20 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2021
    1. It’s a theory about processes, about the sequences and causal relations among things that happen, not the inherent properties of things that are. The fundamental ingredient is what we call an “event.” Events are things that happen at a single place and time; at each event there’s some momentum, energy, charge or other various physical quantity that’s measurable. The event has relations with the rest of the universe, and that set of relations constitutes its “view” of the universe. Rather than describing an isolated system in terms of things that are measured from the outside, we’re taking the universe as constituted of relations among events. The idea is to try to reformulate physics in terms of these views from the inside, what it looks like from inside the universe.

      “the history of the universe is constituted of different views of itself.”

      This just makes too much sense. You can't define something based on its technical composition, because there's so much more than meets the eye. Instead, you have to take into account how all of something's many moving parts live in relation to the events of their life. One thing's experience of life is completely different from another's, even when two things you're comparing seem exactly the same, because at the very least they were created at different times, within a unique environment, and by the hands or creative forces of someone or something that is also wholly unique.

    2. how to understand an object with no exterior: Imagine it built bit-by-bit from relationships between events.

      In other words:How to understand an idea, belief, a thought without tangible form.

      Fascinating, his simple answer seems to have already told me eveything I need to know: Thoughts and beliefs are oftentimes impossible to comprehend, especially those we don't agree with. Yet here seems to be a way to make sense of them. And when we're living in a universe where many of our fellow humans hold tightly to beliefs I would let go of in a heartbeat due to how seemingly ridiculous they are, a way to understand where someone is coming from as far as their values are concerned, seems to be a superpower that could possibly save the world from its own self-destruction.

      Update: I was wrong. He's not explaining what I thought he was going to explain. However, even though he actually is talking about making sense of something you dont understand by learning about that which surrounds it, I do believe the same thought process can be used to make sense of the invisible: the individual and all that makes them so.

    3. Don’t let his soft voice and quiet demeanor fool you — he’s known as a rebellious thinker and has always followed his own path.

      Ah, very nice! This is a guy I wanna hear from. Eff those who regurgitate lessons on how to understand and navigate life. The only perspectives worth listening to are those that aren't you're own.

  2. Jun 2020
    1. Domestic cozy is in an attitude, emerging socioeconomic posture, and aesthetic, that is in many ways the antithesis of premium mediocrity. Unsurprisingly, it takes its cues from the marginal shadow behaviors of premium mediocrity. It finds its best expression in privacy, among friends, rather than in public, among strangers. It prioritizes the needs of the actor rather than the expectations of the spectator. It seeks to predictably control a small, closed environment rather than gamble in a large, open one. It presents a WYSIWYG facade to those granted access rather than performing in a theater of optics. Premium mediocre seeks to control its narrative. Domestic cozy is indifferent both to being misunderstood and being ignored. Instagram, Tinder, kale salads, and Urban Outfitters are premium mediocre. Minecraft, YouTube, cooking at home, and knitting are domestic cozy. Steve Jobs represented the premium that premium mediocrity aspired towards. Elon Musk represents the relaxed-playfulness-amidst-weirdness at the heart of domestic cozy.

      If Domestic Cozy is the lifestyle of the future, the introvert will be the personality-type that flourishes most within it.

  3. Apr 2020
    1. School for many people is a place to get fed, a place to feel safe, a place to get encouraged. It’s a place to be around people who share your desire to learn. Now they are cut off from that, and some of that can’t be duplicated easily online.

      Yes, this is a problem. However... Schools weren't designed to be a safegaurd against poor parenting, but they're treated that way, as if they're a place to escape the idiots they live with.

      Schools shouldn't tolerate this. Instead, they should intervene. They should bring in a third party, someone/an organization specifically designed to help kids who come from broken homes, to help heal how they live when school's not in session. Any measure less than this signals, to me, a school system that's not paying attention to their student's emotional needs, which are, I believe, key to ensuring the child thrives throughout their school years.

    2. This is a great time to individualize instruction and have students work at different paces. You don’t want 100-120 papers coming at you all at one time. Spread it out, and it will keep you from getting short-tempered with your students.

      As the educational system operates today, many teachers easily put in 60 hours of work per week. But when you teach remotely, it sounds like work becomes much more manageable.

      Do I want to become a teacher? If I can teach like this I do—and no, not because it seems easier but because it seems easier AND more effective.

    3. For my literature students, my emphasis is helping them understand stories that come from cultures other than theirs. Are they able to see the humanity and connections across the stories? That’s essential. Whether they remember all of the characters and the authors—that’s not essential.

      My goodness! This woman deserves to be Teacher of the Year! She's teaching empathy too!

    4. For my more advanced students, they need to learn research skills: how to locate, evaluate, and use information. Online learning offers great opportunities for that, including with what’s going on in the news right now.

      ...how to function independently in the world too.

    5. Then there is the option of getting students to talk to each other online on discussion boards and videoconferences. Some students adapt to it quickly and like it. Some don’t, because it feels impersonal. You have to be patient with that and give them some time and space to adjust.

      Introverts v extroverts. Oil and water. They've always differed, always will. Maybe this virtual, personalized learning movement will finally allow introverts to stop feeling so defeated in the presence of extroverts who live so much more loudly than they do. Finally, they'll be able to live peacefully in their own mind, undisturbed by the stress of feelings like you need to be more extroverted to fit in.

      Btw: I'm not encouraging each party to distance themselves from each other all the time. What I am saying is that when value is trying to be distributed, distribute it however it'll best be received. Then, later, once teaching time is over, they can socialize in traditional ways... IF that's what they want to do.

    6. Rizga: How have you been translating this online?Moore: It depends on the student. Some students work very well asynchronously. They are very comfortable working alone on a draft; I make color-coded comments in a word document or their PDF, and then I send it back. Some students need me to explain things to them in person before I send them the comments; we’ll do a video or audio chat. Others need even more interaction: I’ll hook them up to a videoconference, and we’ll go through all the comments together. Some students I need to refer to a grammar-brushup program or a YouTube video on how to do some of the mechanical stuff like uploading papers online.

      Sounds like Mrs. Moore deserves a raise! This woman knows what's up! She represents the future while living in a community that (probably) latches on to tradition.

      Any of you big city school systems reading this? If you are, hire her. You can probably pay her less than what your other teachers are earning and still give her a bump in pay compared to what she's earning in Mississippi.

    7. The other big issue is that many of the teachers don’t have the skills to teach online.

      Sorry, but this begs the question...

      Should teachers who don't have the skills to teach online be teaching at all? If they can't, they're either not qualified for the job or they're unwilling to put in the effort required to learn.

    8. We are in the midst of the most sweeping education experiment in history. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the majority of the U.S.’s 3.6 million educators to find ways to teach without what most of them consider the core part of their craft—the daily face-to-face interactions that help them elicit a child’s burning desire to investigate something; detect confusion or a lack of engagement; and find the right approach, based on a student’s body language and participation in the classroom, to help students work through their challenges.

      There's a reason education fails so often: teachers teach students as if they all have identical interests and learning styles.

      There's no such thing as a one-size-fits all solution to any problem. Everyone knows that. Even dumb people do. Yet there are our educators, the people we're supposed to depend on to set the table for our lives, to show us what's important, what we she commit to memory for the rest of our life or else that life's gonna die having led a dumb life, because you didn't do what you were told to do way back when: understand everything the teacher told you to understand, yeah, even if you didn't give a fuck about what's coming out of her mouth. Learn that shit anyway.

      Oh, and learn it how I say you should learn it too. Sit in that seat, lock your eyes on me, and take notes at a speed that's equal to or faster than the rate of my speech... just like all the students around you are (trying) to do... because everyone learns new information in the same way... right?

    9. Then, you have to think about accessibility issues. How will my vision-impaired and deaf students access it? Have I put everything in print? Do I have to put in some audio? There are whole series of checks you have to do for different access issues.

      Sure, new problems will surface. But so will solutions. And hopefully, in the end, there will be fewer problems using the new approach than the old.

    1. create the consequences that work with your personality.

      This is key. The Trump donation consequence speaks to me. That'd be awful to have to do.

      I need to hold my project out in front of my greatest enemy. If I finish it, my project and I live on, thrive, and enjoy watching the world enjoy the newfound sense of well-being they've gained as a result of connecting with my work.

      But if I fail, my enemy wins, suddenly causing me to be a part of the problem my work was supposed to be designed to cease.

    2. “If you could have done it on your own, you already would have done it.”

      Gotta be honest with yourself. If you haven't finished what needs to be finished, there's a reason for that.

      It could be you're no longer interested. If that's the case, wtf are you trying so hard for? Give it up. Don't waste your time doing something you don't wanna do.

      However, though, if it's something you're passionate about, and you're mad at yourself for having not finished it already, then there's passion in the tank. The work must be done because, if you don't, you'll die crying.

      So if you're still passionate about the project, and you're not getting the job done to completion, there's another reason for your faults...

      You're not gifted enough to perform whatever portion of the project you're struggling to complete.

      And that's fine! It's alright to suck! If people didn't suck at stuff, there'd be no reason to have so many different professions. Everyone would just leverage their god-like overall awesomeness, where there's nothing you can't do perfectly, and do everything yourself.

      But that's not the world we live in. Our world includes other people; people who live to deliver their unique solution, talents, advice, etc. to people like you.

      Life is best when there's harmony. Harmony is often found within; but, oftentimes, harmony can't be enjoyed without help from others.

      Note to self: Hire a developmental copyeditor!

    3. consequence three was he had to write a $1,000 check to the presidential candidate — this was before the race is over — to the candidate that he hated the most and then he took that check, this is the genius part of this, he took that check put it in an addressed enveloped, sealed and put a stamp on it, gave it to a friend and said if you don’t hear from me on this date saying, “I finished my book you send that. Don’t give me a day, grace period, don’t give me anything. If you don’t get that, you send that,” and that was enough motivation for him to finish his book and to call his friend and have her tear it up.

      DAMN. This one I like!

    4. I am excited about traditional publisher because I am going to be beholden to them, they’re not going to let it slide that I don’t finish this thing on time. So maybe let’s talk about, what are ways that we can put ourselves in situations with that lines that will helps us as artists, as people who are trying to live a portfolio life?

      But part of perfectionism is the avoidance of shame caused by someone else negatively judging your work. Sure, while having an accountability partner would, in fact, be helpful, pulling the trigger on getting one ain't easy.

      (Wow, I'm being negative with these annotations. Sorry, though. Can't help it. It's how I feel. Would love someone to help me feel differently! ;-)

    5. And if you’ve done your job well, if you’ve created something, that’s good and you have done a good job of bringing it into the world then you basically get to move on and that thing continues to sell and impact people and there is a return on the investment of time that you put on that, I like that. I like that more than “I’ve got to go to make money today. I’ve got to think of something new to create today”, or whatever.

      Yep, success is addicting...which then probably makes finishing projects easier, because of course...you want that high again.

      But what if you haven't had that first taste of success yet? What if, as a result of having not experienced the joy it brings you and those you've helped, you then become uber-perfectionistic, causing you to obsess over every little detail in your project? That right there is (for me) why my projects don't get finished. I want my material to help people so badly that I, ironically, wind up injuring my confidence and momentum.

    6. I think thinking of your work in terms of a series of projects, which is the idea of the portfolio life. You don’t have to do just one thing for the rest of your life.

      If I broke down writing projects into even more sub-projects, one of those would be editing. It's what throws me for a curve most of the time. I'll write something great, begin editing it, then a brilliant new take on a point comes to mind out of nowhere, something so great you can't just let it go. You have to build it into the piece. But, when you try to cram it in there, other parts of the material begin to fall apart. Pretty soon you've written a brand new article; an article that—yup—needs to be edited. And you can't promise yourself the same flash of brilliance won't strike again.

    7. I think it’s easier to work on something that has the defined ending than it is to work on something that doesn’t and it can motivate you through any kind of slump

      So what you're saying is... Determine your ending before you begin.

      In theory, that sounds great, but... Rarely does it work out that way. You'll start your writing with your ending in mind, writing a handful of paragraphs through it, then the inevitable happens...

      Your subconscious pens something brilliant on the page, something unexpected, something that changes everything—especially that great ending you were planning to reach.