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); this isn't an
obscure thing—it is used all over Wikipedia, for instance, to
describe how to pronounce names of things</li>
<li>Watch some introductory YouTube videos reading words in French/German</li>
</ul>
<p>I have never met anyone who has learned these things and thought it
was a waste of time.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>An example of this would be the Yale Romanization system for
Korean, which I've used in at least a couple of my pages. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Marking accent marks for Russia, providing standard Pinyin
transcriptions for Chinese <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 552020-09-08T00:00:00-07:002020-09-08T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-09-08:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-55.html<p>We can define <strong>positive thinking</strong> as actively directing one's
attention towards some goal (e.g. striving for that which is
beautiful). Positive thinking can be contrasted with <strong>reactionary
thinking</strong>— simply <em>responding</em> to bad news rather than actively
working <em>towards</em> something.</p>
<h2>Language Learning</h2>
<p>Allow me to provide an example from language …</p><p>We can define <strong>positive thinking</strong> as actively directing one's
attention towards some goal (e.g. striving for that which is
beautiful). Positive thinking can be contrasted with <strong>reactionary
thinking</strong>— simply <em>responding</em> to bad news rather than actively
working <em>towards</em> something.</p>
<h2>Language Learning</h2>
<p>Allow me to provide an example from language learning, a topic of at
least a few posts here. Now, the goal of most language learners of
modern languages is to gain communicational competence and hopefully
"sound native" in some target language.</p>
<p>The positive thinking learner focues on <em>what being a speaker of that
target language</em> is. The most obvious way to do this is to <em>observe
the language being used</em>. Real life face-to-face conversations are
best for learning conversation, of course, but videos, podcasts, and
other forms of media are pretty good too—and often more
convenient when native speakers are readily available on a day-to-day
basis.</p>
<p>Positive thinking involves getting an increasingly clear idea of what
"using XYZ" language is. A person that does not speak Icelandic could
not give you examples of what Icelandic language usage is like because
they don't speak Icelandic.</p>
<p>What would negative thinking look like with respect to language
learning? Being focused on <em>finding one's errors</em> and then coming up
with rules and explanations for why such and such is wrong would be
one way to see this.<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Some rather fatalistic viewpoints have been advanced in linguistics.
One such idea is the "critical period"—there is a certain time
window (usu. ends around age 13 or so) before which a person must
learn a language, or else they will never learn that language
"natively". This is probably true in many respects, particularly if we
involve discussion of trauma and abuse.</p>
<p>However, to tell a 16 year old high student that their Spanish <em>will
never be "native"</em> is simply demoralizing and (I think) just plain
false. Resigning to the fact that language learning will be a futile
struggle and that achieving native-like command is impossible is a
recipe to lose sight of a very reachable goal—visiting YouTube
you can find all sorts of very successful second language learners for
any major language.</p>
<h2>Computer Stuff</h2>
<p>Positive thinking is important to empower computer users as well. You
may have met someone who had simply decided, "I'm not a computer
person" or "I don't do technology". <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> This is a kind of
self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>
<p>While I don't expect everybody to be willing or able to troubleshoot
any computer problem that comes their way (and hence why I don't do
any "UNIX evangelism"), I do think certain workflows are accessible to
anyone who is capable of doing things like writing a short essay or
driving a car. It is not conceptually difficult to understand what it
means to,</p>
<ul>
<li>Send and recieve emails or messages on some chat service</li>
<li>Use some sort of calendar (e.g. Google calendar)</li>
<li>Do basic word processing/writing (e.g. through MS word, or some
boomer program like emacs)</li>
<li>Organize files into folders</li>
</ul>
<p>Having positive (projects) such as,</p>
<ul>
<li>Keeping a daily diary</li>
<li>Maintaining regular corresponce with some people/groups</li>
<li>Organizing a digital library</li>
</ul>
<p>...will inform you on the skills you need to develop.</p>
<p>Solutions often don't need to be complicated. There are professional
programers whose computers are total messes outside of their
programing projects; clearly these people know how to deal with
complexity in some one domain, but they don't readily apply tools they
already know how to use to other more accessible domains. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>In linguistics, finding "ungrammatical" sentences uses this
approach. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>If you have principled reasons for not using computers, Internet
tech, smartphones, etc., I tip my (virtual) fedora to you. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>For examples of "reformed nerds" you can find many examples of
engineering types deciding to apply their skills to stuff like
training as athletes later in their lives when they accept they
need to work on their physical health. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 542020-09-05T00:00:00-07:002020-09-05T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-09-05:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-54.html<p>During these locked-down times, I've been given the opportunity to
work on studying foreign languages again, which is good fun. Here I
share some additional tips, tricks, and insights which have been
helpful to me. Eventually, I plan to integrate this content into my <a
href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/learning.html">language
learning</a> page which has additional …</p><p>During these locked-down times, I've been given the opportunity to
work on studying foreign languages again, which is good fun. Here I
share some additional tips, tricks, and insights which have been
helpful to me. Eventually, I plan to integrate this content into my <a
href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/learning.html">language
learning</a> page which has additional information on this topic.</p>
<p>While I specifically discuss learning foreign languages here, I think
the topics dicussed here are sufficiently general that they could be
applied to all sorts of learned skills (e.g. computer programing,
playing piano, making bookshelves).</p>
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p><strong>Practice</strong> is refining movements. <strong>Study</strong> is becoming familiar
with models that are useful for practice (theory). When we are able to
do something or understand something we were not able to before, we
say we are <strong>learning</strong> something. Through study and practice, we
learn. <sup id="fnref:0"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:0">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Once you recognize a pattern (e.g. word, grammatical construction) you
can refine your movements. Learning the spelling and morphological
breakdown of a word, or a sentence structure can be called "studying"
in that you are learning the "theory" of how a language is put
together.</p>
<p>Once you understand what you are looking at, you can become familiar
with the specifics of how/when that form is used and refine your
movements reproducing that thing (whether through speaking, typing on
a keyboard, etc.).</p>
<p>Amorphous blobs are impenetrable; they must be broken up ("analyzed").
When approaching something new, there may be overwhelming complexity.
Learning how to break down a very complex thing into smaller,
learnable pieces is how we acquire proficiency in using larger more
complex systems.</p>
<h2>Language learning, early stages</h2>
<p>When approaching a new foreign language for the first time, you are
approaching the aforementioned amorphous blob. You don't know where
word boundaries are, when you do recognize words you cannot tell how
they are related to surrounding words, etc.</p>
<h3>Don't forget your theory</h3>
<p>To start, you need some <em>theory</em>.</p>
<p>Learning by immersion often involves a patient native speaker (or a
computer program) giving you small, digestible pieces of information.
For example, you may learn how to name many of the things around you:
<em>tree</em>, <em>bench</em>, <em>COVID-19</em> (just kidding, but maybe not really).</p>
<p>Likewise, you can take a much more Western, direct approach and grab a
bound dead tree (book) and get an idea of what you're looking for. You
could watch YouTube or something like that as well, but you might have
to sift through a lot more noise before getting what you're looking
for.</p>
<p>Once you have something to look for (e.g. recognizing some top 100
words), you are already to start practicing. Typically in classrooms,
you will be drilled on producing/understanding basic sentences for a
while. This can be a decent approach if you get to use these sentences
in some memorable situations.</p>
<h3>Media dumpster dive</h3>
<p>In the age of the Internet, you may get faster results using other
techniques. No matter what you do, focus on one thing at a time during
these early stages: e.g. grab a long video (2 hours) and just listen
for all the cognates that you can recognize. When you recognize a
word, repeat it to yourself so you can become familiar with the sound
of your target language.</p>
<p><em>Focus</em> is key. This is why you <em>shouldn't watch anime with subtitles</em>
(you can find plenty of weebs who do this and know almost no
Japanese). What happens is that instead of focusing on the form of
Japanese, people lose focus and just read the subs. This is <em>no
bueno</em>. If you MUST be a devout weeb, first watch with subtitles for
the meanings, then rewatch the video you're looking
at—understanding what you're watching having already read the
subs—and listen to the language.</p>
<h3>Memorize just enough, not too much</h3>
<p>When learning a new word <em>make sure to learn at least some of the
relevant information for using it correctly in context</em>. For instance
in learning a European language like Spanish or German, you will have
to deal with grammatical gender. Do memorize the grammatical gender of
a word when you learn a new word. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">2</a></sup></p>
<p>It is a good idea to <em>integrate your knowledge</em> of lots of separate
things. For the East Asian languages, you may want to pay attention to
other words you know that share Chinese characters the word you are
learning. For instance, there is 내일 <em>nay-il</em> 'tomorrow' and 일요일
<em>il-yo-il</em> 'Sunday' which share 일 <em>il</em> meaning 'Sun'. One could*
learn an East Asian language on sound only, but knowing the associated
Chinese characters makes acquiring more vocabulary much easier.</p>
<p>You can likewise integrate your knowledge <em>across</em> languages for
related languages. For example, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean share a
lot of vocabulary—much of which is the product of Japan first
modernizing during the <em>Meiji</em> era and making up all sorts of new
words for Western imports. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">3</a></sup> Likewise, learning French or German
would probably be a pretty easy choice for a new foreign language for
a native English speaker. There are many similaries in grammar and
sound between English and German and French vocabulary is almost
<em>given</em> to the English speaker.</p>
<p>What you don't want to do, however, is get <em>too caught up on details</em>
such that you fail to do more important practice. The scarce resources
you are working with are <em>time</em> and <em>attention</em>. One mistake I made
when starting to learn Chinese/Japanese/Korean was to get too focused
on the writing system and lagging behind in my listening and speaking
skills. I didn't have this problem with Spanish because I would listen
to Spanish language radio while driving in my car.</p>
<h2>Beyond beginner level</h2>
<p>At a certain point, you will get pretty comfortable with most of the
grammar of a target foreign language. From this point on, the new
challenge is to expand your knowledge of vocabulary, learn idioms, and
other language-specific things.</p>
<p>With the basics in place, you can begin using your target language(s)
to further learn your target language—learn in the same way that
native speakers deepen their command of their own tongues.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:0">
<p>This does not employ an "equality" of study and practice; there
are people that do more study, people that do more practice, etc.
Which you do more of depends on what your goals are. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:0" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>For some languages, you can most often tell the gender of a noun
by the form of the word, but this is not always the case. For
instance in Spanish, words that end in <em>-o</em> are usually masculine,
but you have <em>las manos</em>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>A linguist might quibble with you and say "Chinese, Japanese,
and Korean are not related" with some reference to syntax,
morphology, or something. Maybe, I dunno. But they share a lot of
vocabulary and that is good enough for me. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 532020-08-25T00:00:00-07:002020-08-25T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-08-25:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-53.html<p>It has been a while since I've checked tech news, so I visited <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/">Hacker
News</a> this morning to see what's going
on the minds of the computer nerds. I looked over one article going
over how Amazon's Kindle devices collect a "surprisingly large amoung
of data". Various other articles concerned …</p><p>It has been a while since I've checked tech news, so I visited <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/">Hacker
News</a> this morning to see what's going
on the minds of the computer nerds. I looked over one article going
over how Amazon's Kindle devices collect a "surprisingly large amoung
of data". Various other articles concerned details of various
technologies that wouldn't be of interest to general audiences.
Hacker News is associated with venture capital stuff, so there were a
handful of articles related to funding/finance.</p>
<h2>People of the Bubble</h2>
<p>For many nerds, life goes on pretty much as normal during covid <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>.
Sure, you might have to wear a mask, but many nerds would probably
have preferred to hide behind a mask anyways, so now they can
simultaneous <em>virtue signal</em> and conceal their smirks of disdain at
all the "idiots" around them acting less straight-laced than themselves.</p>
<p>Going around town, I can see that many people are doing their best
to cooperate with authorities and do a good, honest job wherever they
are. Every interaction I have had with store employees has been
pleasant; no troubles. </p>
<p>From inside my bubble, things like OK logistically. The stock market
has had just... ridiculous prices. I haven heard anyone talk about
bitcoin being a bubble recently, lol.</p>
<h2>Bubble Bursting</h2>
<p>What I am describing are relatively peaceful parts of a relatively
nice part of California; other cities (e.g. Portland, New York
City...) are recieving a lot more... action.</p>
<p>I am assuming most people around me are employed in some way or
otherwise have the resources to not face fear of eviction. Major
employers in my vicinity include various government agencies and
hospitals. In other words, I am surrounded by very institutionally
embedded people as well as "normal" businesses like restaurants, gas
stations, laundromats, and the like.</p>
<p>Poking around the Internets, I know that many people <em>are not doing
well at all</em>. Probably lots of the people I'm connected with on social
media aren't going out so much—the relatively pleasant
interactions I've had with people outside represent,</p>
<ul>
<li>Go-getters trying to improve themselves (e.g. seeing people while
exercising outside)</li>
<li>People with jobs (and thus taking care of at least some things
financially)</li>
<li>People that <em>want</em> to interact with the outside world</li>
</ul>
<h2>Predictions</h2>
<p>I don't think that we're going to see a "return to normal" anytime
soon in the sense that over the next few months we're going to see
lots of lasting changes. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup> Many dystopian trends we're seeing in
the USA have been here for... a long time. one might say they are
baked into the foundations of this nation. With changes in technology
and the expansion of the Internet into more and more places I think we
can expect,</p>
<ul>
<li>More surveillance, everywhere. The more things that are hooked up to
smart phones and/or the Internet, the more data we will generate</li>
<li>Further consolidation of power for financial/technochratic elites.
These people <em>are not independent of government</em> (so don't try some
lame "muh free markets!" argument) <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup></li>
<li>Further erosion of constitutional rights (e.g. right to assemble,
right to bear arms) <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">5</a></sup></li>
<li>Many people will be trapped out alone, isolated—consider for
example recent college graduates who have maintained employment in a
new city; they may opt to continue living in that new city despite
the remnants social life continuing to waste away</li>
<li>Drawn out indecisiveness; most people don't want to get in trouble
breaking the law and the current way stuff is laid out, it is
difficult to move fast.</li>
</ul>
<p>I made <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-6.html">some
predictions</a>
about covid stuff back in May of this year). Overall my predictions
moving forward are more grim, but not in contradition with those made
earlier.</p>
<p>Some more predictions for the coming months,</p>
<ul>
<li>America as a whole will continue to drift "blue"/Democrat;
Californians will leave California and bring their politics where
they go.</li>
<li>If Trump wins, he may be our last Republican president for a long
time (or ever); we can expect massive media
outrage/scandal/rioting/etc if Trump wins</li>
<li>If Biden wins, I expect to see a short-term "return to prosperity".
This might mean covid mysteriously "ending" or some vaccine being
rolled out. What will follow is increased socialism, surveillance,
and everything inbetween—basically leading the USA towards a
totalitarian secular state. <sup id="fnref:6"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:6">6</a></sup></li>
<li>We will see more rioting in US cities</li>
<li>We may see the formation of new police-like forces by "community
organizers"</li>
<li>I do not think we will see a large, unified "right wing" defense; we
will see small, local efforts, but nothing like a large militia
fighting off protestors, at least in the coming few months.</li>
</ul>
<p>I think many of the businesses that have survived this far will
continue to survive; tech companies, banks, etc. will also continue to
consolidate power.</p>
<h2>Preparing for the future</h2>
<p>There is no better time than now to make peace with those around you,
build/maintain your networks, and work on yourself than now.</p>
<ul>
<li>Landowners—what do you think a nation of broke millennials
will vote in?</li>
<li>Renters—do not squander your time/resources on things that may
not be there tomorrow</li>
</ul>
<p>Connections, skills, and of course good character will take you far
<em>in any world</em>. The world we are heading into will not be the "Boomer
economy" those before us have known.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p><a href="https://nullsweep.com/kindle-collects-a-surprisingly-large-amount-of-data/">"Kindle collects a surprisingly large amount of
data"</a>
(nullsweep.com). <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>I'm not even going to bother capitalizing/typesetting "COVID-19"
anymore; you all know what I'm talking about. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>pardon my USA-centrism; just focusing on the place I'm now living <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>As communists will point out, capitalism is useful for building
up infrastructure, wealth, etc. Depending which sort of communist
you're talking to, this wealth generated by creative energy can
then be controlled through monopoly and the monopoly can be
collectived, or something like that. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>Note, I am not one of these people who believe the Constitution
is a moral/binding document. It requires a certain sort of society
to work in and if the population of the US is collectively
deciding against protecting individual freedoms, we can expect to
see them disappear. I'm sure you can find some quotes about
defending liberty this-and-that from some founding father people
if you do some searching. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:6">
<p>Or you can follow some kinda hippy, new-age "all is one"
religion. But there won't be "religious freedom" like how many
people still think of it; consider what you may have heard about
"Christians being persecuted in China". I think we can expect a
similar situtation developing in the US; indeed during covid,
freedom to assemble has already been restricted for a long time <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:6" title="Jump back to footnote 6 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 522020-08-24T00:00:00-07:002020-08-24T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-08-24:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-52.html<p>Here, I will share a technique for learning language(s) in a wholistic
system.</p>
<ol>
<li>Acquire an old text, translated into many languages. Some
suggestions are: pick a favorite Psalm or Proverb from the Bible.</li>
<li>Learn the basic pronunciation of your target language(s); one trick
is to find a YouTube …</li></ol><p>Here, I will share a technique for learning language(s) in a wholistic
system.</p>
<ol>
<li>Acquire an old text, translated into many languages. Some
suggestions are: pick a favorite Psalm or Proverb from the Bible.</li>
<li>Learn the basic pronunciation of your target language(s); one trick
is to find a YouTube video reading a whole bunch of introductory
sentences. Follow along and repeat.</li>
<li>Memorize your (hopefully edifying) text in all your target
language(s).</li>
<li>Whenever you can, practice recalling what you have memorized. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> </li>
</ol>
<p>This technique is cool because it gives you a structured way to expose
yourself to a lot of different grammar/vocabulary with <em>content</em> that
you ought to be thinking of and remembering anyways.</p>
<p>Using the above approach for a while, you'll get a very good "feel"
for your target language and can branch out to reading new texts,
listening to new content, etc.</p>
<h2>Other Aspects of Language Learning</h2>
<p>Some aspects of languages will be particular to a cutlure, group, etc.
So, if you want to speak <em>any</em> new language conversationally, you're
going to have to learn a handful of frequent words and phrases anew.
This is true even for so-called <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/essays/constructed.html">"artificial
languages"</a>.</p>
<p>The above technique requires some <em>text</em> too; you may have to learn a
new writing system.</p>
<p>Furthermore, there's non-verbal cultural stuff to learn. Between some
languages, this isn't really an issue—good people will
acknowledge sincerity in conduct.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>If you're studying more than one language, you might have to
mentally space your day up like "study Spanish before noon",
"Japanese until sundown" or something like that to get yourself out
of the "tyranny of choice" of which languages to study. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 512020-08-15T00:00:00-07:002020-08-15T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-08-15:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-51.html<p>Today, I got friends visiting from afar. It is a joyous occasion to
have people drive many miles to see me—to quote Confucius <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<blockquote>
<p>子曰。學而時習之、不亦說乎。 有朋自遠方來、不亦樂乎。 </p>
<p>The Master said: “Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you
have learned? Isn't it also great when …</p></blockquote><p>Today, I got friends visiting from afar. It is a joyous occasion to
have people drive many miles to see me—to quote Confucius <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<blockquote>
<p>子曰。學而時習之、不亦說乎。 有朋自遠方來、不亦樂乎。 </p>
<p>The Master said: “Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you
have learned? Isn't it also great when friends visit from distant
places?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I think one good thing that is coming out of all this C'Rona stuff is
that many people have come to question their "old" lifestyles of half
a year or so back and are rediscovering what it is that they value
most.</p>
<p>In my case, I've been given the opportunity to reach out and contact
people in what otherwise might be overly "busy" times.</p>
<h2>Investing in stuff that isn't Federal Reserve notes</h2>
<p>Obviously, having lots of dollars in the US is helpful for stuff like
getting food, shelter, transporation, etc.</p>
<p>However, it is not difficult to see how <em>only</em> "storing up earthly
treasures" is not a wise solution for the forward looking person. What
if you owned a ton of real estate, and then communists took over? You
would probably either (1) lose your land, or (2) become the corrupt
oligarch you never wanted to become.</p>
<p>What if you went through college, got all A's, but didn't make any
friends/connections? Indeed, that's what a lot of people will probably
do in online schooling these days.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Read the
<a href="http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/analects.html"><em>Analects</em></a>
online. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 502020-08-06T00:00:00-07:002020-08-06T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-08-06:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-50.html<p>The last post here, I shared that I was interested in investigating Orthodox
Christianity further. So far, it has been an overwhelmingly positive
experience. In this post, I relate one way in which Orthodox Christianity (as
opposed to other varieties I've been involved with, Protestant groups) has thus
far presented …</p><p>The last post here, I shared that I was interested in investigating Orthodox
Christianity further. So far, it has been an overwhelmingly positive
experience. In this post, I relate one way in which Orthodox Christianity (as
opposed to other varieties I've been involved with, Protestant groups) has thus
far presented itself as a sustainable, robust, <em>working</em> system.</p>
<h1>Of Arch Linux and Orthodoxy</h1>
<p>The road that led me to do a more serious investigation of Orthodox
Christianity is something as follows, </p>
<ul>
<li>I was aware that Orthodoxy existed from investigating Protestant
conceptions of the afterlife (heaven/hell), but put these issues on
the back-burner to take a break from religion and pursue normal
career stuff</li>
<li>After four years or so of wandering around in academia, trying to figure
out what to do with my life, I quit and got normal work doing tech/nerd
stuff (web programing).</li>
<li>I joined the <a href="http://xahlee.info">Xah Lee</a> discord chat server (still active
there) to have people to chat with about tech/programing and well as general topics.</li>
<li>One Internet friend I tended to disagree with on a lot of things, continued
to blame many of the world's ills on Russia</li>
</ul>
<p>Note, on my web page on
<a href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/languages/russian/index.html">Russian</a>
I mention this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Russian often gets a bad reputation in the United States (e.g. "Russian
collusion"; in contrast, have you heard about "Japanese collusion"?!). One of
the reasons I'm motivated to study Russian is that many people I tend to
disagree with on matters of opinion often have an... instinctive dislike for
Russian. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>...so I looked into some things on Russia to learn just <em>why</em> this fellow might
have such strong feelings against Russia. I had overall positive feelings about
Russia at this point because I enjoyed reading Dostoevsky and Tolstoy as an
undergraduate and always liked the sound/look of the Russian language and
Cyrillic script.</p>
<p>Naturally, an investigation into Russia in current times will lead to many
mentions of the Orthodox church.</p>
<p>Another Internet friend recommended me <a href="https://jaysanalysis.com">Jay Dyer's</a>
content, which I linked on my <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-49.html">previous blog
post</a>.
Jay does long-form, in-depth analyses of lots of issues including theological
topics. Jay's content led me to go investigate Orthodoxy in real life as well
as through chatting with friends I met outside the Internet.</p>
<p>So, being a professional nerd (programer) led me to an online chat group, in
which a guy kept on blaming the Russians. This led me to look into Russia which
led me to look into Orthodoxy. Other friends helped link me to various stuff,
share books, etc. Note, much of this searching was done <em>without Google</em>.</p>
<h2>Linux</h2>
<p>Now it is time to talk about Linux, and in particular my experience with <a href="https://www.archlinux.org/">Arch
Linux</a>. The main way I see using Linux and Orthodox
Christianity is as follows: both give a path for how to <em>not do wrong</em> in a
particular domain (i.e. have a working, functional system in Arch Linux; living
a life free of sin in Christianity). Beyond this, the user (<em>you</em>) is free to
celebrate the life you've been given through choosing any number of paths. </p>
<p>Of course there is a big difference of <strong>scope</strong> here (Arch Linux falls under
life; it is certainly possible to sin in a Christian sense while using Arch
Linux, lol). But some interesting parallels do hold, which I will expound on
below.</p>
<h3>Learning stuff</h3>
<p>Another person I've linked a bunch is <a href="https://lukesmith.xyz">Luke Smith</a>. Luke
Smith unironically has a Christian tech channel. His more interesting stuff to
me are his discussions in his <em>Not Related!</em> podcast where he's talked about
stuff like rationality, the scientific method, statistics, and history of the US.
One thing that Luke got me into was setting up Arch Linux; I have basically
transcribed one of his videos into my own <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/arch-linux-install-for-n00bs.html">Arch Linux installation
tutorial</a>.</p>
<p>To learn about using computers/tech, Luke has emphasized many points I agree
with,</p>
<ul>
<li>Read the manual/documentation</li>
<li>Ask questions, see what has been done already</li>
<li>Don't get caught up in fervor about your new shiny this-or-that; be critical
of how newer or flashier solutions (e.g. GUI wrapper for some command line
tool) may <em>not</em> be an improvement</li>
<li>Be humble and learn</li>
</ul>
<p>Through Luke's content, I came to develop a lot of the views I have on
technology and society. One topic he has touched some on is how to <em>learn to
use Linux</em>—or in internet slang, "git gud". <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Anyone who uses Arch frequently will know of the <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/">Arch
Wiki</a>, a resource that is so useful that even
non-Arch users will frequently use it to help them troubleshoot issues.</p>
<p>To learn how to do things in Linux, one could try to read all the <code>man</code>
(manual) pages for various tools. In earlier decades, it was quite possible to
get a basic sense of what was going on this way. But practically speaking, you
don't want to redo all the work of other people that have already put in
hours and hours troubleshooting issues.</p>
<p>And so, I was pleasantly surprised to find a very well-sourced, readable
<a href="https://orthodoxwiki.org/Main_Page">Orthodox Wiki</a>. Just as someone might
consult the Arch Wiki to find out information on some cryptic command, one
would use the Orthodox Wiki to learn about teachings on some particular issue,
the history of a particular parish, etc.</p>
<p>Christians (e.g. the Church Fathers) have worked through lots of
problems—many very deep ones, e.g. metaphysical questions—over many
centuries. I've been very impressed by the depth and breadth of knowledge
transfer from generation to generation in the Orthodox world.</p>
<h2>Going forward</h2>
<p>Here, I document my journey in hopes that it may be useful to others. It is
already interesting for me to look back on my old blog posts during this whole
COVID thing.</p>
<p>Thanks to all my readers who have been following this blog, whether
sporadically or reading every post. </p>
<p>tbh covid has been pretty fortuitous to me; e.g. it has given me this
opportunity to pause from running around, and think not just about career stuff
for my own life, but to look forward into what kind of life/community I would
like to give future generations.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>From "get good (at something)" <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 492020-07-19T00:00:00-07:002020-07-19T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-07-19:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-49.html<p>A friend I met through the Internet shared this
<a href="https://jaysanalysis.com/">jaysanalysis</a> with me. So far, I've been
really impressed by the quality/depth of the content.
There's a handful of topics here that interest me, including</p>
<ul>
<li>Christianity, Church history</li>
<li>Cultural/symbol analysis</li>
<li>Geopolitics</li>
</ul>
<p>I think I've mentioned on this blog once …</p><p>A friend I met through the Internet shared this
<a href="https://jaysanalysis.com/">jaysanalysis</a> with me. So far, I've been
really impressed by the quality/depth of the content.
There's a handful of topics here that interest me, including</p>
<ul>
<li>Christianity, Church history</li>
<li>Cultural/symbol analysis</li>
<li>Geopolitics</li>
</ul>
<p>I think I've mentioned on this blog once or twice about my interest in
looking into more Orthodox Christianity stuff. Some issues with
(Evangelical) Protestantism I've tried to work through, in no
particular order</p>
<ul>
<li>Philosophical problems (e.g. problem of evil; what is "belief" in
<em>sola fide</em>; where does scripture come from in <em>sola scriptura?</em></li>
<li>Lack of tradition, historical roots; many songs/images/etc of modern
Christian movements look like whatever advertising is popular.
Constant new materials instead of engaging classic works <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></li>
<li>Uninspiring/bad aesthetics ("hippie rock concert")—doesn't
<em>feel</em> holy</li>
</ul>
<p>I hope that through spending some time studying Orthodoxy, including
doing more readings of the Church Fathers <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<h2>Diving into the work of content creators</h2>
<p>Since 2010 or so, there's been a handful of content creator people's
work I've engaged a lot. Each, I've found especially engaging for some
personal reason.</p>
<p>For instance, on this blog, I've shared some links to the work of <a href="https://lukesmith.xyz/">Luke
Smith</a>. A bit older than me, I was surprised
to see how he had similar thoughts that I did about stuff that I did,
and went further doing more homework/research and producing more
content on these topics than I had done.</p>
<h2>Pretty much no news has been good</h2>
<p>Spending more time reading books, talking with people, etc. has been
very good. I only keep up with enough news to know what I'm allowed
to/not allowed to do, and often I can find this out through <em>other
people</em> without even opening social media.</p>
<p>Some practical suggestions for making media consumption a better use
of time,</p>
<ul>
<li>Make default homepages on your web browsers blank or something
really dry and boring (e.g. the weather in California)—this
shields you from getting attention splashed with what others push on
you; you can start your Internet interaction with what you decided
to look at</li>
<li>Whenever possible, consume <em>older</em> media first—choose a novel
from 50 years ago rather than 5 years ago. One upside of consuming
older media is you can probably find more informative
commentary/analysis as well (e.g. reviews on old movies)</li>
<li>Whenever possible, consume <em>longer form</em> media* if you are
interested in a subject; e.g. if you're going to express an opinion
about Afghanistan, see if there is some old book by someone on
Afghanistan and read that rather than assuming you understand the
context of some rando Twitter remark. If you are unwilling to do
your homework, don't be an echo chamber conduit if you don't have to
be.</li>
<li>Jump past the first Google results <em>purposely</em>; try to go to
<em>anywhere other than Wikipedia</em> first. Then, go to Wikipedia.</li>
<li>If you choose to browse news sites, <em>intentionally do some "meta
analysis"</em>. Scroll back a week or two and see what the past week's
headlines as an aggragate look like before jumping to the present.
Appreciate the bias of a newspaper, e.g. you can expect CNN to push
one sort of narrative, RT to push another, and so on and so forth.</li>
</ul>
<p>Using the strategies above, I would like to think that I keep my views
more <em>independent</em> in the sense that I don't just plug myself into the
Google hivemind and accept the first few results; hopefully these
techniques facilitate exercising <em>critical thinking</em> in that they
force me to <em>slow down</em> and take time to digest the various forms of
messaging thrown at me.</p>
<p>In the coming months, I'll probably be doing some more reading on
communications, adverising, and that sort of thing.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>People <em>do</em> do this in seminary <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>E.g. the people listed
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Fathers">here</a>. In
protestant land, I don't think I learned much about these people
at all; rather, we focused on theology through secondary,
contemporary sources and the text of the 66-book protestant Bible <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 482020-07-14T00:00:00-07:002020-07-14T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-07-14:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-48.html<p>Today's post will be kind of scattered; there's a few ideas I want to
discuss.</p>
<h2>Productivity Strategy: Circuits</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-42.html">previous blog
post</a>
I briefly discussed how iterating through different "stations" (e.g.
doing a workout routine with various machines, doing a fixed number of
reps on each machine) could …</p><p>Today's post will be kind of scattered; there's a few ideas I want to
discuss.</p>
<h2>Productivity Strategy: Circuits</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-42.html">previous blog
post</a>
I briefly discussed how iterating through different "stations" (e.g.
doing a workout routine with various machines, doing a fixed number of
reps on each machine) could be a good strategy to keep a workout
going, allowing parts of your body to rest while maintaining
momentum/intensity.</p>
<p>This week I've been working on developing this idea further by
bringing this into the abstracted/software/computaitonal world as
well. One could <em>cycle</em> through different projects; working on one
until you hit some road block, making some notes about how you think
you should pick stuff up next time you start, and then moving on to
the next thing. This way you keep multiple projects going (and hence
get stuff done) and also do not get too held up on the frustrations of
any one product.</p>
<h2>Philosophy not in the "philosophy" genre</h2>
<p>You may have heard stuff about how the ancient greeks/chinese/etc.
studied "philosophy" was different from the rather obscure field it is
today. What we now classify as "ancient philosophy" can be a
combination of practical how-to's, religious revalations, texts on
governing, etc.</p>
<p>Here I think it is important to consider how today's <em>genres</em> are very
specific things; perhaps if were to take today's collections of text,
we might call things like</p>
<ul>
<li>self-help books</li>
<li>pop psychology, pop science</li>
<li>marketing, communications, business writing</li>
<li>assorted blogs on the internet</li>
</ul>
<p>...philosophy?!</p>
<p>Going further back in time, we have less and less knowledge about what
was written vs what survived; the ability to use writing and make
documents that lasted was far less widespread too.</p>
<h2>Programing Language Study: Ruby</h2>
<p>I worked through the <a href="http://www.rubykoans.com/">Ruby Koans</a>.</p>
<p>Lots of ideas that are common among Nodejs programers may have come
from Ruby; for example the "Agile" movement, Test Driven Development
(TDD), and other ways of organizing programer laber...</p>
<p>Approaching Ruby, I'm trying to make extensive use of both the
interactive interpreter (<code>irb</code>) and offline documentation (<code>ri</code>). The
idea here is that being able to quickly discover new things about a
language as you work in it is a good strategy to be able to continue
moving and learning in a language and not to get hung/up stuck due to
lack of momentum.</p>
<h2>Juggling</h2>
<p>This week, I started to do some more juggling. I first learned how to
do this during my elementary school years (long ago). Why would I move
away from it and then come back later?</p>
<p>In summary, I stopped doing juggling and started doing other things
because there were things that were more interesting to me.</p>
<p>However, now juggling is once again interesting to me to practice because</p>
<ol>
<li>I want some physical activity that is relatively quiet, can be done
in small space,</li>
<li>Is not so physically exhausting that it can be done for long
periods of time without respite</li>
<li>Is analog (lol, as in... not digital, doesn't need the Internet)</li>
</ol>
<p>So basically I can do some casual juggling practice as
recreation/sport while listening to music, watching videos, hanging
out with others, etc. Not bad!</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 472020-07-09T00:00:00-07:002020-07-09T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-07-09:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-47.html<p>Faced with scarcity, people naturally plan. It is necessary to be
efficienct when resources are few.</p>
<ul>
<li>Going on a camping trip with limited food, you'll have to decide
<em>what</em> to eat <em>when</em></li>
<li>Knowing you only get <em>one hour to study</em> for some exam, you'll want
to know what the most …</li></ul><p>Faced with scarcity, people naturally plan. It is necessary to be
efficienct when resources are few.</p>
<ul>
<li>Going on a camping trip with limited food, you'll have to decide
<em>what</em> to eat <em>when</em></li>
<li>Knowing you only get <em>one hour to study</em> for some exam, you'll want
to know what the most effective study methods are to extract the
most out of this hour</li>
<li>Constrained by a budget (e.g. <em>your own money</em>), you will aim to get
the best deals you can; with tooling, you will want to buy quality
things that you won't have to soon replace</li>
</ul>
<p>On the other hand, abundance can lead to great waste in time, energy,
and resources.</p>
<h2>Simulating Scarcity</h2>
<p>Schedules and structuring time can be used to make "artificial
scarcity"; you can trick yourself to being more efficient by imposing
scenarios on yourself that necessitate planning.</p>
<ul>
<li>If you make a plan to eat only one meal per day, you will want to
plan to eat something that tastes good and is nutritious. You may
arrange your social life around enjoying this one meal <em>with other
people</em>.</li>
<li>You may alot different time blocks for studying different subjects;
e.g. focus on studying for one exam for an hour, working on another
project for two, etc.</li>
<li>Your budgeting plan may amount to deciding to <em>save</em> a certain
portion of the money you bring in on a fixed interval.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Degrees of Freedom</h2>
<p>Of course, having the flexibility to change/adjust plans to meet new
requirements (or ride <em>waves of inspiration</em>) is a helpful thing.</p>
<p>What needs to be done is to strike a balance between having enough
structure to keep one motivated/working/productive and enough freedom
to capitalize on unforseen events. Good organization is organization
that makes sense to do, which you don't have to constantly think
about.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 462020-07-07T00:00:00-07:002020-07-07T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-07-07:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-46.html<p>This week, I've been working on learning <strong>DevOps</strong> things. From
wikip, a definition:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>DevOps</strong> is a set of practices that combines software development
(Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It aims to shorten the systems
development life cycle and provide continuous delivery with high
software quality.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In plain English, I call …</p><p>This week, I've been working on learning <strong>DevOps</strong> things. From
wikip, a definition:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>DevOps</strong> is a set of practices that combines software development
(Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It aims to shorten the systems
development life cycle and provide continuous delivery with high
software quality.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In plain English, I call DevOps something like "looking into how to
take software that people write and get it where it needs to be to
<em>get work done</em>".</p>
<p>Different people do different jobs: e.g. designers design fancy apps,
web programers write code to implement fancy apps, and analysts crunch
numbers to figure out how to make money off those fancy apps.</p>
<p>DevOps is smashing all this work together into something that does
work in the real world. It is trying to automate much of the process,
making it easy to <strong>scale</strong> operations, do fast fixes, etc.</p>
<h1>Applying Knowledge from Hobbies</h1>
<p>I decided to look into this field because I already enjoy doing things
like configuring linux, working with command line tools, etc.</p>
<p>I was having trouble finding programing/coding projects that
interested me because oftentimes, the software I might want to write
<em>already exists</em>—it just needs to be configured and run
somewhere. For example, this blog that you are reading was made using
a <strong>static site generator</strong>. It could be interesting and educational
to go write my own static site generator, but really this program does
everything I need it to do. I just write text in an easy to read/use
language (markdown) and web pages get generated—amazing! I can
publish a live journal here, backed up/preserved by our friends at
Github x Microsoft.</p>
<p>Compared with this site, there are more complicated projects (such as
ones that have <em>interactivity</em>) one may want to deploy. Dumping a
bunch of HTML pages and images (examples of <strong>static assets</strong>) on the
Internet is often not hard. How about deploying a program that
interacts with some database? A place to submit a form to?</p>
<h3>Setting stuff up automatically</h3>
<p>Much of DevOps is writing configuration files (which are <em>declarations
of how stuff should be</em>). These files get read by programs that run
other programs (that run other programs, that run other programs...).</p>
<p>On a local level, doing this has been great fun. DevOps sounds like an
in-demand place to do similar things, at scale.</p>
<h3>Future goals</h3>
<p>As a direction for <em>what to learn more about</em>, I think that learning
more about the <em>operations</em> part of DevOps and how to coordinate
people and teams is a good direction to move into for a future
involving building useful things to help us all live better lives.</p>
<p><code>/end-sales-pitch</code></p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 452020-07-06T00:00:00-07:002020-07-06T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-07-06:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-45.html<p>This month, Google told me that <em>I only walked 3 miles!</em> I purposely
leave location tracking and stuff on my phone. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> What a sad, low
number! Maybe it is better if I <strong>virtue signal</strong> to Google.</p>
<p>So, this month, I'm doing an experiment. As much as I can, even …</p><p>This month, Google told me that <em>I only walked 3 miles!</em> I purposely
leave location tracking and stuff on my phone. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> What a sad, low
number! Maybe it is better if I <strong>virtue signal</strong> to Google.</p>
<p>So, this month, I'm doing an experiment. As much as I can, even
walking around the house, I'm going to leave my phone in my pocket.
We'll see how good Google's location tracking is; will it catch these
relatively small movements (at the same address, but moving around
within that location)?</p>
<h1>What's in store</h1>
<p>It kinda feels like being in a giant store all the time. When you
visit Target or something, you can expect cameras everywhere watching
to make sure people don't steal merchandise, cause trouble with
employees, etc. Likewise, the store obviously has a goal to sell you
stuff.</p>
<p>In this way, I have no problem with surveillance and cameras and stuff
<em>per se</em>. However, I think that it is not unreasonable for people to
want private spaces in addition to public spaces. When private spaces
are constantly invaded by activitites like soliciting, marketing, etc.
this is no good.</p>
<p>Practically, each individual can decide what spaces they think should
be private and make rules/policies/schedules to keep it this way.
People may come up with rules like,</p>
<ul>
<li>No politics talk at the dinner table </li>
<li>No phones out when friends meet</li>
<li>Don't watch YouTube videos until 8 PM; go to sleep by midnight</li>
</ul>
<p>Especially at first, it takes discipline to do these things. Strong
leadership is needed to bring changes to groups as well—e.g.
parents must be able to follow these rules themselves so children can
see why they are so.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>if you want privacy, use a smartphone as little as possible! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 442020-07-02T00:00:00-07:002020-07-02T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-07-02:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-44.html<p>Today, I'll be discussing the topic of <em>content</em>—<br>
I've done intentional stepping away (physically) from rando Internet browsing,
learning, etc., making use instead of:</p>
<ul>
<li>Communications: what links do other <em>people</em> send me (not search engines)</li>
<li>Books/resources I already have</li>
</ul>
<p>The goal is to better make use of the resources …</p><p>Today, I'll be discussing the topic of <em>content</em>—<br>
I've done intentional stepping away (physically) from rando Internet browsing,
learning, etc., making use instead of:</p>
<ul>
<li>Communications: what links do other <em>people</em> send me (not search engines)</li>
<li>Books/resources I already have</li>
</ul>
<p>The goal is to better make use of the resources/tools I already have instead of
wasting my time looking for new things or quick, "one off" solutions to
problems which may pop up again.</p>
<h1>People over search engines</h1>
<p>One of the reasons for getting links from other people is that you are
accessing content which you know at least <em>one</em> other person at least sort of
cares about. This is to ensure that link clicking and stuff isn't a solipsistic
activity. The act of going through other people to click links</p>
<p>Also, there is <strong>reciprocity</strong>. Other people will often appreciate it if you
take the time to take a look at stuff that interests them, make comments, etc.
Internet media becomes more social when you ditch search engines when possible</p>
<h1>Blogging as a resource</h1>
<p>I write these blogs to remember <em>processes</em> I went through; this can include
thinking about issues as well as technical stuff I've figured out...</p>
<p>(to be continued)</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 432020-06-30T00:00:00-07:002020-06-30T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-30:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-43.html<p>I shuffled around some peripherals to get a little night stand next to an old
computer with limited available applications installed.
This old computer has only 2 GB of RAM, but it is enough for most things that
might be considered a "good use of time" on a computer, e …</p><p>I shuffled around some peripherals to get a little night stand next to an old
computer with limited available applications installed.
This old computer has only 2 GB of RAM, but it is enough for most things that
might be considered a "good use of time" on a computer, e.g.</p>
<ul>
<li>Writing stuff</li>
<li>Creating programs</li>
<li>Doing basic email, logistics</li>
</ul>
<p>Here, I have a kind of hardware-enforced zen computing experience. I'm using a
nice ergonomic keyboard and mouse pairing, I am sitting on the floor, and I
have an old laptop next to me. While I type, I don't even need to look at the
laptop; I can close my eyes, glance over every once in a while, and just let
the text flow.</p>
<h2>"Downgrading" equipment to upgrade "experience"</h2>
<p>One might ask <em>why in the twentieth century</em> would people ever do things like
shoot film photography, ride a single speed bicycle, or use decade plus old
computer hardware.</p>
<p>Part of the fun of this LARPing (live action role-playing) is that more
"modern" solutions often don't offer much new functionality that will actually
get used. News features can lead to more complicated/bloated UIs, and an
overall more <em>unpleasant</em> experience.</p>
<h3>Back to the fundamentals</h3>
<p>Another reason people opt for simpler approaches to things is that it offers a
return to the "fundamentals". In order for a bicycle to <em>go</em> what is needed?
You're going to need some mechanism to turn the wheels; something to be able
to slow down and/or stop... that's about it. If you aren't optimizing to be
the fastest bicyclist ever (vast majority of people), a single speed bicycle
will do just fine. Particularly if you are trying to ride a bicycle to get
more exercise, riding a single speed bicycle might be a <em>better</em> choice
because you will not be helped along by gearing optimizations and such...</p>
<p>In a similar way, returning to a computer that has "limited" features in many
ways is a good opportunity to bring thinking back to myself and to quit
fussing over piles and piles of software abstraction. At the end of the day,
if I just want to practice writing some code, author some prose, etc., the
stripped-down system I have now is much more efficient (i.e. "non-bloated").</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 422020-06-29T00:00:00-07:002020-06-29T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-29:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-42.html<p>In this post I'm going to talk about why I usually don't suggest
<em>studying more than one foreign language at once</em> to people. Mainly,
this is because learning a new language will involve you to train
<em>thinking in a new model</em> (i.e. language); anyone who is proficient in
a …</p><p>In this post I'm going to talk about why I usually don't suggest
<em>studying more than one foreign language at once</em> to people. Mainly,
this is because learning a new language will involve you to train
<em>thinking in a new model</em> (i.e. language); anyone who is proficient in
a second language will tell you that <em>they do not translate in their
heads</em>; rather, they know how to reproduce the correct patterns and
see the world in terms of a particular model.</p>
<p>More practical tips can be found on my <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/learning.html">language
learning</a> page.</p>
<h2>The Cost of Decision Making</h2>
<p>Suppose you are studying two languages: Esperanto and Klingon. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>At any point in the day, you might want to practice making up some
utterances in your <strong>target</strong> language. A decision point comes up!
Which language should I practice?</p>
<p>You then proceed to waste time and energy dabbling between your two
languages, not getting anywhere.</p>
<h3>A solution: Organized Time</h3>
<p>The best solution I've found to the above problem is to divide up what
things you're going to practice into different "modes" or "contexts".</p>
<p>For example, you might <em>only use Esperanto</em> on your desktop computer
using the Firefox browser. You can change this browser's default
language, bookmark a handful of sites, etc. Once you are proficient
enough, you can also get some friends to agree to only use Esperanto
in a group chat.</p>
<p>Above is a kind of "spatial" separation. But you can divide by time as well.
Suppose all of your Esperanto-studying friends are up, awake, and
chatty around 4-8 PM PST. Well, you can say that during the hours of
4-8 PM, you try your best to think, read, write, etc. using Esperanto.</p>
<h3>Organization Allows You to Outsource Decision Making</h3>
<p>Good organization means you take care of decision making <em>ahead of
time</em>. That way, you don't waste time dilly-dallying around and you
can focus on your primary task at hand.</p>
<h2>More Applications</h2>
<p>Dividing up your time to avoid decision making means less getting
bored and more easily foreseeable "endpoints" for painful tasks. It
likewise means you get to look forward to new activities throughout
the day.</p>
<h3>Working Out</h3>
<p>Working out with some friends, we set up a number of "stations". Lift
weights here, do some cardio there, etc. You do a couple minutes at
each station, then you rotate. This way, you can keep exercising (and
hence keep heart rate up) while working out a lot of different
muscles.</p>
<p>The idea here is similar to what is being described above, but it is
set on an accelerated schedule (time frame of minutes instead of hours
of organization).</p>
<h3>Practicing Art, Music, etc.</h3>
<p>What would I do if I wanted to become a much better visual artist?
There are a number of activities I could do, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Realistic still life drawing: practicing observing reality</li>
<li>Technical know/how tooling: e.g. shortcut keys on my digital setup,
making particular effects with a (physical) graphite pencil</li>
<li>Working on products</li>
<li>Theory/reading: studying writings of accomplished artists; watching
YouTube training</li>
</ul>
<p>To become better at art, I would do this. Before work, from 8:30-8:50
AM, make a still life drawing on anything—no inspiration is
needed, I just have to pick something in my immediate environment.
Then I can concentrate on one thing inspired by the previous day's
study—e.g. concentrate on using relatively few, but well-defined
lines of varying thickness to convey form. I would then do my day job
(9 AM – 5 PM). From 5-6 PM I could then go look up some training
materials, try out some new buttons, etc. Here I might be working on
my "main" platform (e.g. digital painting, 3D software, oil painting,
etc.) rather than the morning sketching which is mostly done for
convenience without a "full setup". I could then go do some other
stuff. From around 8 PM to 9:30 PM I could work on whatever (big)
project(s) I have. Then from 9:30 PM to 9:45 PM I could read some
theory to think about before falling asleep.</p>
<p>Applying a similar approach to any other activity that is a learned
skill will allow you to improve.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Please don't <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/essays/constructed.html">study an artificial language</a>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 412020-06-26T00:00:00-07:002020-06-26T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-26:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-41.html<p>This post is about <strong>models</strong> of the world and symbol shuffling. I will
describe how <em>words</em> 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,</p>
<ul>
<li>Why is it so difficult …</li></ul><p>This post is about <strong>models</strong> of the world and symbol shuffling. I will
describe how <em>words</em> 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,</p>
<ul>
<li>Why is it so difficult to define words like "a", "to", "the", etc.</li>
<li>How do advertisers/politicians/etc. use "trigger words" to manage your
feelings (and wallets)?</li>
<li>How are skills related to each other? </li>
<li>Why is it hard to learn the rules of cricket?</li>
</ul>
<h2>Things and Actions</h2>
<p>You've probably heard it said that if you learn <em>any one programing language</em>,
it will be much easier to pick up a second/third/fourth/etc. Allow me spell out
in more plain terms <em>why</em> this is so.</p>
<p>Using any "general purpose" programing language, there are basic operations you
may want to do. For example, you might want to:</p>
<ul>
<li>Read/write files</li>
<li>Deal with clocks/time</li>
<li>Manipulate text/strings</li>
<li>Serve or request web content</li>
</ul>
<p>A person without any programing background may have some fuzzy ideas of what
these operations are, but likely understands them only in some limited context.
E.g. a file is something you can attach in Gmail, which is found somewhere on a
harddrive.</p>
<p>Learning programing means that you have to get more specific understanding of
what is involved in these operations. Learning some ("general purpose")
language for the first time means you will have to learn about these things.
Some examples of these languages are: Python, C#, Ruby, JavaScript (with Node),
and.... Common Lisp. All of these languages can do these basic things.</p>
<p>For someone who already programs in one language, learning a new programing
language is often asking "how do I do <em>action</em> XYZ in <em>language</em> ABC. It is
easy to compose a search query if you know exactly what you're looking for.
You have a base knowledge of concepts (you understand computing as a <em>system</em>)
and then you can learn the unique features and idiosyncracies of any languages
you use; you are not-relearning an entire new system with every new programing
language.</p>
<h2>Keywords and Systems</h2>
<p>Many symbols (e.g. <em>words</em> in spoken and written language) can only be
understood in the context of a system. This is one reason why it is very hard
to usefully define "grammatical" words like prepositions, articles, and the
like.</p>
<p>Understanding any complex system means knowing how stuff "fits together".
Often times, this knowledge comes through exposure and without explanation.
Copying enough patterns, one can assimilate knowledge of these patterns and
successfully replicate them, sometimes with intentional variations.</p>
<p>Many musicians know very little "music theory" but get along just fine having a
great time with their instruments and voices. Asked to define something like
"harmonics" or whatever, many skilled musicians would be at a loss of
<em>words</em>—they could <em>show</em> you lots of things, but they couldn't say much
useful stuff explaining what they're doing in a different system (e.g. Standard
English) unless they already had some experience thinking about
teaching/learning.</p>
<p>Systems have atomic (in the sense of "indivisible") things in terms of which
other things are described. Eager beginners may want to hear explanations of
what these elementary things are (e.g. How do <em>particles</em> in Japanese work?!).
They will likely be frustrated by the responses they get back; even with ample
explanation, they may not be able to correctly reproduce target patterns.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the person that just learns a guitar strum pattern rather than going
into fancy rhythm this and that theory may soon be playing songs.</p>
<p>Assimilating knowledge of a system (and then refining that model) is ultimately
how learning of complex things happen. Trying to go very deep into
understanding little pieces <em>may</em> work eventually, but from my experience I
think that it usually doesn't. Imagine getting hung up on studying a foreign
language until you "understand" how some little grammatical word works. The
practical way forward is just to learn a whole bunch of (easy to "understand")
vocabularly and then gradually see patterns in which stuff is put together.</p>
<h2>Likeness Between Systems</h2>
<p>Insofar as systems are simialr to one another, it is not difficult to learn and
master new systems. For example, I hear the mechanics of good golf swings are
similar to hockey stick swings. Transferring concepts between these systems
means a golfer will probably more quickly learn hockey stick swinging technique
than say... a jazz pianist, all other things being equal.</p>
<p>On the other hand, learning a completely new skill (e.g. computer programing)
can be very tough because you have to assimilate a whole body of conceptual
knowledge before being able to properly order some symbols.</p>
<h2>Simplified Systems and Manipulation</h2>
<p>People use technical-sounding language to drivel on about topics all the time.</p>
<p>For example, in health/nutrition related topics, you might get someone talking
about sodium this-or-that. In what sense do they mean "sodium"? Without a more
complete understanding of chemistry/biology fundamentals, this person is trying
to use a technical sounding term <em>outside of its domain</em>. </p>
<p>Yet, doing stuff like this is often enough to win the confidence/trust of people.
If someone looks good/fit, and they mouth off utter bullshit in terms of
words/symbols, they may be accepted on <em>authority</em>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Sounds smart and seems to work, so we can roll with that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Shallow knowledge, words getting thrown around without model comprehension...
this is how powerful people manipulate fearful masses.</p>
<h3>Case Study: Condescending IT worker</h3>
<p>A Condescending IT worker may lord his esoteric computer knowledge over
customer service/marketing/etc. This person may throw around random technical
words that he <em>assumes</em> the people he is talking to don't really understand to
assert his position of being "the technical one".o</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Ah yes, it is easy. We just need to migrate the ABC to the XYZ using
such-and-such fancy shmancy technology. Lol! Automation is cool. Do u
automate things?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For the non-IT people the symbols this Condescending IT worker is using have
only one meaning—"I am going to use <em>a system you don't understand</em> to do
<em>a thing you are at my mercy for</em>". It is a nerd display of dominance, not an
attempt to get othe rpeople to understand the technical workings of some
system.</p>
<h3>Case Study: Esoteric interest "geek"</h3>
<p>Another character you may have met is someone who is always into <em>stuff other
than what is mainstream</em>; insufferable hipsters!</p>
<p>Rather than succeeding in some realm with well-defined systems (e.g. a
profession, mathematics, speaking a foreign language), they instead turn to
maximally esoteric things to <em>compete with nobody</em> but <em>assert their authority
on something unknown to you</em>.</p>
<p>Thing about music lady that doesn't ever play piano or guitar, but instead
makes some sounds on such-and-such ethnic instrument from a culture that is not
her own. Or consider art guy who <em>never does realistic art</em> and instead rambles
on about such-and-such theory of this-and-that.</p>
<p>These people get knowledge of some esoteric systems and then try to assert
control over you (often subtly) by lording their specialist knowledge over you
(and other "normal people" in society).</p>
<h3>Case Study: Institutional Talking Heads</h3>
<p>I introduced two sorts of "loser"ish characters here to lead gently into
discussing the more threatening force—institutionally approved talking
heads and the authority of the state, big tech, and the like.</p>
<p>These people use the same tactics, albeit more skillfully, than the
aforementioned characters.</p>
<p>In this blog, I've many times repeated the point that <em>with regards to
COVID-19, we just don't know what's going on</em>. Yet, tons and tons of people
rose to the occasion to tell everybody else what to do based on such and such
"science" or counts of who-knows-what gathered in who-knows-how way.</p>
<p>There's lots and lots of conversation of the form,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We know what is going on. Here's a WORD to latch onto. Now, do what we say
and oppose who we tell you is the bad guy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>More on tactics later.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 402020-06-24T00:00:00-07:002020-06-24T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-24:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-40.html<p>Today I am going to ramble about "science" versus business books, pop
psychology, etc.</p>
<p>Many people treat "science" as a collection of facts. The next level
is to consider "science" as a collection of facts <em>derived through a
particular methodology</em>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Both of these levels of "scientific"
understanding presume a …</p><p>Today I am going to ramble about "science" versus business books, pop
psychology, etc.</p>
<p>Many people treat "science" as a collection of facts. The next level
is to consider "science" as a collection of facts <em>derived through a
particular methodology</em>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Both of these levels of "scientific"
understanding presume a process/establishment that is good enough at
filtering good from no-good to consider humans collectively to be
"moving forward".</p>
<p>The next level of thinking about "science" is to consider how
authorities canonize what is(n't) "science" and how knowledge
accumulation is more about finding useful models for different things
and trying to fit them to phenomena. "Science" is a far less unified
thing than people make it out to be. Reporting "facts" is a very
difficult thing to do because "scientific facts" are always with
respect to a model.</p>
<p>Two places to learn more about these things:</p>
<ul>
<li>For an introduction, see Luke's Smith <a href="https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/notrelated/S02E01_-_Against_Method_and_For_Pseudoscience.ogg">Against Method and For
'Pseudoscience'</a></li>
<li>For a more long-form thing, see the works of <a href="https://fooledbyrandomness.com/">Nassim Nicholas
Taleb</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Case Study</h2>
<p>Some neckbeard might say something like "<em>Qi</em> energy is not real".
What do they mean by this? That some traditional Chinese school of
thought is completely incoherent?</p>
<p>This neckbeard might reply that <em>Qi</em> cannot be <em>measured</em> with any
instrument we have. We can't observe <em>Qi</em> like we measure the
temperature with a thermometer.</p>
<p>To be a difficult person, you create a dataset rating video clips on
the amounts of <em>Qi</em> energy being displayed. Professional fighters
display lots of <em>Qi</em> concentration; you mark some high number. Someone
just sitting and not doing much has resting <em>Qi</em> not doing much. You
tag a few thousand video clips and then run your classification
algorithm on some new data.</p>
<p>Wow! Machine learning shows <em>Qi</em> exists?!??!??!?!?</p>
<h2>Implications</h2>
<p>There's lots of useful information all over. Oftentimes, to understand
some isolated "fact" however, you need to understand some more
comprehensive system. Someone who is not trained in biology,
chemistry, and other things is probably just driveling nonsense if
they are talking about how sodium is good/bad for the body. "Sodium"
is just a magic word to this person.</p>
<p>On the other hand, some people talking in terms of martial arts,
traditional medicine, etc. may be onto something. Do they have a model
of the world that helps them do whatever activities they are trying to
do?</p>
<p>A programer may be annoyed by many aspects of music notation. Why does
such-and-such have to be so confusing? We must respect the fact that
<em>Western music notation works</em>, as do programing languages. Both have
lots of room for improvement but they succeed at least somewhat in
some particular domain and we can state "facts" in terms of them.</p>
<p>Likewise, as with the machine learning example above, we can talk
about the models of psychology/business/etc. as put forth in
popular/contemporary readings. Insofar as these books are able to help
people do a better job communicating with others, getting organized,
etc., these works shouldn't just be considered as "pseudoscience".</p>
<h2>"Fact Checking"</h2>
<p>"Facts" only make sense with respect to some model of the world. Can
you say that XYZ <em>discovered the atom</em>? The notion of "atom" as
discussed in physics and stuff today is a very specific thing that
only exists with respect to a particular model of the world. Likewise,
when religious people speak of "the soul", a Christian might mean a
very different thing from a Buddhist or some kind of Pagan. Each
describes this term with respect to some model of the universe.</p>
<p>"Fact checking" is prone to be super annoying and misleading because
it presumes one (establishment-approved) view of the world and calls
things factual or not relative to that.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>E.g. falsafiable experiments <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 392020-06-22T00:00:00-07:002020-06-22T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-22:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-39.html<p>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 …</p><p>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 of a point to do this intentionally and regularly. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>Nerd thinking</h2>
<p>One thing I've been reminded of a lot about over the past few years
especially is that it is important to "hang out" and loiter sometimes.
This is related to the topic of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdRJMuOFO88">not being a
<strong>bugman</strong></a>. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>What is a <em>good use of time?</em> Nerds jump to <strong>optimize</strong> something,
and in doing so often miss "the big picture". For example, one could
go to school and focus almost solely on getting good grades. In some
parts of my life I have done this—luckily I was distracted
enough to have fun drawing some pictures and making some friends in
grade school.</p>
<p>By blocking out social interactions and focusing on just a few things
(like studying for an exam), one can potentially work much more
efficiently. This is why I think it is OK to do this a lot of the
time. However, doing this <em>all of the time</em> is no good because what
could end up happening is that one squanders their time on stupid
goals OR misses out on valuable opportunities elsewhere.</p>
<h3>Kinda Succeeding</h3>
<p>Sometimes, the aforementioned behavior is kind of "built into the program".
For example, growing up and going to church, I found myself focused on
doctrine and "what the Bible says". This is a quite
Protestant/Evangelical Christianity feature, I think. Many other
people who call themselves Christians do not emphasize this aspect of
"practicing religion" so much. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>In one sense, I succeeded by learning a bunch of Bible knowledge and
stuff. However, in another sense, I totally "lost"; if I look at
people I know who did a better job focusing on people/community rather
than being a nerd, they are the ones that are happily married with
families, community, etc.</p>
<p>Another way I tried to optimize stuff was using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition"><strong>Spaced Repetition
Systems</strong></a> (SRS) for
language larning for a while. The problem I faced was that I would not
accompany this SRS learning with enough other (more important)
learning—e.g. absorbing media of my target languages. On top of
this, I was studying way too many langauges at once. My
over-optimization led me to be able to recognize a whole bunch of
words in a whole bunch of languages but I was not well-practiced in
stringing together sentences, telling jokes, singing songs, and so on
in these languages.</p>
<p>Often times it is through networks that people get opportunities, not
being the best at some narrow domain. Those with nerd tendencies (like
myself) often jump to optimizing <em>something</em>. Combined with Bugman
tendencies, one can easily squander lots and lots of time developing
weird abilities and habits in all sorts of directions. This might be
appropriate sometimes (e.g. a kid exploring various interests), but it
is often not a good approach for getting things done in the "real world".</p>
<h3>LARPing as a Slav in the woods with Filipinos</h3>
<p>Going camping, it was fun to try stuff I normally wouldn't do. For
starters, I don't like to deal with too much stuff when camping. I
helped move all sorts of stuff, including boxing gloves and coolers
filled with meat for fancy cooking. I got to throw a hatchet 😱</p>
<p>There were other small things such as listening to other people's
music choices—a lot of the fun of music is social—we want
to enjoy music with other people eventually (this is why there are
things like concerts and dance parties).</p>
<h2>Doing Better</h2>
<p>Hanging out with people and socializing is an important thing for
nerds to do. While one may be rather self-content on a day to day
schedule being a nerd, failure to "sync up" with society from time to
time means running the risk of becoming very "out of touch".</p>
<p>Beyond oneself, I think it is important to engage different people
generally—whether in age/generation, nationality, etc. Only
talking with people of a particular group (e.g. a gamer who only talks
with gamers) can lead to a very warped perception of the world and
many missed opportunities.</p>
<p>The arrogance of the nerd is thinking that they know better than
mainstream society because they do better in some limited domain.
This tendency should be tempered by humbling hang outs with other
elements of society.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done">Getting Things
Done</a> there is
the essential <em>review</em> time where one evaluates projects in order
to make sure day-to-day work is contributing towards accomplishing
goals. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>A person who rejects their heritage/history/family and tries to
construct an identity on their
<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/consume-product-consoomer">consooming</a>
habits; a hyperindividualist fixated on "rationality"; rootless redditors <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Lots of quote marks being used here; to clarify—when using
quote marks I'm emphasizing a <em>term/symbol</em> and how that thing is
used. When two different people use some word (e.g. "believe),
they may mean very different things. I try to mark which terms can
be problematic when doing cross-cultural talk by putting quotes
around stuff and elaborating if people coming from different traditions
(but still "speaking English") may be confused. This is living in
diversity and not having an assumed culture of my readership! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 382020-06-19T00:00:00-07:002020-06-19T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-19:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-38.html<p>In California, I hear we have some additional guidelines about wearing
masks and social distancing and all that.</p>
<p>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 …</p><p>In California, I hear we have some additional guidelines about wearing
masks and social distancing and all that.</p>
<p>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 to comply with whatever guidelines
they need to in order to continue business.</p>
<p>The population at large will when they have to—for example, many
stores won't allow people inside unless they have proper masks and
things. Stuff that is less easy to manage is... how do you get people
to stay 6+ feet apart when they have to pass one another in relatively
narrow store aisles?</p>
<p>I'll be heading up to the mountains in not too long for the weekend;
seems like they will be pretty people-filled. Many people have the
same idea—head to higher ground and chill out.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 372020-06-16T00:00:00-07:002020-06-16T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-16:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-37.html<p>We are now midway through June. </p>
<h2>What's going on with COVID-19?</h2>
<p>With regards to Coronavirus stuff, I think that the numbers that
<em>really</em> matter most are: <em>are there shortages of hospital
facilities?</em></p>
<p>This is an important, practical way to look at things because it is
saying <em>are we seeing worse …</em></p><p>We are now midway through June. </p>
<h2>What's going on with COVID-19?</h2>
<p>With regards to Coronavirus stuff, I think that the numbers that
<em>really</em> matter most are: <em>are there shortages of hospital
facilities?</em></p>
<p>This is an important, practical way to look at things because it is
saying <em>are we seeing worse effects</em> (from the flu and other things)
compared with other years? COVID-19 specifically is a mystery, but
whether or not hospitals are totally overrun is something that is
easier to see. Insofar as hospitals <em>are not</em> totally overrun, I think
that we have room for optimism.</p>
<p>Counts of COVID-19 cases and stuff are not so informative because the
way we've been getting these counts are far from uniform.</p>
<h3>Society Stuff</h3>
<p>Yet, we still see lots of people around doing stuff like writing "THE
PANDEMIC ISN'T OVER" in chalk. In stores, perhaps <em>most</em> people are
wearing some kind of mask thing of some sort.</p>
<p>As far as I can see, there hasn't been a mass return to physical
office spaces though it looks like some people near me are starting to
plan on this.</p>
<h2>Some Predictions on the Post-COVID-19 World</h2>
<p>What I see us drifting towards is a cyberpunk-ish (dystopia) like world. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
COVID-19 has revealed how fragile much of American society
is—people living paycheck to paycheck. Many people have few
people to turn to for emotional/financial/etc support; maybe physical
workplaces provided <em>some</em> of this (e.g. through seeing co-workers,
that was enough human interaction to keep going). It seems to me that
most people in most places seem to have general dissatisfaction with
what is going on.</p>
<p><strong>Populism</strong> and <strong>democracy</strong> (in the sense of voting for stuff to
affect policy; whether directly or through representatives) are two
forces we can expect to see a lot more of. Urban people in particular
can be expected to try to <em>vote away problems</em>. I do expect to see
more chaos/civil unrest.</p>
<p>How might this be quelled? One avenue I can see this happening is that
mega-corporations and government may be able to provide <strong>basic
needs</strong> (e.g. food, basic hygiene, housing) in urban areas. Digital
IDs (such as Google accounts) rather than permanent addresses may be
how these things are tracked.</p>
<p>Overall, this lock down business has been very tough on small
businesses. Many mega-corporations are doing quite well overall it
seems, as reflected in measures like stock prices. In this way, we can
expect to see large-scale problems continue to pop up <em>that only very
large businesses can deal with</em>. Big companies can do the heavy
lifting of logistics, and populist politics and democracy can force
them to give basic needs to people. Insofar as people are dependent on
these big companies (and government policies that make it so they must
provide certain things), the elimination of the worse sort of poverty
can be avoided and society can continue. These large
companies—with government money injections—willl be able
to provide many jobs to occupy people's time. Some examples include:
stocking shelves, customer support, maintenance of facilities, and
security services.</p>
<p>Urban areas will be places of mass consumption (through a handful of
big companies), near-total surveillance (facillitated by smartphones),
and constant nagging through ads.</p>
<h3>Characters</h3>
<p>There may be some "Buddha" types that live on the benefits of these
systems, but really don't care about all the hype and stuff being
generated to keep the populist machine going. This person may log in
to their XYZ accounts as required at work, get a paycheck from a
megacorporation, and then spend very little of it to get necessities
and route the rest to some practical needs (e.g. investing for a home
elsewhere). They patiently await breaking the cycle of suffering, and
in the mean time cultivate mindsets that allow them to thrive.</p>
<p>There will be "community organizer"/"activist" types who take to this
sort of environment like fish and water. The useful propaganda
officers of the government and mega-corporation alliance, these people
will provide the "grassroots" feelings to people on the ground, motivating
normally non-political people to repeat the correct slogans and
present the correct branding to signal their allegiance. Note that,
gov'ts and megacorporations may make use of <strong>controlled
opposition</strong>—similar to how when two sports teams play against
each other, the NBA (or whatever-organization-oversees them) "wins" no
matter which team wins the ball game.</p>
<p>There will always be politicians. The appeal of being a politician
will increase with respect to how powerful/invasive the state is into
people's lives.</p>
<p>There will be masses of normal people who just go along with the
current times, trying to get by while enjoying some material comforts
along the way. The people will be most of us, and they will be like
water, flowing and adjusting with the times. Unlike the "Buddha"
character, they will not think about transcending/breaking from this
cycle at all. Rather, they will be medium by which various parties try
to execute their agendas.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Stuff like "Dystopia" vs "Utopia" may be a matter of
perspective. Echoing some thoughts brought up earlier—one
might say the same thing about heaven/hell. If being near God
means badness for you, that may be "hell". If it means good
things, it could be "heaven". I'll have to look more into how this
sort of... unitary/subjective (not quite sure how to characterize
it) view has been expressed. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 362020-06-12T00:00:00-07:002020-06-12T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-12:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-36.html<p>Today I will extol the virtues of <em>paper books</em> (aka "dead tree" book)
in one particular domain: <em>language learning</em>. Specifically, I'll be
looking at language learning materials for the purposes of reading.</p>
<h2>Wanting nice stuff</h2>
<p>Briefly I was wanting an e-ink display; it seems that some cool new
things are …</p><p>Today I will extol the virtues of <em>paper books</em> (aka "dead tree" book)
in one particular domain: <em>language learning</em>. Specifically, I'll be
looking at language learning materials for the purposes of reading.</p>
<h2>Wanting nice stuff</h2>
<p>Briefly I was wanting an e-ink display; it seems that some cool new
things are being developed such as,</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.boox.com/product-2/">BOOX Ebook Reader/Notetaker Products</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dasung-Paperlike-Front-Light-Touch-Monitor/dp/B07SKS6CS7/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=e-ink+display&qid=1591973925&sr=8-5">Dasung E-Ink Display 13.3"</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Rather than being a hero for the economy and immediately buying stuff,
I decided to turn my attention to many of the things I already have
and see how I could make better of these things rather than seeking
new things.</p>
<p>This was done while shuffling some displays/peripherals/etc.; a
similar spirit to fussing with (physical) config to make things nicer.</p>
<h2>Advantages of paper for language learning</h2>
<p>I got a bunch of reference materials for language learning in paper
format. Do check out my various pages on
<a href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/languages/index.html">languages</a> if you haven't done so already!</p>
<h3>Typesetting</h3>
<p>Often, paper publications will contain fancy typesetting that is
helpful for learning purposes and not usually present on resources
like websites. For beginner to intermediate learners especially these
things are helpful to have.</p>
<p>In Japanese, paper publications aimed at learners (e.g. children,
weebs) will often contain <i>furigana</i>, pronunciation marks over
words. Now, you <em>can</em> automate a similar function pretty well using
browser extensions or with the aid of a pop-up dictionary (like
<a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rikaichamp/">Rikaichamp</a>
for Firefox). However, sometimes these tools can give ambiguous or
incorrect results—nothing beats manual annotation (it is like
having an authoritative native speaker by your side).</p>
<p>Similar things exist in other languages. For instance in Russian,
texts for learners often label <strong>accent</strong> (e.g. accented <em>Ру́сский
язы́к</em> "Russian language" vs the normal orthography <em>Русский язык</em>).
Arabic only marks long vowels usually; short vowel markings will
annotate texts for learners.</p>
<p>Having these annotations readily available in learning means you can
spend more time language learning and less time fussing with tooling.
By having resources available to conveniently learning things
correctly <em>the first time</em> as you are exposed, you can save time in
the long run.</p>
<h3>Multi-booking</h3>
<p>Some of the aforementioned advantages can also be found in PDF books.</p>
<p>However, nothing beats having a bunch of paper books open <em>and</em> your
computer and other stuff.</p>
<p>Books are like... little high quality ink displays. You can have a
bunch of "displays" set up—a dictionary, a grammar reference,
and some text you are trying to work through.</p>
<p>"Well", someone might say, "one advantage of using a computer/PDFs is
having <em>your entire library on demand</em>". Sometimes, this is good. But
often for intense study I find I don't really need or make use of this
advantage. At any given time, how many hours are you going to spend over <em>N</em>
books? </p>
<p>Paper books mean setting things up to see all the info you need right
at once.</p>
<h3>Portability/Robustness</h3>
<p>This heading is relatively self-explanatory. Books don't need
batteries. You can ad-hoc upgrade them with annotations, book covers,
and more. Books are often not so expensive to replace if stuff goes
bad.</p>
<h2>Final thoughts</h2>
<p>The advantages of digital materials are readily understandable for
people that make daily use of them. Particularly nice are things like
search functionality, indexing, and other features that require manual
lookup in paper books.</p>
<p>One question to ask is <em>where is the bottleneck of my learning?</em> I've
found that just contemplating some key term <em>while fumbling through an
index</em> has in fact been helpful for helping me remember concepts.
Thumbing through a dictionary has helped me discover things about
languages I would not have otherwise seen if I had enjoyed near
instantaneous results.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 352020-06-10T00:00:00-07:002020-06-10T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-10:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-35.html<p>Today I continue off yesterday's notes on <em>In the Buddha's Words: An
Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon</em>, which I take to be
representative of Theravada Buddhism. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>Karma and Suffering</h2>
<p>It seems in Buddhism, suffering in the world is not totally chaotic or
random. This can be interpreted …</p><p>Today I continue off yesterday's notes on <em>In the Buddha's Words: An
Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon</em>, which I take to be
representative of Theravada Buddhism. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h2>Karma and Suffering</h2>
<p>It seems in Buddhism, suffering in the world is not totally chaotic or
random. This can be interpreted in a very "anti-social justice" sense
in that when we see bad things happen to people, there is an
underlying belief that <em>their karma made them deserve this</em>.</p>
<p>Now, the Buddhist will want to escape suffering (and probably help
others do the same, cultivating <em>loving-kindness</em>). But viewing
suffering in the world is also seeing the <em>results</em> of suffering
perpetuating behaviors.</p>
<p>The typical Christian world-view on these things is much different.
Similarly, Christians don't believe in repeating cycles of death and
rebirth. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+pali+canon&qid=1591767305&s=books&sr=1-1">Amazon link</a>; I believe I first learned of this work from the YouTube channel of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJ6ESCWQotBwtJm0Ff_gyQ">Yuttadhammo Bhikku</a> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>There is death and rebirth, but not cycles thereof. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 342020-06-09T00:00:00-07:002020-06-09T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-09:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-34.html<p>Aside from work, I spent some time today investigating (Theravada)
Buddhism by reading <em>In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses
from the Pali Canon</em>, which I bought used a while back. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
I had this book on the shelf for a while and was interested in reading
something a …</p><p>Aside from work, I spent some time today investigating (Theravada)
Buddhism by reading <em>In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses
from the Pali Canon</em>, which I bought used a while back. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
I had this book on the shelf for a while and was interested in reading
something a bit more ancient the 20th century stuff and contemporary
things I've been reading lately.</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, I don't have any Buddhism stuff in my
direct line of descent, though it is such an old way of doing things,
I would be surprised if there wasn't any going back into my Chinese
ancestry. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> Mainly, I'm looking into these things out of
curiosity and for knowledge—I'm not trying to "convert" or
anything.</p>
<h2>Impressions</h2>
<p>Below are some of my impressions—a practicing Buddhist may want
to reach out to me and correct my misunderstandings here. What follows
is an outsider's perspective.</p>
<h3>Tiers</h3>
<p>One thing interesting about Buddhism compared with the Christianity I
know is that Buddhism is a very much "choose your own adventure" type
of religion. Practitioners of Buddhism may be lay people that try to
suffer and aquire good <em>kamma</em> (Sanskrit: Karma) by following "best
practices", <em>or</em> they can live life in super hard mode and strive for
"release" from the sufferings of this world.</p>
<p>Many recommendations for lay people reminded me of Confucian
ideas—defining proper relations between different sorts of
people (e.g. Children and Parents, Husbands and Wives). This is on one
hand unsurprising, but also has got me thinking about <em>how Buddhism
became very popular in China</em> during various times/places in Chinese
history.</p>
<h3>Doing nothing</h3>
<p>Compared with Christianity, it seems that Buddhism supports a lot
of... inaction. In Christiandom, the <em>Protestant work ethic</em> is
(in)famous—industriousness is valued not only for the products
of work in of itself but also as a means for fighting against
temptation and sin.</p>
<p>In contrast, Buddhism has <em>meditation</em> as a central practice. Poverty,
homelessness, and being at the charity of others are required for
pursuing Buddha-dom.</p>
<p>Rather than having an integration of serious religious practitioners
and "normal" working/daily life, Buddhism divides "serious"
practitioners from lay practioners, and the <em>professionals</em> are
devoted full-time to practices which do not directly contribute <em>work</em>
to society (e.g. by producing food).</p>
<h3>Starting from the self</h3>
<p>It seems lots of stuff in Buddhism you are supposed to do because <em>it
makes sense to do in order to reduce suffering</em>. There is a kind of
empirical, internal justification that I think has appealed to many
Westerners. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup> From a Christian perspective, this may make a lot of
Buddhism seem rather... <strong>amoral</strong> (c.f. <em>(im)moral</em>).</p>
<h2>More later</h2>
<p>More to come as I study more; these are some quick initial thoughts.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+pali+canon&qid=1591767305&s=books&sr=1-1">Amazon link</a>; I believe I first learned of this work from the YouTube channel of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJ6ESCWQotBwtJm0Ff_gyQ">Yuttadhammo Bhikku</a> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>I never had any contact with relatives <em>in China</em> to the best of
my knowledge; seems I am many generations back Chinese-American
(3+). Before widespread literacy and such it is harder to trace
back further than that. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Getting into Buddhism has a long history in the West it seems;
may have to look more into stories of this <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 332020-06-08T00:00:00-07:002020-06-08T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-08:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-33.html<p>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.</p>
<p>Reflexively, I've …</p><p>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.</p>
<p>Reflexively, I've been avoiding news/media turning instead to long
form things (e.g. books, detailed technical docs/website) as well as
relatively direct chat through messaging apps and
stuff—thankfully these aren't plastered with ads (yet?). <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Reading good, long-form content motivates me to take the time to write
longer-form, better thought out posts than the stuff I'm pumping out
here. Until we "return to normal" (provided that <em>does</em> happen, haha)
I'll plan on making these entries, though afterwards I hope to make
some longer and better researched pieces that are articulated in a
more "future proof" way.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Though I assume everything I'm saying is getting logged
somewhere. <em>C'est la vie.</em> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 322020-06-07T00:00:00-07:002020-06-07T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-07:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-32.html<p>Today I didn't get around to doing more reading into different
branches of Christianity, <em>but I did finish reading Harry Potter</em>.
(I've been writing reviews on
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136251.Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows">goodreads</a>.)</p>
<p>I can't experience these books with a completely "open mind" because
I've been trained to think about different genres and other meta
literature …</p><p>Today I didn't get around to doing more reading into different
branches of Christianity, <em>but I did finish reading Harry Potter</em>.
(I've been writing reviews on
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136251.Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows">goodreads</a>.)</p>
<p>I can't experience these books with a completely "open mind" because
I've been trained to think about different genres and other meta
literature this and that—search "philosophy of literature" if
you're interested in this topic more...</p>
<p>In short, I would say that the Harry Potter series is very
<em>entertaining</em>. There are likeable characters and the books are very
readable. You could call them "page turners".</p>
<p>Whether or not they reveal valuable information about the nature of
the universe or human interactions, that is a different question. For
the millennial generation, they are definitely culturally significant,
but I am not sure if they will be for subsequent generations.</p>
<p>I don't feel a particular desire to (re-)watch the movies after
reading the books, though I would if there were some social reasons
for doing so.</p>
<p>I hope everyone has been having a good Sunday. For me, it has been
pretty relaxing—talking with some folks on the Internet and
catching up with studying various things.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 312020-06-06T00:00:00-07:002020-06-06T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-06:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-31.html<p>Today I spent some time watching Roosh V (<a href="https://www.rooshv.com/roosh-hour-48-america-burning">Roosh
Hour #48</a> on
current events—but more importantly on Christianity. Roosh V is
(in)famous for previously teaching techniques as a "Pick Up Artist"
but has henceforth continued his authoring and podcasting journey as a
Christian. For his ability to do …</p><p>Today I spent some time watching Roosh V (<a href="https://www.rooshv.com/roosh-hour-48-america-burning">Roosh
Hour #48</a> on
current events—but more importantly on Christianity. Roosh V is
(in)famous for previously teaching techniques as a "Pick Up Artist"
but has henceforth continued his authoring and podcasting journey as a
Christian. For his ability to do long streams, engage a diverse
audience, and offer compelling storytelling alone I think it is worth
it watch some Roosh. Hopefully beyond the form of his content you can
find something interesting as well. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>I recall the first time I looked more than trivially at anything
Orthodox Christianity related—it was looking at
Evangelical/Protestant (the brand of Christianity I was familiar with)
versus Orthodox conceptions of the afterlife. For many Christians
(especially American Christians), these issues are of very big
significance; learning more about the history of Christianity you may
be surprised how many different views on such matters they exist and
how the "heaven/hell" as a literal place of bliss/suffering as
portrayed in popular media are rather particular concepts.</p>
<p>What appeals to me about (non-Evangelical) Christianity is that there
seems to be less preocuppation with the "literal meaning of words" and
pronouncements of certain doctrines. In Internet slang, one might call
many Protestant brands "autistic" in that they fixate on issues like
DO YOU ACCEPT STATEMENTS X, Y, and Z NECESSARY FOR SALVATION?
Likewise, you will have people splitting hairs over issues like the
age of teh earth. As I understand them, most other religions teach a
more wholistic lifestyle approach; it is not about suddenly
"believing" certain things or revalation so much as it is about
following some path...</p>
<p>I'm not personally close to anybody of Orthodox faith; it would be
curious to talk to some people at length, after I do some homework.
My understanding of religion is very colored by the particular sort of
Christianity I grew up with and the limited reading/study I have done
outside of this tradition.</p>
<p>In the upcoming days I will likely be doing more reading and research
into Christian matters, documenting stuff here.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>If you do check out Roosh's work, I would say just go straight
to his website, <a href="https://www.rooshv.com/">rooshv.com</a> and skip
meta commentary about who he is and stuff from anonymous people on
the Internet, journalists, etc. Then make your own evaluation and
validate if needed&dmash; in general I think this is a decent
approach to engage new authors. Note that I <em>am reading Harry
Potter currently</em> (there is a meme going around that this is
"liberal theory") so this isn't just about listening to "fringe"
YouTubers or whatever; it is a methodology for giving all sorts of
voices a fair hearing. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 302020-06-05T00:00:00-07:002020-06-05T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-05:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-30.html<p>This morning I got the pleasant surprise of a new video in Luke
Smith's <em>Not Related</em> podcast series—<a href="https://www.bitchute.com/video/hVxvLd6cF0k/">"Against Method and For
'Pseudoscience'"</a>. Once
again, Luke <em>Senpai</em> was a year or so ahead of my investigations into
various issues related to linguistics, history of science, and the
like etc. It …</p><p>This morning I got the pleasant surprise of a new video in Luke
Smith's <em>Not Related</em> podcast series—<a href="https://www.bitchute.com/video/hVxvLd6cF0k/">"Against Method and For
'Pseudoscience'"</a>. Once
again, Luke <em>Senpai</em> was a year or so ahead of my investigations into
various issues related to linguistics, history of science, and the
like etc. It is very nice to see some ideas I just started fumbling
around with presented in a such an accessible way to a wide audience.</p>
<p>I was thinking of publishing some more autobiographical/narrative
stuff here, but had misgivings midway through writing and ended up
deleting what I had written. Maybe I'll think over and write some
stuff on these topics I was thinking of later.</p>
<p>In many ways, the Internet has gotten more convenient and nice. For
instance, we have more than a dozen chat services to choose from to
exchange text messages, photos, etc. With this, however, the Internet
also feels much more corporate. It seems less fun, less free, and <em>far
more political</em>.</p>
<p>...and so, writing this blog I wonder; what is the point of me trying
to just shoot-the-shit here? It may de-favor me in search engines and
stuff if I would like my work to get more popular. Furthermore, anything
remotely controversial I may write could be used against me.</p>
<p>Here, being "a nobody" is helpful in that there is nothing dramatic
happening/going on with my blog. It is just an open journal that I find
useful to write in because it helps me look from a third person
perspective on the stuff I think and say and see if it makes any sense
(and if it is worth sharing).</p>
<p>As we're getting into the night, I'm too tired to do any "serious
studying" or reading now... I'll probably go to sleep soon. The agenda
of this journal is to think out loud, to figure out what is going on.
It is Friday night in Sacramento, CA and I'm not really talking to
anybody right now. There is a curfew outside, so I can't go for a
literal walk outside. So, I go for a little metaphorical walk writing
stuff here... turning sentence-thoughts into prose from a standing
work station made of furniture and books and old computer parts.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 292020-06-04T00:00:00-07:002020-06-04T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-04:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-29.html<p>Last post I discussed some ways to do "digital
prepping"—basically getting your computers/devices to be useful
to you even when you are offline. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Being prepared to move and work
in different environments is a way to transcend being locked into any
one particular arrangement that can compromise …</p><p>Last post I discussed some ways to do "digital
prepping"—basically getting your computers/devices to be useful
to you even when you are offline. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> Being prepared to move and work
in different environments is a way to transcend being locked into any
one particular arrangement that can compromise things that are
important to you. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> If you found yourself working for a large
corporation in a big city with very high living costs—you may
become a very unfree person if you have savings and other preparations
ready so that you can relocate at will. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup> With shifting political
tides, dramatic economic ups and downs, etc. what guarantees do you
expect in such an environment?</p>
<p>Except for the most invaluable specialist (e.g. expertise maintaining
some essential system running some arcane technology; being a licensed
professional in a high-demand area), becoming overly embedded in a
system of which you exert little control is a dangerous gamble of
indentured servitude.</p>
<h2>Property ownership and building stuff</h2>
<p>On the other hand, once you own property or have a network established
in area, you have an interested to sink your roots maximally deep
there. It becomes more efficient to settle and develop oneself in some
area and <em>not</em> be concerned with the many costs of moving around and
dealing with urban politics/logistics.</p>
<p>This is one reason why the internment of Japanese people (including US
citizens) in the US was a big deal; particularly for agriculturally
minded people, being settled in a "homeland" is important for building
up lots of stuff.</p>
<p>It is no surprise while we see many different groups interested in
defending their homelands, whether this is ethnic neighborhoods or
religious freedom.</p>
<h2>Nomadic, Diaspora Thinking</h2>
<p>I realize that this sort of thinking I opened this post with is
characteristic of someone without a relatively fixed community or home
base to build up.</p>
<p><em>Not</em> having land (or a family) to build stuff on encourages an
itinerate lifestyle and non-committal attitudes towards the well-being
of "the commons"—you can see this for yourself by visiting
university dorms at least midway through an academic term. Students
are paying high prices to stay at these dorms, but are expected on
being kicked out in a timely basis and charged for whatever damages
management can find. Students likewise can expect to extract
themselves from any bad living arrangements within the terms of their
lease. So if there are hostilities with other people in dorm/apartment
complexes it can be more time efficient to <em>not</em> solve problems since
there is little "long run" to worry about.</p>
<h2>Reciprocity and Asymmetrical Arrangements</h2>
<p>Expecting reciprocity (a "symmetrical" arrangement) is a feature of a
high-trust society. If you treat others well, do you expect them to
likewise treat you well? Relatively trusting, kind natured people will
expect that their concessions, symbolic deference (e.g. <em>kowtow</em>ing)
and other actions inviting reconciliation will make things better. </p>
<p>This is conditional on the other parties involved. For example, a
tenant and a landlord may very well be incentivized to work out some
dispute about a payment because the landlord has other things to
attend to and would prefer to not go through the trouble of eviction
and likewise a tenant would rather not accrue legal costs and other
badness in addition to whatever issues they are facing. On the other
hand, we would call it
<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Simp">simping</a> if a
man contunally tried to win a woman's favor with repeated
non-reciprocation of affection.</p>
<h2>Looking around the neighborhood</h2>
<p>Walking down the street, I see written in chalk in front of someone's
house,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>THE PANDEMIC IS NOT OVER</p>
</blockquote>
<p>...I see tons of rainbow flags (probably more than US flags), and many
BLM sympathetic signs of various sorts. And I perceive hostility in
all directions—people bunkering down in their houses repeating
slogans and symbols fed to them by the media. What do you want me to
think? That I am in a tolerant neighborhood surrounded by a bunch of
good folks?</p>
<p>What do I think?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I bet most of u are pretty okay to hang out with most of the time;
but I think you'd be better off just shutting off the news and being
concerned with taking care of the things right in from you (e.g.
caring for interpersonal relationships with the people in your
households; doing some exercises...)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I feel more connection with the fellow jogger near me who has to cross
to the other side of the street to avoid an out of control barking dog
than I do with these media slogan repeaters. Working from home?! Laid
off from your job? It is invigorating to see people using this
opportunity to make things better for themselves and by extension
those they maintain contact with.</p>
<p>My unsolicited advice to many people would be to</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Study and analyze the news as propaganda (you can even agree with
many of the messages) or shut it off. Don't passively absorb it or
you will be miserable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But I'm not about to give unsolicited advice to strangers in the
middle of a race war which some are trying to escalate into a Marxist
class struggle involving everyone, everywhere.</p>
<p>This Corona Virus Diary (unfortunately) continues! </p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Or at least not plugged into "the matrix"; one could run some
free software and connect to public library wifi or something, at
least once social distancing mandates are done <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>For instance, being on the academic job market may mean that you
don't have much choice about where you work (you gotta take the
first position you can get if you are aiming to do pretty
specialized sorts of work). <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Even if you do have these things ready, it may be a major pain
in the ass and be very expensive. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>Clichés intensify! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 282020-06-03T00:00:00-07:002020-06-03T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-03:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-28.html<p>Today at work, I found that even my software documentation had
political messaging featured front and center. I retreat to my ivory
tower.</p>
<p>Now is a time to study, to work, to write... ...to pray. </p>
<p>Yesterday, I didn't post my blog to social media. Today, I don't think
I will …</p><p>Today at work, I found that even my software documentation had
political messaging featured front and center. I retreat to my ivory
tower.</p>
<p>Now is a time to study, to work, to write... ...to pray. </p>
<p>Yesterday, I didn't post my blog to social media. Today, I don't think
I will post my blog to social media either. I think there are lots
more useful things to read than my blog for other people—I'll
keep on writing this here because I think it is useful for me to do,
but I don't feel an urge to push it out into "the public space" as
at this time our public spaces are thoroughly advertisement infested
with charismatic campaigns I can't hope to compete with.</p>
<h2>Civilizations need libraries</h2>
<p>Sometimes I'll complain about technology, but at the end of the day,
I'm not anti-technology. I'm thankful for many of the nice things we
have that make lots of tasks easier. The trick is to make technology
<em>work for you</em>, not the other way around. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<h3>Disconnect: a heuristic</h3>
<p>One easy way to make sure technology is being useful to you (a tool to
allow you to do stuff more efficiently) is to disconnect as much of it
as you can from places where announcements/advertisements are pushed.</p>
<p>Truely, for most software, we don't need the "latest and greatest"
software—stuff written 10 years or more ago can often do the
trick. For example you might have applications to do the following,</p>
<ul>
<li>Write documents (e.g. Libreoffice Writer, markdown, LaTeX)</li>
<li>Calculator/number crunching (e.g. spreadsheets, R for statistics)</li>
<li>Media player (e.g. mpv, VLC)</li>
<li>pdf reader</li>
<li>Image editing</li>
<li>Programing languages and tools; editors, interpreters, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>Above, I listed mostly open source or free software things because
these can be downloaded and used without forced updates. Getting some
mainstream Linux distribution—such as Ubuntu—will give you
most of these things readily. For more specialized tasks, you may have
to go download stuff.</p>
<p>MacOS does a decent job giving you alot of useful things right out of
the box (as well as some extra specialty things, like Garage Band for
music making).</p>
<p>Having an adequate pile of software such that <em>your computer/laptop
will still be useful to you while offline</em> is an effective heuristic
to make sure your technology is yours to command.</p>
<h3>Going on the Internet sometimes</h3>
<p>With the above things prepared, you can go online and grab a bunch of
stuff to enjoy/study/etc. offline.</p>
<p>I don't use Spotify or similar streaming services (though I often play
music on YouTube). I think that
<a href="https://youtube-dl.org/"><code>youtube-dl</code></a> is a helpful tool for
downloading media to (re)play later for as well as for archiving
purposes. Many old books and other documents are freely available
(e.g. as PDF files through <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/">Project
Gutenberg</a>).</p>
<p>Without the distractions of notifications everywhere, windows open to
social media, etc., you can more easily use your computing time
efficiently and get off without spending more time than you think is
appropriate. Free up time to tidy up your living space, get exercise,
catch up with people that are important to you...</p>
<h2>Networks of people and things</h2>
<p>Using chat or messenging apps often doesn't require looking at some
news feed (where ads and stuff are likely to appear). For instance,
there is https://www.messenger.com/ for Facebook messenger. Using a
dedicated messenging app (either on a phone or on the dekstop site)
may be preferable to using the more "full-featured" Facebook app or
Facebook website.</p>
<p>Consider how SMS messages and phone calls typically just... allow
people to communicate. Hopefully you don't encounter too much ads/spam
in these places.</p>
<p>We can try to keep our communication channels clear of
<strong>noise</strong>—stuff that isn't the conversations we're trying to
have.</p>
<p>Similarly, shopping and other online activities can be done
purposefully. Keeping an old-fashioned shopping list (whether on some
text document on the computer or with pen/paper) and then buying stuff
from physical stores or the Internet is an effective way to prevent
impulse buying on the Internet. Furthermore, maintaining lists of
things you <em>may be interested in buying later</em> is a good way to shield
from spending money you don't have to buy things you don't need. By
writing down stuff you <em>may</em> want to buy later, you get the
satisfaction of documenting something you might not want to forget;
but also, you add a layer of protection against impulsiveness.</p>
<h2>Summary</h2>
<p>Here I outline some techniques anybody can use <em>with</em> mainstream
computing platforms, networks, and services for doing work, talking to
people and buying stuff that will also help you protect oneself
against media manipulation—to which <em>nobody is immune</em>.</p>
<p>By organizing our technology usage with efficiency in mind—and
giving ourselves options to work offline—we can save our time
and attention from the campaigns of third parties. This way, we can
spend our resources on things that we <em>more actively</em> decide are
important to us, rather than being responsive/reactionary consumers.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>What I don't like is when technology makes simple things <em>more
difficult</em> and uses people's naivity and trust against them.
"Education" in the sense of telling people what things are (e.g.
when I call smartphones "<strong>personal surveillance devices</strong>") <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 272020-06-02T00:00:00-07:002020-06-02T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-02:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-27.html<p>On my morning walk I see the replacing of "WEAR A MASK" signs/banners
with new content. Narratives are swapped like pairs of sneakers.</p>
<p>Talk of "COVID-19" is rapidly replaced by other impending
matters—in Sacramento, California with looting and rioting
nearby by suburb (though relatively peaceful, compared with other …</p><p>On my morning walk I see the replacing of "WEAR A MASK" signs/banners
with new content. Narratives are swapped like pairs of sneakers.</p>
<p>Talk of "COVID-19" is rapidly replaced by other impending
matters—in Sacramento, California with looting and rioting
nearby by suburb (though relatively peaceful, compared with other
cities) the new reason to stay inside is because of "curfew" rather
than airborn viruses.</p>
<p>Recently, I got a letter in the mail from the IRS. This letter turned
out to be announcing the $1200 relief/aid money that came a couple
weeks earlier. A little white collar scare for me—glad there was
no issue to deal with—I paid muh taxes and stuff...</p>
<h2>Permission to Live</h2>
<p>Many peaceful channels by which people might normally deal with
frustration/anger are unavailable (if you would like to follow the
law, at least). Having friends over for dinner, taking a <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1412317-doomer">night
walk</a>, and anonymously
loitering at a coffee shop are all off limits. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>In place of everyday activities that help us learn about and connect
with the people around us, we have doom-and-gloom news piped directly
from to smartphone and brain—</p>
<p>And now, there are <strong>shibboleths</strong> being used left-and-right to sort
out in-group loyalties. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>Urged to "speak out", many people feel compelled to announce stances
on issues—to say nothing is to be complicit in the badness?</p>
<p>I still have no idea what is going on in Syria, or Ukraine, or
Jamaica, or tons and tons of other places in the world. These places
are foreign to me; they are not in my backyard. Are there systemic
injustices in these places? Probably, I assume. Perhaps they have
political opinions about Asian-Americans living in Sacramento, CA.</p>
<h2>Good Guys/Bad Guys</h2>
<p>In the United States, angst, anger, sadness, and frustration is
everywhere (particularly concentrated in urban areas where people are
exposed to more news and smartphones). Agitated cries for <em>change</em>
erupt—what exactly should be done? A proletariat uprising?</p>
<p>On this matter, America is far from united; things are getting
<em>political</em> in the sense that force is being used in many directions.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Some activities I might like to do these days... <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>a custom or usage regarded as distinguishing one group from
others
(<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shibboleth">Merriam-Webster</a>) <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 262020-06-01T00:00:00-07:002020-06-01T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-06-01:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-26.html<p>Today is Monday; a respite from news? Of course not—the news cycle
always continues! <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> <em>However</em> each of us as individuals can choose to
focus our attention elsewhere. Today I will be discussing <strong>gossip</strong>
and how oftentimes I think it is a good thing because it reminds
people that …</p><p>Today is Monday; a respite from news? Of course not—the news cycle
always continues! <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> <em>However</em> each of us as individuals can choose to
focus our attention elsewhere. Today I will be discussing <strong>gossip</strong>
and how oftentimes I think it is a good thing because it reminds
people that the stuff they hear is often... <em>hearsay</em> and that the
"truth" of some matter is not always what it seems.</p>
<h2>Gossip</h2>
<p>I'll define "gossip" as discussing <em>hearsay</em>; speculating on what
might have happened based on reports (which may be first-hand
accounts).</p>
<h3>Why does "gossip" have negative connotations</h3>
<p>Lots of the bad reputation of "gossip" is linked to its association with
<em>deception</em>. Here are some <a href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Gossip">Bible
verses</a> related to the
topic:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Keep your tongue from evil<br>
And your lips from speaking deceit.<br>
Psalm 34:13</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here, "gossip" is speaking deceptively.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a
word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment,
so that it will give grace to those who hear.<br>
Ephesians 4:29</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The verse above is about building up community in a church, using your
words to improve stuff rather than destroy stuff.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For lack of wood the fire goes out,<br>
And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.<br>
Proverbs 26:20</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The verse above sounds kinda like Chinese social cohesion; sometimes
it is prudent to hush up about stuff to allow some ship to continue
sailing.</p>
<p>As illustrated from some verses chosen rather ad-hoc above, "gossip"
is understood to be a bad thing insofar as it is used to cause
conflicts and decieve. On the other hand, merely talking about other
people and your experiences would not be considered bad (or "idle")
talk as I interpret it if this talk is done with constructive aims in
mind.</p>
<h3>Reframing "gossip"</h3>
<p>"Gossip" in the sense that I defined it (discussing <em>hearsay</em>)
requires that people form networks and hence establish trust with one
another. Gossip is a very useful way to maintain social cohesion and
maintain healthy scepticism of unverified parties' bold claims.</p>
<p>Its foundation is <em>trust</em>; who is a trustworthy party to hear
information from? Who is tends to be a "click bait" flame fanner?
Who is 80% bullshit but 20% truth worth listening to? Understanding
gossip is knowing how to filter information from various voices,
establishing what who we think is credible and to be relied on, and
who is to be listened to with general skepticism (but expecting some
entertainment). Gossip is human communication that doesn't read like a
technical manual.</p>
<h2>Why listening to gossip is more helpful than "news"</h2>
<p>Applying instincts for gossip (as old as humanity itself) to how we
engage with traditional news and online media, we can get a better
grip on what's really going on (as well as identify what we don't
know).</p>
<p>Often when reading the news, people take take the trustworthiness of
their source (e.g. the BBC, Voice of America) for granted rather than
investigating what kinds of agendas news outlets may have.</p>
<p>When people gossip, they are often talking about something they've
heard about on a first or second hand account. Usually, the gossiper
has at least some "skin in the game" in the sense that they are
talking about people/events that they are personally concerned with.</p>
<h3>Professional Gossipers on a Global Stage</h3>
<p>Some people are paid to gossip to large audiences. We call these
people <em>journalists</em>, and it is not always clear where they get their
"facts" as well as agendas.</p>
<p>The power of journalists (or at least the people giving them orders)
is huge— much of "citation" that goes on these days involves
trusting some news source as a primary sources and then assembling
derivative opinions from what is reported as "facts/true". Something
becomes "a thing" when it is baptized by XYZ News Network.</p>
<p>If you are very knowledgable (first-hand) of some topic—e.g.
chemistry, the Portuguese language, Sichuan cooking—consider how
the second-hand reporting of journalism often <em>gets stuff wrong</em> about
what you're saying. These same people that get stuff wrong about
things you are knowledgable about can surely be expected to get a lot
wrong about the facts of corrent events.</p>
<h3>Why local news is often better than national/global news</h3>
<p>Generally speaking, local news can be expected to do a more decent job
reporting on local events just as friends gossiping can be expected to
do a more decent job on reporting the this-and-thats of people they
are involved with everyday.</p>
<p>Local news may be expected to be produced by (literally) closer to
<em>the ground</em> people with a stake in how their communities turn out.
A local news outlet that is transparent about their biases (this could
even be a newsletter of a religious organization, hobby-centered club)
is even more trustworthy because <em>everyone has a bias</em> and to
recognize and announce this is praiseworthy honesty.</p>
<p>Those that claim to "only report the facts" or
something to that effect... are to be regarded with deep suspicion.
Same for news providers that claim to be unbiased.</p>
<h2>What happened to COVID-19?</h2>
<p>Social distancing effectively ends in many urban areas as masks become
a tools of anti-social rioting. The establishment (including rule of
law) is under seige from many independent actors, who may or may not
be getting their ideas from coordinated networks. </p>
<h3>Grabbing my tinfoil hat</h3>
<p>Insofar as gossip makes people do-nothing-ers, spreading destruction
rather than building stuff up, gossip is no good. However, as a means
of maintaining networks (which is a form of <em>building something up</em>),
gossip is very important for maintaining a network of <em>care</em>. People
gossip because they care.</p>
<p>Grand narratives about this-and-that "movement" in <em>national</em> news on
the other hand... maybe not so easy to trust. Regarding the ongoing riots
across the US, what is going on? Some ideas to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=false%20flag">False flag
operation</a>—could
be happening in many directions</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporting_bias">Reporting
bias</a>—could be
used to present one group favorably over another, in contrast to the
reality on the ground; e.g. portraying HK looters as heroic one day
while demonizing looters in America the next</li>
<li>"Reposting"—some ideas can just get "memed" into credibility
by being repeated enough times; an example of linguists complaining
about this is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/there-really-are-50-eskimo-words-for-snow/2013/01/14/e0e3f4e0-59a0-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html">"Eskimo Snow
Hoax"</a>;
if some idea gets repeated enough, it <em>must be responded to</em> by
people who want to appear "in the know" about some topic</li>
</ul>
<p>Professional gossipers must inform people on what is not immediately
to them from observation, and in doing so convince them to act
according to their own grand agendas. The counter to being influenced
by these narratives is to have (free) conversations with people you
care about, establishing trust and building up a reputation with those
around you. "Put your money where your mouth is"—tell your
friend that talks about this-and-that financial deal but never actualy
commits action to any of their opinions to shut up and go rake leaves
or something.</p>
<h3>no u</h3>
<p>Personally, I don't do that much gossip and I don't think I would be
particularly good at it if I tried—I'd probably end up arm-chair
philosophizing and pscyhologizing rather than saying anything of
substance. Nonetheless, I will typically prefer to listen to other
people gossip than hear them regurgitate stories they heard from
mainstream news outlets or repeat headlines of articles they browsed
on the Internet.</p>
<p>News doesn't need to come from a "news outlet". Likewise, food doesn't
need to come from a restaurant (you can get it at a market and cook,
you can grow your own...). Your friends have stories—Amazon
doesn't have a monopoly on story dispensing. You can organize your own
personal library and bookmarks rather than trusting Google to page
rank things.</p>
<p>In the 21st century, many people—especially urban
dwellers—are conditioned to drink the Establishment Soylent day
in and day out. Let us all try instead to listen to one another and
heighten our powers of observation, then turn to third parties of
dubious trust for additional input.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I took a day off on Sunday; started writing this then, finished
on Monday. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 252020-05-30T00:00:00-07:002020-05-30T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-30:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-25.html<p>There is escalating civil unrest across many cities in America today.
Cities—as have been mentioned on this blog—are sites where
the intoxication of words and the influence of mass media are
strongest. Cities are where people are free to live in abstractions,
not answering to the challenges (and …</p><p>There is escalating civil unrest across many cities in America today.
Cities—as have been mentioned on this blog—are sites where
the intoxication of words and the influence of mass media are
strongest. Cities are where people are free to live in abstractions,
not answering to the challenges (and truth) of the natural world.
Cities are often where people go to get money—but oftentimes
that money comes at the price of losing touch with reality.</p>
<h2>Greeks and Romans</h2>
<p>I'm reading some stuff about Greeks and Romans. Recall that Romans
came after the Greeks and adapted many elements of Greek
cultures. However, Romans in many ways were practically-minded and
scheming politicians—skilled in agrarian and military
things—rather than idle philosophers and poets. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Living in a suburb, I am glad that I have at least some connection
with the "natural world" beyond the concrete jungle of a city. I have
access to a yard and some nice streets to pace around on as well...</p>
<p>I wish more people could just take some time off and go hiking in the
mountains or something. Breath in the nice mountain air... struggle
and be out of breath facing a natural barrier (e.g. gravity and slope
of a mountain) rather than constructing ideological enemies...</p>
<h2>SpaceX Rocket Launch</h2>
<p>In the USA today also, we got a SpaceX rocket launch. What a nice,
positive thing for all sorts of people to celebrate.</p>
<p>If you are getting too political, I advise you to shut up and learn
some technical skills and improve relationships with the people around
you. Upon doing that, you can use your big brane to make the world a
better place through organizing labor and developing better ways to do
things and you will have fun with friends/family while you're at it. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>There is a lot more research for me to do here, but this is the
general pattern as I understand it. Greeks had a lot more
plurality/diversity in the form of many city states... Romans did
more empire building. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Most people I know who are "overly political" in my opinion are
left-leaning folks pushed into constant angst by the legacy media.
There are some right-leaning people that are similarly "overly
political" in the sense that they want to implement their morality
into law... My personal opinion is that we should de-escalate
state power to the best of our ability such that there is no giant
gun lying on the floor for various political actors to wrestle
over. Insofar as the power of the state grows, so the potential
destruction your political opposition can wield increases. Let's
"de-escalate" and chill out, allowing decentralized progress and
peace. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 242020-05-29T00:00:00-07:002020-05-29T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-29:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-24.html<p>Over the past decade or so with the rise of big tech and social media,
we're seeing arbitrary standard being put into place about what we can
and cannot say. I will not belabor the point of tech censorship, but
instead I will focus on how groups in power are …</p><p>Over the past decade or so with the rise of big tech and social media,
we're seeing arbitrary standard being put into place about what we can
and cannot say. I will not belabor the point of tech censorship, but
instead I will focus on how groups in power are allowed to talk about
whatever they want while simultaneously silencing other groups under
the pretense of terms like "hate speech". This essay is about how
certain groups are allowed to talk about politics as much as they want
while shutting down opposition. <sup id="fnref:0"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:0">1</a></sup></p>
<p>Note that I haven't looked at the Trump executive media
this-or-that—my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_efficacy"><strong>political
efficacy</strong></a> is
pretty low, so I tend to be pretty stoic about political matters. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">2</a></sup>
I will not discuss the specifics of some law/policy.</p>
<p>What follows is thus... just an analysis. I'm not trying to win your
vote or anything nor do I demand you to participate in some revolution
or change your Facebook profile picture.</p>
<h2>It's okay to talk about XYZ, as long as you agree with me</h2>
<p>In the mainstream media (including social media, where this content is
often aggregated), we see ample "discussions" of all of the following
things:</p>
<ul>
<li>race</li>
<li>gender</li>
<li>social classes</li>
<li>geopolitics (e.g. Hong Kong action; bad guy China)</li>
</ul>
<p>All of these things are discussed openly, but certain positions are
not allowed to be articulated. This is the 1984/fake
news/etc. "matrix" of <em>controlled opposition</em>. You are free to move
about in the same way as a train on tracks.</p>
<p>For instance, you can say Latinx female and non-binary individuals are
the target of oppression by you-know-who, so we need to allow for XYZ
in the name of human rights. However, if you were to create an exposé
on Latino (or some other Officially Oppressed ™ group) on East Asian
violence, you would probably get chased off social media by angry
mobs, unless all your friends happen to be Nazis. They would tell
<em>you</em> that you-know-who just wants to divide <strong>People of Color ™</strong> to
keep them oppressed.</p>
<p>You may be forgiven if you say that you mis-spoke and that what you
<em>really</em> meant was that XYZ aliens in such and such fictional universe
have legitimate greviances against ABC aliens. Talking about
"nerd/geek" stuff like... the Marvel universe or Harry Potter or
something, you can see how all sorts of <em>ideas</em> can be
discussed—but only in fictional worlds and the abstract. It is
okay to talk about politics as long as you fall into line with current
political actors.</p>
<p>The main point here is that there are certain narratives—which
may be <em>very political</em> in the sense that they're about how force is
used to change how people interact with another—which are
perfectly okay to talk about at the dinner tables of many "nice
people". They have no problem with you talking about politics as long
as you agree with them. What there is a problem with is <em>disagreement</em>
or lack of obedience—e.g. refusal to regurgitate <em>talking
points</em>.</p>
<p>And so, mantras of social alignment are repeated so that people can
signal which groups they belong to.</p>
<h3>So are you telling me that group XYZ are actually in power?</h3>
<p>Yes, and no... You can imagine how different groups can win/lose the
favor of a ruling elite. For instance, the US government may prop up
Taiwan's KMT party one day and then later decide that they are corrupt
and "anti-democracy" and switch support to another group.</p>
<p>I haven't read much about what has been going on with ISIS and Syria
and all that, but I imagine studying that region or Latin America
would give some historical backing to the above claim.</p>
<p>What I'm saying is that if you have a strong opinion about some
situation, e.g. the following issues,</p>
<ul>
<li>Free Tibet</li>
<li>Free Hong Kong</li>
<li>Cuban communism is not even that bad</li>
<li>Russia wants the worse for the US</li>
<li>Japan needs more immigration because of an aging population</li>
<li>Catholicism needs to reform for the 21st century</li>
<li>Christianity needs to "return to its fundamentals"</li>
<li>Islam is "a religion of peace" (conversely, "Islam is the worst
thing that has happened to the world since electric (non-gas)
stoves")</li>
</ul>
<p>...you may have been pressured by all sorts of top-down planning to
arrive at your conclusion. That's <em>okay</em>, but I urge you to consider
again hopping onto some political movement so as to not become
somebody else's "useful idiot".</p>
<p>It is fine to just say "I don't know enough about XYZ to form an
opinion" or even "I don't think the government should legislate on
ABC". When the time comes to have "skin in the game" and vote with our
feet/dollars, people <em>will make political decisions</em>. </p>
<h3>Our tech overlords, tagged data sets</h3>
<p>Our silicon valley tech-utopian overlords would like us to tag and
label ourselves in all sorts of ways. This is how "machine learning"
and "big data" works. People create data by expressing choices among a
small set of discrete options.</p>
<p>Once you come up with some "classification task", you can sort
desirable versus undesirable thinking. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">3</a></sup></p>
<p>Note that voting and democracy often works in a similar way. What we
are getting is a kind of automatic voting through opinion expressing
for our technocratic oligarchs to push their transhumanist ideals
incrementally on the unsuspecting consoomer masses.</p>
<h2>Hiding in my text editor</h2>
<p>The past month or so, I've largely turned to arcane technical things
for personal development, entertainment, and network formation. <sup id="fnref2:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">3</a></sup>
Even talking about stuff like popular entertainment can get pretty
political pretty fast as talk about such-and-such discrimination
here-and-there and under/over representation this-and-that is often
the analysis of professional opinion-expressers. <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">4</a></sup></p>
<p>At a certain point, <em>many people don't want to be political</em>—by
this I mean, we want to just go about our days <em>not</em> talking about how
groups leverage government (force) to accomplish their end-goals.
There are other things to use language for such as: displaying
affection towards one another, composing music and poetry, solving
difficult technical problems, learning the names of things
(e.g. muscle groups for sports training or drawing anime)</p>
<p>What I present here is thus a rant about how normal people get nudged
into pushing politics to everything and how <em>we have a choice to be
less political</em> by actively recognizing the double-standards applied
to "political speech" of all sorts.</p>
<p>Most of the time I don't talk about politics... but when I do, I'd
rather hear most people reason abstractly about Starwars (omg light
side vs dark side) than talk about some not-so-well understood "facts"
reported from halfway across the globe.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:0">
<p>You know who is in power by what you aren't allowed to say. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:0" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Muh politics lean libertarian (not too far from <em>liberal</em>) which
means I want minimally state intervention. I am <em>not</em> a globalist
in that I think we should have different nations pursuing
different policies and that we can't expect "free trade" and stuff
like that from political actors (states) playing by waaaay
different rules. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>See this video of a Twitter employee <a href="https://streamable.com/8frppe">talking about censoring
that platform.</a> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a><a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref2:2" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>The world of software is not free from this either; see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NJIj47Tusw">"Keep
Politics out of
Technology!"</a> by Luke
Smith, Our Prophet of Non-Bloat. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>Other "normal" interests like cooking, playing music, etc. are
great too. If you choose a rather obscure interest (e.g. some old
programing language) you may be more likely to meet people who
have explored similar ideas to you or have similar personalities <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 232020-05-28T00:00:00-07:002020-05-28T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-28:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-23.html<p>Civil unrest escalates in the United States. In many quiet corners of
the country, no change is visible. But in other
areas—particularly those with large numbers of urban poor
people—things are looking increasingly bad.</p>
<p>COVID-19 is still in the news, but it is more and more often
<em>backgrounded …</em></p><p>Civil unrest escalates in the United States. In many quiet corners of
the country, no change is visible. But in other
areas—particularly those with large numbers of urban poor
people—things are looking increasingly bad.</p>
<p>COVID-19 is still in the news, but it is more and more often
<em>backgrounded</em> to other happenings. People of all sorts are waiting
for the "green light" from policy makers—patients in need of
treatment, businesses in need of customers, programers in need of
Vitamin D... <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<p>I pop open a can of Campbell's Chicken noodle soup and heat it over
the stove. I toss in some frozen peas for a nutritional boost, and
munch on a couple of carrots in the fridge while I wait for the soup
to heat up. I pace around the shade in my backyard a bit; the summer
heat is getting intense such that walking barefoot on the
concrete/stone would hurt. Some sad doggo is getting walked on these
hot surfaces as I write this, I'm sure.</p>
<p>I meditate upon the most recent Luke Smith video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5UEuWMlqRI">"Enjoy the
Cyberpunk Dystopia of Proprietary
Software!"</a>. Yes, in
many ways we <em>are already living in a cyberpunk dystopia</em>. My matrix
portal machines (Windows PCs) hum in the background as I type here on
using a fancy <a href="http://xahlee.info/kbd/ergonomic_keyboards_index.html">"batman"
keyboard</a> on an
older machine. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>For most of the day, I hover among a handful of computers, none of
them bought as new, "state of the art" devices. I have a bunch of
monitors, of which two I had purchased and the rest I got for free
somehow. The machines I am using are not limiting me; it is my own
ability and organization that prevents me from doing
better—locked indoors with these devices, some useful books and
reference materials, ...I'd probably emerge into the light as a more
skilled computer user than before.</p>
<p>It is often a difficult path to do this—to go to the wilderness
away from the familiar and comfortable. Wandering in the desert is a
path that some have the luxury of choosing; perhaps more often than
not, it is a place where people just <em>end up</em>.</p>
<p>Whereas <em>the jungle</em> is a place filled with disease, things to kill
you, life forms all over... the desert is a relatively sterile place.
The desert feels <em>solitary</em>—rather than having too much life all
around and being fearful of what might eat you, the desert presents
many mechanical, inorganic challenges.</p>
<p>COVID-19 has made many <em>cyberpunk dystopia jungles</em>. There are eyes
(and apps) everywhere <em>watching</em>. Some neighbors stand by ready to
report rule breakers. Signs and slogans abound like the colors of
poisonous animals warning potential predators away. People develop
venom and fangs, wings to jump between trees, and/or thick skin. Life
is everywhere, but the form it is taking is not that of a fluffy
housecat. It is a ginormous puma lunging at your throat, a school of
piranha ready to devour whatever falls into the water, a bat (which
probably shouldn't be eaten in a soup)...</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Read <a href="https://www.marksdailyapple.com/sun/">"The Definitive Guide to Sun
Exposure"</a> by Mark Sisson <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>A laptop, now over a decade old. It has a keyboard that doesn't
work and its battery does almost nothing, but it is a fine
"desktop substitute" running Linux. 4 GB of RAM is enough for me
(I might even be able to do with just 2GB...) to do basic writing,
web browsing, programing, etc. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 222020-05-27T00:00:00-07:002020-05-27T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-27:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-22.html<p>In today's blog post, I'm just going to ramble loosely around the
theme of "abstractions and reality". Gotta keep up momentum writing
stuff, even if some pieces are much better than others...</p>
<h2>Getting humans into outer space</h2>
<p>Today SpaceX didn't get to launch a manned spacecraft into orbit
because the …</p><p>In today's blog post, I'm just going to ramble loosely around the
theme of "abstractions and reality". Gotta keep up momentum writing
stuff, even if some pieces are much better than others...</p>
<h2>Getting humans into outer space</h2>
<p>Today SpaceX didn't get to launch a manned spacecraft into orbit
because the weather conditions didn't permit it. Conditions for
safe/successful flight were not met, so this launch was held off.</p>
<p>Stuff like <em>the weather</em> will always be with us; water, wind, sunlight
etc.—sometimes, from our cities with climate control we can
largely abstract these things away and turn our attention to other
education, entertainment, and everything in between.</p>
<p>However, when faced with a <em>very physically challenging task</em>, like
getting humans into space—well we must answer reality again. We
can control the weather in our living spaces to a large degree, but
we can't climate control the entire observable universe.</p>
<h2>Policy, Software, Law...</h2>
<p>Much of the order imposed on the world is through human "layers of
abstraction". If you learn a lot about how some policy works, some
software application works, or some law works, you learn about a
particular <em>human-created configuration</em> for things, which is
different from learning about the weather or biology.</p>
<p>Placed on a desert island and forced to survive with only a hatchet or
something... what help does knowledge of California law, Photoshop, or
your health insurance policy provide you? Insofar as these things
help; you recognize useful categories in the world and train skills in
reckoning with reality, they are useful. Beyond that, they are
<em>locally valuable</em> (only) in the sense that they can help you in a
particular time and place because people have decided to place value
on them, but this scope of worth does not extend to the metaphorical
desert island.</p>
<p>The computer programer without a computer may have some skills to
systematize operations and get things up and running efficiently. But
this person's specialized skills in keyboarding, hardware
this-and-that esoteric knowledge, idiosyncratic know-how about
such-and-such programing language or library—these things are
taken away.</p>
<p>However, skills in something abstract/fuzzy like "critical thinking"
or "problem solving" need concrete applications to be trained. This is
an (obvious?) reason why it isn't stupid to acquire a lot of
specialized knowledge, because it is in succeeding in some domain
(even human-created) that we train a more general fitness. </p>
<h2>California continues opening up</h2>
<p>The Season of COVID-19 has brought in a new "local scope" of altered
social norms. Health care workers got a boost in prestige. "Conspiracy
thinking" got extra-demonized as media companies (including primarily
Internet-based ones) chose dug into their ideological/geopolitical
trenches. Some relatively introverted people have been having a really
great time while some tortured extroverts have turned to committing
misdemeanors to keep themselves from punching holes in walls. </p>
<p>Through all of this, I see the "reality" (or <em>biology</em>) of the whole
COVID-19 situation is still far from clear/resolved.</p>
<p>Among other reasons, this is why I have focused in this blog on <em>what
I'm thinking</em>, <em>pscyhologizing</em>, and <em>speculating</em> rather than trying
to tell you all <em>the facts</em> about what is going on. I still think we
don't know much; though, I think that many of the ideas I've been
writing about here have been useful to me navigating these difficult
times.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 212020-05-26T00:00:00-07:002020-05-26T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-26:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-21.html<p>In the season of COVID-19, many people are struggling with "keeping
occupied" or fighting boredom.</p>
<p>Taking a look back at bygone eras in faraway lands, we can study
activities that people <em>spent a lot of time on</em> for some guidance on
how to handle these difficult times.</p>
<p>In short, I …</p><p>In the season of COVID-19, many people are struggling with "keeping
occupied" or fighting boredom.</p>
<p>Taking a look back at bygone eras in faraway lands, we can study
activities that people <em>spent a lot of time on</em> for some guidance on
how to handle these difficult times.</p>
<p>In short, I will argue that idle time is well-spent in <em>memorizing
things</em>, whether this is technical/know-how things or cultural stuff
(e.g. a musical piece, scriptures/texts). By training our attention to
reproduce patterns of value we can find "internal stimulus"
(i.e. <em>motivation</em>) to act with purpose wherever we happen to find
ourselves.</p>
<h2>The "Work/Life Balance" Concept</h2>
<p>In the Western paid-by-the-hour or salaried systems of working, many
of us have a fairly distinguished "on/off the job" mentality such that
we get ideas like <em>seeking a <strong>work/life balance</strong></em>. <sup id="fnref:0"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:0">1</a></sup> It seems
that for most people, most of the time, such a strong distinction did
not exist; indeed people lived without clocks and stressful time
keeping for most of history. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">2</a></sup> </p>
<p>Events other than mechanical hands pointing to integers set the rhythm
of life. For instance, farmers worked according to seasons; craftsmen
had clear objectives of what they were doing—this was their
trade. In Ecclesiastes, we read:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under
the heaven:</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)</p>
<p>"Time management" was not a problem that most people faced because
they either faced coercion (people telling them what to do) or
necessities for survival were evident enough. There may be "local
boredom" within doing some monotonous task, but the "tyranny of
choice" was less apparent because there were other forms of tyranny to
be reckoned with.</p>
<p>The season of COVID-19 is challenging for many people because, among
other reasons, external stimuli signalling time intervals for
this-and-that are absent. While schools would have bells and clocks
and short periods of time to shuffle between classes, such structures
are absent in most people's remote setups. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">3</a></sup></p>
<h3>Times of Waiting: The "Four Arts"</h3>
<p>We have ample examples of people enjoying leisure time as well as
filling in long hours during periods. Today, I'll be talking about
Chinese aristocrats who had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_arts">four favorite
activities</a>: 琴棋书画 <em>qín qí
shū huà</em> "musical instruments, chess, calligraphy, and painting". <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">4</a></sup></p>
<p>One common thread among all of these activities is that they were all
<em>culturally valued</em> and that they <em>indirectly trained abilities useful
elsewhere</em>.</p>
<p>The <em>qín</em> "musical instrument" refers to a stringed instrument,
typically played as a solo instrument. The Chinese word for <em>piano</em>
uses this same character: 钢琴 <em>gāngqín</em>—in many ways the
Western classical music tradition jives well with Chinese interest in
mastering dealing with instrumental complexity (often as a soloist).
As with any other instrument (but particularly instruments used as
"solo instruments"), playing <em>qín</em> required lots of practice and
study; memorizing a piece and then executing it well requires training
both hands and ears through many hours of concentrated practice.</p>
<p>Similar remarks may be made for chess playing. Good chess players do
not just play once or twice when they are bored—they remember
what did and didn't work from previous games they have played (and so
good players will play <em>a lot</em> of games). Nowadays, anybody who wants
to get serious at a strategy game of any sort (including online video
games) will have to memorize certain "openings" (including "item
builds" etc. in video games).</p>
<p>Calligraphy is not just about reproducing words, but reproducing words
<em>in a particular way</em>. To do calligraphy is to engage cultural
tradition, not just to make stuff "look pretty" or to go for "pure
functionality" (as some nerds may be predisposed to try). To do
calligraphy necessarily means looking beyond one's own likes and
engaging a literary heritage.</p>
<p>Finally there is painting; painting requires training find observation
skills and finding the "essence" of things—Chinese brush
painting also takes an exceptional amount of dexterity because there
is no easy "undo" button for ink committed to paper. Speed of
execution is important to capture a bird flying away...</p>
<p>A bored Chinese aristocrat would be better advised to engage seriously
in one of these activities rather than giving into vices like
drunkedness or disturbing the Confucian peace. When one grew weary of
any one of these, they knew of another art to pursue... While one
might specialize or have a favorite among the arts, learning to
appreciate all four of these can easily fill a lifetime.</p>
<h3>Modern Times</h3>
<p>Nowadays, we'll call the modern equivalents of many of the
aforementioned activities "entertainment" or "hobbies"—if they
happen to be prestigious or practical, we might call them "education"
or "training". <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">5</a></sup></p>
<p>We still have musical instruments; that connection is plain to see.
There are more applications for <em>qí</em> "strategy games"; for instance
one may regard computer programing as a kind of battle against a
compiler/interpreter. I think that many video games—insofar as
they are appreciated by society—are similar to <em>qín</em> and <em>qí</em> in
that they demand dexterity of the fingers as well as a strategic mind
to well. Most of us come from different traditions than Chinese
aristocrats, however we all have culturally important things to
copy, memorize and reproduce; we likewise have documents to compose.</p>
<p>Here, exercising the "blog format" I may regard myself as a modern
practitioner of a kind of <em>shū</em> "calligraphy". There is a small
technical element here (setting up a website, typing, etc.) comparable
to understanding the fundamental technical requirements of doing
calligraphy. Much of the challenge, however, comes from words and
meanings not the form alone.</p>
<p>With regards to <em>huà</em> "painting", there are many, many avenues these
days for expression in the graphic arts. On the one hand, we have
traditional painting, street sketching, photography, etc. to reproduce
what we already see in reality. Then, we have 3D modelling, digital
painting, etc. to create new images the world has yet to see.</p>
<h2>Time and Memory</h2>
<p>Each of the "Four Arts" involves devoting lots of time and energy to
memorization of some sort. To be able to do something reflectively,
without slow deliberation, we must be trained in <em>how to arrive at
that information quickly</em>; most quickly is through our minds. <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">6</a></sup> The
artist that is pushing to improve in their arts is not bored because
they have skills to train, topics to research, and performances to
give.</p>
<p>In this era of information overload, I think much of our challenge as
modern people is to select among many options and choose a managable
number of things that we want to obtain advanced proficiency
in. Nobody has time to be good at everything, but developing strong
skills in a handful of activities is a great way to both (1) dispell
boredom, and (2) become more effective at acting in "the real world"
outside of that activity.</p>
<p>Developing these skills involves remembering patterns, and memorizing
stuff takes time. However, when we have more things memorized, we are
<em>always free to think and create</em> regardless if our smartphones are
plugged in. We can spontaneously enjoy one another's company <em>without
worrying about whether such-and-such playlist will load and if there
will be ads</em>. We are free from privacy concerns because we are not
entering things into Google's search engine through Microsoft's
operating systems.</p>
<p>So, there you have it. How Chinese aristocrats beat boredom <em>and</em> big
brother. Amazing!</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:0">
<p>Entrepreneurs and other businesspeople, stay-at-home parents,
performers, freelancers, and freeloaders all have their own
strategies for transcending the "work/life" duality <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:0" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I recall that precise time keeping really started getting
important for maintaining train schedules, so trains wouldn't hit
each other. Maybe this is just for going across time zones. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>The most organized among us can cleverly set up systems either
of their own design or modeled on their previous
workflow—but this cannot be expected of most people... <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>One could get picky about how to translate each of the
characters of the "four arts"; for the purposes of this essay it
is not so important; also, thank you Amanda C for pointing out
that there also <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Arts">Six Arts</a>
as the basis of (Confucian) education from the Zhou dynasty
onward. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>c.f. the term <strong>NEET</strong>, which stands for <em>not</em> employed, in
education, or in training <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>Until we become cyborgs, get neurolink or whatevers <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 6 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 202020-05-25T00:00:00-07:002020-05-25T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-25:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-20.html<p>Today I spent some time shuffling around items to prepare for the
summer heat. Arrangements of stuff that may be comfortable in cooler
times may be unpleasant in hotter times. Adjusting stuff with changing
seasons venerable behavior with a history older than air conditioning.</p>
<h2>Seasonal Adjustments</h2>
<p>Life on earth often …</p><p>Today I spent some time shuffling around items to prepare for the
summer heat. Arrangements of stuff that may be comfortable in cooler
times may be unpleasant in hotter times. Adjusting stuff with changing
seasons venerable behavior with a history older than air conditioning.</p>
<h2>Seasonal Adjustments</h2>
<p>Life on earth often revolves around <em>seasons</em> of some sort. Often, we
hear about <em>four seasons</em> from cultures of temperate climates <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>, but
people in other climates may talk about a "wet season" and a "dry
season" instead. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>To look at strategies for "beating the heat" we can turn to cultures
of hot weather places. Consider the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djellaba"><em>djellaba</em></a> of Northern
Africa—a "long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe with full
sleeves" (Wikip). This article of clothing is simultaneously cool (by
virtue of being loose-fitting) and offers some sun protection (through
having long sleeves, a baggy hood to protect from sun and sand blown
by strong desert winds).</p>
<h3>The human/cultural world</h3>
<p>Seasons apply not just to what plants you can grow and staying alive,
but also to fashion, marketing, and other urban activities.</p>
<p>In many ways, we are experiencing a <em>special COVID-19</em> season. The way
we dress/act/operate is responding to a change in the environment.
All of this is "cultural" in the sense that relatively few people are
directly influenced by the <em>biololgy</em> of COVID-19 directly, though
"seasonal talk" is buzzing with people figuring out what "the new
normal" is.</p>
<h3>Seasons of Solitude</h3>
<p>With the Internet and stuff, COVID-19 is a new thing. But the ideas of
<em>isolation</em> and <em>solitude</em> and <em>quarantine</em> are not new ideas. We can
learn about how humans have dealt with these things in the past by
studying documents from hundreds of years ago.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>In East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) there is lots of talk about
seasons; many Chinese things are named variations of "four
seasons" in English. A Japanese stereotype is to be "in touch with
nature", doing stuff like writing sensitive haikus about the
changing seasons. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>I will need to do some more research on different cultures' treatments
of seasons. Future blog posts on this maybe... <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Creating a swap file2020-05-25T00:00:00-07:002020-05-25T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-25:/pelican-test/creating-a-swap-file.html<p>Using old hardware, having <strong>swap</strong> space in addition to RAM can make your
computer operate more smoothly.</p>
<h2>From a fresh 'buntu Install</h2>
<p>After a fresh Lubuntu on an old machine (with only 2 GB of RAM), I followed the
directions on <a href="https://support.rackspace.com/how-to/create-a-linux-swap-file/">"Create a Linux swap
file"</a>
(Rackspace 2018) to create …</p><p>Using old hardware, having <strong>swap</strong> space in addition to RAM can make your
computer operate more smoothly.</p>
<h2>From a fresh 'buntu Install</h2>
<p>After a fresh Lubuntu on an old machine (with only 2 GB of RAM), I followed the
directions on <a href="https://support.rackspace.com/how-to/create-a-linux-swap-file/">"Create a Linux swap
file"</a>
(Rackspace 2018) to create a swap file <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>You can use the <code>htop</code> command to see a summary of the processes running on
your computer in addition to CPU and memory usage.</p>
<h2>On Arch Linux</h2>
<p>Just check the Arch Wiki for the latest instrtuctions. I blindly followed the
directions above for Ubuntu and it didn't quite work.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Remember that Linux distributions are for the most part just bundled
software and default configurations. Choosing Ubuntu (or some 'buntu
"flavor") is an easy way to get a widely documented default setup going. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 192020-05-23T00:00:00-07:002020-05-23T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-23:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-19.html<p>This is a "long weekend" for many Americans as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day">Memorial
Day</a>, which is observed on
the last Monday of the month of May. There will be fewer picnics and
barbecues this year as policies in response to COVID-19 are still in
place. Law abiding citizens have still not recieved "the …</p><p>This is a "long weekend" for many Americans as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day">Memorial
Day</a>, which is observed on
the last Monday of the month of May. There will be fewer picnics and
barbecues this year as policies in response to COVID-19 are still in
place. Law abiding citizens have still not recieved "the green light"
to go and spend time with family and friends.</p>
<h2>End of Days</h2>
<p>For many people, this "three day weekend" is no different from
weekdays or normal weekends. Work, social life, etc. means the same
sort of <em>physical</em> thing—waiting at home for some policy to give
options for <em>actively making things better</em>. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup> There are economic
limits to how much people can take; insofar as our current way of
doing money/economy operates in basically the same, we are witnessing
widespread strain—perhaps threat of collapse in some places. <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup></p>
<p>Many scheduled things are still in place; businesses, schools, and
other organizations are doing what they can to honor
contracts—delivering content online, following by phone,
etc. However, for many, the concept of "days" erodes as they "are just
waiting for all of this to end". The obedient and the conservative
wait; meanwhile many people move out to "test the waters" of the
re-opening world. Where I live now (Sacramento, CA), it seems that
"the flu times two" has been overestimated... <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>The response of many people is to return to daily life as much as
policy permits. Walking outside, I see groups of people (probably not
from the same household). People waiting for take out food stand
apart, but it seems they are honoring "personal space" more so than
"social distancing". In other non-COVID times they wouldn't be
getting close and cozy with each other.</p>
<p>I maintain my schedule as usual, as much as I previously had a
schedule. Sometimes I try to add more schedule/structure than I used
to—actively trying to structure my time more to squeeze out some
extra productivity. I suspect others are doing the same. Going out to
walk/jog, I see lots of routine-governed-looking people walking dogs
and stuff so I think I'm not alone in this.</p>
<h2>The Next Reaction</h2>
<p>How will stuff proceed from here? As expressed in <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-6.html">Part
6</a>
of my Corona Virus Diary, I think that we will <em>not see a "universal
vaccine"</em>. Without a decisively helpful medical thing, I think that
the next events people will need to respond to will primarily be
dealing with policies of various "stages" of re-opening.</p>
<p>Insofar as economic activity seems to be recovering, politicians will
be eager to take credit for stuff going well and will encourage
additional re-opening. Insofar as COVID-19 seems to be a scary
disease, we'll see conservative measures of keeping stuff shut
down—politicians don't want to be credited for being heartless,
death reapers overseeing the disaster for economic gain. </p>
<p>Rather than seeing a shift towards <em>more</em> digital stuff, I think that
this COVID-19 situation has reminded many people of how important the
face-to-face interaction aspect of school/business/etc. is—I
predict many people explicitly choosing <em>human</em> options when possible,
especially after this stuff fizzles out.</p>
<p>I think that COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on "trusting of
experts"; people from all sorts of political camps have seen how
money, influence, etc. has pushed the sort of narratives that various
actors and organizations promote. Maybe in another post I'll further
discuss my thoughts on how perceptions of "globalism" are
changing... Let it suffice to say for now that many students' study
abroad plans have effectively been trashed by Corona-chan.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Vaccine? OK from government to re-open? Celebrating health care
workers is easy from the comfort of my home with finances going
alright—for those getting economically smacked down, living
vicariously through celebrating people "doing the right thing" in
cute/fun YouTube videos isn't so viable as rent is due <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Examples of alternate moneys/economies include people who have
food/shelter/"money" that don't depend on the US dollar (thinking
about things from an American perspective here; same analysis can
probably be generalized). There are ways to get food/shelter
besides using money, e.g. somebody in need staying over at a
friend's place or moving back in with family. Here, <em>social
capital</em> and a reputation of being an agreeable, respectful person
pays more than capitalistic ambition. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>The term expression "flu times two" (or some other <em>N</em>) implies
that this whole COVID-19 thing <em>is</em> worse than a "normal" flu
season, but probably not on the magnitude justifying the
scale of responses we've seen governments rolling out. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 182020-05-22T00:00:00-07:002020-05-22T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-22:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-18.html<p>Today's high will be 80 degrees Fahrenheit; by next Wednesday we will
have a high of 105 degrees Fahrenheit <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. Looks like stuff is
heating up! <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> As the summer heats rolls around, will people readily
accept the "new normal" of locked-in life as they wish to stay where
the …</p><p>Today's high will be 80 degrees Fahrenheit; by next Wednesday we will
have a high of 105 degrees Fahrenheit <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. Looks like stuff is
heating up! <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup> As the summer heats rolls around, will people readily
accept the "new normal" of locked-in life as they wish to stay where
the air conditioning is anyways?</p>
<p>To feel the heat is to be reminded of nature—the stuff that
civilization shields us from. To find a cold shower refreshing is to
re-create some of the experience of jumping into a refreshingly cool
lake.</p>
<p>Humans did not evolve to sit in ergonomic chairs for 8-ish hours a
day <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>; we are optimized to forage, to hunt, and to form groups (tribes).
When we are bored, we paint, make music, and play
sports/games. Through these activities, we learn to obey rules/norms,
respect our competition, and resolve conflicts. Also, we have fun.</p>
<p>By being clever with abstractions some of us can convince their bodies
that they are doing the aforementioned activities. Dueling with mind
power at work then going to an intense workout afterwords may be
sufficiently convince the body that one has planned and executed a
successful hunting expedition.</p>
<h2>No new news</h2>
<p>The above thoughts are not original; they have, for instance, been
(in)famously recorded in <em>Industrial Society and Its Future</em> by
Theodore "Uncle Ted" Kaczynski. <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup></p>
<p>In his chapter
<a href="http://xahlee.org/p/um/um-s06.html">"Surrogate Activities"</a>,
Kaczynski describes how some people are able to find fulfillment in
activities that aren't immediately useful to their survival like
hunting is,</p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>But not every leisured aristocrat becomes bored and
demoralized. For example, the emperor Hirohito, instead of
sinking into decadent hedonism, devoted himself to marine
biology, a field in which he became distinguished. When people
do not have to exert themselves to satisfy their physical needs
they often set up artificial goals for themselves. In many cases
they then pursue these goals with the same energy and emotional
involvement that they otherwise would have put into the search
for physical necessities...</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>During all this COVID-19 stuff, we'll see images/news
articles/etc. saying how "easy" it is just sit on the couch and "do
nothing" while such-and-such heroes solve this pandemic for us. Why
should anyone complain when they are being asked to do something so
simple?</p>
<p>Uncle Ted elaborates,</p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>In modern industrial society only minimal effort is necessary to
satisfy one's physical needs. It is enough to go through a
training program to acquire some petty technical skill, then
come to work on time and exert very modest effort needed to hold
a job. The only requirements are a moderate amount of
intelligence, and most of all, simple OBEDIENCE. If one has
those, society takes care of one from cradle to grave. (Yes,
there is an underclass that cannot take physical necessities for
granted, but we are speaking here of mainstream society.) Thus
it is not surprising that modern society is full of surrogate
activities. These include scientific work, athletic achievement,
humanitarian work, artistic and literary creation, climbing the
corporate ladder, acquisition of money and material goods far
beyond the point at which they cease to give any additional
physical satisfaction, and social activism when it addresses
issues that are not important for the activist personally, as in
the case of white activists who work for the rights of nonwhite
minorities. These are not always pure surrogate activities,
since for many people they may be motivated in part by needs
other than the need to have some goal to pursue...</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>What is happening for many people during lock-down is that they are
<em>doubly</em> locked-down. First, is the normal lock-down of socialization
(which involves turning natural instincts to surrogate
activities). Now, as many of these surrogate activities are taken
away, people are asked to... ...watch others doing surrogate
activities? Play video games to simulate some surrogate activities?</p>
<h2>Facing the heat</h2>
<p>Choosing to not turn on the AC is decisive step in <em>facing the
heat</em>—re-engaging "natural" human struggle. Most of us are not
farmers, hunters, and the like—we are deeply embedded in
industrial society. It is not difficult to imagine why this is very
difficult for those of us who are not particularly abstraction-adept,
introverted, obedient and/or already off the grid somewhere.</p>
<p>Actively choosing to face (physical) difficulties of various sorts is
a step towards re-engaging the human knack for problem solving,
community formation, etc. Problems with motivation are "irrational"
insofar as we uncritically believe the axioms handed down to us by
depressed happiness researchers.</p>
<p>Returning to slowly <em>observe</em> and learn from direct sensation rather
than words, words, and more words is a step towards reconnecting with
reality. If words are needed, texts at least 100 years old are
preferrable for wisdom, informally published stuff by laypeople (like
yours truly) is good fun for the "modern" stuff 😛</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Source: first Google result for Sacramento, CA (checked
5/22/2020) <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Remember that
<a href="https://onepunchman.fandom.com/wiki/Saitama">Saitama</a> <em>sensei</em>
taught us not to turn on the AC even when it gets hot. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>As <a href="https://www.overpass.co.uk/wall-e-chairs/">portrayed</a> in the
pixar Wall-E movie <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>The <a href="http://xahlee.org/p/um/um.html">complete text</a> of this is
available on xahlee.info with commentary. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 172020-05-21T00:00:00-07:002020-05-21T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-21:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-17.html<p>It is trashcan pickup day where I am, which means walking around
outside in circles is less pleasant. Sometimes I have to step off the
sidewalk or otherwise navigate around an obstructing
trashcan. Sometimes I have to move to dodge some stink. On top of
that, there are leaf blowers …</p><p>It is trashcan pickup day where I am, which means walking around
outside in circles is less pleasant. Sometimes I have to step off the
sidewalk or otherwise navigate around an obstructing
trashcan. Sometimes I have to move to dodge some stink. On top of
that, there are leaf blowers filling the morning peace with noise, a
person or two standing in the shadows possibly doing drugs...</p>
<p>Infrastructure exists; my city is still going. Otherwise, there would
be no trashcans out to be picked up. This much is nice.</p>
<p>I reach a bridge overlooking a freeway. The road doesn't look great
(trash and stuff around, some areas in need of repair), but its scale
is impressive—it vanishes into the horizon. If someone told you
that you had to run across the freeway, you might feel tired just
thinking about it. Cars move quickly because traffic is significantly
reduced during these COVID-19 times.</p>
<p>Near the freeway bridge is a train station. I don't really know who
uses this train <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>, but it is there and it is operational. Heaven
knows that there are people in other cities all over the place
petitioning for funds to be allocated to build a train. I like to pace
around on the train platform sometimes because there are no cars to
hit me there.</p>
<p>A rack for fancy bikes to rent stands empty <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. The past year or so
I rode these a few times; it was really fun to ride an
electric-assisted bike, especially when visiting Davis (about half an
hour or so from Sacramento; where I did grad school and still have
some contacts) so I wouldn't have to disassemble and bring my own
bicycle. Are these gone temporarily? Or will they be gone for good,
with skeletons of charging stations past littering these
semi-corporate streets?</p>
<p>The city is less strained under COVID-19 because overall there is less
movement. Like an exercise in fasting, the city itself is probably
"thankful" for the reduction in traffic. There is time to chill out,
to heal. City road work and stuff resumes (I've heard and seen it)
with less interrupting traffic. Some experimental things (like the
JUMP bikes) may or may not return; is this like trying alcohol during
college and then quitting afterwards?</p>
<p>I'm wearing a hat fit for a relaxed boomer barbecue paired with some
dark sunglasses (아저씨 패션); it is the season where looking shady is
the way to <em>not</em> get bothered. For this morning, I enjoy LARPing as an
industrialist surveying their city from the ground level rather from a
fancy VIP suite. The sober stillness of underused infrastructure is my
pacing ground, the gasoline motors of gardening power tools provide my
industrial soundtrack...</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Sacramento, CA; most people I know drive or ride bicycles most
of the time—maybe take the train for funzies once in a blue
moon <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Uber's Jump Bikes <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Practical Shell Scripting, Part 32020-05-21T00:00:00-07:002020-05-21T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-21:/pelican-test/practical-shell-scripting-part-3.html<p>In this post, we will introduce <code>xargs</code>, which allows you to pass in
arguments to a command via standard input.</p>
<p>For example, to do</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="nb">echo</span> <span class="s2">"</span><span class="nv">$HOME</span><span class="s2">"</span> <span class="p">|</span> xargs ls -la
</code></pre></div>
<p>is like doing</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>ls <span class="s2">"</span><span class="nv">$HOME</span><span class="s2">"</span> -la
</code></pre></div>
<p>We can think of <code>xargs</code> as a kind of "keyword" or "syntactic feature"
of shell …</p><p>In this post, we will introduce <code>xargs</code>, which allows you to pass in
arguments to a command via standard input.</p>
<p>For example, to do</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="nb">echo</span> <span class="s2">"</span><span class="nv">$HOME</span><span class="s2">"</span> <span class="p">|</span> xargs ls -la
</code></pre></div>
<p>is like doing</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>ls <span class="s2">"</span><span class="nv">$HOME</span><span class="s2">"</span> -la
</code></pre></div>
<p>We can think of <code>xargs</code> as a kind of "keyword" or "syntactic feature"
of shell scripting since it gives us a general mechanism for combining
the inputs and outputs of various commands.</p>
<h2>Use with <code>find</code></h2>
<p>The <code>-exec</code> option of <code>find</code> can be cumbersome to work with as your
commands get more complex. In this example, <code>find</code> is used to get text
files in the current directory, and then these files are passed to
<code>cat</code> (and then printed to standard output) using <code>xargs</code>.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>find . -maxdepth <span class="m">1</span> -type f -name <span class="s2">"*.txt"</span> <span class="p">|</span> xargs cat
</code></pre></div>
<p>Using various options of <code>find</code> we can pass different stuff to
<code>xargs</code>. Below, we find directories with names beginning with "Foo"
and use the <code>tree</code> command to print textual tree representations of
these. This might be useful for copy/pasting a directory
representation to quickly show a collaborator how some project is laid
out.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>find . -maxdepth <span class="m">1</span> -type d -name <span class="s2">"Foo*"</span> <span class="p">|</span> xargs tree
</code></pre></div>
<p>Using <code>find</code> together with <code>xargs</code> can be a useful pattern when you
have to repeat some action against on some files/directories that can
be found using parameters <code>find</code>.</p>
<h2>Storing Arguments in Text Files</h2>
<p>Using <code>xargs</code> we can run commands based on data stored in text
files. This can be very convenient for separating data from the logic
of some script.</p>
<p>Let's suppose you have some directory <code>media_to_consoom_later/</code>. Here,
you queue up YouTube links like,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>youtube.com/video1
youtube.com/video2
youtube.com/video3
</code></pre></div>
<p>...in a file called <code>youtube-videos.txt</code>. You have another video
called <code>youtube-music.txt</code> that follows the same format:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>youtube.com/track1
youtube.com/track2
youtube.com/track3
</code></pre></div>
<p>Using <code>xargs</code> you can quickly execute two commands to download all the
videos with one set of options and then all the music files with
another. Here is an example usage with the program <code>youtube-dl</code>, used
for downloading media off YouTube:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="c1"># No special options needed for video</span>
cat youtube-videos-day1.txt youtube-videos-day2.txt <span class="p">|</span> xargs youtube-dl
<span class="c1"># Use -x for 'extract audio'</span>
cat youtube-music.txt <span class="p">|</span> xargs youtube-dl -x
</code></pre></div>
<p>Storing lines like the ones above in a shell script file, you don't
have to remember all the flags/ettings for <code>youtube-dl</code>, and you can
just drop in text links in an intuitive way into the appropriate text
files.</p>
<p>This example too could be done with <code>find</code>, matching <code>-name</code> or some
other option as in,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="c1"># No special options needed for video</span>
find . -name <span class="s2">"youtube-videos*"</span> -type f <span class="p">|</span> xargs youtube-dl
</code></pre></div>
<p>What is cool here is that you can separate the more complicated part
of what you're doing (e.g. setting up some options with <code>find</code>;
reading some stuff from a file that may be created through a
complicated procedure) from a relatively simple command you want to
run (e.g. <code>youtube-dl</code>). Editing the <code>...| xargs <COMMAND></code> is not so
bad even if the stuff that comes before it is difficult to figure out
the first time.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 162020-05-20T00:00:00-07:002020-05-20T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-20:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-16.html<p>The morning air is refreshing—getting up and moving (location)
makes stuff feel better. Staying in the same room, even if doing
exercises like pushups and stuff, is not the same as using one's feet
to move about. The explainers of the world may speak of Vitamin D or
Serotonin …</p><p>The morning air is refreshing—getting up and moving (location)
makes stuff feel better. Staying in the same room, even if doing
exercises like pushups and stuff, is not the same as using one's feet
to move about. The explainers of the world may speak of Vitamin D or
Serotonin or all sorts of other things I do not understand—maybe
they are right. I do not feel like reading such-and-such scientific article
now; I walk outside because it is what I want to do. </p>
<p>Today I wear no mask and likewise do not walk near anyone. I just
wanna go for a walk. I don't want to have to think about such-and-such
rules. I just want to live and let live; can I just cherish some <em>muh
freedoms?</em></p>
<p>Today, no words are needed to explain why a walk is nice.</p>
<h2>A Word Governed World</h2>
<p>I recall visiting Tokyo, Japan. One thing that stood out to me was
that there were <em>words</em> everywhere, all the time. A door opens—</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Doa-ga akimasu</em><br>
"The door is opening"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>...a door closes...</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Doa-ga shimarimasu</em><br>
"The door is closing"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The verbiage was overwhelming. Words everywhere all the time, imposing
their model of the world into the minds of the city dwellers.</p>
<h3>Muh Roads</h3>
<p>In the novel IQ84, Haruki Murakami alludes to Anton Chekhov's
<em>Sakhalin Island</em> (1893-94) travel diary, describing a people group
who <em>have no need for roads</em>. Roads are important in a modern, urban
societies because we need things like addresses to ship stuff, flat
surfaces for large garbage trucks to roll over, and so on and so
forth. For a more "primitive" group of people, roads are not so
useful.</p>
<p>The trail runner may complain about how coating everything in concrete
destroys runners' knees.</p>
<h3>Muh Words</h3>
<p>In a similar way to how roads impose civil order on the ground,
<em>words</em> are used to impose civil order in our minds.</p>
<p>Before having words distinguishing such-and-such from this-and-that,
the distinctions may not be present in people's minds.</p>
<p>For instance, I hear many overseas Chinese people upset that
non-overseas Chinese laypeople do not understand distinctions like,</p>
<ul>
<li>American Born Chinese versus "China Chinese"</li>
<li>Taiwan vs China vs Hong Kong</li>
<li>Mandarin vs Cantonese</li>
</ul>
<p>These distinctions are clear to a person cultured into a particular
way; mislabeling could get you into a lot of trouble socially!</p>
<p>Yet to the South Asian living in the West, these issues may not be so
apparent. Overseas Chinese issues are just all <em>foreign</em>. Likewise,
most Overseas Chinese probably think very little of issues like,</p>
<ul>
<li>India vs Pakistan vs Bangladesh</li>
<li>Hindi vs Punjabi vs Marathi vs Gujarati...</li>
<li>Hindu vs Muslim vs Sikh...</li>
<li>North vs South Indian style cuisines</li>
</ul>
<p>Particular words and concepts are useful for particular contexts,
which are often culture specific. Trapped on a desert island with a
motley crew of people of diverse backgrounds, the utility of many of
these distinctions rapidly diminishes.</p>
<h2>The COVID-19 News Cycle Withdrawal</h2>
<p>As the COVID-19 situation continues, I am seeing more and more people
"checking out" of trying to keep up with news and stuff. Some of these
people are avid "media junkies" who pride themselves on their volume
of consumption and info-hoarding.</p>
<p>We were given words to describe this situation; do they have any
utility? Insofar as we follow basic directives to protect one
another, words can be useful. But at a certain point, more information
does nothing of utility; we are "locked-in" and made to follow rules.
People will just do what they do, so long as they do not get in
trouble.</p>
<p>And so, we cross streets freely when there are no cars even if it is
"jay walking" (a crime?!). What are the laws on this? Insofar as it
doesn't concern their safety, I think most people don't know. Until I
have to renew my driver's license or something again, I won't know
either.</p>Practical Shell Scripting, Part 22020-05-20T00:00:00-07:002020-05-20T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-20:/pelican-test/practical-shell-scripting-part-2.html<p>In this post I will discuss a relatively straightforward command:
<code>cat</code>. The <code>cat</code> command is used to <em>concatenate</em> files. So if I had
three files, I could do something like</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>cat file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
</code></pre></div>
<p>...and this would display the concatenated content of all these files
to standard …</p><p>In this post I will discuss a relatively straightforward command:
<code>cat</code>. The <code>cat</code> command is used to <em>concatenate</em> files. So if I had
three files, I could do something like</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>cat file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt
</code></pre></div>
<p>...and this would display the concatenated content of all these files
to standard output.</p>
<h2>A Common Beginner's Mistake</h2>
<p>Do not use <code>cat</code> with just a single file, piping to another program.
You should instead just use that single file as input to the program
you were piping to.</p>
<p>For example, rather than doing</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="c1"># Looking for where I talk about feelings in my_file.txt</span>
cat my_file.txt <span class="p">|</span> grep <span class="s2">"feelings"</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>...you should just do,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="c1"># Looking for where I talk about feelings in my_file.txt</span>
grep <span class="s2">"feelings"</span> my_file.txt
</code></pre></div>
<p>There are efficiency reasons for doing things this way, but most
importantly you don't want to look silly in front of scoffing
neckbeards.</p>
<h2>Some better uses of <code>cat</code></h2>
<p>There are lots of places where it is good to have <code>cat</code> around,
particularly where plain text files are being used—<code>cat</code>
probably won't be too useful manipulating images, dealing with audio
files, etc.</p>
<p>However, dealing with little chunks of human readable text (such as in
log files, short scripts, etc.) <code>cat</code> often comes in handy.</p>
<h3>Entering short amounts of text really quickly</h3>
<p>If you don't wanna open an editor, you can do</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>cat >> foo.txt <span class="c1"># Append text fo foo.txt</span>
cat > bar.txt <span class="c1"># Redirect (and replace) text fo bar.txt</span>
</code></pre></div>
<h3>Reading a bunch of stuff in <code>less</code></h3>
<p>To view/read mixed files on one screen, you can do something like,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>cat file1.txt file2.txt file3.py <span class="p">|</span> less
</code></pre></div>
<p>This could be useful for looking at a bunch of mixed/scattered
information in a directory at once, creating an on-the-fly "custom
view".</p>
<h2>Organizing with <code>cat</code> in mind</h2>
<p>In this post, we looked at <code>cat</code> which is not a terribly complicated
command.</p>
<p>If you can remember what <code>cat</code> does and also know when it is not so
useful, this is great! One less thing to look up!</p>
<p>Knowing that you have <code>cat</code> beside you and that you can likewise
expect it to available in nearly any UNIX environment you may find
yourself working in, you can create files knowing you might use <code>cat</code>
with them.</p>
<p>Suppose, for instance, you keep track of groceries to buy on in a
directory on your computer: <code>shopping/</code>. You might have a series of files:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>vegetables.txt</code></li>
<li><code>meat.txt</code></li>
<li><code>grains.txt</code></li>
</ul>
<p>When you run out of lettuce, you might do <code>echo "lettuce" >>
vegetables.txt</code> to quickly add an item to your TODO list.</p>
<p>You can view various combinations of these lists using,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>cat vegetables.txt meat.txt <span class="p">|</span> less
</code></pre></div>
<p>You can also use your shell's globbing functions with commands like
<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup></p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>cat *.txt <span class="c1"># hitting tab will autocomplete filenames</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>What you have with cat is a kind of duct tape to smash files together
in many ways; this allows you to create "dynamic views" of textual
content. Combined with tools like <code>less</code> (used for viewing text files
quickly) the possibilities are endless.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>This worked in <code>zsh</code>; didn't try elsewhere yet <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 152020-05-19T00:00:00-07:002020-05-19T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-19:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-15.html<p>Today's topic is <em>making progress learning technical skills</em>. By
"technical" here I am talking about skills where there is a clear,
measurable way to tell how some result is <em>better</em> or <em>worse</em>.</p>
<p>For instance, drawing realistically—or emulating the style of a
particular artist—may be viewed as a technical …</p><p>Today's topic is <em>making progress learning technical skills</em>. By
"technical" here I am talking about skills where there is a clear,
measurable way to tell how some result is <em>better</em> or <em>worse</em>.</p>
<p>For instance, drawing realistically—or emulating the style of a
particular artist—may be viewed as a technical skill. On the
other hand, evaluate "are these blog posts getting <em>better?</em>" is not
so easy <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. Technical skills are vital for creative expression
because they are the vehicle by which you can form and express
ideas. Weak technical skills means weak expressive capacity!</p>
<p>Here, I will introduce some ideas I have useful and give examples of
how I have applied these ideas. In this way, I will give a kind of
journal of some of successes and failures and remind myself of what
has(n't) worked for me; maybe it will be useful to you too or at least
fun to read ¯_(ツ)_/¯</p>
<h2>First, have projects</h2>
<p>"Projects" are some concrete goal you can work toward <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. Some projects
are very-well defined. For example, you may have goals to: </p>
<ul>
<li>Pay off student debt</li>
<li>Produce a painting a week for a year</li>
<li>Learn German to a conversational level before visiting Germany</li>
<li>Build a website for a friend</li>
<li>Re-establish contact with at least four friends over the next month</li>
</ul>
<p>Other things may be more abstract. Though, I think that if you can
<em>visualize</em> it, it can be a project. Can you imagine the "conditions
of success" for your project?</p>
<ul>
<li>Feel comfortable talking about XYZ—you probably have at least
<em>something</em> you feel comfortable talking about, e.g. your pet
cat. You can therefore conceptualize what it might <em>look</em> like to be
able to talk about some topic comfortably. You can see examples of
people doing such-and-such on YouTube and visualize yourself doing
the same</li>
<li>Improve your relationship with some family member/mutual
acquaintance/etc.—you may not know exactly how this will look
with such-and-such particular person you are going to have to spend
some time with, but you may have positive examples of working
relationships to turn to as inspiration for how stuff might work out</li>
<li><em>Learn to Code</em>—what does this even mean? You can measure your
success on this based on your ability to make a project of XYZ scale
or go through ABC cirriculum.</li>
</ul>
<p>Having projects is important because they give you something to align
your efforts with. Broad projects, get broken up into small
sub-tasks—such as doing math problems everyday towards a broader
project goal of "achieving basic mathematic proficiency". Looking at
your own activities in relation to projects means you can evaluate if
what you're currently doing is moving you towards or away from your
goals. You may find that getting
<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=shwasted">shwasted</a>
on Friday night is not conducive to "finding peace and happiness with
a stable family"—your time may be better spent doing activities
that will earn you money, improve your health, etc.</p>
<p>Note that many people naturally excel at creating projects for
themselves on-the-fly. For example, a person naturally interested in
anime may set themselves over completing many "goals" of studying
Japanese by compulsively watching through lots of anime series,
investing effort to take notes of new vocabulary and such as they
go. This <em>hataraki-mono</em> ("hardworking") weeb may succeed gloriously
at learning Japanese quickly and efficiently because little planning
is needed—interest drives serial "project creation".</p>
<p>I write about explicitly selecting and choosing projects because one
of my problems is that I start way too many different projects and
"spread my efforts too thin". By explicitly figuring out what my
projects are and keeping inventory, I can better select which projects
<em>don't</em> need my attention and turn my efforts towards the goals most
important to me.</p>
<h3>Coming up with projects</h3>
<p>Getting started with a new project can be daunting, but also lots of
fun. It may mean you get to take a shopping trip, set up a new
calendar where you plot and scheme your road to glory...</p>
<p>It may also be useful to re-think activities that you are already
doing in the context of "projects" if you have hit a plateau in
progress and are not satisfied with how things are currently (not)
improving.</p>
<p>Here are some ways you can establish new projects or "cast" things you
are already doing into projects.</p>
<h4>Work through a comprehensive resource</h4>
<p>Textbooks can be very helpful. Undergraduate classes I've taken have
rarely gotten through an <em>entire</em> textbook. So if there was some
subject that you would like to learn about (e.g. biology) picking up a
book on such-and-such subject and working through <em>all the chapters</em>
can be a fine way to get a comprehensive, "canonical" understanding of
any given subject.</p>
<p>You may want to re-work through the fundamentals of something you
already know how to do. For instance, I already know some basic of
reading music, but I kind of suck at playing piano. To get better, I
acquired some easy-ish classical music. By working seriously (as an
adult learner) through training materials I can improve.
Playing through <em>every</em> piece in such-and-such book may help me
improve on areas I am weak in (e.g. playing complex rhythms) even if
these pieces aren't as "fun" at first because I suck at playing them.</p>
<p>Working through a comprehensive resource will help you find what you
are good at and what you are not so good at and give you obvious
areas to "flag for improvement".</p>
<h4>Build something</h4>
<p>When you try to build something rather than just solve some
pre-prepared problem you will soon discover what you have to study and
what skills you lack.</p>
<p>For example, it is easy to passively "study" a foreign every language
by playing some songs in that language. Sooner or later, you may just
listen to that music passively, zoning out and doing other stuff while
learning zero Spanish (or whatever language you happen to be
studying).</p>
<p>What you may want to do is <em>build</em> a repertoire of songs/lyrics you
actually <em>have memorized</em>. This will involve picking and choosing
songs that are meaningful enough to you that they are worth studying.
In doing this, you will likely come across idioms that surprise you,
words you find you didn't know, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>Other examples of building stuff include,</p>
<ul>
<li>Creating a finished work of art—not just quick, fast sketches,
but a painting that will take you many days (or even weeks, months)</li>
<li>Establish a nexus of communication for you and
friends/family—e.g. create a Discord server and input your own
content there everyday for a month to get activity buzzing;
personally invite/promote your project</li>
<li>Configuring Linux to your liking from a relatively basic
setup—may be a pain in the butt, but you will learn a lot
about how stuff is clobbled together to produce a decent "user
experience"</li>
</ul>
<p>Sometimes building is just putting in the blood/sweat/tears needed to
get something done. This can be more refreshing than wallowing around
in indirection sometimes even if it is difficult in another way.</p>
<p>However, other times you may be pleasantly surprised at how <em>little</em>
work you have to do to build something nice—this may be because
you find ways in which you can bring other people into your
project(s). Projects involving others may gain a life of their own
and continue organically grow.</p>
<p>Having a knack for getting projects started, putting in concentrated
effort, and then seeing stuff just kinda... work out is called <em>being
enterprising</em>. Fantastic! You can then choose to stay involved with
your own project or hand off (or sell) your "startup" to some other
party.</p>
<h4>Optimize some metric</h4>
<p>Another class of projects is <em>making some number go up/down</em>. For
instance, you may have a goal of running three miles in under 30
minutes. Metrics are good because you can measure your progress.</p>
<p>However, metrics can be bad because they can be misleading on
measuring what you're really interested in. For instance, you might be
measuring your body <em>weight</em> but be more interested in feeling healthy
overall.</p>
<h4>Let somebody else give you a project</h4>
<p>Not everybody has to be a "leader"; choosing to follow people whose
goals align with your own can be a shortcut to a life well-lived.</p>
<p>Having a good teacher/coach/manager can be very helpful because it
means someone who has seen more of some domain than you can guide you
to make faster progress than you could on your own.</p>
<p>Letting somebody else assign you projects, and following their
directives is also a fine way to occupy one's time productively
towards ends that at least someone else cares about.</p>
<h2>Work on your projects frequently</h2>
<p>For some people, the easiest way to ensure frequent work on projects
is a schedule. Others hate schedules and still get a lot
done. Typically, the more projects you will have the more sort of
structure you'll need to continue making progress at all of them.
If you only care about doing one or two things well, your whole life
can take shape around doing these things without much planning.</p>
<p>Personally, having <em>too many projects</em> is often an issue for me. For
example, I'm interested in studying many different languages. But
every minute I put towards studying Korean is a minute that <em>is not</em>
spent studying Chinese. Here, I just have to make a choice about what
I am prioritizing.</p>
<h3>Attention is the secret sauce</h3>
<p>Once you have some projects to work on, you need to put attention into
them. Note that <em>attention</em> is different from <em>time</em>; you can put
lots of <em>time</em> into watching tutorial videos and learn
nothing. However, if you bring your attention to actively work on
problems, <em>you will learn</em>.</p>
<p>Oftentimes focusing attention means <em>turning off distractions</em>. You
may be surprised how much progress you can make <em>focusing</em> on some one
thing for not so much time, e.g. 15 minutes a day. If you had spent 15
minutes per day studying XYZ foreign language for the past 5 years, do
you reckon you'd know a lot by now?</p>
<p>It is when we get overwhelmed (often by our attention getting split)
that we fail to allocate attention, though we may spend a lot of
<em>time</em> suffering. It is easy to spend a miserable Saturday "kinda
studying" from 10 AM till 10 PM; perhaps 2 hours of concentrated
studying, interrupted by 6 hours of video games, followed by 2 more
hours of concentrated studying would be better. That is being honest
with oneself about the need to rest, recover, and "do nothing".</p>
<h3>If it helps, embrace tracking</h3>
<p>For some stuff, we value the "muh freedoms". For other work, being
tracked means documenting that you are working hard and trying to make
good use of your time.</p>
<h2>Know when to quit</h2>
<p>Completing projects through milestones you set can also be a good way
to decide when to <em>stop</em> some effort and spend your energies
elsewhere. For example, I spent some time studying
<a href="https://golang.org/">Golang</a>, Google's C++ alternative programing
language with a nice syntax. I worked through the exercises in the
official "<a href="https://tour.golang.org/welcome/1">A Tour of Go</a>"
documentation over a long while. Eventually, I realized that I didn't
really need Golang to solve the sorts of problems I was currently
facing; spending time on this language was also keeping me from making
progress learning other technologies like UNIX utils (<code>bash</code>, <code>find</code>,
<code>sed</code>, etc.) and improving my JavaScript. So I stopped studying Go
<sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Organizing your projects—which involves "pruning" ones that are
no longer relevant to you— encourages pro-active decision making
in life. You can determine what is worth your attention and what is
not.</p>
<h2>Summary and Conclusions</h2>
<p>You can improve on technical skills by having clearly defined
<em>projects</em> (which may in turn lead to many sub-projects). Keeping
inventory of which projects you have and making sure you always have
concrete goals to work towards ensures you are always improving your
skills or building some thing (material, social, etc.).</p>
<p>By selecting which projects you continue, marking off projects as
"complete", and sometimes pruning projects that aren't going anywhere,
you exercise agency over your life and will feel good. Likewise,
choosing <em>not to begin projects</em> is an exercise in confidently saying
"no" because you know your own stuff well. </p>
<p>Once you establish a good record for successfully completing projects,
your "YES" and your "NO" will both be well-respected by those who know
you because you will have established that you have a pattern of
planning, executing, and when necessary making clear decisions to abandon ship.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Though I could optimize for <strong>metrics</strong> like length of an
article, number of views, and so forth <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>In the <strong>Getting Things Done</strong> methodology I've mentioned at
least a couple times on this blog, all organization is centered
around driving projects of various sorts to completion. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>For the time being at least; it was fun to study Go, but I have
other priorities currently <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Practical Shell Scripting, Part 12020-05-19T00:00:00-07:002020-05-19T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-19:/pelican-test/practical-shell-scripting-part-1.html<p>In this series of articles, I will document how I do various things
using shell scripts<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. My basic approach is to use <code>bash</code> to
automate stuff by documenting and replicating steps that I take on the
<strong>Command Line Interface</strong> (CLI) <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>.</p>
<h2>Preliminary things</h2>
<p>It is assumed the reader has …</p><p>In this series of articles, I will document how I do various things
using shell scripts<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. My basic approach is to use <code>bash</code> to
automate stuff by documenting and replicating steps that I take on the
<strong>Command Line Interface</strong> (CLI) <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>.</p>
<h2>Preliminary things</h2>
<p>It is assumed the reader has basic working knowledge of doing things
like navigating around directories, deleting files, using some editor,
etc. No knowledge is assumed of using specific tools like <code>find</code>,
<code>xargs</code>, <code>curl</code>, etc. Much of the content here will be treating how to
do useful things using those tools.</p>
<h3>Additional Setup</h3>
<p>There is a utility called <a href="https://www.shellcheck.net/">ShellCheck</a>
which may be helpful to set up with your favorite editor/development
environment. This tool can help you find common mistakes in your shell
script code <em>before</em> you even try to run it.</p>
<h3>Methodology</h3>
<p>When there is something that I want to do (on Linux), I'll try to do
it all via the command line. Anything non-trivial that I might have to
do again I'll want to document somewhere so I don't have to bother
figuring out the annoying aspects again. Comments can be written to
explain non-obvious choices.</p>
<h2>Shell Scripts as Duct Tape</h2>
<p>First, my "User Philosophy"!</p>
<p>On your computer, you have many programs that can individually do
useful things. Shell scripting is the <em>de facto</em> way to smash a bunch
of programs together to do more complex tasks for you.</p>
<p>Shell scripting is different from "programing" in the sense that you
are often dealing with relatively high-level structures, understanding
<em>what</em> programs do without needing to concern yourself with <em>how</em> they
do it. In this way, you leave it up to the "real programers" to take
care of things like optimizing their programs to be efficient. Your
job is to just make sure that things hold together "good enough" with
duct tape.</p>
<p>Over time you can refine your programs to be better. What is most
important is to get the job done and not get to hung up on what is
best. It is better to write more shell scripts, gradually learning
what is "best" among the many options to do things than to get hung up
on some esoteric problem too long.</p>
<p>Careful engineering is the realm of using more full-featured,
complexity-friendly programing languages. You can write programs in
other languages and call them from shell-scripts if you have to do
something particularly complicated that your default tools cannot
handle so well (e.g. write a parser for a new custom file format you
created).</p>
<h2>Where's my Search Bar?</h2>
<p>MacOS has a fancy search feature you can use by pressing COMMAND+SPACE
by default. When you do this, you can type words, and MacOS will scan
your computer in who-knows-what-way for the text you are entering and
stuff the OS guesses might be related. Windows Explorer has similar
search features too, I think. How do you do something similar on
Linux? <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></p>
<p>Suppose, we want to list all the Markdown files in a directory (<code>.md</code>
extension). Using <code>find</code> this can be done in
one line.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="c1"># Find all markdown files in my blog directory</span>
find my-blog-directory -type f -name <span class="s2">"*.md"</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>We can extend this command to do something else, for example, find all
instances in these files of the word "foo". Below, we build off our
previous command which found all markdown files in a directory by
adding the <code>-exec</code> flag and specifying a command to run on each of the
files that <code>find</code> finds.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="c1"># Search markdown files for text "foo"</span>
find my-blog-directory -type f -name <span class="s2">"*.md"</span> -exec grep <span class="s2">"foo"</span> <span class="o">{}</span> +
</code></pre></div>
<p>One kinda annoying thing about working with (UNIX) shell scripts is
that each (utility) program will have its own idiosyncratic syntax.
In the case of <code>find</code>, you're going to specify options using <code>-thing</code>
(in this example we specified the <em>type</em> of thing we wanted to find
and a pattern for the <em>name</em> to match).</p>
<p>There is some additional special syntax here. When we run the <code>-exec
grep "foo" {} +</code>, the <code>-exec {} +</code> syntax tells <code>find</code> to run the
given command (in this case <code>grep ...</code> for each file found, where <code>{}</code>
will be where the filename is inserted.</p>
<p>As with natural language, fluent speakers don't spend all day thinking
about how grammar works while they are talking <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup>. Instead, they
remember common patterns that they use frequently. Stuff like the
<code>find</code> syntax above is confusing at first, but is something you will
get used to pretty quickly if you use it frequently.</p>
<h3>Search a directory for text only using <code>grep</code></h3>
<p>Oftentimes, there is more than one way to do some task with common
shell utilities. The command below will find any occurence of "foo" in
any files recursively from the present directory (<code>.</code>), informing you
which file the result was found in, the line number (<code>-n</code> option), and
a preview of the line.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>grep . -rne <span class="s2">"foo"</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>"Idioms" like this are very nice for quickly doing stuff on the
command line. To compose such statements, you have to be careful about
the ordering of arguments, however.</p>
<p>The above command can be broken up like so <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">5</a></sup></p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>grep . -r -n -e <span class="s2">"foo"</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>With the flags broken up like this, you can re-order stuff, e.g. like</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>grep -e <span class="s2">"foo"</span> -rn .
</code></pre></div>
<p>Crucially, the "foo" (string you are searching) must follow the <code>-e</code>
where it appears because the <code>-e</code> tells <code>grep</code> you are specifying an
expression to search.</p>
<h2>Smashing Together More Things</h2>
<p>The previous command we built up can be used to do all sorts of stuff
since <code>-exec +</code> allows us to call <em>any program</em>.</p>
<p>For example, let's suppose we wanted to get a whole bunch of YouTube
links to download and watch later. How do I get all the YouTube links
from my the markdown files in my blog directory?</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="c1"># Search markdown files for links to YouTube</span>
find my-blog-directory -type f -name <span class="s2">"*.md"</span> -exec <span class="se">\</span>
grep -h -o <span class="s2">"youtube\.com\/watch?v=[[:alnum:]]*"</span> <span class="o">{}</span> +
</code></pre></div>
<p>With <code>grep</code> I used the <code>-h</code> option to <em>hide</em> the file name of the file
I'm currently searching and used the <code>-o</code> option to <em>only</em> show the
matched text, not the whole line of the regular expression I used.</p>
<p>The output of this command can be saved into some file for further
processing. For example, you can use <code>youtube-dl</code> to help you
automatically download all the links you just collected while
you go do something else.</p>
<h2>General Lessons from <code>find</code></h2>
<p>You may find that after using shell scripts to do stuff for some time
you begin to think about how you can do things like naming files
consistently to make things like pattern matching via globbing easy.</p>
<p>In the examples I gave above, I relied on file extensions (<code>.md</code>) to
do my file finding. However I might want to process a bunch of files
starting with <code>my-diary-</code>, for instance.</p>
<p>Naming files and organizing directories in a way that makes sense for
easy processing is akin to setting up an SQL database with
well-planned tables; it may take more effort to start doing this
initially, but your efforts may be rewarded later down the road.</p>
<h2>More links and resources</h2>
<p>Relating to content discussed in this article:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.tecmint.com/35-practical-examples-of-linux-find-command/">35 Practical Examples of Linux Find
Command</a> (Ravi Saive 2012)</li>
<li><a href="https://linuxhint.com/bash_globbing_tutorial/">Bash Globbing Tutorial</a> (Fahmida Yesmin 2018)</li>
</ul>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>For the most part, I'll be using <code>zsh</code> and doing <code>bash</code>
compatible things. The stuff I'm doing should all work on a pretty
default set-up with a major distribution (e.g. Debian, Arch) where
you can easily install common programs. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>See Luke Smith's video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMSByvFHOro">"Terminal vs. Bash vs. Command Line
vs. Prompt"</a> (Dec. 2,
2019) for clarification on terminology. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>I'm just going to use the word "Linux" here to describe a UNIX
computing environment where you can easily install certain common
programs. There is no time for me to quibble over GNU/Linux vs BSD
vs whatever!! Life is too short!! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>After-hours linguistics discussions are OK. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>You could even expand the command argument names to the full
(unabbreviated) names if you wanted to be very verbose! Consult
your <code>man grep</code> to see what those would be... Thanks <code>@Emily</code> for
showing me this example of using <code>grep</code> without <code>find</code> to search
stuff! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 142020-05-18T00:00:00-07:002020-05-18T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-18:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-14.html<p>This morning I was going through my inbox for a not-used-so-much email
account. I hadn't cleaned out this inbox for a month or two so. On
this email account I'm subscribed to some newsletter things, so I was
able to take a step back and view how the whole "COVID-19 …</p><p>This morning I was going through my inbox for a not-used-so-much email
account. I hadn't cleaned out this inbox for a month or two so. On
this email account I'm subscribed to some newsletter things, so I was
able to take a step back and view how the whole "COVID-19 pandemic"
<em>thing</em> has unfolded, from a kind of third-person, detached
historian's perspective.</p>
<h2>The Unwritten Narrative</h2>
<p>There is this saying that, "hindsight has 20-20 vision"—when
looking at the past we can feel all clever and sharp minded <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. It
is easy to say to oneself, "ah yes, I was right about such-and-such"
because we can pick and choose statements we have made and aggregate
them into a 100% correctly guessing narrative. The hazier these
statements are, the easier this task is because there will always be
wiggle room to get out of falsification.</p>
<p>This is one danger of chilling out and just "analyzing". You can
analyze all day; what makes your analysis valuable? Telling somebody
else that they should have listened to you?</p>
<h3>First, instruct yourself</h3>
<p>To have "skin in the game" is to act on one's word. Saying words
about stuff is OK, but as another saying goes—"actions speak
louder than words". If we are so clever in our predictions, we should
act on those predictions and reap the benefits of having seen what
others could not. You don't have to worry about others recognizing
that you <em>were right about such-and-such</em> if you reap material rewards
for your predictions.</p>
<p>In this sense, I am enjoying wealth in that I had bought enough toilet
paper—I heard news of trouble getting this stuff relatively
early on from East Asia. Hooray! Glad I purchased that...</p>
<p>On the other hand, I haven't really profited financially much from all
this COVID-19 action. As many stock prices plunged and crypto did what
crypto does (be volatile), I decided that I didn't even wanna
think/deal with this. I wanted some money on hand to pay for stuff
too, so I didn't "buy the dip" <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. Recalling how much of a pain in
the butt to file taxes for 2019 I didn't wanna deal with all the
capital gains stuff if I did indeed profit nicely. So I opted to not
"play the stock market" and instead focus my time/attention on nerd
stuff (technical learning for work) and self-improvement stuff.</p>
<p>I was quite lazy and not clever enough about the financial stuff in
retrospect; I just withdrew and let the market (and the Federal
Reserve and friends) do what they do. Now, I get my default rewards—
magical money inflating prices despite slowed down economic
activities, less complicated finances/taxes for the coming year... But
you know... I could have made more...</p>
<p>I feel okay about the decisions I made with regards to stocks and
stuff though because I got what I bargained for—freed attention
to concern myself with other things, rather than watching lines to up
and down <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>.</p>
<h3>Reject Economy, Embrace Gains</h3>
<p>In contrast to my total under-achieving in terms of shuffling integers
(trading stocks) during this Bat Pestillence, I've been able to
extract "guaranteed returns" in some of my own projects.</p>
<p>Analyzing and making predictions about what other people do is often a
risky game. On the other hand, working on your own understanding of
stuff and developing your skills often is a pretty <em>work hard and get
paid</em> type of setup.</p>
<p>Developing yourself makes you better prepared to enter riskier
situations later; for example, if you are playing a sport, to maximize
your chance of winning a competiton, you gotta train. Duh.</p>
<p>Lots of the media we consume is by people trying to establish
themselves as experts on such-and-such, telling you why you should
care about this-and-that, and so on and so forth. When do we regret
keeping up with that sort of content?</p>
<p>Reading some old newsletters, I would say... it is fun to keep up with
news to understand humor/memes/stuff people may share with each
other. But to keep up with a bunch of random stuff that has no bearing
on one's own life—I think that most often when I look over some
stack of stuff I <em>didn't read</em> I don't wish I had consoomed more.</p>
<p>However, people rarely regret having studied a marketable skill,
completing a workout routine, cultivating a network of friends/family...
This is no new news.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Of course the most present interpretation of some world
happenings doesn't mean it is "right"; "hindsight has 20-20
vision" is more like knowing how a novel unfolds than knowing
about <em>what actually happened</em> for lots of stuff <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>I likewise didn't sell before all the COVID-19 stuff started up <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>See <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1720217-stonks">Confused Stonks</a>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Create React App: An Entry Point into "Modern" Web Development2020-05-18T00:00:00-07:002020-05-18T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-18:/pelican-test/create-react-app-an-entry-point-into-modern-web-development.html<h2>Introducing React</h2>
<p>A popular way to build websites these days is to use
<a href="https://reactjs.org/">React</a>, which is officially described as "A
JavaScript library for building user interfaces". With React, you
write JavaScript which does stuff in a "virtual DOM" rather than the
(browser's) DOM directly. In this way, you can work …</p><h2>Introducing React</h2>
<p>A popular way to build websites these days is to use
<a href="https://reactjs.org/">React</a>, which is officially described as "A
JavaScript library for building user interfaces". With React, you
write JavaScript which does stuff in a "virtual DOM" rather than the
(browser's) DOM directly. In this way, you can work with some nice
abstractions that get "compiled" down to stuff a browser understands
natively.</p>
<p>To use React, you only need one web page—we'll call this
<code>index.html</code>. You use JavaScript to "inject" everything into some
root. Using React, you will assume your users have JavaScript enabled
in their browser.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">noscript</span><span class="p">></span>u need javascript<span class="p"></</span><span class="nt">noscript</span><span class="p">></span>
<span class="p"><</span><span class="nt">div</span> <span class="na">id</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s">"root"</span><span class="p">></</span><span class="nt">div</span><span class="p">></span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>Using JavaScript to simulate different pages (by rendering different
"components"), you can provide users with a very fast-feeling
experience. This is because instead of requesting new pages from a
server when you click around your web app, you are just shuffling
around stuff in the aforementioned "Virtual DOM" using React's
(JavaScript) library. The result is near-zero "loading time" switching
between complex views which need not be organized in static "pages".</p>
<h2>Using Create React App to skip the setup</h2>
<p>Beginners with React typically start building apps using a tool called
<a href="https://github.com/facebook/create-react-app"><code>create-react-app</code></a>.
This tool gives a basic working app ("website") with a bunch of fancy
features ready to be used. For example,
<a href="https://webpack.js.org/">webpack</a>—a "modular
bundler"—already comes set up and ready to use. You can write
your JavaScript app in a bunch of files, use <code>imports</code> and stuff and
rely on the default setup to package up everything together to be
deployed to the web. You can get a flying start trying out things like
JSX (HTML-looking JavaScript syntax used with React). Since
<code>create-react-app</code> is a pretty popular tool, it is convenient to
search stuff like how to deploy an app created with this tool to
places like <a href="https://pages.github.com/">GitHub pages</a> or
<a href="https://www.netlify.com/">Netlify</a>.</p>
<p>Using <code>create-react-app</code> is how I personally got started with my
programing career <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. I heard React was the hottest, latest and
greatest technology so I went and learned the basics using
<code>create-react-app</code> so I could go find work.</p>
<p>Assuming you have <code>npm</code> installed, you can start using
<code>create-react-app</code> by calling <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>,</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>npx create-react-app name-of-my-new-app
<span class="nb">cd</span> name-of-my-new-app <span class="c1"># Navigate into the directory of your new app</span>
npm start <span class="c1"># Start the development server</span>
</code></pre></div>
<p>The newly created app will contain a <code>README.md</code> file that includes
instructions on how to do some basic stuff.</p>
<p>Typically where people go from here is to open up their new app
directory in VS Code, which has big bucks (Microsoft) behind it as
well as armies of people making extensions and stuff.</p>
<h2>What is nice</h2>
<p>The set-up described above is not so difficult to do. You can start
using fancy features like cutting-edge new JavaScript syntax right
away. You can create a production build with <code>npm run build</code>. You can
expand what <code>create-react-app</code> gives you by installing new packages.
The already-bundled script allow you to think less about setup and
config and focus your energies on doing things like making stuff
pretty with CSS and following the official docs on <a href="https://reactjs.org/docs/thinking-in-react.html">"Thinking in
React"</a>.
You are well-equipped to enter the "React cult".</p>
<h2>Where trouble begins</h2>
<p>Overally, as a tool for getting started and trying out some new
technology, <code>create-react-app</code> is very nice. It can be dangerous to
use, however.</p>
<p>The more complex of a job you are trying to do, you will find that you
will butt heads with <code>create-react-app</code>. You are given many
pre-configured <em>layers of abstraction</em>, set up for getting to work
quickly. When something goes wrong or when you need a new specific
functionality, it may be necessary to "look under the hood" and find
out "how the sausage is made".</p>
<p>In this way, the "flying start" granted by <code>create-react-app</code> may
cause more trouble for you than it helps because it encourages you to
use all sorts of things you are not familiar with.</p>
<p>More experienced developers than me tell me that they more often than
not <em>do not</em> use <code>create-react-app</code> because if they are trying to do
something specific, it is easier to start from smaller building blocks
and build up a nice configuration. This is not too unlike the attitude
of many Linux "power users" that that prefer to start with something
like Debian or Arch Linux (relatively few default packages to start
with) rather than installing a more "user-friendly" distribution like
Ubuntu.</p>
<p>For smaller, more isolated problems or reproducing examples of
specific issues, there are tools like
<a href="https://codepen.io/">codepen.io</a> which require no installation on
your part. Other setups, such as
<a href="https://www.gatsbyjs.org/">GatsbyJS</a>—a static site
generator—will use React with a different configuration than
<code>create-react-app</code>.</p>
<h2>More general issues</h2>
<p>Oftentimes, reaching for a popular "modern" solution like React is the
gut reaction for developers. Personally, I began learning React
because there were lots of job listings that mentioned it.</p>
<p>The conveniences given by tools like <code>create-react-app</code> encourage
(new) developers to jump into complicated technology "stacks" because
it is easy to introduce a huge lump of technology with minimal effort
at the beginning.</p>
<p>There are many costs, however, to pay after enjoying this initial
convenience. A big one for beginning developers is having a big pile
of technology of which you understand little to nothing of many of its
parts.</p>
<p>The pain of working through setting up a new project with a complex
tech stack is instructive in that it encourages you to think about why
it is(n't) worth it to introduce XYZ new and fancy
feature.</p>
<p>It is for this reason that many more experienced developers than me
recommend focusing on fundamentals such as (vanilla) JavaScript, HTML,
and CSS on the front end plus some knowledge of how HTTP works, what
good structures in databases look like, and common practices for doing
things like authentication and handling file uploads in backend code.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I was in graduate school in the social sciences; I decided to
start looking for work in web development. <em>Note:</em> "programing" is
not a typo; this is the preferred spelling of Great Web Historian
<a href="http://xahlee.info/">Xah Lee</a>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Consult the <a href="https://reactjs.org/docs/create-a-new-react-app.html#create-react-app">official
documentation</a>
for the latest instructions. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 132020-05-17T00:00:00-07:002020-05-17T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-17:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-13.html<p>This crisp morning air greets me as I clean out some coffee grounds
from yesterday and prepare a new pot of coffee for today.</p>
<h2>"Siberia"</h2>
<p>There is a corner of the yard in the place I am renting which I call
<em>Siberia</em>. When I first moved to that location, there …</p><p>This crisp morning air greets me as I clean out some coffee grounds
from yesterday and prepare a new pot of coffee for today.</p>
<h2>"Siberia"</h2>
<p>There is a corner of the yard in the place I am renting which I call
<em>Siberia</em>. When I first moved to that location, there was a pile of
broken stuff there—rotting wood stakes, a broken broom (the
straw bristles of the broom were almost gone, though the handle still
was intact), and a trash bin thing filled with spider webs <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>It is to Siberia that plants with harmful fungus/insects are sent,
where occasionally coffee grounds are dumped, and where an occasional
unappetizing potato or onion beyond cooking is cast. In this way, it
serves as an informal compost heap. It is also a place where plants
which might get thrown out as to not infect other plants are given a
fighting chance to rid themselves of their sickness and emerge
stronger than before. <em>Siberia is a chance for redemption</em>. </p>
<p>When I pace to-and-from in the yard—perhaps while trying to find
some solution to some technical problem—I arrive at Siberia at
one end of my route. In the winter, it was rather barren. But as
spring arrived and now as we head towards summer, Siberia teems with
life.</p>
<p>It is not ordered; there are no plants arranged in nice rows, no vines
climbing allocated pole things. It is a garden cultivated in
chaos. The plants living there take what they can get and they fight
to organize waste into a chance to live, prosper, and reproduce.</p>
<p>The plants of Siberia need no instruction from me; they will be
well-behaved carbon off-setters regardless of my input. This is very
unlike websites, which I build for my day job. Neglect of websites
means decay. Abandonment means growth stops. A website that is not
frequently updated makes visitors wonder "is this <em>still a thing?</em>".
Plants are <em>still a thing</em> even if we ignore them and stomp on them as
they grow between sidewalk cracks.</p>
<h2>The Smell of Frugality and Civic Society</h2>
<p>It is seven something AM; I realize that the "vibe" around me reminds
me of my (K-12) school. In California, most students have to wake up
around 7 something. They will experience the "7 am air" as they hop in
a car, loiter around the school gates, ride a bicycle to school, etc.</p>
<p>There is no stop to a luxurious coffee shop today (as we are under
COVID-19 lockdown). During college and grad school, I would do stuff
like that all the time—pay a couple of bucks to loiter somewhere
before carrying out my duties.</p>
<p>Now, I get a similar feeling to being back in grade school because I
am being frugal and not going out to buy stuff; I can scrounge around
the kitchen for whatever if I am hungry or thirsty. Or I can just sit
on the floor and type away at my computer, transcending the "material
realm".</p>
<p>Today feels very... not corporate. It feels "civic" in a nice way. The
world is not screaming at me with advertisements because I've set up
my computing/media stations to get rid of that <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. Maybe, I can say
it feels more "martial" in the sense that I am not really thinking
much about market pressures and stuff. I'm planning and preparing for
the week ahead, keeping logs like this, and organizing and maintaining
stuff. I'm not thinking about what to
<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/consume-product-consoomer">consoom</a>.</p>
<h2>What is the opposite of "abstracting"?</h2>
<p>I will not concern myself with some silly hyper-verbal discussion
about whether today feels more "civic" or "martial"; I am here to
describe stuff—feelings dump, narrate diary style this-and-that.
The text analysis ("Natural Language Processing") programs can conduct
whatever classifications they want on what I write here.</p>
<p>The plants of Siberia care not for my abstractions or yours. I pace
to-and-fro thinking of solutions to technical problems. When that is
tiring, I can interact with other people and enjoy the human realm.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I swing around this broom (mostly handle) like a samurai sword
for some light arm exercise. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>The easiest way is to shove my phone in the corner and ignore it <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 122020-05-15T00:00:00-07:002020-05-15T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-15:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-12.html<p>This morning at eight something AM I decided to drive out a bit to
deposit a check. Though I didn't really <em>have</em> to drive, I figure it
is useful to make sure my car starts at least once every couple weeks;
I haven't been outside of a small, less than …</p><p>This morning at eight something AM I decided to drive out a bit to
deposit a check. Though I didn't really <em>have</em> to drive, I figure it
is useful to make sure my car starts at least once every couple weeks;
I haven't been outside of a small, less than two hundred meter radius,
of where I live recently anyways.</p>
<p>On the way to my ATM, I pass some businesses. As it was pretty early
in the morning, most weren't open, but some were and they were hopping
with customers. The drive through line for Starbucks line was
long—spilling out into the main street. Trader Joes had lots of
people filtering through the parking lot. Maybe about 1/8 people I saw
were wearing a mask of some sort.</p>
<p>The shopping center where my ATM is located has a relatively big
supermarket. The parking lot was by no means full (expected) but there
was a regular shuffle of people going in and out. Lots of loitering
type activity all around, though this particular shopping center
usually clamps down pretty hard on that sort of thing.</p>
<p>It's a pretty nice day outside. I cook up a pot of legalized
stimulants (caffeine via coffee). </p>
<p>In many ways, stuff is still going. People find ways to communicate
with each other. People find ways to get enough to eat. People find
places to sleep. Announcements of children to be born do not stop.
Maybe fewer people are getting married within the next few months.</p>
<p>Still, the "news cycle" continues. Every day there <em>must</em> be
stories. Eyes must scan newsfeeds and see advertisements. Some people
I know would go to McDonalds anyways even if there weren't
advertisements for months. But the dining halls of the (corporate)
public space are still closed.</p>
<p>I hear private conversations beginning with, "of course nothing is
going on, we're all locked down", or something to that effect.</p>
<p>Often, <em>no news is good news</em>. I go do some chores and organize some
stuff for work...</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 112020-05-14T00:00:00-07:002020-05-14T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-14:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-11.html<p>Today I'm going to return to a psychological/philosophical topic:
<em>words and thinking</em>. I'll elaborate more below, but the main way this
all relates to COVID-19 is that <em>the primary way most of us understand
what's going on is through words</em>.</p>
<p>Words are great for lots of things, but they …</p><p>Today I'm going to return to a psychological/philosophical topic:
<em>words and thinking</em>. I'll elaborate more below, but the main way this
all relates to COVID-19 is that <em>the primary way most of us understand
what's going on is through words</em>.</p>
<p>Words are great for lots of things, but they have their
limitations. There are many <strong>non-verbal</strong> ways to think about stuff,
e.g. spatially, in terms of math, through working with programing
languages,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinaesthetics">kinaesthetically</a>, etc.</p>
<p>The danger of thinking about things mainly (or exclusively) in verbal
terms is the ease at which <em>words</em> can be associated with <em>emotions</em>.
While we think we are learning about the world, we can easily get
wrapped up in somebody's "Matrix of words" <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. The lock-in policies
of governments around the world are making words increasingly
important because words are now serving—more than ever—as
the main interface by which people are finding out about the world
beyond their locked-in doors.</p>
<h2>Words as an interface to understand the world</h2>
<p>Lock-in policies mean people learn about more and more things
indirectly/vicariously through words. We are not going outside and
observing things directly as much as before; we are taking what people
say to us on <em>faith</em>.</p>
<p>The nature of COVID-19 exacerbates this situation. COVID-19 is an
"invisible enemy" <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>; we can't see it like we might see flying
saucers in the sky or giant sea monsters at our coasts. It is even
less visceral than climate change, which we can see in pictures of sad
polar bears.</p>
<h3>Words are everywhere</h3>
<p>Words permeate thinking in lots and lots of places. Here's some examples,</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Songs</strong> as the most popular form of music; music set to <strong>lyrics</strong></li>
<li><strong>Videos</strong> associate words with images</li>
<li><strong>Verbal Explanations</strong>—using "different words" to try to
express the meanings of some words</li>
<li><strong>Mantras</strong>—repeating words, strongly associating them with
some mental state</li>
</ul>
<p>As the old saying goes, "you can't believe everything you see in (the)
movies". Likewise, we have the more modern saying, "you can't believe
everything you read on the Internet".</p>
<p>These "common sense" statements reveal an often forgotten
truth. Things like books and films don't have to "obey reality" in the
same way that... we must respect gravity. People can say and show all
sorts of things.</p>
<p>The media we consume, the verbal explanations we hear, and the mantras
we repeat contribute to our <code>verbal <-> emotional</code> mapping. This is
inescapable; insofar as you speak a language, words are going to
affect you. What we can control, however, is the inputs we consume to
inform our own mappings.</p>
<h2>Responding to "Hyperverbalism"</h2>
<p>I think that is important to do "non-verbal activities". Here's some
examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>Instrumental music</li>
<li>Workout/exercise (try <em>without music/podcasts/etc</em>)</li>
<li>Drawing/painting (do visual arts; see shapes and stuff rather than
trying to point out things you have words for like "eyes" and
"mouth") <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup></li>
<li>Math</li>
<li>Programing (think <em>in the programing language</em> as opposed to English
or whatever language you default to) <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup></li>
</ul>
<p>The problem with being "hyperverbal" is that you are easily controlled
because the use of such-and-such trigger words gives pretty consistent
emotional responses. Think of a person you know that is particularly
vulnerable to "it's not what you said, it's <em>how you said it</em>".</p>
<p>Practicing observing reality in ways that aren't mediated by words is
helpful to protect yourself from emotional manipulation and to also
see new things that the words you conceptualize the world with may
have previously concealed from you.</p>
<h2>Moar Media and Notes</h2>
<p>Below are some readings/videos that have influenced my thinking on
these topics</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3s47-p9rE0">"Were the Ancients Morons? (Translation and
Mindset)"</a> (Luke Smith;
January 29, 2019)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201">*Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain</a> (Betty Edwards; 1979)</li>
<li><a href="http://royharrisonline.com/INP27.html">"On 'primitive' languages in linguistic theory"</a> (Roy Harris; 2010)</li>
<li>Linguist Roy Harris on monolingual dictionaries; don't have specific references now</li>
<li>N.T. Taleb has treated the topics discussed here; don't have specific references now</li>
</ul>
<p>There was some Luke Smith video that talked specifically about people
who only "think in words", but I can't find it at this time.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Aside from President Trump using this term fairly recently; I'm
not sure what connotations this term carries <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>As in the movie <em>The Matrix</em>; a constructed reality <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>In my childhood, I read the book <em>Drawing on the Right Side of
the Brain</em> which had some exercises training me in this; I
wouldn't necessarily get excited about the LEFT/RIGHT brain
science localization bandwagon, but the exercises this book
presented were useful nonetheless <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>I think the idea that languages like Python are easier because
they "read more like English" is nonsense because whenever you
learn something specialized/technical, you need to learn new
senses of words. Having programing language keywords in your
language (like <code>if</code>, <code>then</code>, etc) may be helpful at first to
remember the keyword itself, but soon after it really doesn't
matter since you have to learn the specialized/technical senses of
these words. In this way, I think that making "programing
languages in Chinese/Arabic/Hindi" etc. doesn't really matter. You
<em>could</em> make alternative keywords or something, but I think most
people will want to default to ASCII keywords... <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 102020-05-13T00:00:00-07:002020-05-13T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-13:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-10.html<p>When discussing any data, we must make assumptions about the <em>validity
of the data</em>. Sometimes, this is pretty concrete. For example, if you
manage a café, you might have counts of how many coffees you sell each
day. This can help you answer questions such as <em>how many pounds of …</em></p><p>When discussing any data, we must make assumptions about the <em>validity
of the data</em>. Sometimes, this is pretty concrete. For example, if you
manage a café, you might have counts of how many coffees you sell each
day. This can help you answer questions such as <em>how many pounds of
coffee beans should be purchased each month?</em></p>
<p>Stuff gets complicated, however, when people do stuff that people
do. For instance, getting free coffee refills. Suddenly, the
assumption of "one sold cup of coffee means one cup of (physical)
coffee" is broken because some blogger will park their butt in your
café and drink three cups of coffee over the course of two hours for
the price of one cup of coffee. In terms of how much coffee you must
order, this means for <em>some</em> customers, one cup of coffee sold means
<em>more than one cup of coffee's supply of coffee beans are required</em>
<sup id="fnref:0"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:0">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>In the above example, I use a seemingly simple measure (number of
coffees sold) to illustrate that <em>counting stuff and interpreting
counts</em> is seriously difficult business, especially if you are not
very familiar with the data involved. To be "data-driven" or
"fact-based" often means to wholeheartedly assume certain data sets
are as people report them to be.</p>
<p>Note that being skeptical of how good some data is <em>does not entail
"conspiratorial thinking"</em>—assuming some group of evil-scheming
people plotting a power grab or something to that effect. Data
collection can be bad because multiple well-intentioned actors follow
different procedures. Here we are looking at <em>the opposite of
conspiracy</em> in the sense of jointly-coordinated efforts towards some
aim—we are looking instead at messy data from different parties
failing to coordinate and the aggregation of data from different
(relatively independent) sources.</p>
<h2>Viral Matters</h2>
<p>I think we do have some pretty good info on how viruses operate and
spread generally. For instance, an (Internet) friend shared this
excellent, accessible article describing how a virus can spread and
what sorts of situations are high-risk: <a href="https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them">"The Risks - Know Them -
Avoid
Them"</a>
by Prof. Erin Bromage.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, the info in this article is solid. The author of
the piece above is an expert in these things. Articles like the one
above are helpful as "field guides" to understand how to best protect
our friends and family from viral threats.</p>
<p>Let's assume we have a decent <strong>model</strong> of how viruses generally do
some stuff.</p>
<h3>Authority and Uncertainty</h3>
<p>Prof. Bromage (from the above linked article) asserts <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">2</a></sup>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Always defer to the guidance from your local Health Department or
the CDC!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My uncertainty about the counts of COVID-19 matters leads me in no way
to contradict Prof. Bromage on questions of how viruses spread and
what we can do to protect one another. However, as an independent
individual (in the sense that I'm not a government official making
policy on COVID-19, a university professor who is obliged to honor
certain institutions), I have reasons to doubt how much the WHO or the
CDC or whoever knows about the (biological) reality of COVID-19
situation as it evolves. No need to open the geopolitics can of worms
here to make this point... <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">3</a></sup></p>
<p>One big class of unknowns, as introduced in this article, is <em>what
exactly is being counted and how is it being counted</em>. To me, it seems
<em>heterogeneous</em>; we are seeing different ways of counting different
things from different places. This is no one individual's
fault—but I think it is helpful to appreciate this fact rather
than reactively making policies that <em>certainly</em> affect many people's
lives drastically.</p>
<p>In my own life, I have chosen to act (very) conservatively, pretty
much not going out at all over the past couple months. Should this be
ordered as a top down policy? I dunno, should we ban french fries and
tell people not to drive motorcycles?! This is a political issue!</p>
<h2>Feelings and Politics</h2>
<p>Smart people, such as Prof. Broman, seem to assume we have decent
enough data on what is going on to make <em>mandates</em> on huge scale. We
are seeing a pretty big "civil disturbance" here; it is not "just the
flu bro" in terms of institutional/governmental responses.</p>
<p>We are collectively making decisions in using rather opaque
data. Policies like YouTube's anti-disinformation campaign against
content opposing the World Health Organization's <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">4</a></sup> statements on
COVID-19 make sense from a Chinese-style "social harmony"
perspective—we want everybody to be "on the same page" working
together. Big organizations everywhere are making similar "get on the
(establishment-approved) bandwagon" type policies governing what
people are allowed to say, less they be thrown into the "conspiracy
theory" loony bin.</p>
<p>Let us not confuse confident/assertive language for understanding!
We are living in times with more data readily available than ever, but
we have not collectively improved on how to filter or deal with all
that data. Statistics is a specialist's art (science? engineering
exercise?) and often those most knolwedgable about some model in the
world are most blind to see things in other terms <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">5</a></sup>.</p>
<h3>Fear</h3>
<p>Fear is one way to get people to hop on board with a decision. This is
the "if we don't do anything that's the worst" type thinking. Will
this lead to the best outcome? Unfortunately, this is often the tool
used to steer collective decisions (e.g. voting in democracies).</p>
<p>We can expect exploitation of fear to fuel political agendas (which
may be ones we agree with) to continue as long as humans continue to
make societies.</p>
<p>In this COVID-19 situation, I think that widespread fear is a
particularly big problem because we are seeing lots of
expansion/exercise of government power over all sorts of things: where
people can('t) go, who gets money, who is "essential", etc.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with fear itself; indeed it is a very useful
thing to make quick decisions (often without thinking) about stuff
like... <em>don't walk over some narrow crumbling bridge to take a selfie
or you might die</em> or <em>don't try to pick a fight with some dude who has
eight scary-looking friends around him</em>.</p>
<h3>Trying to understand the situation</h3>
<p>Fear, however, can be counter-productive to understanding. In the
above examples, fear may save my life but it also prevents me from
understanding <em>what I can do</em>. I could stop and take a picture of that
scenic crumbling bridge, using a selfie-stick as a monopod thing to
get a better angle. I could observe the scary people from the shadows
and learn a bit more about the culture of the area I am in. When faced
with unknown situations, <em>fear</em> is a useful thing to feel. As
situations evolve/change, however, fear may wear away and we can begin
trying to understand things better...</p>
<p>Below are some strategies I have for trying to understand what's going
on around me, broadly:</p>
<ul>
<li>Respect <strong>(primary) data</strong> including <strong>first-hand accounts</strong> of what
is going on; aggregate measures are good for some things, but can be
very misleading when readily accepted in some pre-packaged narrative</li>
<li>Seek out and <strong>compare alternative choices/decisions</strong>; somebody else
may have a different take on something—investigate what
assumptions they are making to lead them to believe this; don't
assume someone is <em>irrational/idiotic</em> because they arrive at
different conclusions than you; instead follow their chain of
rationalization to find their beliefs (which you may find yourself
agreeing with)</li>
<li><strong>Recognize we are making decisions under uncertainty</strong> and realize
that more certainty doesn't mean more understanding (think of your
favorite "stupid zealot")</li>
</ul>
<p>The tools I use to do this are many. For example,
<strong>gossip/smalltalk/banter</strong>
is a great way to find out about how people are thinking/feeling about
stuff generally. You could be a nerd and look at some aggregated poll
result (worse). Or, you could just listen to some different people
tell you stories and/or complain about stuff (better). This is primary
feelings data.</p>
<p>I intentionally <strong>stay subscribed to/read media from people very
unlike me</strong> because I think they may bring up good ideas that I am not
intended to find myself. For instance, I lean towards less top-down
control and more "muh freedoms" (libertarian) in how I prefer the US
to be run. However, I can see in anime how glorious <em>nippon</em> can be a
beautiful place with top-down directed castle building and government
sponsored giant robots. I personally wouldn't want to go through all
those Japanese formalities of bowing and saying this-and-that
phrase. But I recognize the aesthetic appeal of this and why Japanese
tourism is way more popular than me (at least pre-COVID-19, lol). I am
personally a cis-gendered straight male (type o blood, black hair,
brown eyes; very common). But I learned myself some basic gender
theory and SJW <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">6</a></sup> talking points because they point out some big
social issues of our time. There is no point denying the hurt/pain of
people unlike me, even if I don't agree with their political aims for
the most part.</p>
<p>Finally, we can remind ourselves of how we can get involved with some
idea/cause or another. This is one reason I write stuff here. I can
look at what I've said and see a record of how I've said smart/dumb
stuff. By writing about how I think about things, I can get insight
into stuff I do(n't) see and guard against where I might be led
astray. For instance, I know that in the past, I've been a relatively
conflict-averse ("agreeable") person, often to my disadvantage.</p>
<h2>Declarations of Faith</h2>
<p>Returning back to COVID-19 matters...</p>
<p>We are witnessing an interplay of <strong>fear</strong> and <strong>faith</strong> with regards
to how people are responding to COVID-19. My word salad above
explains some ways in which I try to better undersand what's going on,
and consequently, how I determine who/what to put my trust in.</p>
<p>As I see it, we are all "people of faith", just different folks put
faith in different stuff. In these trying times, we are seeing many
sorts of "prophets" rising up, each belonging to different "churches",
and some using social media more than others, ha! As this COVID-19
business unfolds, we'll see how the "prophecies" of these different
groups unfold. Until it is over, we'll see fear continuing to drive a
"witch hunt" against those without unwavering faith in "the
establishment", broadly.</p>
<p>Generally, I think that <em>less escalation/application of state power</em>
is best because individuals can choose to protect themselves and their
families in many ways, to the extent they perceive COVID-19 as a risk.
I don't think the evidence/analyses of what is going on are good
enough to warrant total, prolonged, widespread mandatory shutdowns of
lots of stuff, as we're seeing. Though, I do hope
businesses/governments/etc. give people options to stay
quarantined/locked-down if they wish to choose this more conservative
option...</p>
<p>...in any case, until locked down times end... more blog posts 🙃</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:0">
<p>A "nuance bro" informed me that there is <em>even more</em> nuance to
be introduced to this scenario. Many coffee shops throw away extra
brewed coffee at regular intervals (2 hrs, 30 min...). Some of
this extra coffee may go into other products such as "iced
coffee", but in general, it goes down the drain. So refills may be
inconsequential... until you drink the whole coffee pot?
Hmm. Nuance. Bro. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:0" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>On Prof. Bromage's <a href="https://www.erinbromage.com/">homepage</a>
accessed 5/13/2020 <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>It is difficult enough to assess the data in any one
familiar-ish location (e.g. New York City for New Yorkers); I
dunno wtf is going across the globe in places like Cambodia, Saudi
Arabia, Russia, etc. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p><a href="https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/youtube-ramps-up-action-to-remove-covid-19-misinformation/576577/">"YouTube Ramps Up Action to Remove COVID-19
Misinformation"</a>
(Andrew Hutchinson; April 23, 2020). I haven't looked further into
the details here, but reportedly, YouTube has censored actual US
doctors making statements regarding COVID-19. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a
hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." —<a href="" title="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_the_instrument">Law of
the
Instrument</a> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>"Social Justice Warrior"; meant here as a descriptive term for
people that so self-describe themselves as fighting for social
justice, not in any sort of snarky/condescending way <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 6 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:6">
<p>"something lame, dead-end, a dud, insignificant; especially
something with high expectations that turns out to be average,
pathetic, or overhyped." <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nothingburger">Urban
Dictionary</a> <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:6" title="Jump back to footnote 7 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 92020-05-12T00:00:00-07:002020-05-12T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-12:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-9.html<p>Today's topic is <em>accountability as motivation</em>. Specifically, I'll be
looking at how the tough-times of COVID-19 lock-in have weakened many
accountability mechanisms that keep many of us going day-to-day. Then,
I'll go into some strategies I've successfully used to keep myself
motivated and working hard. My goal here is to …</p><p>Today's topic is <em>accountability as motivation</em>. Specifically, I'll be
looking at how the tough-times of COVID-19 lock-in have weakened many
accountability mechanisms that keep many of us going day-to-day. Then,
I'll go into some strategies I've successfully used to keep myself
motivated and working hard. My goal here is to share some info I have
found useful and also to remind myself of things that have worked for
me.</p>
<p><em>Let the psychologizing and rationalization begin!</em></p>
<h2>Accountability: "Nagging" You Ask For</h2>
<p>Accountability is kinda like... <em>nagging you ask for</em>. That is, you
ask someone, some party, or some computer program to bring something
to your attention (such that you can use this information to make
better choices). In the moment, you may not <em>want</em> to hear those
reminders, but you set up a system such that your past-self can help
your present-self make good choices for your future-self.</p>
<p>For instance, family members may agree to hold themselves accountable
for <em>doing meal preparation at the beginning of the week</em> in order to
try to eat more whole foods and save money from not eating
out. Accountability means reminding the people involved to keep a
schedule, repeating reasons why such-and-such is a good idea, and of
course each individual agreeing to do what they said they would
do. More proactive accountability may include facilitating success in
the project by doing appropriate shopping, finding
inspirational/informative videos etc.</p>
<h3>Lock-in Challenges</h3>
<p>As explored in <a href="./corona-virus-diary-part-8.html">Part 8</a> of this
series, many structured aspects of our "daily routines" are disturbed
by this lock-down business. Activities taken for granted like
<em>commuting to work/school</em> are disturbed. Also interrupted are things
like <em>physical accountability of seeing familiar faces in classrooms
and workplaces</em>.</p>
<p>Many businesses and institutions have done a good job continuing to do
their "main service" (e.g. a school delivering cirriculum material, a
restaurant serving food). However, lock-in measures have meant that
many "secondary services" are interrupted. Many of these activities
are important mainly for accountability. For instance, you don't
really "learn anything" about Calculus from the first five or ten
minutes or so of settling in class. However, this time is important
for many students to figure out "was I the only one confused about
question XYZ?" or "who here knows what is going on".</p>
<p>As activity gets reduced overall, we observe governments/corporations
making distinctions between "essential" and "non-essential"; what is
"essential" often coincide with the "main services" and what is
non-essential is the "extra-stuff", i.e. everything you miss out on
when you go to online class vs in person class.</p>
<p>Here I see two related problems. First, there is (1) <strong>nerd-think</strong>
that school is about data-transfer of knowledge, restaurants are about
food/nutrition, etc., and (2) <strong>technological obstruction of accountability</strong>.</p>
<p>Non-nerd think here is to say that restaurants aren't just about food,
they are about atmosphere, people gathering together, and so on and so
forth. School is not mainly about content-delivery, it is about
learning how other people work and how society functions.
Technologies like Zoom (video conferencing) impose different, often
more limited
<a href="https://captainalan.github.io/language-and-linguistics/essays/channels.html">channels</a>
of communication on people in workplaces, students, etc. While these
channels are often adequate to convey the "primary" material of
lecture content, meeting agendas, and so forth, they are often much
poorer at encouraging accountability. Furthermore, in these channels,
inequalities of access are magnified by students' differences in
computer hardware, technical know-how, and connection speeds <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>What we are witnessing is <em>a qualitatively different experience</em> being
delivered to students, workers, etc., even if nominally "the products
are being delivered". As such, we must adapt our strategies to stay
motivated. Studying for online class is different from studying for
offline class.</p>
<h3>Accountability as a Service</h3>
<p>One strategy I've found helpful to stay motivated is to appreciate and
use <em>accountability as a service</em>. By realizing how we are involved in
delivering accountability to others and asking others to give us
accountability, we can all work together to make the world a better
place.</p>
<p>Locked-down times have reminded me that much of the value of
institutions of things like schools and offices is the <em>structure of
accountability</em> it delivers, rather than the "knowledge" you get
there. Places where people gather are engines of social accountability
to keep people moving (and hopefully, learning).</p>
<p>Currently, one position I am working is as a teaching assistant at a
web programing bootcamp. One of the main functions of this bootcamp is
to help give students <em>structure in order to learn</em>. Truly, you can
find all the content of the bootcamp for free online; this is open
source software stuff that you can learn about without paying a cent
using public library Internet. However, in addition to raw technical
know-how, bootcamp offers structure and accountability <em>as a service</em>.</p>
<p>Understanding my role as offering accountability as a service means
that I can redouble efforts towards broader common goals, rather that
over-optimizing specialist knowledge for narrow technical domains.
Leaving class with students feeling empowered and prepared to read
documenation and follow XYZ steps to solve some problem is a bigger
accomplishment than solving some problems <em>for</em> a few students and
having them leave class thinking "wow this is so complicated" or "alan
knows a lot of stuff".</p>
<p>My business-book instincts tell me that this sort of idea is
"leadership"; you want to offer vision and motivation to other people
to move forward so you don't have to do everything yourself. Of
course, there are many steps you must take to gain the trust of those
working with you, but ultimately, success is in having independent
actors working at solving problems you haven't even thought of yet.</p>
<p>During these COVID-19 times it is more important than ever to engage
in accountability <em>networks</em>, both giving and receiving social
incentives to keep stuff moving.</p>
<h2>Competition and Care</h2>
<p>A bit of a topic jump here—</p>
<p>There is another type of accountability which we are mostly all
familiar with in some domain or another: <strong>competition</strong>.</p>
<p>Competition is very important because it means that you know at least
<em>someone</em> cares about what you are doing—namely your rivals.</p>
<p>As people transition out of schooling, where there are things like
sports/grades/exams/popularity to have competitions with, the metrics
of competition become much more harder to discern.</p>
<p>One challenge I faced while being a graduate student was not really
having much competition in that I was focused on pretty esoteric
topics and didn't particularly need to "beat" anyone at anything
(maybe write a grant proposal that means some person subjectively
likes such and such better?). The accountability/motivation structure
of competition just wasn't there for me because I didn't really see a
point of me wanting to become "the best" in my field. Graduate school
grades don't work the same way as like... undergraduate math class.
I found myself enjoying taking undergraduate math classes because I
needed some quantitative validation. Trading stocks and bitcoin also
gave me some metrics to "compete" on.</p>
<h3>Re-introducing competition into your life</h3>
<p>A strategy I see for maintaining motivation during COVID-19 is to
ask <em>how much competition do I like to have?</em> Then, if you do not have
enough competition, you should find some people to create some sort of
game/accountability with.</p>
<p>For instance:</p>
<ul>
<li>Find a friend that shares a hobby; make a challenge to improve
(e.g. memorize such and such Chopin piano piece; have a duel in 2
weeks)</li>
<li>Climb your workplace power ladder; volunteer to take up some
responsibility you have not had before, and take charge</li>
<li>Make a fixed plan for something you are trying to improve on:
e.g. fitness goals, writing more, etc.; make it fun by agreeing to
give someone 100 dollars or something if you mess up on some
pre-defined terms</li>
</ul>
<p>I think that people differ in terms of personality on how much
competition they like. Many people are pretty darn comfy with
virtually zero competiton, and that's fine. Growing up, I was
"anti-competitive" in many ways: for instance, I enjoyed learning to
juggle and having fun with some circus skills rather than succeeding
in more mainstream sports <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. Breaking out of this bubble after a
while though, I found that I really enjoyed competition especially
because it meant having more people to share experiences with.</p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>Accountability is a powerful force. On one hand, <em>establishing</em>
accountability is a powerful act of <em>self determination</em> in which we
actively make plans for how we are going to live our lives better. On
the other hand, accountability is a contract in accepting controlled
unpleasantness (nagging, delaying gratification). Accountability is
making plans of action to use the people, institutions, machines,
etc. around us <em>conspire</em> for our success.</p>
<p>When we don't have accountability in our lives (either to ourselves or
to others), we may experience more unpleasantness in more unexpected
ways than we would like. </p>
<p>Creating structures of accountability means making us motivated to
answer not just to ourselves, but also to the people around us. In
doing so, stuff becomes more fun and interesting and the not-so-fun
moments we experience are at least directly contributing towards some
productive end. This is the stuff living is made of.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>Alas, I too can re-iterate leftist talking points! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Why? I think part of this was the fact that I could get some
attention and stuff for just being "different" and enjoying
something intrinsically kinda fun rather than diving into the
bigger institutional opportunities available to me. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 82020-05-11T00:00:00-07:002020-05-11T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-11:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-8.html<p>Many parts of "daily life" can seem tedious and annoying at
times. Take a morning commute, for instance. Sitting in traffic on the
way to sit in a cubicle?! Now I repent; I find myself missing lots of
these things now that I'm staying in most every day, most all …</p><p>Many parts of "daily life" can seem tedious and annoying at
times. Take a morning commute, for instance. Sitting in traffic on the
way to sit in a cubicle?! Now I repent; I find myself missing lots of
these things now that I'm staying in most every day, most all the
time.</p>
<p>All this COVID-19 business has made me appreciate how having certain
discrete "events" in my day—which at times may have seemed
annoying—have acted as useful for anchor points for both
structuring my time and "keeping up" with various things I don't
typically directly concern myself with.</p>
<p>For instance, through riding my bicycle to class/study, I gained lots
of first-hand knowledge of on-going (societal) trends. I don't really
feel much of an intrinsic desire to keep up with pop culture. But,
going around town, I'd hear songs, see people with graphic T-shirts,
etc., which would inform me about what's buzzing. I'd see what kinds
of pets were popular, how Chinese vs Japanese vs Korean fashions
differed, what restaurants were popular... All sorts of observations
that contributed to understanding "what it is like" <em>to be</em> in
such-and-such time and place happened during the "transition times" of
commuting.</p>
<p>By being in the <em>same world</em> as others, we learn to relate with one
another.</p>
<h2>"The Routine" as Shared Experience</h2>
<p>The utility of activities such as the morning commute do not become
apparent until they are gone. Lock-down times have taught me how
important many aspects of routine are in developing a sense of
connection with the people around me. We need <em>shared context</em> with
those around us to understand each other; simple routine things like
<em>having to go to meetings</em> and <em>commuting along XYZ freeway</em> are
representative "lowest common denominator" ways in which we can relate
to one another <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Going through all this lock down stuff makes me reflect on <em>how very
different</em> each of us is experiencing COVID-19. Aside from the
Internet, we lack a "common space" to meet one another—in the
past decade or so of my life, this has been school/coffee
shops/restaurants.</p>
<h2>Re-creating Shared Context</h2>
<p>In these physically isolated times, it is in the shared spaces of
social media (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, games,
Discord, etc.) that we establish norms and shared experiences.</p>
<p>I consider it important that we have <em>individuals</em>—not just
polished corporate accounts—producing content. Meme
"shit-posting", status update ramblings, and rando-comments are all
things we can do to claim our place in "writing the narrative" of what
COVID-19 was like. Nobody is going to passively observe me walking
around town, because I'm parking my butt according to lock-down
directives. But somebody might scroll by a click-bait title I produce,
and in this sense, I enter the subconscious in the same way I would
walking down a street.</p>
<p>Only for the time being, the streets that we "walk" down are social
media feeds of various sorts. Until we can again freely walk the
streets, we stroll down the "public" boulevards of the Interwebs via
social media.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>"Lowest Common Denominator" means that it doesn't require
special knowledge, training, subtlety etc. to understand these
things. Generally accessible. Like Marvel movies or Boba tea.
Contrast with "acquired tastes" (such as differentiating varieties
of black coffee or kimchi; expertise on 19th century Russian
novels) <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 72020-05-10T00:00:00-07:002020-05-10T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-10:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-7.html<p>Institutionally, we're starting to see lots of "opening up" around the
world. In the United States, businesses are sending out their new
plans in e-mails/newsletters. YouTube is recommending "online therapy"
and stuff to try to keep the population <em>okay enough</em> until
locked-down times end <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. We are seeing some …</p><p>Institutionally, we're starting to see lots of "opening up" around the
world. In the United States, businesses are sending out their new
plans in e-mails/newsletters. YouTube is recommending "online therapy"
and stuff to try to keep the population <em>okay enough</em> until
locked-down times end <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>. We are seeing some major signs of turning
tides with respect to policy. As for the science/biology about what is
actually going on with COVID-19, I have no idea.</p>
<p>As summer arrives in sunny California, we are seeing longer
days. Soon, people around the Northern hemisphere will be flipping on
their air conditioning units <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. Maybe as the weather heats up,
people will become content with staying in (so long as finances are
taken care of)?</p>
<p>Some how, in some way, people are hanging on. Many have accepted
locked-in life as the "new normal". Others wait in anticipation for
<em>rules</em> to change and then automatically exploit any loopholes they
can to still be "well behaved" citizens <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>.</p>
<h2>The Hope of Risk Free Returns</h2>
<p>In the past few months, we've seen <em>a preference for security and
risk-free returns</em>. That is, people would rather have a lock down and
keep things more "safe" rather than facing the dangerous unknown.
We're seeing a shift away from this as lock-down policies are wearing
people down.</p>
<h3>Guaranteed "Side Effects" to Avoid Possible "Main Effects"</h3>
<p>What I see happening is a general shift towards reacting to <strong>known
side-effects</strong> (economic problems), away from responding to <strong>unknown
main effects</strong> (the actual dangers of COVID-19).</p>
<p>Stopping work for a week or two is something <em>most</em> working people can
do, especially if they are still getting paid and/or can work
remotely. However, as companies have begun laying off more and more
employees (especially small businesses, who don't make enough money to
'weather the storm'), we are seeing more agitation to end lock-down
policies and "open up" society again.</p>
<p>People are feeling the real costs of lock-down. If you do things like
fasting and make doing nothing a sport (meditating), you are probably
OK during lock down. For those that don't have some kind of
"minimalism" as a hobby, times are tough.</p>
<p>Efforts to get everyone to shut up, behave, and honor essential
workers as heroes are getting tiresome as people find themselves
regulated into powerlessness.</p>
<h3>Finding Your Own Risk Free Returns</h3>
<p>My own strategy approaching the challenges of lock-in is to look for
places where my own effort input has an effect. There are many realms
where there are basically risk-free returns, e.g. doing
pushups. Assuming you don't totally overdo it, the more pushups you
do, the more fit you will become <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Having projects like (1) completing reading books, (2) working through
problems/exercises, (3) establishing regular contact with
friends/family members, (4) maintaining a garden, and (5) acquiring
proficiency in a foreign language, require continued application of
concentrated efforts. The remedy for feeling like you are doing
nothing is to <em>do something</em>. </p>
<p>What I know I will see is that once all this lock-down business is
over, I will emerge as a better person in many ways because I have
dedicated myself to some projects during these trying times.</p>
<h2>The Warrior in Waiting</h2>
<p>There are many jobs where making good use of time while <em>waiting</em> is
what is most important. Firefighters and <em>samurai</em> both do not
spend most of their time putting out fires and slicing up enemies,
respectively. Rather, most of their time is spent preparing and
training so when critical encounters do happen, they are well-poised
to respond with utmost efficiency.</p>
<p>It is our turn to live the <em>way of the warrior</em> and use our time to
prepare. When lock down policies sufficiently loosen up, it will be
our turn again to apply for jobs, climb mountains, go on dates,
etc. Until then, we train like a hardworking <em>choo-choo</em> <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">5</a></sup>.</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>I saw recommendations for "online therapy" from viewing YouTube
in a logged out, relatively private browser so I'm assuming these
are general rather than targeted ads. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>As for me, I have learned <em>not</em> to flip on the AC from watching
<em>One Punch Man</em> <code>uwu</code>. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Look at the <em>reasons behind why rules are made</em>, not the fine
language used in them u bozos. Jesus taught Christians to look at
<em>the spirit</em> rather than <em>the letter</em> of the law. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>The same cannot be said for practicing extreme sports, where
chances of injury may outweigh physical benefits. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>"Choo-choo train" go huff puff <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Don't let tech get in the way of fun2020-05-06T00:00:00-07:002020-05-06T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-06:/pelican-test/dont-let-tech-get-in-the-way-of-fun.html<p>A prerequisite for fun is that <em>whatever tooling/technology you are
using doesn't get in the way of what you want to be doing</em>. Fun must
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)">flow</a>—un-fun
blockers are a no go.</p>
<p>For instance, I enjoy riding bicycles. But when I get flat tires, this
is <em>annoying</em>. I often …</p><p>A prerequisite for fun is that <em>whatever tooling/technology you are
using doesn't get in the way of what you want to be doing</em>. Fun must
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)">flow</a>—un-fun
blockers are a no go.</p>
<p>For instance, I enjoy riding bicycles. But when I get flat tires, this
is <em>annoying</em>. I often go run instead of bicycling so I don't have to
deal with problem that comes up every now and then and ruins my fun.
It is possible to restore fun by enjoying walking one's bike miles to
get back home, but then this to is because presuming that your <em>feet
work</em>. If you got a flat tire <em>and then</em> a sprained ankle, chances are
you wouldn't be having much fun.</p>
<h2>Technology and Fun</h2>
<p>One of the reasons I think playing video games is more fun than office
work for lots of people is that a game a nice self-contained
environment (we'll assume it isn't buggy) with clearly defined goals.</p>
<p>Simple, easy to use things are more accessible fun. This is one reason
I think many "gamification" approaches are successful. By simplifying
the complex nature of some situation into a space with well-defined
WIN/LOSE conditions, people are more likely to quickly achieve fun
than if they had to meticulously design these sytems themselves (the
managers/engineers who make these systems may have a lot of fun
designing these systems too).</p>
<h3>Some Examples from Programing/Coding</h3>
<p>Coding websites are a popular way for people to practice
writing computer code. Despite having fancy gaming PCs, high-end
macbooks, etc., people everywhere are parking themselves in little
browser tabs to sort items in arrays and run their programs on
external/remote servers.</p>
<p>Some examples of these self-contained web-based environments, </p>
<ul>
<li>https://leetcode.com/</li>
<li>https://codepen.io/</li>
<li><a href="https://tour.golang.org/welcome/1">A Tour of Go</a></li>
</ul>
<p>I think that popularity of sites like these is due to easy
accessibility and gamification systems that give people positive
feedback. The "modern UIs" of these sites allow users to focus on one
task (e.g. writing code) ignoring the many layers and layers of
abstraction piled on top of each other to get there.</p>
<p>Personally, I haven't used these sites much at all, but I do enjoy
setting up a minimalistic text editing environment using dinosaur
software (e.g. emacs, bash). Doing data structure/algorithm problems
is fun to me because I can stay in my little contained stripped down
editor environment and not worry about importing this-and-that
library.</p>
<h3>Some Examples from Writing</h3>
<p>Many bloggers choose to use some flavor of
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown">Markdown</a> to do their
work. It turns out that writing everything in plain text is often
faster/easier to do than using a more "full-featured" word processor
such as Microsoft Word. This is because you can focus on the
words/content of what you are doing rather than get distracted/blocked
by the many features of a word processor you will not use.</p>
<p>For people that write computer code of any sort, familiar editing
tools may allow you to use your own keybindings and stuff to work much
more seemlessly with text than using a word processor. It can almost
feel like "telepathy", magically making words appear when you are a
skilled typist in a comfy editor!</p>
<h3>Tools to be mastered</h3>
<p>Some programs are more useful than others. Having hundreds of
different hard-to-use, unmemorable programs scattered throughout a
computer will probably mean... using a computer isn't fun. Or, you
might just ignore all those programs and just play a game. A
full-screen game effectively allows you to ignore you messy desktop,
dozens of unread browser tabs, etc., and focus on fun.</p>
<p>Realizing just which programs are useful to you and keeping those
applications "well-maintained" is a good way to have fun using
computers. It is more fun to go out on a bike ride if you know your
bicycle has properly inflated tires, an oiled chain, working lights
for the night, etc.</p>
<p>Similarly, when I sit down at the computer, I am happy knowing I am
able to do a handful of things:</p>
<ul>
<li>Browsers for communications, reading, documentation, etc.</li>
<li>Image editing software to produce content<ul>
<li>Krita for digital painting</li>
<li>MS Paint for maximum fun</li>
<li>GIMP for generic image editing</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Environment to write computer code (mostly JavaScript) set up</li>
<li>Blogging tools (emacs + bash, command line interaction to update to
GitHub pages)</li>
</ul>
<p>...and then many tools I intend to learn to use better eventually,</p>
<ul>
<li>Blender (3D modeling)</li>
<li>Various programing languages</li>
<li>Games, if I do get around to playing them</li>
</ul>
<p>What is crucial is that all of these things are ready to be launched
and used and that I know the steps to "get back into the flow of
things".</p>
<h2>Setting up for success</h2>
<p>If there is some activity you <em>should</em> be doing, then it makes sense
to set up your environment so that your technology will not get in the
way when you are trying to that activity. Then, you can start having
fun.</p>
<p>Sometimes, technology ruins fun by being too complicated. For these
reasons, to get into a habit such as "doing some artwork everyday", it
might be wise to ditch photoshop and instead use Paint (or an
<a href="https://jspaint.app/">in-browser equivalent</a>. You can revisit the
fancier software when you know clearly <em>why you need it</em>.</p>
<p>Similarly, to begin doing something like <em>exercising more</em> it may be
best to just start doing some easy to access exercise daily,
e.g. walking while listening to some podcast. Soon enough, this will
seem to easy (and perhaps not so "fun" as it is too relaxing) and you
can scale up the intensity of whatever you are doing.</p>
<p>In any case, it pays to have fun:</p>
<ul>
<li>to enjoy life</li>
<li>to have a sustainable lifestyle</li>
<li>to spread joy to others</li>
<li>[...]</li>
</ul>
<p>Really, <em>fun</em> shouldn't need a justification. So more fun and
equal/more productivity is better, all things considered. kk have fun.</p>QWERTY Theory2020-05-05T00:00:00-07:002020-05-05T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-05:/pelican-test/qwerty-theory.html<p>In various places on the Internet, I have shared the story of how I
switched from typing using the standard QWERTY layout to using the
alternative, more efficient Dvorak layout. However, after using Dvorak
for some time, working my typing speed to over 100 WPM, I ultimately
chose to <em>switch …</em></p><p>In various places on the Internet, I have shared the story of how I
switched from typing using the standard QWERTY layout to using the
alternative, more efficient Dvorak layout. However, after using Dvorak
for some time, working my typing speed to over 100 WPM, I ultimately
chose to <em>switch back to QWERTY</em> (more on my experience
<a href="https://haksayng.com/blog/2017/08/14/relearning-totype/">here</a>).
Why would anyone re-learn how to type twice<sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>?</p>
<p>The main reasons I had for doing this were,</p>
<ol>
<li>compatibility with the world at large (I had to help other people
use their computers), and</li>
<li>the gains/advantages I got from switching to an alternative
keyboard layout came mainly from improved typing technique rather
than a "better layout".</li>
<li>issues interfacing with software designed for a QWERTY-based
windows, such as shortcuts keys in games/graphics applications/etc<sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>.</li>
</ol>
<p>Great Internet Historian <a href="http://xahlee.info/">Xah Lee</a> has called my
default-embracing ways <strong>QWERTY Theory</strong>. I like this label because
"theory" implies it is <em>not just about keyboards</em>. It is an approach
to technology generally which advocates <em>making the best use of
commonly available default options, focusing on improving technique
rather than exploiting customization</em>.</p>
<p>This article will detail what QWERTY Theory is and isn't and how it
can help you make a million bucks. Let's get started!</p>
<h2>Thou Shalt Not Covet</h2>
<p>QWERTY Theory inherits from a Judeo-Christian moral framework.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>—Exodus 20:17</p>
<p>We begin with the axiom: the basic tools you have in front of you are
good enough. Avert your eyes from the fancy-things others possess and
meditate upon how you can do better with what you already have to face
whatever issues are in front of you.</p>
<p>Some applications,</p>
<ul>
<li>Developing more sustainable typing habits by training new muscle
memory to hit default key bindings (e.g. pressing the CTRL key with
your <em>thumbs</em> rather than pinkies<sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>)</li>
<li>Doing physical training using simple or no equipment (e.g. dumbells
you already have) rather than signing up for a fancy gym, buying an
expensive new machine, etc.</li>
<li>Practicing more on your $200 guitar instead of looking at ads for a
$2000 guitar.</li>
</ul>
<p>The time may come to upgrade your tools, but for now think about what
you <em>can</em> do, envisioning how you can use the tools you have better.
QWERTY Theory is about pursuing mastery of the mundane, focusing on
building upon rather than inverting tradition.</p>
<h2>Know Thyself</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes
wisdom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>—Proverbs 11:2 (NIV)</p>
<p>QWERTY theory is suitable for non-geniuses who want to be productive
with existing infrastructure. Chances are, you are <em>not</em> going to be
<em>the chosen one</em> who is going to revolutionize computer input devices
<sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup>. Therefore, it is important to be able to work effectively with
standard setups.</p>
<p>It may at first seem "efficient" to optimize things like keyboard
entry speed, but there are many "hidden costs" that come with every
deviation from the
"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_software">vanilla</a>".</p>
<p>Custom configurations of software often amounts to demanding special
attention that should be reserved for disabled people who have no
other choice but to use speialized setups. QWERTY theory says to not
<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=LARP">LARP</a> as being
an oppressed class because being a nerd is a not a disability <sup id="fnref:5"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:5">5</a></sup>.</p>
<h2>Case Study: Fahrenheit vs Celsius</h2>
<p>Advocates of alternative ways of doing things (e.g. typing in Dvorak
versus QWERTY) often claim some "scientific" basis for why their way
of doing things is superior. Oftentimes, further inspection reveals
nonsense.</p>
<p>For instance, consider the claim that "using Celsius is more
<em>scientific</em> than using Fahrenheit". Someone
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipster_(contemporary_subculture)">hipster</a>
living in the United States may go around using Celsius and causing
trouble for everyone around them. Is Celsius really <em>better</em> than
Fahrenheit?</p>
<p>When looking at <em>whole integer</em> values (e.g. 85 degrees F), Fahrenheit
has better resolution than Celsius. This is relevant because sometimes
displays will only allow two or three digits, or only show integer
temperatures rather than crowd the UI with a decimal. If some
numb-skull tells you that Celsius is more "scientific" than
Fahrenheit, just tell them that Celsius and Fahrenheit are both linear
transformations off Kelvin and that you aren't living at sea level and
boiling water there (situation used to determine Celsius' offset from
Kelvin).</p>
<p>A better reason to use Celsius over Fahrenheit is because Celsius is a
more widely adopted in the world at large; QWERTY Theory! It is not
because Celsius "is more scientific" or some bullshit like that.
It is to fall into line with convention.</p>
<h2>Scope Resolution</h2>
<p>Depending on who/what we want to engage with in the world, the
<strong>scope</strong> in which we evaluate what the QWERTY Theory approved choice
is changes. For instance, if you intend to spend your whole life in
the United States doing business almost exclusively with fellow
Americans, then it makes sense to use Fahrenheit all the
time. However, if you are a global traveler, then you must use a more
global <strong>scope resolution</strong> strategy to choose what a good "default"
is. It may be more practical to you to mainly use Celsius, converting
to Fahrenheit only when necessary, even for someone living in the
United States. In this sense, the <em>globalist</em> may want the US to adopt
the metric system, celsius, etc. to conform with global standards.</p>
<p>Analogous reasoning can be applied to setting up computing
environments. If you just stay on only one or two of your own
computers and do your own thing all day (e.g. living in a cabin in the
woods), then your <em>scope</em> may be just you and what you do. QWERTY
Theory doesn't mean much to you.</p>
<p>However, if you work in tech support or have friends/family members
around you who also use computers, then suddenly it matters more that
you understand the general computing environments that most people
find themselves in. That is to say, it might be a good idea to have a
Windows machine even if you prefer to do most stuff on Linux yourself.</p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>Many nerds eventually repent and turn away from their alt-keyboard
fetishizing, returning to their QWERTYc roots. In "<a href="http://karolis.koncevicius.lt/posts/porn_zen_and_vimrc/">Porn, Zen, and
.vimrc</a>"
(Koncevičius ) we see a heartfelt confession of an over-config'er (in
this case, someone who dived deeply into customizing the <a href="https://www.vim.org/">Vim text
editor</a>):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>...implemented defaults and design was there for a reason. Some of
my perceived inconsistencies were products of my limited
understanding. I made assumptions about what a particular command
should do, when it should be used, and how. But those assumptions
were not always warranted.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>QWERTY Theory is about embracing the fact that the shapes technologies
around us have taken have survived and thrived for reasons we may not
immediately understand. Properties may arise that were no individuals'
"original design" but are rather products of processes of
collaboration. </p>
<p>QWERTY theory protects against the "efficient inefficiency" of
assuming you are more clever than all sorts of people in the past
because you discovered some quick "hack" to optimize something in your
life <sup id="fnref:6"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:6">6</a></sup>.</p>
<p>QWERTY Theory is seeing that the "illogical" nature of English
spelling is necessarily "stupid"; there is no need to rush to
<em>optimize English spelling to be more phonetic</em>. Who assumed a more
phonetic writing system is <em>better?</em> Perhaps, we should speak more
like how we write instead of writing more like we speak?</p>
<p>QWERTY Theory is leveraging existing systems, improving technique, and
preparing for full-scale change rather than pre-maturely optimizing
unwieldy channels.</p>
<h2>Additional notes</h2>
<p>From friends on the <a href="https://discord.gg/QYFcqNT">Xah Lee Discord Server</a></p>
<ul>
<li>Thanks <code>@XahLee</code> for your grading this article with a 'C' and your critical feedback</li>
<li>Thanks <code>@Emily</code> for showing me the <code>vim</code> config article quoted in the conclusion.</li>
<li>Thanks <code>@Frenzie</code> for introducing me to the term "efficient inefficiency"</li>
<li>Thanks <code>@myrkraverk</code> for editorial helps</li>
<li>Thanks <code>@Arirang</code> and <code>@R34P3R</code> for sharing examples of
"life-hacker" optimizer types</li>
</ul>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p><a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ackchyually">Ackkkshulllly</a> more
than twice; I've relearned how to type in different languages as
well. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Text input in many other languages builds off QWERTY by default
as well. For instance, I type Japanese and Chinese, which rely on
Romanization for input. The 'underlying keyboard' is QWERTY. For
Korean keyboards too, if you want to be able to quickly switch to
English with one keypress (Windows), this second "layer" will be
QWERTY. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Pinkies are smaller, weaker fingers than thumbs. Pressing too
many keys too often with pinkies can lead to injury! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>If some Apple executive who gets to decide the next Macbook
keyboard happens to be reading this, I implore you consult the
ergonomic keyboard community about how to improve keyboarding! A
decision by Apple—a company involved in both hardware and
software—can revolutionize things for decades to come! <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:5">
<p>Live Action Role Play. A LARPer is someone pretending to be
something they're really not. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:5" title="Jump back to footnote 5 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:6">
<p>Stay tuned for upcoming article on "Bugpeople", rejection of
tradition, and technophilia. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:6" title="Jump back to footnote 6 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 62020-05-04T00:00:00-07:002020-05-04T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-04:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-6.html<p>Prediction time! In this post I will analyze the current <strong>Old World
Bat Pestilence</strong> (COVID-19) situation (mainly California, where I
live). The idea here is that I make some
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability">falsifiable</a> claims
that I can either,</p>
<ol>
<li>smirk to myself about predicting correctly (and maybe make some
bucks of stock trades and …</li></ol><p>Prediction time! In this post I will analyze the current <strong>Old World
Bat Pestilence</strong> (COVID-19) situation (mainly California, where I
live). The idea here is that I make some
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsifiability">falsifiable</a> claims
that I can either,</p>
<ol>
<li>smirk to myself about predicting correctly (and maybe make some
bucks of stock trades and stuff)</li>
<li>analyze stuff to see why I was wrong and hopefully learn something</li>
</ol>
<p>In either case, I do a write-up here because it is more interesting
than being wish-washy and saying "it's complicated" without making any
concrete predictions.</p>
<h2>No "Universal Vaccination"</h2>
<p>I don't think that we'll see a widely accepted vaccine being developed
in the next month or two. By the time something is developed, I think
that the main "scare" of COVID-19 will be past. Already, we see many
places starting to open up <em>despite there being no vaccine</em>.</p>
<p>Some sub-claims:</p>
<ul>
<li>Things will continue opening up, regardless if there is a vaccine or not.</li>
<li>If a vaccine is developed, stuff will likely already be sufficiently
opened up that people will opt out of taking it unless forced to
(e.g. by their employer, government mandate)</li>
<li>Overall, I think more people will start getting flu shots and stuff
after COVID-19, but institutional skepticism on a whole will
likewise grow</li>
<li>Forced vaccination will be met with resistance from vocal
minorities; in practice I think you can't force everyone to have a
vaccine.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Remote Work Will Grow, But Not Dramatically</h2>
<p>Many people got to "experiment" with remote work. Most people I have
talked with that have kept their jobs <em>don't like remote work</em>. With
certain exceptions (e.g. computer programers), I think that
by-in-large, people will want to continue working in offices.</p>
<p>Nerds often think that other people have "rational" motivation
structures like them. They fail to see that,</p>
<ul>
<li>Many (most?) people are strongly driven by external motivation,
which can be negative (fear of punishment) or positive (praise,
raises, etc.); traditional workplaces make it easier to deliver
these incentives than remote work which puts a lot of
technology-fiddling overhead on most involved</li>
<li>Most people at some point declare "technological bankruptcy"; they
simply decide they don't/can't use XYZ technology and stop learning
more; learning new tech all the time is something nerds gravitate
towards, but most people hate doing this and will resist change</li>
<li>Remote work <em>is costly</em>; while paying rent for an office is
expensive, wasting time dealing with people's failing microphones,
noisy backgrounds, accidental screenshares, etc. wastes a lot of
time</li>
</ul>
<p>Many jobs filled with people already well-prepared for remote work
will likely continue exploring/expanding remote operations.</p>
<p>However, I think there will be a general trend for non-nerd work to
<em>not</em> become more remote; many people have tried remote work and
decided <em>they don't like it</em>.</p>
<h2>The Establishment Will Survive (and Thrive)</h2>
<p>Many small businesses might get hit very hard, but the big players are
likely to sale through all of this stuff OK. Many tech stocks are
likely to do quite well, e.g. Amazon. I think that banks and oil will
also end up OK because of how tied up in government things they are;
the establishment is continuing the "too big to fail" thing.</p>
<p>I think that banks, companies, etc. will have rather lenient policies
for repaying loans and stuff <em>for the time being</em>—meaning, we're not
going to see thugs from credit card companies knocking on people's
doors demanding money any time soon.</p>
<p>However, like college debt, I think that repayment stuff <em>will be
remembered</em> by the establishment and there will be nothing like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubilee_(biblical)">The
Jubilee</a> given
to those hard hit by COVID-19, just temporary "good enough" relief to
prevent angry mobs with pitchforks and fire.</p>
<h2>Aftermath</h2>
<p>As the COVID-19 stuff slowly wraps up, I think that people will emerge
with dramatically different conclusions. Many prepper/right-wing types
will emerge feeling vindicated for taking things into their own hands
and preparing supplies and stuff before all this virus business.
They—along with many religious people—will (correctly) see
that,</p>
<ul>
<li>Times of chaos can and will be used by governments to extend usual
authority and implement new "temporary" policies</li>
<li>"Temporary" measures put in place during times of emergency may be
used for all sorts of tricky stuff later (see 9-11, PATRIOT Act, and
the expansion of the surveillance state)</li>
<li>Many on the political left would like a more "maternal" state caring
for (and controlling) the population in various ways, e.g. pushing
solutions for how the nation <em>as a whole</em> should evaluate and
respond to risk</li>
</ul>
<p>On the other hand, more left-leaning types will emerge feeling
vindicated by (correctly) seeing,</p>
<ul>
<li>Their nations are ununified; struggles between different groups and
partisan media that focuses on <em>differences</em> rather than on how
people are similar</li>
<li>Many rejecting mainstream science (acting like "idiots" in their
view); we will see many examples of more right-wing type people
dying and stuff because they didn't listen to the establishment</li>
<li>A more urgent demand/need for healthcare reform (or <em>¡revolución!</em>)
in the United States</li>
<li>How capitalism as a sole operating principle doesn't solve
everything (think: critique of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3164890827?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1"><em>Atlas
Shrugged</em></a>
by Ayn Rand)</li>
</ul>
<p>I don't expect to see much jumping from one side or the other of the
political spectrum. Left-leaning people will dig deeper into the need
for institutional solutions while more libertarian x right-leaning
people will want the establishment to
<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=BTFO">BTFO</a>. Both
the left and right broadly (no, you <em>NUANCE BROS</em>, I'm not going to
"resist the dichotomy") will be able to find validation for their
worldviews.</p>
<p>Though, all in all, I think the right-wingers will come out feeling a
lot better than the left-wingers overall. This is because the
left-wingers want institutional solutions to what they perceive as
problems, and COVID-19 (metaphorically) kicked the establishment in
the balls. The establishment is rolling around in pain a little bit
now <em>and</em> Bernie Sanders is not the Dem party blessed
choice. Meanwhile, right wingers with their values in self-sufficiency
and building up families and communities (rather than exploring the
arts) instead of state power (okay, now I'm talking more about
<strong>libertarian</strong> leaning right-wing types, not war-hawk hegemonic
theocratic types) will emerge from all of this feeling like had been
on the right track before all of this with their trucks, guns, and
gallons of water.</p>Smartphones suck.2020-05-04T00:00:00-07:002020-05-04T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-05-04:/pelican-test/smartphones-suck.html<p>Now in the second deade of the twentieth century, rather than getting
flying cars, the elimination of poverty, and anonymous global
crypto-currencies, we got <strong>smartphones</strong> <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Smartphones suck. They suck your time and attention. They suck your
bank account(s) dry, especially if you have set up "convenient"
payment systems …</p><p>Now in the second deade of the twentieth century, rather than getting
flying cars, the elimination of poverty, and anonymous global
crypto-currencies, we got <strong>smartphones</strong> <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>.</p>
<p>Smartphones suck. They suck your time and attention. They suck your
bank account(s) dry, especially if you have set up "convenient"
payment systems and find yourself near vending machines stocked with
tasty energy drinks.</p>
<p>As a society, I think it is in our best interest to talk about
smartphones like how we talk about drugs and alcohol. They can be
fun/useful for some things, but definitely not for everyone and
something to be approached with caution. Many wisely choose to abstain
completely.</p>
<h2>"Personal Surveillance Devices"</h2>
<p>Smartphones are personalized advertisement aggregating surveillance
devices. You pay money to get tracked. "Security" isn't about <em>you</em>,
it's about your digital persona, a marketable product that you do not
own.</p>
<p>With limited privileges you <em>could</em> grow a big
business, become famous, etc.; likewise, by owning a typewriter you
<em>could</em> write a best-selling novel. Most people don't do this though;
most people lose <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bigly">bigly</a> with
most minutes spent on smartphones.</p>
<p>When you use a smartphone, you are given limited access to a little
node on a big <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_theory">graph</a>. The
companies that own these graphs are firstly Google and Apple, who
control Android and iOS an their stores, respectively <sup id="fnref:2"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:2">2</a></sup>. The
tracking doesn't stop there, however. All big "social" apps, including
multiplayer games and other "fun" diversions, have similar tracking
features. Your phone (and by extension Apple and Google) also knows
how much time you spend on each app.</p>
<p>For many people, this is OK because "I don't mind being tracked
because I'm not doing anything wrong". That might be a fine view to
have <em>now</em>, but what will you do if the political fashionistas decide
that some view you have is a Nazi view? Do not support "the purge"
because you expect to get out okay!</p>
<h2>Physical and Social Issues</h2>
<p>Some people use their smartphones kinda like personal trainers. Their
phones pump media into their brains while ordering them to do pushups
and stuff (see the "<a href="https://7-min.com/">7 Minute Workout</a>", for a
representative example) <sup id="fnref:3"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:3">3</a></sup>. Most people, however, don't use their
smartphones in this way. Their smartphones, rather than functioning as
motivational coaches, work as myopia inducing, posture destroying,
distraction vectors that literally get thousands (more?) of people
killed every year. You might develop <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetitive_strain_injury">Repetitive Strain
Injury</a> from
swiping your thumbs over a glass plate all day.</p>
<p>Smart phones force you into <strong>corporate mediated communication</strong>
because all of the chatting and stuff you do through a smartphone
passes through the filters of <em>someone else's servers</em>. Sneaky
advertisements influence your thoughts. You may <em>think</em> you are
ignoring them, the the dark arts of advertisement penetrate deep and
<em>NONE ARE IMMUNE</em>.</p>
<p>Socially, this means that people are <em>increasingly optimized as
particular types of consumers</em>. Smartphones put you on an
advertisement to purchase pipeline. Even if you don't choose to buy,
your data will be sold.</p>
<h2>Alternatives</h2>
<p>I think that most people should opt out smartphone use to the best of
their ability. When non-smartphone options are available, these
options should be favored.</p>
<p>For instance, many people use their phones to check the time. Seems
benign enough, right?</p>
<p>What often ends up happening, however, is that the NOTIFICATION SCREEN
pushes all sorts of info into your attention. This is one way in which
the smartphone is a vector of corporate mind viruses; it attacks you
when you are just waiting for a bus or twiddling your thumbs
distracted from homework or something.</p>
<p>Sometimes you can tweak the settings on your phone to try to suppress
things like the aforementioned notifications. But even still, you are
having faith that our tech overlords (Apple, Google) are doing what
the smartphone UI wants you to believe you are doing. Behind the
scenes, our tech overlords may instead be creating a profile of you as
a "privacy/security concerned user" and trying to optimize the
marketing of some new product to sell to you—"APPLE VPN" or
something!</p>
<p>"Privacy" or "productivity" features shouldn't be trusted. The
operating systems themselves are spyware which you have no control
over. Using a smartphone is entering <em>The Matrix</em>, as is using things
like Google Chrome (and probably MacOS, Windows). Sometimes we have to
enter <em>The Matrix</em> to get things done, but it is not the world we are
native to.</p>
<p>For tasks where no smart phone is required, not using a smart phone is
preferable:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Telling time</strong>: look at a clock/watch; analyze shadows cast on the ground</li>
<li><strong>Alarm clocks, timers, etc.</strong>: alarm clocks, timers, etc.</li>
<li><strong>Workout</strong>: stopwatch, friends/coaches/etc.; book/guides/lists on routines</li>
<li><strong>Calculator</strong>: learn some mental arithmetic; this is literally
elementary school level math</li>
<li><strong>Dictionary</strong>: paper is fine; dedicated electronic dictionary; PC
application</li>
<li><strong>Maps</strong>: A sense of direction, paper maps</li>
<li><strong>Finding foods</strong>: just walk into a restaurant and try it</li>
<li><strong>Weather</strong>: Use this as an opportunity to talk with someone (like
the British do) <sup id="fnref:4"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:4">4</a></sup></li>
</ul>
<p>The goal is to give your smartphone <em>as little viewing time as
possible</em>. When it is time to smartphone, then dive in and smartphone
all the way. But do not kinda smartphone throughout the whole
day. That is a road to misery.</p>
<h2>A good investment?</h2>
<p>As much as I dislike smartphones, I must admit one place in which they
are extremely efficient economically. This is as a "content creation"
tool for those involved in social media business. Many people buy
lots of stuff they do not really use, but typically, when people
purchase smart phones they use them <em>a whole lot</em>. For those that
specialize in bending other people's minds through smartphones, the
smartphone is of course an indispensible tool to use and understand.</p>
<p>There are also people that specialize in selling cigarettes and
convincing people to join malicious organizations.</p>
<h2>Not your device</h2>
<p>Smartphones <em>can</em> be tools, but they are tools that are very often far
outside our control. Think <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xykkkd/why-american-farmers-are-hacking-their-tractors-with-ukrainian-firmware">John Deere
tractors</a>
(more generally the "<strong>right to repair</strong>"), but worse because
smartphones are so widespread and are less domain specific.</p>
<p>Smartphones are about <em>constraining</em> users to a certain (small) sets
of actions. Automation is not practically possible for smartphone use
because it is the phone that is supposed to be smart, <em>not you</em>. Your
job is to populate other people/companies' servers with useful for
data for <em>their ends</em>.</p>
<p>When you opt to use your smartphone less and consciously do actions
you <em>plan</em> when you <em>do</em> decide to use your smartphone, you take control
of your attention and by extension... your LIFE. Shove your smartphone
into a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/faraday-bag/s?k=faraday+bag">Faraday bag</a> when you are not using it and laugh as the battery
drains. Today is YOUR DAY to seize.</p>
<h2>Additional Notes</h2>
<h3>Further Reading</h3>
<ul>
<li>Many of the ideas presented here are in agreement with ideas put forth by RMS, creator of the Free Software Foundation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Footnotes</h3>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>We also got Windows updates that can restart your computer into a broken state while you are sleeping as well as sequels to movies which nobody I know asked for. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:2">
<p>Facebook's <a href="https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/">Graph API</a> is a model exemplifying this graph metaphor <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:2" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:3">
<p>Just memorize the damn routine and use a stop watch or something; you don't have to summon the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon">panopticon</a> while you are doing a "prison workout" <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:3" title="Jump back to footnote 3 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn:4">
<p>YouTuber TechLead in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmONbYqYaRk">a video</a> remarks how talking about the weather is a good neutral topic to use with difficult in-laws. Indeed talking about the weather can serve an important social function of bringing together not-so-friendly parties. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:4" title="Jump back to footnote 4 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>Corona Virus Diary, Part 52020-04-24T00:00:00-07:002020-04-24T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-04-24:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-5.html<p>In this post, I will describe how the delivery of information and
communication have changed during my life thus far, highlighting ways
in which current "high tech" ways of doing things have empowered small
groups of (technocratic) elites and the parties that pressure them to
push their (socio-political) agendas while …</p><p>In this post, I will describe how the delivery of information and
communication have changed during my life thus far, highlighting ways
in which current "high tech" ways of doing things have empowered small
groups of (technocratic) elites and the parties that pressure them to
push their (socio-political) agendas while undermining the well-being
of people who just want to build communities with their families
and friends while having some fun.</p>
<h2>The evolution of information delivery pipelines</h2>
<p>As a millennial (born in 1992), I recall a time when Internet access
was limited; it was a new and exciting "high tech" thing and having
access to computers was a kind of status symbol. Zoomers—born
and raised surrounded by Internet connected technologies—did not
experience the transaction from the "pre-Internet" world to the
"Digital Age" just as most millennials don't have the experiences that
lead many Boomers to become globalism embracing hippies.</p>
<p>I think that overall, the expansion of the Internet (c.f. THE MATRIX)
has led to a much more <strong>fragile</strong> world in the sense any one group's
decisions can have
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEA33bAXyNM"><em>hyuuuuuuuuuuuuuge</em></a>
consequences. Effectively, this means that propaganda is more
effective and faster acting. Like a machine gun versus a hunting
rifle. Frightening!</p>
<h3>The reach of news</h3>
<p>In the 20th century, people often got news through the "legacy media"
in forms like:</p>
<ul>
<li>Newspapers</li>
<li>Magazines (e.g. Time magazine)</li>
<li>Broadcast media (television, radio)</li>
</ul>
<p>These forms of "legacy media" are non-interactive in the sense that
they don't have something like <em>comments</em> sections that give instant
feedback. You could call into a talk show or something, but
participating in things like this is not the default behavior of most
listeners—most people
<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lurk"><strong>lurk</strong></a>,
actively observe but not contribute content.</p>
<p>Certainly, there was news everywhere even before my time—for
instance in the 1980s, I imagine there were lots of TV broadcasts
running in corporate break rooms, dentists' offices certainly had lots
of magazines, super markets put tabloids near the front of the
store.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, news media was not as <em>pushy</em> as it is now on the
Internet. You could simply avert your gaze and look at something else;
nowadays, getting rid of news, advertisements, etc. often takes some
technical know-how and complex configuration—it is not something
that can done instinctually with no training. The channels of
information in which news is delivered are required for daily (urban)
living: students must use web browsers to interact with their schools
and complete assignments, many companies are moving towards
electronic-only "paperwork", etc. </p>
<p><strong>Nerd aside</strong>: This trend has invaded even privacy + free information
concerned spaces. A recent-ish annoying thing is that the Firefox web
browser pushed news stories onto their default home
page—alienating nerds who had chosen firefox to avoid things
like this that happen on browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Edge.</p>
<h3>Social interactions</h3>
<p>News sitting in web browsers is non-threatening enough. But what about
wearing an advertisement on your forehead?</p>
<p>This is much of what is being normalized in what I will call
<strong>corporate mediated communication</strong>, using communications technology
(such as messenging apps) where corporate interests are pushed on the
user. This is perhaps the biggest problem I am seeing with information
technology today. One-on-one communication reaks of third party
intervention!</p>
<p>Some context—besides face to face conversations, the
pre-Internet channels for communication include:</p>
<ul>
<li>Phone calls (LAN line means ur mom could be eavesdropping)</li>
<li>Letters/postcards (relatively long form; you have to pay money to send)</li>
<li>Other solutions, e.g. leaving notes on the refrigerator, </li>
</ul>
<p>None of these media feel particularly "corporate". Sure, you probably
have to work with a company to get your phone line set up, but then
after that, you are largely left alone—we'll assume nobody is
tapping your wire for now, ha!</p>
<p>Not so with smartphones/apps and most (desktop) online experiences! I
leave Candy Crush installed in Windows 10 so that when I open the
Start menu, I can be reminded that I am in THE MATRIX. When you open
your (smart)phone, unless you flipped a bunch of options, you are
probably greeted by all sorts of news. Android pushes a lot of Google
news and stuff at me.</p>
<p>Seeing these things, if only for an instant, <em>colors our
conversations</em>. Google/Apple/etc. seizes a bit of our attention before
we started chatting with our friends/family, listening to music, etc.
We may <em>think</em> we aren't paying attention to these things, but the
headlines and stuff stick—we get the sense that "the whole world
is doing XYZ"... ...big corporations are determining the contexts of
our conversations by setting mood lighting to their robo-desires.</p>
<h2>Locked Down, Locked In</h2>
<p>As people are having fewer face-to-face conversations (because they
are not going out), more and more acts of communication
("conversations") are being carried out through corporate-mediated
communications technologies.</p>
<p>Prevailing narratives such as "END OF WORLD", "TRUMP BAD", "CHINESE
VIRUS", etc. infect people's thinking as tech companies troll our
minds by constantly telling us <em>what to think about</em>.</p>
<p>If you open a tool box, your hammer may suggest hitting nails to you,
but that is about it. A piano sitting in your living room may suggest
"you should practice", but it doesn't say "think about XYZ; should we
do military intervention?!".</p>
<p>Having made some conscious decisions about how I set up my tech, I am
relatively well off standing back and analyzing what's going on with
the news and stuff. But I don't expect this of most
people—especially if they are busy doing important work like
saving people as medical workers or keeping our (already crumbling)
infrastructure from totally collapsing.</p>
<p>My current attitude is to low-key hate smartphones specifically, but a
lot of the "information ecosystem" more broadly, and avoid invasive
technologies most of the time. Nonetheless, I recognize that these
technologies are ubiquitous things and that I can't get away with not
using one (at least until I have a family of my own, some land,
etc). I was born and raised in THE MATRIX and I must do my part to
help those still in it. So I am doing things like this... writing blog
posts to share my thoughts to hopefully help at least some people see
what is going on with information delivery and then make better
informed decisions about things rather than accept the terrible
"default settings" which we are naively handed.</p>Channeling *Chuunibyou*2020-03-25T00:00:00-07:002020-03-25T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-03-25:/pelican-test/channeling-chuunibyou.html<p>With great immaturity comes great power. This is the way (道)
of the <em>Chuu-ni-byou</em> 中二病 warrior.</p>
<h2><em>Chuu-ni-byou</em></h2>
<p>Let us engage in some self-deprecation. Surely, most of us have at
least <em>felt</em> this way before?</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Chuunibyou</strong> (中二病; Chūnibyō) is a derogative colloquial term in
the Japanese language used to describe a …</p></blockquote><p>With great immaturity comes great power. This is the way (道)
of the <em>Chuu-ni-byou</em> 中二病 warrior.</p>
<h2><em>Chuu-ni-byou</em></h2>
<p>Let us engage in some self-deprecation. Surely, most of us have at
least <em>felt</em> this way before?</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Chuunibyou</strong> (中二病; Chūnibyō) is a derogative colloquial term in
the Japanese language used to describe a person who manifests
delusional behavior, particularly thinking that one has special
powers that no other person has. Originally a term used to pertain
to children in the second year of middle school who act like adults,
the term eventually evolved into a term generally used to describe
delusional behavior in general.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Source: <a href="https://animanga.fandom.com/wiki/Chuunibyou">animanga.fandom.com</a></p>
<p>Maybe you realized you knew something that a parent or teacher didn't
know. Maybe you were better at something than all of your peers. Maybe
you truly believed you had some sort of super-natural powers.</p>
<p>While <em>Chuunibyou</em> may be used as an insult, we can embrace this term.</p>
<h2>With some imagination, your daily activities become heroic</h2>
<p>Being a student, a lowly corporate wage slave, or otherwise falling
into line to conform to societal norms may be not always be the most
fun thing in the world. Inject some immature thinking, however, and
the every day routine can become lots of fun.</p>
<h3>Desk jobs</h3>
<p>Knowing how to work a bunch of little programs is like knowing how to
cast a bunch of spells. Chaining them together to create solutions,
now that's <em>wizardry!</em> Composing emails is basically mind control
("delegation").</p>
<p>Magical items (computers) become more powerful in the hands of skilled
users. Understanding that when you skillfully operate a computer, you
are translating keystrokes (little finger movements) into BIG ACTIONS in
the real world.</p>
<h3>Practicing a musical instrument</h3>
<p>Let's look at another activity: playing musical instruments. To play a
musical instrument well you need to train a lot of fine motor control.
Plucking strings? Why that's basically <em>archery</em>.</p>
<h3>NEETing x Quarantine</h3>
<p>If you wanna be with others outside having fun but can't, you may be
experiencing <em>loneliness</em>. However, if you willfully choose this path,
you may be <em>persuing solitude</em>. Like a wise sage, a lone wolf rogue, a
hero on a journey...</p>
<h2>Adventure awaits</h2>
<p>Overcome by a sense of <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ennui"><em>ennui</em></a>?</p>
<p>While you might not be literally slaying dragons out there,
channeling a little bit of immaturity, you can view your own
live as an epic adventure.</p>
<p>The details of what it means to manifest <em>chuunibyou</em> are left as an
exercise to the reader.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 42020-03-24T00:00:00-07:002020-03-24T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-03-24:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-4.html<p>What do I do under quarantine lock-down?</p>
<h2>Oscillating between different activities</h2>
<p>I try something for a while, for instance solving some problem or
reading a chapter of a book. Sooner or later, it will become too
boring/difficult to continue. So, I'll switch to another activity that
I think I …</p><p>What do I do under quarantine lock-down?</p>
<h2>Oscillating between different activities</h2>
<p>I try something for a while, for instance solving some problem or
reading a chapter of a book. Sooner or later, it will become too
boring/difficult to continue. So, I'll switch to another activity that
I think I should be doing. Repeatedly cycling through different
activities I should be doing, I end up "clocking in" lots of time
doing productive stuff.</p>
<ul>
<li>Workout (e.g. pushup sets, crunches)</li>
<li>Foreign language study (e.g. read some news in Chinese, review some
Spanish grammar)</li>
<li>Fuss with some Linux config</li>
<li>Browse over the documentation for some programing language (mostly
Node, Golang, bash these days)</li>
<li>Try to solve some fussy CSS problem </li>
<li>Writing blog posts (like this one)</li>
<li>Playing some <em>Étude</em> on some musical instrument</li>
</ul>
<p>Each of the individual activities above often is not the most fun
thing in the world to do. But the variety of being able to cycle
through them means lots of little sessions of intense focus. I lower
my expectations for myself by only expecting to concentrate for like
20 minutes at a time. Workout bursts are even shorter.</p>
<p>By sundown I'm usually adequately tired (or interested in something)
that I don't need to ask myself about what to do next. If I feel like
sleeping at 9 PM, sure, I'll go to sleep. If I wanna stay up reading
about how Arab Nationalism didn't work, sure I'll go do that.</p>
<h2>Welcomed Interruptions</h2>
<p>Punctuating the above routine with sending/receiving a message or two,
looking at the whatever noise I heard outside, flipping through some
book, etc. keeps me feeling "in the loop".</p>
<p>Something something <em>flow like water</em> uhh... zen... yeah!</p>
<h2>Further Reading</h2>
<p>For more on productivity stuff, see the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique">Pomodoro
Technique</a> for
something easy to get started with. Or, my personal favorite system,
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done">"Getthing Things
Done"</a>, the choice
of many business people and programer types alike.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 32020-03-23T00:00:00-07:002020-03-23T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-03-23:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-3.html<p>Lunch for today was "survival stew". Similar to Korean 부대 찌개 "Army
Stew", it consisted of whatever ingredients were available, served
with some rice. Ah! The taste of <em>austerity</em>.</p>
<p>This time, it didn't taste excellent, but that's how stuff goes. Every
meal every time doesn't need to be excellent; sometimes …</p><p>Lunch for today was "survival stew". Similar to Korean 부대 찌개 "Army
Stew", it consisted of whatever ingredients were available, served
with some rice. Ah! The taste of <em>austerity</em>.</p>
<p>This time, it didn't taste excellent, but that's how stuff goes. Every
meal every time doesn't need to be excellent; sometimes we just have
better/worse ingredients available.</p>
<p>This cooking experience reminds me of something I am trying to do in
other domains of life. That is...</p>
<h3>tl;dr</h3>
<ul>
<li>"Don't be a hipster"</li>
<li>똑바로 해</li>
</ul>
<h2>Getting comfortable with standard tools</h2>
<p>Historically, there have been different <em>schools</em> or <em>styles</em> of
cooking. Different regions of planet earth had different ingredients
available, different cultural taboos, etc. And so cuisines developed
around core ingredients and time-tested methods to make those
ingredients taste good, kill disease, etc.</p>
<p>Cooking is very daunting if you are always jumping around trying to
make this-and-that culture's ingredients. You may even find yourself
buying specialized tools for all sorts of specific tasks (e.g. a torch
thing for <em>Crème brûlée</em>, a fancy wok for some South Chinese style
stir-fry).</p>
<p>In a similar way, it pays to learn some standard tools well in other
domains. Jumping around and chasing diversity ("spreading yourself too
thin") is <em>no bueno</em>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Computer</strong>: lots of unix things; computer science fundamentals</li>
<li><strong>Music</strong>: Look at common, well-regarded music. Don't get lost in
equipment. Focus on core skills...</li>
<li><strong>Languages</strong>: standard usage; common colloquial stuff (don't go down
rabbit hole of dialects and stuff unless you have a specific social
reason to do so)</li>
</ul>
<p>Knowing the "vanilla" defaults well gives you more freedom because you
can only make variations of the "default" when you <em>first know the
default</em>.</p>
<h2>Literary Aside</h2>
<p>What good are novels/movies/etc. flipping over narratives left and
right when the main audience no longer knows the default narrative?
The overly flipped narratives become the default narrative. And
suddenly the old dusty book has the edgy take.</p>The Third-Person Self Improvement Program2020-03-23T00:00:00-07:002020-03-23T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-03-23:/pelican-test/the-third-person-self-improvement-program.html<p>Cautionary note, 11/12/2020—stay away any
imagination/visualization technique that separates you from reality.
Occult/esoteric practices should be avoided. There is a "slippery
slope" leading there when you do practices that involve imagining what
is not real, doing stuff with dreams, chanting and/or any form of …</p><p>Cautionary note, 11/12/2020—stay away any
imagination/visualization technique that separates you from reality.
Occult/esoteric practices should be avoided. There is a "slippery
slope" leading there when you do practices that involve imagining what
is not real, doing stuff with dreams, chanting and/or any form of
invocation. It is better to be sober, vigilant, and industrious. Using
"visualization" insofar as you <em>plan actions to skillfully perform</em> is
okay I think, but <em>DO NOT</em> do stuff like imagining yourself in a big
luxury yacht etc.</p>
<p>Original content, below:</p>
<p>Imagine yourself from a <em>third person perspective</em>—watch
yourself from someone else's viewpoint. What is this person like? Are
they acting in a self-destructive way? Are they good to others? Are
they idealistic but utterly incompetent? How would you describe
yourself in a novel?</p>
<p>The idea here is to look at yourself <strong>objectively</strong>. Putting aside
present feelings for a moment, how would you evaluate your behavior?</p>
<h2>Visualization Techniques</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Can you <em>see the money?!?!?</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In lots of popular psychology and business type books, you will see
discussions of various flavors of <strong>visualization</strong> techniques. That
is, imagining various scenarios. The idea is that your sub-conscious
will then come up with ideas of how to arrive at these goals.</p>
<p>Unscientific? Nonsense? Bullshit? I think, not so much. It is hard to
quantify/measure the efficacy of techniques like visualization. But
the fact that so many people have been using</p>
<h2>A Recipe for Action</h2>
<p>Can you sit down and visualize yourself just philosophizing and
getting nothing done for hours on end? Chances are, you probably
cannot sustain this meditation for long. When I try this, my attention
drifts.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What's the weather going to be like tomorrow? Oh.. must take a note
on something I want to write about later. My butt itches.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Visualization techniques get you thinking about what you <em>can</em>
do. What are the available actions I can do? What tools do I have at
my disposal?</p>
<h2>Quarantined Times</h2>
<p>It's LARPing time. You are in an RPG called life. Your character is
trapped for some time in a small dungeon. How will you train? What
skills will you level up? What connections will you make? Options are
many, and time (unlike Federal Reserve notes) is limited.</p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 22020-03-22T00:00:00-07:002020-03-22T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-03-22:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-2.html<p>Reporting again from self-quarantine, your independent media 👋 Today
we are going to do some more armchair sociology and
psychologizing. Buckle up ("Click it or Ticket") and grab your
favorite face cover, things are about to get sneezy. Might even add
some abstractions and philosophy to the mix...</p>
<p>First things first …</p><p>Reporting again from self-quarantine, your independent media 👋 Today
we are going to do some more armchair sociology and
psychologizing. Buckle up ("Click it or Ticket") and grab your
favorite face cover, things are about to get sneezy. Might even add
some abstractions and philosophy to the mix...</p>
<p>First things first, let's define a term: <strong>belief</strong>.</p>
<h2>Regarding "Belief"</h2>
<p>In English, we have this word "believe" which is quite peculiar. It
has <em>strong religious connotations</em>. Many would say the question of
whether or not someone is a Christian ultimately comes down to a
question of <em>belief</em>. But what exactly does it mean to "believe"?</p>
<p>One way to look at "belief" is to see it as a <em>publicly alignment</em> to
some cause. That is, one goes out in public and makes some
assertion. They are bound to their word. This way of looking at
belief makes a lot of sense because it has to deal with contracts and
stuff, which America has a lot of maybe mostly owing to British
origins.</p>
<p>Another way to look at "belief" is to evaluate <em>what people do</em> rather
than <em>what people say</em>. Truly, if you believed your house was fire,
you would do something about it, wouldn't you? By this definition of
belief, we have to prove that we believe something by how we act. From
certain stated axioms, do your actions (rationally) follow? If not,
our actions reveal what we
<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ackchyually">actually</a> believe.</p>
<p>Now given two senses of the word "belief", I will proceed to
characterize the crises of belief currently befalling many of the
people of planet earth.</p>
<h2>State of Disbelief</h2>
<p>In both of the senses of the word "belief" above, we see that we are
collectively in a <strong>state of disbelief</strong>. You probably can see the pun
I am making with the word "state" too 😉</p>
<p>On the one hand, we see people making all sorts of assertions about
the state of the world, what's going on. Then we look at what people
are doing.</p>
<p>One person might be able to perfectly recite some <strong>ideology</strong>, giving
the "right answers" by basic logic + mental algebra. But when that
ideology doesn't line up with reality, we see what that person really
<em>believes</em> in the second sense I gave above—their actions
manifest where their real convictions lie.</p>
<p>Such behavior is sometimes can be called "hypocrisy", but I often see
it as more of a struggle to reconcile a collapsing world view. Maybe
"managing cognitive dissonance" or something like that for many
people.</p>
<h3>Theory Shmeary!</h3>
<p>As everyone and their favorite non-profit is trying to push some
ideology, it is not surprising that people often hold many incoherent
"beliefs" when taken together as declarations of belief. One might at
one time utter the words,</p>
<ul>
<li>Open borders! No kids in cages!</li>
<li>Closed borders! Keep everyone safe, Drumpf is an overconfident idiot!</li>
<li>Free market! We need everyone to have goods/services no matter the cost!</li>
<li>Government rationing of supplies! Planned economy!</li>
</ul>
<p>...and this is because these statements are taken from disjoint
self-contained systems (though not necessarily so). One person can say
them all; we are not computers that blow up if there is some "logical
contradiction".</p>
<p>My analysis is that these things people say belong to the first sense
of <em>belief</em>—publically making known one's adherence to some
words. One might analyze this as a sort of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_act">speect
act</a>.</p>
<h3>Globalists x NeoLiberals</h3>
<p>One class of people I see getting hit hard are the relatively
<strong>xenophilic</strong> ("foreign-stuff loving") types. These folks often like
to celebrate how people/places/cultures that are not them are
great. Imagine learning some foreign language of a people/culture you
do not belong to (oh no, I see my reflection).</p>
<p>I see many of these folks turning inward, displaying their true
colors. It is not about diversity and decentralization of power
(e.g. competing US, European Union, Chinese, Russian, Pan-Indic,
Islamic forces vying for power...), it is about issuing in a
"democratic world order" in which the world is a zoo of cultures to
visit with a German (not to be confused with <em>Nazi</em>, mind you)
passport.</p>
<p>What they announce is that they embrace diversity, respect other
cultures, etc. What their actions show they <em>believe</em> is that they
have all the right answers and that these things should be exported at
the point of a gun to the rest of the world.</p>
<p>In other words, the astute can see through the ideological <strong>virtue
signalling</strong> of people saying how tolerant, diversity embracing, blah
blah they are. Such behavior made sense to climb up corporate ladders
and stuff in the pre-COVID-19 world. But when institutions shut down
and do not intervene between reality, shit hits the fan with <em>no
intervening toilet paper</em>. The horror!</p>
<h3>Traditionalists vs Revolutionaries</h3>
<p>Some people really like ritual, and just do stuff just because. I'll
call them <strong>traditionalists</strong>. They may tell you that they don't need
a reason for doing what they are doing, they just do. Insofar as
these people are able to keep up their traditions, they seem pretty
chill through all this quarantine business.</p>
<p>The traditionalist doesn't need to explain at every step. They act in
a way that has led to survival in the past. The traditionalist
<em>believes</em> tradition will allow them to weather this storm.</p>
<p>Let is call the opposite of traditionalist a
<strong>revolutionary</strong>. Revolutionaries want to overturn tradition and
forge a new path forward.</p>
<p>Ironically, being a "revolutionary" in a left-wingy sense has become
quite... mainstream. So we see lots of self-proclaimed left wingers
doing things like voting for Joe Biden. Voting to <em>conserve the
establishment</em>. Lol.</p>
<p>In this way, the idea of the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_majority">silent
majority</a>" makes sense
to me. We see people who make the gestures of "revolutionaries" at
times, campaigning for social justice and all. But in the end, they
are establishment mongers.</p>
<p>That's OK in my book; you don't choose everything about who you are,
including dispositions towards certain behvaiors. I hope your
"revolutionary" comrades do treat you alright though if you fall into
this category.</p>
<h2>So... what's your point?</h2>
<p>In summary, we see many mismatches between word and deed all around us
everyday. In a time of crisis, like with impending
<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/corona-chan">Corona<em>-chan</em></a>, it is
evermore easy to see the "raw belief" of action.</p>
<p>I do not condemn widespread hypocrisy around me. Rather I observe a
struggle to resolve ideologies—often fragmented and incomplete,
consisting of collected sayings (c.f. Confucian <em>Analects</em>). People
are being tested for what they <em>actually</em> believe in the sense that
they are being forced into action. Certain actions reveal a mismatch
between proclaimed ideology and assessment of reality.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it is important to not get too fixated on witch
hunting based on proclaimed ideology because many people around the
world just proclaim what they do to stay alive. Much of China says
"yes communism!" because they didn't want to die; now they are acting
in a very much "yes fascism!" way in the sense that we see a marriage
of government and industry... PUNCH ALL CHINESE BECAUSE THEY ARE
FACISTS?</p>
<p><em>Bruh.</em></p>
<h2>Other languages aside</h2>
<p>Other languages have lots of words (and even grammatical structure) to
discuss all things <strong>epistemological</strong> (having to do with what
<em>knowledge</em> and what is <em>knowable</em>, see
<a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/">SPE</a> for more
info).</p>
<p>Spanish has a word <em>confiar</em> which might sometimes be used in contexts
similar to "believe". But this word is also often translated as things
like "trust" (as in <em><strong>trust</strong> in the process</em>).</p>
<p>The East Asian languages have translations from missionaries of words
in the Bible dealing with belief. </p>Corona Virus Diary, Part 12020-03-20T00:00:00-07:002020-03-20T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-03-20:/pelican-test/corona-virus-diary-part-1.html<p>In contemporary times, Japanese people are famous being good at
waiting in lines and otherwise maximizing social cohesion. So when I
heard that <a href="https://twitter.com/5huKA_11/status/1237687423687155713">Japan was running out of toilet
paper</a> and
that there were issues with people hoarding and buying out stores, I
knew that there was going to be …</p><p>In contemporary times, Japanese people are famous being good at
waiting in lines and otherwise maximizing social cohesion. So when I
heard that <a href="https://twitter.com/5huKA_11/status/1237687423687155713">Japan was running out of toilet
paper</a> and
that there were issues with people hoarding and buying out stores, I
knew that there was going to be trouble. Although my inner-prepper had
already led me to prep with things like things canned foods,
fire-starting devices, and knives (for cooking and chopping up
plants), it became clear to me that preparing more couldn't hurt. So
while stuff was still in stock, I went out and bought some more
essentials. At this point in the virus explosion timeline, everything
in the US was running as usual. COVID-19 (then sometimes called "Wuhan
Virus") <em>was</em> in the mainstream news, but businesses were still open
and running as usual. I think the stock market took some little dips,
but nothing major.</p>
<p>Zoom ahead a few weeks, and we see major market crashing action, Joe
Biden leading the Democrats, and some areas of the world (e.g. Italy)
hit very hard. Optimists say to expect maybe three more weeks of this,
but the inner <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/doomer"><strong>Doomer</strong></a>
within each of us knows to expect more chaos for longer than that.</p>
<p>I had not too long ago finished filing taxes, so I didn't go sell off
all my stocks. I didn't wanna think about markets, government
intervention, and everything in between. Then the Federal Reserve
money printers started whirring. <em>brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...</em></p>
<h2>Invisible Enemies</h2>
<p>Following the news through all of this has been a bullshit filtering
exercise of great proportion. The scientifically minded are a bit more
comfortable with just <em>how little we know</em>, but this is not the case
for the public at large. People turn every which way for
<em>authority</em>. Some turn to popular personalities, others to
governments, and yet others to corporate e-mail announcements.</p>
<p>There is one common thread that I see running through all these
reactions. In the words of President Donald Trump, we're fighting an
<strong>"invisible enemy"</strong>. Each person has constructed a different "invisible
enemy", though none can deny the chaos befalling our dear globalist
order.</p>
<h3>Containment Measures</h3>
<p>Okay, so you like... can't see a virus with the naked eye. So in a
very literal sense, we are fighting an "invisible enemy" since we
can't see viruses. I hope you are doing your part to not be part of
the problem.</p>
<p>This "invisible enemy" does not immediately manifest itself. Even
breathing the same air as a healthy looking person can potentially
mean infection. The orders to practice <strong>"social distancing"</strong> thus
urge people to not just avoid overtly coughting and weezing humans
around them, but to generally avoid breathing the same air as others
since we <em>don't know who may be infected</em>. This is how we try to
contain the spread of COVID-19.</p>
<p>As a mostly-remote web developer, practicing "social distancing"
hasn't been much of a change for me in terms of day-to-day
lifestyle. However, as businesses continue closing their doors and
governments have begun issuing "shelter in place" orders, even my
already rather isolated remote life is being affected.</p>
<p>I do not yet know anyone personally who is infected with the virus,
though I expect I probably will in the near future. I plan to consider
taking quarantine stuff seriously. In terms of <em>positive</em> goals (as
opposed to <em>negative</em> goals like avoiding sickness and death) I intend
to do more pushups, squats, and crunches on the dungeon floor as well
as skipping rope in the corner of my yard. Current hobbies continue to
be studying foreign languages, doing computer nerd stuff, and
occasionally trying to make pleasant sounds on musical instruments.</p>
<p>The best thing for young-ish healthy people to do, I think, is to
<em>respect the enemy (virus)</em> and to not "YOLO, whatever I'm traveling
to Italy!". This is mainly out of concern for others, though it may
very likely be a life-saving alignment for oneself. Those who have the
power to not end up in the hospital should choose to not end up in the
hospital so that those that need help can get it. Plus, it is no fun
to go to the hospital, but I didn't have to tell you that probably.</p>
<h3>Fanning the flames of ethnic tensions</h3>
<p>The mainstream media's response to COVID-19 has also done much to fan
the flames of existing tensions. I see my ethnic demographic
(<strong>Asian-Americans</strong>) getting worked up against (white) people who do
not xenophilically embrace them. Certainly, hostilities exist between
different people groups. Just listen to a second-generation
Chinese-American immigrant mother describe how dirty white people are
for leaving their shoes on in homes...</p>
<p>Yet we (Asian-Americans) are programmed to see micro-aggression in any
vanilla colored smile.</p>
<p>As COVID-19 rages, we see individuals <em>returning to ethnic enclaves</em>
(oftentimes families where near everyone is of the same ethnicity). I
don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. But it is worth pointing
out that in times of trial people tend to reveal where their loyalties
really lie. Narratives of persecution <em>have not helped Americans
towards further solidarity with one another</em>. Rather, they have
encouraged people to dig deeper into their
Semitic/Chinese/Indian/etc. tribes.</p>
<p>I also see people withdrawing into philosophical/intellectual (rather
than ethnic) camps. Groups of people united by something like a common
profession (e.g. programers) or a shared ideology (e.g. "secular
humanists") band may be able to survive together, at least for one
generation. However I believe that in the long run, ethnic and/or
religious affiliations are a more robust strategy, because
<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=neckbeard"><strong>neckbeards</strong></a>
cannot give birth to new generations with other neckbeards.</p>
<h3>Religion Rising</h3>
<p>Facing institutional incomeptence, religion is looking healthier
overall from what I can see. People want to see other people and
communities. They would rather pray to God than see what demonic
bargains the governments of the world have to offer them next. The
promise of liberalism and globalism seems less appealing, even if the
Kingdom of Heaven cannot be known except through faith.</p>
<h2>Online social lyfe</h2>
<p>In these tough times, we must recognize our nature as a "social
species" (though I think individuals differ drastically on how much
social contact they want).</p>
<p>I'm around if you contact me on FB, LINE, Kakao, or whatever. </p>
<p>For a more "public" like experience, I've been very impressed with
Discord. Come hang out with me and others on the <a href="https://discord.gg/2RFwR7R">Xah Lee
Discord</a> server to meet interesting people
from all over the world and talk about anything under the sun.</p>
<h2>Notes to self</h2>
<p>There is a whole boatload (non-infected, I hope) of topics to discuss
relating to all this coronavirus stuff. Here I list some things I want
to discuss further in the future. Feel free to reach out and suggest
ideas if you would like to see a discussion on anything...</p>
<ul>
<li><em>Antifragile</em> (N.N. Taleb) and why none of the "collapse" we are
witnessing is surprising at all.</li>
<li>Chinese media vs Western media on current events</li>
<li>the Internet and signal vs noise; bullshit filtering</li>
<li>about Internet communications, generally </li>
<li>my experience with remote work</li>
</ul>
<p>...will make more blogs in the near future.</p>Shadowrun Games Review2020-02-28T00:00:00-08:002020-02-28T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-02-28:/pelican-test/shadowrun-games-review.html<p>Here is my game review for <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/346940/Shadowrun_Hong_Kong__Extended_Edition/">Shadowrun: Hong
Kong</a>
(2015) and <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/234650/Shadowrun_Returns/">Shadowrun
Returns</a>
(2013).</p>
<p>This review <em>contains no spoilers</em>. I'm mainly discussing major
gameplay things you'll be able see within ten minutes of playing.</p>
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>Would you trust someone who doesn't drink coffee to give you reviews
of the local …</p><p>Here is my game review for <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/346940/Shadowrun_Hong_Kong__Extended_Edition/">Shadowrun: Hong
Kong</a>
(2015) and <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/234650/Shadowrun_Returns/">Shadowrun
Returns</a>
(2013).</p>
<p>This review <em>contains no spoilers</em>. I'm mainly discussing major
gameplay things you'll be able see within ten minutes of playing.</p>
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>Would you trust someone who doesn't drink coffee to give you reviews
of the local cafés? Probably not. Let me tell you a bit about myself
and my gaming history.</p>
<h3>I am a Casual</h3>
<p>I don't play games competitively whatsoever. I briefly tried to climb
in LoL, but I sucked and remained in Bronze where I originally placed,
lol. I am a <em>casual</em>. So here I am, reviewing a game series I played
through on <em>normal</em> mode. Me, a <strong>normie</strong>.</p>
<h3>I take a long time to play through games</h3>
<p>Typically, when I go through some game, I play like 3-7 times per a
week in around 1-2 hour sessions. That being said, it takes a while
for me to finish playing through any game.</p>
<h2>Races, Classes, Etiquettes</h2>
<p>One interesting aspect of the Shadowrun games is the way characters
are built. Building interesting characters is one the main reasons
people would play an
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game">RPG</a> to begin with.</p>
<h3>Races</h3>
<p>There are "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_software">vanilla</a>"
humans and then there are "metahumans": trolls, orcs, dwarves, elves.
Using different (fictional) races like this allows the game creators
to introduce low-key "<strong>race realism</strong>" into this game. Some races are
more/less charismatic than others, other races are physically
stronger/weaker. These discussions needn't be <em>hateful</em> of course;
rather the player must ask themselves, how do I navigate this
diversity that I never asked for?</p>
<p>So, as with other fictional universes, you can safely explore the
notion of "race" in Shadowrun.</p>
<h3>Classes</h3>
<p>As an undergraduate, I typically received the same sort of reaction
when I said I was majoring in Philosophy (and Chinese, but <em>not</em>
"Chinese Philosophy" mind you). Namely, people asked "wtf are you
gonna do with that?" A valid question, ha!</p>
<p>Shadowrun is similar—except you choose a general <em>class</em> for
your character, and typically build up attributes/abilities (by
spending <em>karma</em> points) that match your character's affinities. As in
real life, your resources are limited, so if you try to spread your
development too thin (like yours truly), you may quickly end up the
"jack of all trades, but the master of none". However, as you hyper
focus, there are also <strong>diminishing marginal returns</strong>, with each
increasing of an existing ability/attribute you have being more
expensive.</p>
<p>Thus to build a strong character (in terms of game mechanics), you
have to strike a balance between spcializing (and unlocking very
powerful abilities) and building yourself a broad palette of options.</p>
<h3>Etiquettes</h3>
<p>In Shadowrun, you choose an "etiquette", like Corporate, Security,
Gang... Basically this is social know-how for some type of community.</p>
<p>I found this pretty relevant to real life; you may, for example, be a
straight-A student, but a total idiot on the streets. Likewise, you
may be excellent at writing cover letters for LinkedIn, but you may
suck at creating cheery conversation buzz with friends.</p>
<h3>Other things</h3>
<p>When building a character, you can optionally get cyber-body upgrades
like plastic coating for your skin and such. Each upgrade consumes
"essence" of your body; you cannot completely replace yourself with
robo-parts! For you nerds that like "deep thoughts", check out some
thought experiments in "<strong>Philosophy of Mind</strong>". You can sip wine with
your pinky up while doing so.</p>
<h2>The cyberpunk aesthetic</h2>
<p>The main reason I can see for playing Shadowrun is to enjoy immersive
role playing. For tactical strategy greatness, fast-paced action,
studying Japanese, or whatever you might wanna do, there are probably
better options. But for running around sprawling urban concrete
jungles causing mischief, these games are pretty fun. Would recommend
and play again!</p>"Propaganda" as a Descriptive Term2020-02-26T00:00:00-08:002020-02-26T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-02-26:/pelican-test/propaganda-as-a-descriptive-term.html<p>The term <strong>propaganda</strong> is often used as a kind of slur. Here, I want
to discuss "propaganda" used as a <strong>descriptive</strong> term. All sorts of
people use propaganda, including people you likely.</p>
<p>Here's a definition.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Propaganda is information that is used primarily to influence an
audience and further an agenda …</p></blockquote><p>The term <strong>propaganda</strong> is often used as a kind of slur. Here, I want
to discuss "propaganda" used as a <strong>descriptive</strong> term. All sorts of
people use propaganda, including people you likely.</p>
<p>Here's a definition.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Propaganda is information that is used primarily to influence an
audience and further an agenda, which may not be objective and may
be presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis
or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional
rather than a rational response to the information that is
presented.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(Definition from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda">Wikipedia</a>)</p>
<p>The wikipedia definition above is kind of
<a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=neckbeard"><strong>neckbeard-y</strong></a>
in my opinion, but it is good enough to work from.</p>
<h2>All those brainwashed sheeple!</h2>
<p>How do you imagine someone in a cult talks? Look at how you and your
in-group(s) signal agreement. Look at what you begin with as
assumptions.</p>
<p>There is not time to bicker about philosophical this-or-that everyday,
so everyone has to take some assumptions about how the world works and
run with that. In some environments, it may more-or-less match up with
the real world. Consider "scientific" thinking; most people most of
the time just take what they are on authority, just like religious
people. Those "marching for science" are not much different from
people at a religious rally. They both assume they are right, and they
are publically displaying their devotion to their ideological cause.</p>
<p>Assuming you do stuff in the real world, you most certainly operate in
social circumstances that more or less force you to acknowledge
certain things as true. Propaganda reinforces these axioms that create
social-cohesion.</p>
<h2>How we use propaganda</h2>
<p>Propaganda is everywhere and it can be very useful, not just for
controlling others but for controlling ourselves.</p>
<h3>Motivation</h3>
<p>Propaganda is super useful for doing things like reaching goals. Goals
are often defined in terms propaganda taught us. Consider listening to
a "work out" playlist. The music you are listening to is <em>literally
mind control waves</em>, putting you in a kind of rhythmic trance and
making you wanna go show off your enw fit body at the club or
whatever. This can be incredibly motivating for many people.</p>
<h3>Social Reinforcement</h3>
<p>As mentioned above, propaganda is useful for signalling in-group
preference. Posting such and such image can signal that you are "one
of the boys" in some group. A mistake can show affiliations you were
trying to hide. The more socialized you are in some group, the better
you are able to recognize insiders and outsiders.</p>
<h3>The Dark Arts</h3>
<p>The first step to understanding the <strong>Dark Arts</strong> is to realize the
darkness within yourself. Learn how propaganda operates in your life
already and then you can start to help others defend against it. You
may also choose to channel the dark energy for your benefit, as you
come to understand it better.</p>Use Browser Navigation2020-02-26T00:00:00-08:002020-02-26T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-02-26:/pelican-test/use-browser-navigation.html<p>Built into all browsers these days are buttons like FORWARD, BACK, and
REFRESH. However, many web developers choose to build navigation
components into their sites which ignore this built in functionality.
The result is UI <strong>bloat</strong>. There are multiple back buttons displayed
for most users, both those on screen and …</p><p>Built into all browsers these days are buttons like FORWARD, BACK, and
REFRESH. However, many web developers choose to build navigation
components into their sites which ignore this built in functionality.
The result is UI <strong>bloat</strong>. There are multiple back buttons displayed
for most users, both those on screen and those on the browser
itself. Rather than having content quickly and cleanly delivered, we
are faced with all-looking-the-same websites, which are supposedly
user-friendly.</p>
<p>Individual users can do things to get rid of browser clutter. However,
most people aren't nerds who tweak their browser settings to hide
things they don't want (or who set up stuff like <code>vim</code> keybindings for
their browser).</p>
<h2>Content First</h2>
<p>Making use of browser buttons instead of cluttering a UI with your own
buttons puts your <em>content first</em>. Navigating your web pages should be
non-annoying, but is not the main reason people (should) visit your
website. Hopefully you have something useful to offer that pretty
menus and spinners.</p>
<h3>Peripheral friendliness</h3>
<p>One other advantage of making use of normal BACK/FORWARD functionality
is that many keyboards and mice (as well as other things, like game
controllers) can be set up to access these functions on convenient
thumb-buttons and other more ergonomic fixtures. Save your ass
expensive medical bills from <b>RSI</b> and stuff and build for the
future.</p>
<h3>Action plan</h3>
<p>I'm going to write many web pages that you have to use your browser
navigation to get away from. No need to write another "back" button if
you can just press back. No layers of abstraction above normal browser
navigation.</p>
<h2>Other technical notes</h2>
<p>Modern web tech like <strong>React</strong> piles on some layers of abstraction
through things like <strong>dynamic routing</strong> with tools like <strong>React
router</strong> to implement forward-back functionality in <strong>Single Page
Applications</strong> (SPA). This is understandable for making snappy web
pages that feel "modern".</p>
<p>However, if you don't load too many images and other media, keep
things clean and simple, etc., web pages don't even take that long to
load. This blog, for instance.</p>No Glasses Meditation2020-02-18T00:00:00-08:002020-02-18T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-02-18:/pelican-test/no-glasses-meditation.html<p>I'm going to try something for some time. Every day, I will spend a
chunk of time (maybe 2 hours) without my glasses. The idea is to
train concentration, memory, recall and using other senses.</p>
<p>As a side effect, I hope to also train myself to spend more time doing …</p><p>I'm going to try something for some time. Every day, I will spend a
chunk of time (maybe 2 hours) without my glasses. The idea is to
train concentration, memory, recall and using other senses.</p>
<p>As a side effect, I hope to also train myself to spend more time doing
mind-work while on my feet, doing chores, etc.</p>
<h3>Reading too much is a problem</h3>
<p>It is easy to become passive simply <strong>consooming</strong> information; in the
age of the Internet, there is endless verbiage to consume. Without
deliberate filtering, you are at the mercy of editorial boards (or
lack thereof). Each person must become their own bureau of
censorship/education.</p>
<p>By not wearing glasses, for some time each day, I hope to become more
deliberate in whatever I do.</p>Tactile Niceness: From Computer Keyboards to Musical Instruments2020-02-17T00:00:00-08:002020-02-17T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-02-17:/pelican-test/tactile-niceness-from-computer-keyboards-to-musical-instruments.html<h2>Why Dvorak, When Dvořák</h2>
<p>Musical instruments, stringed ones in particular have many features of
a good ergonomic keyboard layout. Since spending some more time
studying music more seriously, I've lost interest in optimizing
typing. I used to type Dvorak (got over 100 WPM), but have since
switched <em>back</em> to standard …</p><h2>Why Dvorak, When Dvořák</h2>
<p>Musical instruments, stringed ones in particular have many features of
a good ergonomic keyboard layout. Since spending some more time
studying music more seriously, I've lost interest in optimizing
typing. I used to type Dvorak (got over 100 WPM), but have since
switched <em>back</em> to standard QWERTY, the default of the US.</p>
<p>When the (physical) input of what you are doing is reflected in the
(physical) output, it feels good. Computer keyboards will always be
characterized by arbitrariness because there is a lot of chaos in
writtelanguage. Even if by chance a keyboard was designed where the
arrangement of letters somehow matched some phonetic properties or
something like that, this wouldn't necessarily translate to a nice
typing experience.</p>
<p>Playing stringed instruments is tactically satisfying because the
inputs you apply (bowing, picking, etc.) translate immediately into
the sounds produced. Even looking at different ways of tuning a guitar
(e.g. standard EADGBE versus DADGAD), the "logic" of fretting to get
higher pitched sounds remains. The layout of the instrument (and
therefore the "inputs" it takes) will always be reflected in the
sounds produced. Keyboard instruments typically do this, but I guess
you could program a synthesizer to behave more arbitrarily if you
really wanted to... but why? Just type to experience that chaos!</p>Yang Gang 2020 Aftermath2020-02-12T00:00:00-08:002020-02-12T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-02-12:/pelican-test/yang-gang-2020-aftermath.html<p>Andrew Yang stopped his campaign some time around today. I was not
necessarily opposed to Yang, but was by no means an ardent supporter
either. Here's I share some thoughts about Yang's political
messages/campaign.</p>
<p>First are some impressions/observations:</p>
<ul>
<li>Yang campaigned hard on <strong>Universal Basic Income</strong>, $1000 bucks a …</li></ul><p>Andrew Yang stopped his campaign some time around today. I was not
necessarily opposed to Yang, but was by no means an ardent supporter
either. Here's I share some thoughts about Yang's political
messages/campaign.</p>
<p>First are some impressions/observations:</p>
<ul>
<li>Yang campaigned hard on <strong>Universal Basic Income</strong>, $1000 bucks a
month for pretty much all adults in a certain age range<ul>
<li>I accept Yang's point that this is probably a better
redistribution scheme than other existing programs, layers and
layers of bureaucracy, etc.</li>
<li>I would not like to see the government expand; it is unclear to
me if Yang's Freedom Divident (aka <strong>NEET bux</strong>) would be
accompanied by cutting government spending elsewhere</li>
<li>If UBI were to come to be, I'd expect a proliferation of
subsisting people living ant-style (<em>ari-zoku</em>) for free; talk
about danger for epidemics! A specialized class of rent-farmers
would likely thrive too... (speculation)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Yang's race/ethnicity is a whatever to me<ul>
<li>But I see you racialists out there choosing Yang just because
he's "of color" or "Asian" just like people chose Obama for
similar reasons</li>
<li>I think that there are both people more inclined to vote for
Yang <em>because</em> he's Asian, and also people who would choose not
to because of that... ...or maybe it's more about him appealing
to the "nerd" demographic</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Talk of the threat of Artificial Intelligence and climate change
without talk about populations/demographics gets the noggin' joggin'<ul>
<li>Should governments decide which groups to subsidize (and
hence increase) at the expense of others?</li>
<li>(Insert Leftist critiques of big oil, tobacco industries, and
related topics)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>Yang appears to me to be a pretty good guy, and a sincere person. In
this way, I think he has a trustworthy "feel" like Sanders. However, I
do believe his policies in general would drive America to be worse and
worse; sorry Ayn Rand brainwashed me.</p>
<h2>Dichotomous Political Opinions</h2>
<p>From the <strong>right</strong>, I like how Yang</p>
<ol>
<li>criticizes the inefficiency of government</li>
<li>has a scheme to allow capitalism, but with some safety net<ul>
<li>see how people relate UBI to "classical liberal" thought</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>rouses <strong>swamp-drainy</strong> thoughts and criticisms of the <strong>legacy
media</strong> on the Dem side (search term <strong>yang media blackout</strong>)</li>
</ol>
<p>From the <strong>left</strong>, I like how Yang</p>
<ol>
<li>Has a redistributionist scheme that <em>is more universal than
anything we've seen before</em></li>
<li>Seems relatively peaceful, not war-hawky</li>
</ol>
<h2>Open the Third Eye; Optics and Meta-Cognitive Stuff</h2>
<p>I dislike the 'MATH' campaign thing and all that nerd stuff; I see
that Yang is a lawyer too, not an engineer or even a veteran
(C.f. Tulsi Gabbard) so I suspect how "in touch" with reality he is on
the physics of the world. Math is wallowing in abstractions; how does
this map to reality?</p>
<p>This doesn't matter to most people who just clamour against "CLIMATE
CHANGE" and view they have "SCIENCE" on their side without
understanding a thing about it, besides what they've heard, akin to
how most people accept the traditions/religions handed to them.
(<strong>Note</strong>: I'm not denying climate change or criticizing
traditions/religions here, I'm just making a point about how people
accept/reject ideas presented to them...)</p>
<h2>The memes were with him...</h2>
<p>(...but many were probably by top-down design)</p>
<p>In any case, I hope that this whole Yang ordeal encoruages people to
criticially evaluate the sources they get any information from.</p>
<p>In this blog post, I cite nothing and just say my impressions. No fake
news here. Just opinions. Is your news just opinions too?</p>Facebook is Fine2020-02-10T00:00:00-08:002020-02-10T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2020-02-10:/pelican-test/facebook-is-fine.html<p>A quick Internet search (c.f. <em>Google</em> search) will reveal troves of
anti-Facebook articles. Should you get off Facebook?</p>
<p>I have not quit Facebook. Here's some reasons why:</p>
<ol>
<li>Using an online platform transparently linked to your real-world
offers many advantages over anonymous platforms for <strong>connecting
with real-life friends and family …</strong></li></ol><p>A quick Internet search (c.f. <em>Google</em> search) will reveal troves of
anti-Facebook articles. Should you get off Facebook?</p>
<p>I have not quit Facebook. Here's some reasons why:</p>
<ol>
<li>Using an online platform transparently linked to your real-world
offers many advantages over anonymous platforms for <strong>connecting
with real-life friends and family, commerce, and finding new
communities</strong></li>
<li>Facebook will harvest data on you (you "node" in its graph) whether
you like it or not; might as well <strong>take as much control</strong> of your
user profile as you can</li>
<li>You can <strong>train Facebook</strong> to be more useful to you: e.g. use
Facebook to study a foreign language</li>
<li>Understanding Facebook is a <strong>marketable skill</strong>: particularly,
managing ad campaigns, administering pages, etc.</li>
</ol>
<p>For those that can manage not being totally addicted to Facebook, I
think it is a decently good idea to reclaim Facebook as <em>your public
facing platform</em>. Facebook is now a rather established platform that
offers many useful services. Approaching Facebook purposefully, you
can leverage it to be an overall good thing in your life.</p>
<h2>Don't be a coward, show your face!</h2>
<p>There are many places on the Internet where users communicate with
(relative) anonymity, hiding behind an anime profile picture, an image
of a cute dog/cat, some meme character, etc. Certainly, there are
cases where anonymity is useful, notably for <strong>whistleblowers</strong> or
other individuals who <em>must</em> be anonymous for their own safety. I
support the creation and maintenance of places for people to
communicate anonymously (and oppose "deplatforming" in the USA where I
live, generally), but I don't think they are good for most people most
of the time.</p>
<p>Here are some general points about how anonymity can lead to bad
behavior:</p>
<ul>
<li>Little to no "<strong>skin in the game</strong>" causes people to speak
recklessly or to take actions that can hurt others</li>
<li><strong>Escapism</strong> is encouraged; <strong>accountability</strong> is avoided</li>
<li><strong>Trends</strong> are more difficult to assess; prolific shit-posters may
inflate the relevance of certain themes, bringing the fringe to the
mainstream; different information ecosystems</li>
</ul>
<p>On the other hand, having a real-world identity linked up with online
interactions encourages people to treat each other more politely and
avoid being overtly nasty as the Internet functions as something of a
public record.</p>
<p>Using a real-world identity online encoruages people to use online
platforms as <em>a gateway to offline interactions</em>. Logistics can be
handled much more easily if everyone involved is familiar with social
media.</p>
<p>The question of ads and influence (what I like to call "the dark
arts") is a big topic, especially following all the 2016 presidential
election stuff. That being said, a platform like Facebook allows
astute users to observe who is pushing what agenda more
transparently. Ads have to be pushed by someone for something, after
all. </p>
<h2>Control your node</h2>
<p>I have spoken to friends who at some point or another decided to
"close" their Facebook accounts. To the best of my knowledge, Facebook
makes no promises at ever completely deleting your stuff, so closing
your account is essentially forfeiting control of your node (data representing you on Facebook's <a href="https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/overview">Graph API</a>.</p>
<p>Choosing to keep a Facebook account (even if you don't use it much) is
akin to holding onto property you'd rather have <em>not abused</em> event if
you aren't actively using it. Particularly for public-facing
individuals, keeping control of Facebook content about you might be a
good idea,</p>
<h2>Train Facebook to do what you want</h2>
<p>Facebook's <strong>Feed</strong> has been the subject of lots of controversy. Many
things about it are opaque to end users. However, in general, a "what
you put into the surveillance state browser is what you get out of it"
principle seems to hold true for most people I have discussed these
issues with.</p>
<p>If you log into Google chrome and search for digital camera things on
Amazon, what sort of ads do you expect to see in Facebook?</p>
<p>You can train Facebook to give you more of what you think you <em>should
be seeing</em>. For example, if you are trying to do more home cooking,
just go search some cooking stuff. Facebook will probably feed you
lots of interesting inspiration.</p>
<h2>Purposefully use Facebook</h2>
<p>Nowadays, I only pick up phone calls if I am expecting a call or if
the number calling is one I recognize. This has saved lots of time.</p>
<p>Approaching Facebook with a <strong>policy</strong> like how many people approach
phone calls can allow you to leverage this powerful platform to
enhance your life. </p>Why LARBS?2019-12-27T00:00:00-08:002019-12-27T00:00:00-08:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-12-27:/pelican-test/why-larbs.html<p>In my <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/arch-linux-install-for-n00bs.html">Arch Linux Install for n00bs</a> I gave details on how to install Arch linux and then suggested <a href="https://larbs.xyz">LARBS</a> as a way to get up and running with your new installation. In this article I detail <em>why</em> I find LARBS particularly useful and address some points brought up by …</p><p>In my <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/arch-linux-install-for-n00bs.html">Arch Linux Install for n00bs</a> I gave details on how to install Arch linux and then suggested <a href="https://larbs.xyz">LARBS</a> as a way to get up and running with your new installation. In this article I detail <em>why</em> I find LARBS particularly useful and address some points brought up by haters.</p>
<h1>Sensible Defaults</h1>
<p>The number one reason to use LARBS is to experience with <strong>sensible defaults
for a keyboard centered workflow</strong>. LARBS offers an out-of-the-box setup of
many nice things that can take a long time to set up manually: a <strong>tiling
window manager</strong>, vi-like <strong>line editing</strong> (via zsh), a PDF reader (Zathura).</p>
<p>Furthermore, LARBS comes bundled with software you probably want: e.g. a
privacy-respecting browser (Brave), git, some programming languages and
compilers. The <code>yay</code> tool is already setup to help you grab even more software
from Arch Linux's AUR repositories.</p>
<h3>But <em>real</em> Linux users set these things up themselves</h3>
<p>Practical people want good tools readily available to them. If you begin
learning guitar on a really poorly made instrument you are more likely to
become discouraged and give up. On the other hand, if you have a more
experienced friend (or shop) set up your instrument when you are getting
started, you may make a lot more progress, more quickly in <em>actually learning
how to play</em>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, many aspects of installing things randomly often are annoying and
don't involve much learning. The arcane details of how to run some program you
are probably going to run only very rarely are perhaps better offloaded to
automation (e.g. the shell scripts LARBS uses).</p>
<h3>But using someone else's setup is lame!</h3>
<p>LARBS does not constrain how you set things up later---it's just a shell script
to get you started.</p>
<p>For instance, I use emacs a lot, and Luke Smith (who made LARBS) doesn't. Many
tools in LARBS I don't care about or use (e.g. <code>vifm</code>, vim-like file manager)
because I just use <code>dired</code> in emacs.</p>
<h1>Pros and Cons</h1>
<h2>What LARBS is <em>not</em> good for</h2>
<p>Obviously, if you require applications that require Windows or some other OS, you are out of luck.</p>
<p>If you are doing complicated things with sound, hardware, etc. LARBS only gives a basic desktop setup. It may be much harder to adjust these settings in LARBS compared with a well-established Linux distribution, such as Lubuntu or Manjaro (two others I have tried with older hardware).</p>
<p>It is hard to set up typing in CJK; I'm still figuring out how to get this well
integrated and will upload a guide when I am able to do so nicely.</p>
<h2>What LARBS <em>is</em> good for</h2>
<p>LARBS is good for getting a decent general computing and programming
environment set up quickly.</p>
<p>For a user coming from a more traditional desktop setup, LARBS allows you to
explore ideas like...</p>
<ul>
<li>Tiling windows for more efficient screen space usage</li>
<li>Remapping CAPS LOCK for happier keyboarding</li>
<li>Editing config files to change settings</li>
</ul>
<p>...without the trouble that might come from tweaking another installation (e.g.
modifying default Ubuntu) or doing everything from scratch.</p>
<p>While on the one hand, there is definitely learning to be done in <em>doing</em>
things yourself from the start, why shouldn't we reuse good defaults and stable
software set up by more knowledgable people? Studying the LARBS config files is
a good way to start writing your own configs.</p>
<h1>Summary</h1>
<p>If you wanna try out a tilling window manager, just install Arch and LARBS. It
is not even that bad and you can customize it more later as you find out more
about what you want.</p>Getting Comfortable with Linux2019-08-14T00:00:00-07:002019-08-14T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-08-14:/pelican-test/getting-comfortable-with-linux.html<p>Updated 8/14/2019</p>
<h2>This tutorial</h2>
<p>This tutorial aims to answer this question:</p>
<p><strong>Now that I have a Linux system running, how do I go about learning
more?</strong></p>
<p>This tutorial is aimed at eager beginners and aspiring computer users
that have decided to take control of their computing. It largely …</p><p>Updated 8/14/2019</p>
<h2>This tutorial</h2>
<p>This tutorial aims to answer this question:</p>
<p><strong>Now that I have a Linux system running, how do I go about learning
more?</strong></p>
<p>This tutorial is aimed at eager beginners and aspiring computer users
that have decided to take control of their computing. It largely
follows my journey to learn more about Linux specifically and
computing more generally. My goal is that with this tutorial and a
handful of things downloaded, you can sit with your
computer—even without an Internet connection and learn more
about computing.</p>
<p>My approach here is thematic; I go over some class of actions you
might want to do, and then mention some options you may choose to
succeed at doing these things.</p>
<h2>Requirements</h2>
<p>In this tutorial, I assume that you have a Linux system up and running
(...and here, the term "Linux" is used to mean a UNIX or UNIX-like
system that has certain core utilities, <em>not</em> the kernel itself or
something highly technical like that). For something that just works,
<a href="https://manjaro.org/">Manjaro</a> and <a href="https://xubuntu.org/">Xubuntu</a>
are some solid options. If you want to spend some more time
configuring things, you may want to try <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/">installing Arch
Linux</a>. Really, it
doesn't matter that much where you start because you are entering
Linux land where customizability is king.</p>
<h3>Editors</h3>
<p>What is a samurai without a sword? You need an editor! Most things on
Linux are configurable via a <strong>"dot file"</strong>, so called because they
have a name that starts with a <em>dot</em> (e.g. <code>.bashrc</code>,
<code>.eslint</code>...). You will need an editor to change these files. If you
are enthusiastic about learning Linux, you probably have some interest
in writing scripts or programs or some sort. You'll need an editor for
that too.</p>
<p>Learning the basics of some editor is a skill you will not
regret. Editors like <code>vi</code> and <code>nano</code> can be found pretty much
anywhere. It probably won't be too difficult for you to grab a more
sophisticated editor like <code>vim</code>, <code>emacs</code>, or Visual Studio Code.</p>
<h2>The GUI way</h2>
<p>There is a big movement to make Linux systems intuitive and
"user-friendly", particularly for users coming from Windows and
Mac. No explanations needed here—you can explore the menus and
built in softwares with any Linux distribution that comes built in
with a graphical desktop environment. </p>
<p>There is no shame in using and enjoying a GUI. For many things, this
is the easiest way to get things done, particularly if you don't care
to do any special configuration. Examples of things I've recently used
GUI menus to configure:</p>
<ul>
<li>Themes/fonts</li>
<li>Wallpaper</li>
<li>Keyboard shortcuts</li>
<li>Joining wifi networks</li>
<li>Sound/volume stuff</li>
</ul>
<p>Other tasks, such as managing software, is perhaps better done through
the Command Line Interface (CLI).</p>
<h2>Whispering into the soul of your system</h2>
<p>Lots of things on modern computers are "artifacts of engineering",
leftover remnants from designs of the past. One interesting example is
the "command line interface" typically accessed through a <strong>terminal</strong>
(emulator).</p>
<p>Computers used to look like this:</p>
<p><img alt="Computer Terminal" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3708/10526021063_a47c368729_b.jpg"></p>
<p style="font-size: 0.9rem;font-style: italic;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/15528623@N00/10526021063">"IMG_20131027_152921"</a><span>by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/15528623@N00">S. F.</a></span> is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/?ref=ccsearch&atype=html" style="margin-right: 5px;">CC BY-NC-SA 2.0</a><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/?ref=ccsearch&atype=html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="display: inline-block;white-space: none;opacity: .7;margin-top: 2px;margin-left: 3px;height: 22px !important;"><img style="height: inherit;margin-right: 3px;display: inline-block;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc_icon.svg" /><img style="height: inherit;margin-right: 3px;display: inline-block;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc-by_icon.svg" /><img style="height: inherit;margin-right: 3px;display: inline-block;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc-nc_icon.svg" /><img style="height: inherit;margin-right: 3px;display: inline-block;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc-sa_icon.svg" /></a></p>
<p>In more current times, the old way of interacting with computers is
emulated using what is usually called something like "terminal" or
"shell" on modern systems.</p>
<h3>Need moar software</h3>
<p>Most Linux distributions ship with a <strong>package manager</strong>. </p>
<h3>Exploring your filesystem</h3>
<p>Typing stuff like <code>ls -la</code> all the time can get very tiring. One way
to get around this problem is to define <strong>aliases</strong> for commands you
commonly use.</p>
<p>Another way to get around your file sytem is to use a <strong>file manager</strong>
that runs on the command line (or within your favorite editor). For
example, there is <a href="https://vifm.info/"><code>vifm</code></a> for doing common
operations like moving, copying, and renaming files in a vim editor
like way. Emacs has the built in
<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Dired.html"><code>dired</code></a>
mode to do these things.</p>
<h3>Getting system info</h3>
<p>To find out some quick information about your system and display it in
a pretty way, use your package manager to download and install
<code>screenfetch</code>. There are of course other places to find all of this
information, but this is the easiest way to getting system info (that
also looks cool) akin to doing the "about my computer" stuff on
Windows or MacOS.</p>
<h2>Finding more information</h2>
<p>Are there things that you don't understand? How do you find
documentation for those things?</p>
<h3>Clicking through menus</h3>
<p>This is often how I learn more about the features of some program. You
may discover useful commands you never thought you needed if you take
the time to click through some menus.</p>
<p>I've found this especially helpful in using widely used, large,
complex programs like GIMP (image manipulation) and Blender (3D
graphics).</p>
<h3>Built-in help systems</h3>
<p>Many pieces of software come with their own built in help
systems. Many (most?) users jump to searching the Internet for
answers, but becoming familiar with the built-in help system for some
software may be able to provide quicker, more specific answers if you
invest a little bit of time to learn how to use it.</p>
<p>Documentation is often available for download for offline viewing. If
you have a 12 hour flight coming up, why not read a user manual until
you fall asleep? (either way, you win—you learn something or you
get a good rest).</p>
<h3>High quality online resources</h3>
<p>Not all websites are created equal; finding the best websites can save
you a lot of time you'd otherwise spend sifting through crap.</p>
<p>Rather than naïvely Googling how to do something on Linux, for
instance, it may be helpful to first consult the <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/">Arch
Wiki</a> for Linux related topics. This
resource can be useful even for non-Arch users that want to learn
about some topic and Linux. For instance, recently I wanted to see
what options were available for <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Optical_disc_drive#Ripping">ripping
CDs</a>. The
Arch Wiki had lots of helpful information for doing that on my
(non-Arch) Debian-based system.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_index.html">Practical Linux Tutorial</a></li>
</ul>Approaches to computing2019-07-20T00:00:00-07:002019-07-20T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-07-20:/pelican-test/approaches-to-computing.html<p>Updated 8/12/2019</p>
<h2>An autobiographical account of using computers</h2>
<p>Here's how I was introduced to computers—</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We use specific programs to do specific things. MS word is for
writing papers. MS paint is for having fun making digital
drawings. Photoshop is for more serious digital paintings (and
editing photos …</p></blockquote><p>Updated 8/12/2019</p>
<h2>An autobiographical account of using computers</h2>
<p>Here's how I was introduced to computers—</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We use specific programs to do specific things. MS word is for
writing papers. MS paint is for having fun making digital
drawings. Photoshop is for more serious digital paintings (and
editing photos). Games r fun.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>More or less, I continued to think this way even after I took my first
introduction to programming class (Java in High School). I was
introduced to programming using Integrated Development Environments
(IDEs); large applications that aim to bring all tools necessary for
writing programs together.</p>
<p>At a certain point, however, I began to take note of the fact that I
could <em>use different programs to edit the same sorts of files</em>. I
think I started to have these thoughts about graphics software. I
realized I could use various editing softwares to do some task like
<em>resizing an image</em>. Wow, cool!</p>
<p>As I thought of new things I wanted to do with computers, I became
more interested in software generally (specifically <em>free</em> software,
as in <em>free beer</em> because I didn't have a way to pay for stuff
online). I gradually learned more about programming generally, Linux,
and other related things.</p>
<p>All of this has been a lot of fun. It has also caused some trouble for
me, working with other people and their computers. Could I help
someone do XYZ in Microsoft Word? No, because I was too busy fiddling
with LaTeX or Markdown. I guess I could help them Google it? More
recently, by investing lots of time into learning <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs.html">GNU
emacs</a>, I've neglected
to learn many useful things in <a href="https://code.visualstudio.com">Microsoft's Visual Studio
Code</a>, the de facto standard for web
development (my day job) these days.</p>
<p>All of this rambling leads us to our main topic of
discussion—<em>different approaches to computing</em> and their
relative pros and cons.</p>
<h2>Approaches to Computing</h2>
<p>There are a lot of people like me who have messed around with a lot of
programs to do a lot of things and are not so super-good at using any
of them. We have fun with computers, get our work done, and are
excited to play around with new technologies (or rediscover) old ones.
Our abilities scale with effort, enthusiasm, and time. We "waste" a
lot of time on the computer in the sense that if we just stuck with a
few things, we could have gotten by with a lot less scattered know-how
and hours spent fiddling with configuration files.</p>
<p>This leads us to another type of computer user...</p>
<h3>The One Program Wonder</h3>
<p>Certain pieces of software out there are very powerful. If you can
use certain programs well, you can easily turn your visions in reality
(and find high paying work).</p>
<p>Some people learn a small number of programs extremely well and don't
care about the rest. Consider a digital artist/designer that makes use
of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. This person has awesome
visual powers. With a Macbook pro and a big idea, they can move
mountains.</p>
<p>This person might not know how to write a bash script, set up a
printer, or install an operating system. They may call tech support
for help. Are they n00b? Or, consider the hardcore gamer that
concentrates on one game and plays it very well. They may not know how
to do anything else on a computer, but in their domain they are an
unstoppable force.</p>
<h3>Just make it werk</h3>
<p>Then, there are people that believe that <em>by playing (video) games you
already lose</em>.</p>
<p>Some people spend as little time with computers as possible. Often,
this works out just fine. These are users who can get away with
replacing a laptop or a desktop computer with a tablet. For these
users, the tablet does everything they would want a computer to do,
plus it is generally cheaper, it is more portable, and perhaps more
durable.</p>
<p>Using mobile devices and tablets, there is often only one way really
to do things. There is a single way to do things like change settings,
enter/exit the application, etc. Often this involves clicking,
touching buttons, etc. For nerds, this may be terrible. They may
literally lose sleep over trying to do something in a way UI/UX
designers don't care about.</p>
<p>"Just make it werk" users may just give up with their technology and
go socialize, work out, paint pictures, or do something else with
their time while nerds try to pretend Macbooks are Linux machines. </p>
<h2>Self-reflection on my after-hours computing habits</h2>
<p>After hours, I boot up Linux (see my <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/pelican-test/arch-linux-install-for-n00bs.html">Arch Linux install
guide</a>),
launch emacs (see my <a href="https://gist.github.com/captainalan/d2d94f8ff88ba0c74e85560246d51fdf">config
file</a>,
and proceed to write code, prose, and everything in between. Would it
be better to (1) stay in Windows, (2) use a word processor to write
prose, and (3) use an IDE to write code?</p>
<p>For quickly getting stuff done, I think that choosing these
conventional solutions would typically be better.</p>
<p>When I consider an activity like <em>writing a letter</em>, I get excited
about booting up Linux, formatting things nicely in LaTeX and playing
around with emacs commands. But TBH, it would be easier to just start
typing in MS Word or Libre office. I can adjust fonts and stuff to
make things look pretty good.</p>
<p>I think about the "One Program Wonder". I think about the "Just make
it werk" user. These people are doing just fine. And I'm taking three
times as along as I need to to finish some task. But you just wait!
The <em>next</em> time I have to do something similar, I'll be faster!</p>
<p>...unless I'm messing around with some new software/configuration
again.</p>Chairs suck.2019-07-20T00:00:00-07:002019-07-20T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-07-20:/pelican-test/chairs-suck.html<p>I personally dislike using chairs most of the time. I'd rather sit on
the floor, stand, or walk around to work, reading, thinking,
socializing, etc. Strange? Seething in my dislike for chairs, I
decided to do a little "armchair" research on chairs to find out where
they came from and …</p><p>I personally dislike using chairs most of the time. I'd rather sit on
the floor, stand, or walk around to work, reading, thinking,
socializing, etc. Strange? Seething in my dislike for chairs, I
decided to do a little "armchair" research on chairs to find out where
they came from and why they are everywhere in WEIRD ("Western Educated
Industrial Rich Democratic") cultures.</p>
<p>Did you know:</p>
<ul>
<li>For many centuries, chairs were "a symbolic article of state and
dignity rather than an article for ordinary use" (Wikipedia)</li>
<li>The earliest images of chairs in China are from the sixth century,
but even then sitting in chairs was rare (Wikipedia)</li>
<li>Writing, multi-story buildings, paper money, and examinations all
have a longer history than chairs in China!</li>
<li>Chairs became mainstream in the West and spread especially fast
during the time of the "Industrial Revolution" (Chair Institute)</li>
<li>Nowadays, there are a lot of people <a href="https://www.startstanding.org/sitting-new-smoking/">hating on
"sitting"</a>
(i.e. chairs)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Dirty floors vs clean feet</h2>
<p>Chairs are useful if you are wearing shoes, don't plan on taking them
off, and want to sit down. Note that it is nice to sit down on a bench
or chair to remove your footwear.</p>
<p>Chairs are not so good if you want to sit on a rug or reach things
that are close to the floor. Removing sandals or slippers requires to
chairs.</p>
<p><img alt="The Beatles observe George learning Sitar. July 1966." src="https://i.imgur.com/Ci5mHRE.jpg"><br>
(Source imgur)</p>
<h2>Hot idea</h2>
<p>Many common clothing items we wear were designed for purposes quite
unlike modern living. For example, long pants came from
horse-riding. Few people these days ride horses.</p>
<p>Where I live (California), it is usually rather hot. Rather than
following dressing, eating, and sleeping habits of other hot climate
people, many (most?) Californians like to retreat to air conditioned
coffee shops and dress and act like they live in cooler European
(English/German/French?) places. Why?!</p>
<h2>Good uses of chairs</h2>
<p>Besides being required for being socially acceptable in a good many
places, there are a number of situations in which having a chair is
useful. To play the piano, for instance, it makes sense to sit on a
comfortably adjusted piano bench so you can reach the pedals under the
piano.</p>
<p><img alt="Doge cannot reach pedals" src="https://i.imgur.com/S6vXiNl.png"><br>
(Source imgur)</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<ul>
<li>Wikipedia on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chair">Chairs</a></li>
<li>Wikipedia on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_chair">History of the Chair</a></li>
<li><a href="https://chairinstitute.com/history-of-the-chair/">"History of the
Chair"</a> from the
Chair Institute</li>
</ul>I choose HTML2019-07-20T00:00:00-07:002019-07-20T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-07-20:/pelican-test/i-choose-html.html<p>Before, I built <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/me">my website in
React</a>. Now, it is being
<a href="https://captainalan.github.io">rebuilt</a> in plain HTML/CSS (with some
help from Bootstrap and jQuery to make things like mobile
responsiveness less tedious). After spending a considerable amount of
time with fancy frameworks, why take a step "backwards"?</p>
<h2>I got blocked?!</h2>
<p>I …</p><p>Before, I built <a href="https://captainalan.github.io/me">my website in
React</a>. Now, it is being
<a href="https://captainalan.github.io">rebuilt</a> in plain HTML/CSS (with some
help from Bootstrap and jQuery to make things like mobile
responsiveness less tedious). After spending a considerable amount of
time with fancy frameworks, why take a step "backwards"?</p>
<h2>I got blocked?!</h2>
<p>I was trying out some different Linux distributions, and decided to
give the fully-free distro <a href="https://trisquel.info">Trisquel</a> a spin.
To my dismay, I found that <a href="http://captainalan.github.io/me"><em>my own
site</em></a> was blocked blocked for some
JavaScript-y reasons. It turns out that all sites that make use of
React (or at least <code>create-react-app</code>, the tool I used to bootstrap my
site) are <em>blocked</em> when <a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/librejs/">certain sorts of
JavaScript</a> are blocked.</p>
<p>It is my goal to produce informative, unobtrusive websites that are
easily indexed, linked, downloaded, etc. If I can accomplish this goal
without freedom/privacy threatening software, why not choose simpler
tools?</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>I am becoming more interested in <strong>static site generators</strong> (such as
<a href="https://blog.getpelican.com">Pelican</a>, which was used to make this
site) because the HTML/CSS they spit out is compatible in most places
and they also make things like RSS feeds easy to do. I'll be trying
out various static generators in addition to writing plain HTML/CSS
and maybe some JavaScript.</p>Arch Linux Install for n00bs2019-06-02T00:00:00-07:002019-06-02T00:00:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-06-02:/pelican-test/arch-linux-install-for-n00bs.html<p>(Last updated February 14, 2021)</p>
<p>In this tutorial, I will go through installing Arch Linux. These
instructions were tried out on both a virtual machine and an old
laptop. For further instructions and details, I recommend <em>resisting
the urge to reflexively search everything</em>, and instead taking the
time to read …</p><p>(Last updated February 14, 2021)</p>
<p>In this tutorial, I will go through installing Arch Linux. These
instructions were tried out on both a virtual machine and an old
laptop. For further instructions and details, I recommend <em>resisting
the urge to reflexively search everything</em>, and instead taking the
time to read through high-quality resources, such as the (official)
Arch Wiki <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installation_guide">installation
guide</a>. That
being said, the content in this article should be sufficient to get an
Arch System up and running&em;I've used it multiple times to help me
setup new systems.</p>
<p>I am closely following <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PBqpX0_UOc">Full Arch Linux Install (SAVAGE Edition!)
Linux</a> by Luke Smith (March 8,
2018).</p>
<p>We will do a base installation of Arch Linux. Then we'll run <a href="https://lukesmith.xyz">Luke
Smith's</a> <a href="https://larbs.xyz/">LARBS</a> script to
get an awesome i3 tiling window manager setup from the outset. (TODO:
Also -> Add instructions/links to a <strong>NEW</strong> tutorial about getting a
Desktop Environment, emacs, etc. and choosing a different path).</p>
<h2>Prerequisites</h2>
<p>This tutorial is aimed at people with some exposure to Linux and/or command
line tools (e.g. using <code>brew</code> under MacOS), but who would like to gain
greater control of their current computing setups. Here, I honor the maxim
that <em>knowledge is power</em> and seek to empower you by getting you started
using Arch Linux and understanding the tools that you are using.</p>
<p>You should know how to do basic things with <code>vi</code> (or <code>vim</code>, or some
other editor readily available in the
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_terminal#Text_terminals">TTY</a>,
such as <code>nano</code>) because doing an Arch install will involve editing
some text files on the command line.</p>
<h2>Installation Medium</h2>
<p>Download the latest Arch linux ISO. The easiest thing to do is probably to
download from an HTTP mirror near your (physical) location and then install by
CD, DVD, or USB.</p>
<p>From Windows, creating your installation medium is easy. Right click
on the downloaded <code>.iso</code> file and select "Burn disc image" to create
CD or DVD to create a your installation medium. Alternatively, you can
use <a href="https://rufus.ie/">Rufus</a> on Windows to create install media on
USB drives, SD cards, and more.</p>
<h2>Booting with the installation medium</h2>
<p>Restart your computer. You may have to go into your system BIOS to make sure you can boot from your installation medium.</p>
<h3>Get an internet connection</h3>
<p>If you are already connected to the Internet via an ethernet cable, there is
nothing to think about. </p>
<p>If you are connecting via Wi-Fi, there may be some more steps to take. <sup id="fnref:1"><a class="footnote-ref" href="#fn:1">1</a></sup>
First, run <code>iwctl</code> see <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Iwd">ArchWiki</a> for
mroe specifics. Find your wireless card. You may have to scan for networks
multiple times.</p>
<h3>Time and date stuff</h3>
<p>Run <code>timedatectl set-ntp true</code>.</p>
<p>Note the 'prefix' <em>-ctl</em> in the command above. Commands with <em>-ctl</em>
have to do with <em>controlling</em> system processes. A command we will see
later is
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Systemd#Basic_systemctl_usage"><code>systemctl</code></a>.</p>
<h2>Partitioning your drive(s)</h2>
<p>Now, let's partition our disks. <strong>Note</strong>: I am assuming you are
installing Arch Linux on a computer you are OK with deleting all data
on. Go reboot and back up your files and stuff if you are not ready to
proceed yet.</p>
<p>In any case you can, run <code>lsblk</code> (or <code>fdisk -l</code>) to "list all block
devices".</p>
<h3>Creating new partitions</h3>
<p>From <code>lsblk</code>, you can identify the drive you want to install Arch Linux on.
This will probably be <code>/dev/sda</code> if you are installing onto an old computer.</p>
<p>Let's start changing things. To begin, type <code>fdisk /dev/sda</code>, where
'"<code>sda</code>" corresponds to the <strong>drive</strong> you wish to create a new
partition table on (don't do <code>fdisk /dev/sda123</code>; this won't
work&em;go ahead and try that if you don't believe me!).</p>
<p>You will now be sent to a new prompt that looks something like:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code><span class="nv">Command</span> <span class="ss">(</span><span class="nv">m</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="nv">help</span><span class="ss">)</span>:
</code></pre></div>
<p>If there are existing partitions you may need to type <code>d</code> to delete them.
Type <code>p</code> to print partitions. Once you are done deleting existing stuff, type
<code>n</code> at the prompt to make a new partition.</p>
<p>We will now create the following partitions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Boot partition (200MB)</li>
<li>SWAP partition (how much RAM you have, times 1.5)</li>
<li>Root (25 GB or more)</li>
<li>Home (everything else)</li>
</ul>
<p>After typing <code>n</code>, you will be be prompted with a number of options. To create
the Boot partition, accept the first default option (<code>p</code>) to create a new
primary partition. Accept <code>1</code> as the default partition number. Accept the
default "First sector" location. For the "Last sector", enter <code>+200M</code>. This means will be the <em>boot</em> partition which we are allocating 200 MB for.</p>
<p>Next, we will create a <strong>swap partition</strong>. Type <code>n</code> again to get started.
Standard practice is to create a swap partition of about 1.5-2 times the
amount of RAM you have. I'll be using 4 GB for this. Accept the default
partion number (probably 2), default first sector, and for the last sector do
<code>+4G</code> (where you replace "4" with however much memory you select for your
swap partition).</p>
<p>We will now create a <strong>root partition</strong> where all your programs will be
installed. A reasonable starting size for this is around 25 GB, though you
may need more if you like to install a lot of programs. I'll be using 64 GB.
Typing <code>n</code> (and then pressing Enter), I accept the default for the partiton
number and the starting sector and then select <code>+64G</code> for the last sector.</p>
<p>Finally, we need to create a <strong>home partition</strong> which will take up the rest
of your disk. Do <code>n</code> for a new partition and then selct <code>p</code> (rather than <code>e</code>)
to create a new primary partition. Then, accept all the defaults that follow.</p>
<p>We have now created four nice partitions using <code>fdisk</code>. However, these are
not "commited" to disk yet. Write <code>w</code> at the <code>Command (m for help):</code> prompt
to write your partitions to your disk. Note that this will wipe everything on the disk.</p>
<p><strong>Note</strong> since we partitioned our disk, you can easily install a different linux distribution if you wanted; just re-write the <code>root</code> partition and all your <code>home</code> files will still be there.</p>
<p>Type <code>lsblk</code> to see how <code>fdisk</code> changed your harddirve.</p>
<h2>Making filesystems</h2>
<p>We just partitioned our disks, but we need to set <strong>filesystems</strong> to our
partitions.</p>
<p>The <code>boot</code>, <code>root</code>, and <code>home</code> partition (<code>sda1</code>, <code>sda3</code>, and <code>sda4</code> if you
have been following the tutorial for) should be formatted to <code>ext4</code>, a Linux
standard.</p>
<p>Do <code>mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1</code>, <code>mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda3</code>, and <code>mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda4</code> to
set these partitions' filesystems.</p>
<p>Now, for the swap partition do <code>mkswap /dev/sda2</code>.</p>
<h2>Mounting stuff</h2>
<p>Now that we have created partitions with appropriate filesystems, we need to
<strong>mount</strong> things.</p>
<p>First, do <code>mount /dev/sda3 /mnt</code> to mount your root partition.</p>
<p><strong>Note</strong> at any point during this tutorial you may want to run <code>lsblk</code> to see
*how your disks currently look.</p>
<p>Type <code>ls /mnt</code>. You should see something like <code>lost+found</code> there.</p>
<p>Let's make make some new directories to mount stuff. First do
<code>mkdir /mnt/boot</code> create a mount point for our boot partition. Then, run
<code>mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot</code> to do the actual mounting.</p>
<p>Finally, do <code>mkdir /mnt/home</code>. Run <code>mount /dev/sda4 /mnt/home</code> to mount your
home partition.</p>
<h2>Installing the base system</h2>
<p>We now have all of our partitions and have mounted these partitions on our
file systems. Mounting allows us to modify the data on these partitions,
which means we can install softare (like Arch Linux!).</p>
<p>Run <code>lsblk</code> to see that all is as it should be.</p>
<h3>The fun starts with <code>pacstrap</code></h3>
<p>Run <code>pacstrap /mnt base base-devel</code> to install the base package and basic
development tools. If you want more things, add them like so to this command.</p>
<p><strong>Update December 8, 2019</strong>: You may want to also install <code>linux</code> and
<code>linux-firmware</code> to make sure the latest Linux kernel and appropriate drivers
respectively are installed. Do this <em>before</em> you install <code>grub</code> (directions
below) or else you may not be able to boot your new installation.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>pacstrap /mnt base base-devel linux linux-firmware neovim
</code></pre></div>
<p>Running this command might take a while because it is installing an entire
base system.</p>
<h2>Making an <code>fstab</code> file</h2>
<p>Earlier, we mounted a bunch of partitions manually. An <code>fstab</code> file tells
Linux what to try to load (see <code>etc/fstab</code>). Run <code>genfstab /mnt</code>. This will
generate an <code>fstab</code> file based on how <code>mnt</code> looks. Running this command will
just output a bunch of stuff.</p>
<p>If you made a swap partition earlier and you don't see it here, you should do
<code>swapon /dev/sdaX</code> (replace <code>/dev/sdaX</code> with your swap partition of course). If
you're going to use a <strong>swap file</strong> later, don't worry about this now—
you can edit things later.</p>
<p>We need to save these things to a file. Run
<code>genfstab -U /mnt >> /mnt/etc/fstab</code>.</p>
<p>Now Arch Linux will know what goes where.</p>
<h2>Making our installation bootable</h2>
<p>Run <code>arch-chroot /mnt</code> to change our root. This will change our Arch root to
our new <code>/mnt</code> directory! Before, we were running from our installation
medium, now we are running from our actual installation!</p>
<h3>I needs Interwebs</h3>
<p>Let's install some stuff. First, let's install <code>NetworkManager</code> by typing <code>pacman -S networkmanager</code>.</p>
<p>Next, type <code>systemctl enable NetworkManager</code> to start <code>NetworkManager</code>
whenever you log in.</p>
<h3>GRUB Bootloader</h3>
<p>Run <code>pacman -S grub</code> to install GRUB, our bootloader. This is important!</p>
<p>After this finishes, run <code>grub-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda</code>.</p>
<p>Once this is done, do <code>grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg</code> to make a config
file. (This might be done automatically.)</p>
<h3>Setting a password</h3>
<p>Run <code>passwd</code> to set a root password.</p>
<h3>Setting a locale</h3>
<p>Use your text editor (here I use <code>vim</code>) to edit <code>/etc/locale.gen</code>. I do this
with <code>vim /etc/locale.gen</code>. In this huge list of locales I uncommented</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>#en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
#en_US ISO-8859-1
</code></pre></div>
<p>to...</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8
en_US ISO-8859-1
</code></pre></div>
<p>...in order to set my locale. Note, you can set multiple languages. Save and
exit this file.</p>
<p>Next, run <code>locale-gen</code> to read the conf file you just edited and generate a
file.</p>
<p>Let's edit one more file to set our (default) language: <code>vim
/etc/locale.conf</code>. I changed the contents of this file to:</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>LANG=en_US.UTF-8
</code></pre></div>
<h3>Setting a timezone</h3>
<p>By default, in <code>/etc/localtime</code>, there are a bunch of time zones. We want to
link <code>/usr/share/zoneinfo/</code> with our timezone.</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/Los_Angeles /etc/localtime
</code></pre></div>
<p>...where of course you replace <code>.../America/Los_Angles...</code> with where you are.</p>
<p>If you travel somewhere else, you will rerun the <code>ln...</code> command here to the
timezone of wherever you are going.</p>
<h3>Setting a hostname</h3>
<p>Finally, you need to set a name for your computer. Edit <code>/etc/hostname</code> to
whatever you like. I will do <code>vim /etc/hostname</code> and enter <code>arch-sama</code> for a (weeby) hostname.</p>
<h3>Going back to your installation medium...</h3>
<p>Type <code>exit</code> to go back to your installation medium.</p>
<p>Then, to be safe type <code>umount -R /mnt</code> to unmount your Arch installation (on
your harddrive).</p>
<h3>Reboot!</h3>
<p>Type <code>reboot</code>. Remove your installation medium. You should boot to your new
installation.</p>
<h2>(Optional) LARBS</h2>
<p>Here is the easy part. To get a pretty cool configuration right away, use
Luke Smith's <a href="https://larbs.xyz">LARBS</a> setup.</p>
<p>Booting your new Arch setup, login as <code>root</code>. You'll be prompted for your
password.</p>
<p>Next, run</p>
<div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><code>curl -LO larbs.xyz/larbs.sh <span class="c1"># Download the script</span>
bash larbs.sh <span class="c1"># Run the script you just downloaded!</span>
</code></pre></div>
<h3>Logging in</h3>
<p>Login with the username and password you set in LARBS. To modify your system,
you'll probably need to use <code>su</code> and the password you set for root in the
Arch install.</p>
<h3>Troubleshooting LARBS install</h3>
<p>If you aren't connected to the Internet, this step can be a pain in the ass.
Search the Arch Wiki for wisdom.</p>
<p>If you run into issues with <code>xorg</code>, search for answers related to your graphics
card. Using an older (around 2010) laptop with an NVIDIA graphics card, I had
to install the Nouveau drivers.</p>
<h2>Checking your new system out</h2>
<p>Make sure your <code>/etc/fstab</code> came out correctly.</p>
<p>Running <code>htop</code> I found out that my SWAP partition wasn't being used
after following the above steps. Easy way to get SWAP working was to
install gparted (<code>sudo pacman -Syu gparted</code>) and launch that (<code>sudo
gparted</code>), then make sure the swap partiton I created had <code>SWAPON</code>
(find option in menus). You can then <code>sudo swapon --show</code> to see that
things are working correctly.</p>
<h3>Hard Drive Related Troubleshooting</h3>
<h3>Boot issues</h3>
<p>In this article, I used an "old-school" style of partitioning drives, mounting
partitions, etc. If you are having trouble booting, you may need to go into
your BIOS to make sure you are booting devices in the correct order. You may
also want to check that your <code>/boot</code> directory (mounted to its own partition,
hopefully) is bootable. Look up how to add a boot <strong>flag</strong> to do this. Two ways
are to use the <code>fdisk</code> util introduced at the beginning of this tutorial, or do
get an install for another distro (e.g. Ubuntu) and use the graphical tools
(e.g. gparted) to assist you in doing that.</p>
<h4>Messed up partitons?</h4>
<p>I used the article "<a href="https://www.tecmint.com/move-home-directory-to-new-partition-disk-in-linux/">move your home directory to a new partiton</a>" as a guide. The same approach here can be used for all sorts of directory and partition shuffling.</p>
<p>The basic procedure to move your <code>/home/</code> to a new partition is to</p>
<ol>
<li>create a new partition,</li>
<li>copy your existing <code>/home</code> directory there and verify this operation succeeded,</li>
<li>remove the old files you just copied,</li>
<li>mount the copied files on the correct (new) partition to <code>/home</code></li>
<li>save your configuration in <code>/etc/fstab</code></li>
</ol>
<p>These operations will require <code>su</code> permissions (e.g. through using <code>sudo</code>).</p>
<h2>(Optional) Next Steps</h2>
<ul>
<li>(Add directions for setting up a user, <code>sudo</code> privileges)</li>
<li>(Add directions for getting a window manager; getting some starter fonts)</li>
<li>(Add basic shell setup)</li>
<li>(Add directions for setting up <code>yay</code> or another AUR helper)</li>
</ul>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<ol>
<li id="fn:1">
<p>(Update February 14, 2021) Formerly, this was easier—you could just
run <code>wifi-menu</code>. Now it seems this program isn't available in the installer. <a class="footnote-backref" href="#fnref:1" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text">↩</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>HEHEHEHEHE2019-05-15T10:50:00-07:002019-05-15T10:50:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-05-15:/pelican-test/hehehehehe.html<p>It is a pleasure to edit in Markdown!</p>
<p>Check out this animated pelican:</p>
<p><img alt="A Pelican" src="https://i.imgur.com/ydhVJLu.gif"></p>Why Static Sites?2019-05-15T10:13:00-07:002019-05-15T10:13:00-07:00Alan Wongtag:captainalan.github.io,2019-05-15:/pelican-test/why-static-sites.html<p>Updated 8/12/2019</p>
<p>After half a year or so of learning all about dynamic websites (using
fancy new technology like Node.js), I've found myself returning to
good old-fashioned static sites for my personal projects. Here I'll go
through some reasons why.</p>
<h2>Two approaches</h2>
<p>Consider two scenarios:</p>
<ol>
<li>You write …</li></ol><p>Updated 8/12/2019</p>
<p>After half a year or so of learning all about dynamic websites (using
fancy new technology like Node.js), I've found myself returning to
good old-fashioned static sites for my personal projects. Here I'll go
through some reasons why.</p>
<h2>Two approaches</h2>
<p>Consider two scenarios:</p>
<ol>
<li>You write a program that produces content for that user when a
user runs it</li>
<li>You write a program that produces content; you then distribute that
content to people that want it</li>
</ol>
<p>The first approach here is how a lot of <em>dynamic</em> websites work. You
write <strong>server side code</strong> in something like JavaScript (Node), PHP,
Python, etc. to produce webpages on the fly for users. To do this,
you may have to go through lots of trials and tribulations to get your
program ('website') up and running.</p>
<p>The second approach is how <em>static sites</em> work. The "programming"
involved (if any) is to generate content once. Compare this to
<em>compiling</em> a high(er) level programming language into machine
code. Once you produce useful output, it is easy to distribute it
(there are many places, including GitHub pages, that can serve
<strong>static assets</strong> for free).</p>
<p>With dynamic websites, you might worry about hackers sending malicious
inputs into your website and blowing stuff up. With static websites,
this is not an issue. If you were really worried about one server
where your content is hosted, you could easily create <strong>mirror(s)</strong> of
your content. Static sites deploy easily, without special
considerations about what will compile, what will be allowed,
etc. Everything is packaged up nicely and good to go.</p>
<h2>Know your needs</h2>
<p>For most people, static sites will do. Don't be pulled in by the buzz
words and hype of fancy platforms if all you need is some hosting for
HTML/CSS files and some images.</p>
<h3>Priorities</h3>
<p>Simplifying web development means having more time available to focus
on producing quality content, rather than wrestling with abstractions
and engineering-ish problems. </p>
<p>Maybe you should write a math or engineering blog if you wanna do
either of those activities, respectively 😡</p>