David ex Machina

via  stablediffusionweb.com The Water Scale A more meaningful way to describe life. How often do you get asked How’s it going? Or, how are you doing? 99% of the time the answer is “good” - a one-dimensional answer that’s so common, it’s almost meaningless. In fact, if you say “OK”, it’s often followed up by “Is something wrong?” So the expected response, “good”, is a formality to confirm the status quo, and move on.  I hereby propose an alternative “water scale" for describing your state in life. It stems from the familiar expression, “sink or swim”, conveying not just a fixed status, but also your trajectory and state of mind. Let's see how it works by answering "How are you doing?" for a few scenarios. "Sinking" implies you're currently struggling, overwhelmed by responsibilities, and unable to keep up (think chronic stress at work, financial hardship, or relationship conflicts). You are being pulled underwater. "Swimming" invokes the opposi...

Buying an electric vehicle today seems like a no brainer, it’s good for the environment and it will save you money on gas. And that last point seems like a given, gas is expensive, especially these days, and electricity costs cents on the dollar, essentially free - how can you argue with that?!  But a few things are missing from that equation, the efficiency of an EV to yield mileage, for one, and the fact that energy prices can move quite a bit. So I decided to run the numbers myself, and see how much more economical EVs can be, and the answer was a bit of a surprise. TL;DR Don’t buy an EV just yet. I made a simple “electric or gas” calculator you can use to find out for yourself. Caveat: I’m strictly looking at the economical (variable) cost of “fueling” a vehicle. This calculation excludes considerations for emissions, environmental impact, tax rebates, maintenance cost, insurance costs, the current price premiums above msrp, and opportunity time cost of charging vs. filling t...

I recently wrote about why web3 is the place to be . Now I want to share some reasons to join Protocol Labs   to work on web3 with me :):   The space . The mission . I’m a strong proponent of mission driven companies, and Protocol Labs has one of the most valuable missions I’ve been around - building the next generation of the internet . Open source work . It’s novel, progressive, and empowering to work in the open. It changes your approach to building not just for a company, but for the community. The people . A smart, motivated, helpful, and friendly workplace is worth its weight in gold Filecoin. And it all starts at the top with Juan , who leads the charge on setting the culture that is embodied throughout the company. The learning . Beyond wrapping your head around the web3 space, Protocol Labs prides itself on innovation: conducting R&D across many fields, investing in external projects and startups across the space, and even choosing to upgrade itself once a year. ...

via Goodera Environment Theory - The theory that the environment constrains your behavior and significantly affects your psyche, and these effects generally outweigh your will power over time*. Where environment is defined broadly, as any input to your mind and body that is external from your own person. Let’s look at a few examples: People You are the average of the five closest people you interact with . Chances are if all your friends were talking about Bitcoin in 2009, you’d probably be a millionaire many times over by now. But if most of your friends did drugs, you’re more likely to be an addict.  This affects people in corporations too. How else could the same person who did cocaine and pulled 100 hour weeks at Goldman Sachs be a vegan, meditation retreat employee at Apple? Though controversial, the Stanford Prison Experiment shows how normal people can exhibit sadistic tendencies when adhering to perceived roles of authority. Information Numerous reports show how doomscrol...

via  Pixy YC has the slogan “ make something people want ,” a seemingly obvious statement that is as powerful as it is simple. Though it is insufficient to build generation defining products. Take a summer blockbuster movie, this is a product that most people will want, it is built to entertain the masses, and you will be entertained! But you will not come out a changed mind. Servant-style product development also feels uncreative. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very valuable skill to ascertain what people want versus what they say, and many incredible products are built this way (thank you Coke Coffee ). But it takes away some of the fun when boiled down to “tell me what you want me to make for you.” It takes perseverance. To go a little deeper, products that “make something people will want” tend to be more disruptive. People did not know they wanted to ride in cars with strangers to get around town, or sleep in a stranger’s home for relaxation. Someone imagined it, and now people...

Builder's Hierarchy Pyramid Note: Every additional layer has a higher degree of difficulty The Builder’s Hierarchy of Fulfillment ...or how to fully actualize a thing. Think You consume information. You read and learn to formulate a hypothesis for a novel idea. It may be nothing, a flash in the pan, or something bigger, a spark of genius. Everyone always has ideas running through their head, but this one sticks with you. Talk   You’ve convinced yourself the idea has merit and is worthy of sharing with others. Can it pass social muster and make sense to the peers you respect? This is a big step, after all, most people keep ideas to themselves. Talking through an idea can be exhilarating, especially in a circle of trust, where one can flow with the discussion, provide context where necessary, fill in the gaps, and take in feedback to make the idea better. Write Now to the hard part, writing it down. Most people don’t make it this far because they get deterred by the “doubters” and it...

For the new year, I wanted to share my thoughts around living a balanced life with the forces around me [ 1 ] . I’m using “force” as a generic term for a category of activity, as this is a personal version of  the work-life balance mantra commonly heard in the workplace. But there are many flaws in that mantra; why should work come before life, and shouldn’t life encompass work anyway? Hence, force balance , a framework, with inspiration from Star Wars and Jim Collins [ 2 ] , that answers two major questions, what is the force and how does one balance it? The Force A college professor once said “the secret to happiness in college consists of studying, socializing, and getting enough sleep. The problem is you can only pick two, so choose wisely.” In a similar vein, the force is made up of three major forces: Health, Social, and Contribution . The Health Force determines your physical and mental well-being: sleep, exercise, eating. The Social Force governs your relations...