David ex Machina

A friend lent me a book, Energy and Equity by Ivan Illich , which is a collection of essays based on discussions from a 1974 conference in Mexico. It was an interesting look into the philosophical views on transportation and society that are still applicable today. The Main Takeaways There is an optimal speed of traffic, purported to be 15mph, which, if exceeded, results in traffic inefficiencies and time scarcity. Illich calculates the inefficiencies of the automobile industry and comes to the average speed of a car is 3.7 mph. Faster forms of transport create more inequalities, explicit class systems and privileges emerge. The better-off take advantage of these forms of transport, leaving the rest behind. Transit becomes more about how you’re conveyed, rather than an equal right for everyone. The faster we go, the less space we have. Cities become spokes of giant transportation hubs. Neighborhoods get destroyed for larger and faster conveyances (look at the history of the Big...

Modern society has been fortunate. It’s hard to believe that the two most consistent reigning billionaires of our time are in favor of paying more taxes . Warren Buffet is the prime example of a humble, family man that lives way below his means. Bill Gates , though a ruthless business man, is giving more money to charitable causes than most people ever will. In fact, most of the rich are cutthroat at their professions, as evidenced by their success. It’s not a coincidence that cutthroat is an appropriate business term either; business is the modern day version of war. The only difference today, is how society perceives the wealthy, and the war. In the past, the wealthy were warriors, kings of armies that conquered land. People lived under a ruler for protection and survival. More recently, sovereign nations and their heads of state were the powerful, leading for the good of their people. People elected and gave power to these leaders to wage wars, raise taxes, and make reforms to i...

The phrase “time is money” is thrown around a lot, but most do not understand its meaning, especially since it is incorrect. Time is the most valuable thing on Earth, yet people are always underestimating its true worth. Here’s why: Money is, at best, an inaccurate abstraction of measuring time; invented to make trade simpler. Where trade is a method of receiving goods or services that help make life, or your time on Earth, better (i.e. food to survive, or tools that improve efficiency). At its core, money is just a tool to make trade more efficient (a tool that saves time, when getting things to save time). The problem is that time’s value is difficult to calculate, and people have fallen back to money as a de facto way to measure value, but this is comparing apples and oranges. Time is simply more scarce and inflexible than money. With money, you can get a refund if you want to return a purchased good. You can always figure out new ways to create money and generate income; ...

I was streaming music over last.fm , which has the nice feature of displaying the artist’s album cover art while playing a song, and noticed a particular correlation about the music I was listening to. All of the bands looked quite young in all of there albums. With a few notable exceptions, e.g. U2 and Red Hot Chili Peppers , most chart-topping songs were written by artists in their youth. Hits from the 70’s or 80’s that are considered “classics” have youthful spirit of the artist at the time. Take Guns N' Roses for example, their album covers show an immature group of misfits, not the world famous rock stars they have become. Today is no different. In fact, artists are becoming stars at younger and younger ages, e.g. Justin Beiber , and their lyrics reflect their maturity . But if most music is written during adolescence, should we be surprised? Looking back to those classic hits, you can see a handful of topics, on repeat. Should we be worried that society is enthralled...

Fluid Living is a life-stance that focuses on freedom, adaptability, and technology to eliminate unnecessary constraints to better enjoy life. In a world where time is limited, the ability to prioritize and efficiently pursue goals is essential towards living life to its full potential. Fluids represent this optimization in nature, water being the liquid for life to flourish on Earth. Principles: Define Priorities - Know what is important. Having a clear focus and goal makes choices and decision making that much simpler. Priorities can shift over time, so it’s important to take time to reflect and realign every once in a while (Tim Ferriss calls this “dreamlining” in The Four Hour Work Week ). Eliminate Constraints - Reduce the number of constraints in life that impose stress and inertia on your priorities. When in doubt, follow this modified mantra from Heat , only attach yourself to things that are really worth it. Utilize Freedom and Technology - Make life better and mo...

Is there any other industry that can price gauge it’s customers from the day they buy their tickets to selling inches of legroom. And yet, virtually all airlines are on the verge of bankruptcy? An industry that enforces customer punctuality, but flight delays are accepted and expected. Capacity planning is almost nonexistent. Flight schedules are overestimated, flights are specifically oversold (An industry first, selling customers goods known to be unavailable). Even the carry on baggage restrictions don’t account for the overhead space available per flight. Inefficient. Have the fastest form of commercial transportation on Earth, yet have the entire logistics of air travel be so inefficient that the average flier loses 3 hours per flight (getting to the airport, security, delays). Seemingly unlawful and unethical business practices are put in place, and considered innovative. Take a look at the new proposal for standing room only section on Ryan Air. Or where else can you b...

As an avid commuter, whether it's taking a bus, train, airplane, or even walking, I've noticed the proliferation of Personal Entertainment Devices (PED’s), i.e. iPods, and observed the impact on society. Strange Listening: Let’s start with listening. This happens everywhere, on a bus, while walking, reading, talking on the phone, exercising, or even going to the restroom. Aside from sanitary concerns, if listening were just that, it wouldn’t be a problem, but listeners do so much more. There is the matter of volume, where a good percentage of listeners have it loud enough to be bad for hearing , and also impose noise pollution on the people around them. This is exacerbated when listeners sing along to their music. Either most people have below average hearing, or they subconsciously want other people to know what they’re listening to. The size of a listener’s headphones can be a strong personality signal. There are the sleek earbuds that are barely noticeable, to the gi...

To bring in the new year, I have updated the blog's theme and design: New Background Image  New Green Theme  Added an About Page  Enjoy!