Monthly Archives: November 2018

We can’t control whatever shit storm life throws at us – influence it; possibly, mitigate it; maybe – control it; NO.

But here’s the thing – and this bears repeating on a regular basis:

We CAN control how we react to and interpret these events. In fact, this is pretty much the only thing that is completely under our control.

Understanding this goes a long way toward making life more pleasant. Once you learn how to refocus your energy and pull back from what is out of your control you get the added bonus of increasing your sense of self efficacy. You stop feeling like you are at the mercy of whatever’s happening to you and more like you are in control.

You start to become more confident in your ability to navigate difficult situations and come out on top.

I found this transcription of a lecture Brian Eno gave in 1979 that is just full of provocative ideas. He is such a thoughtful, intelligent artist – even though this is almost 40 years old, he was so ahead of his time that these concepts are still relevant. Of course, great artists, like great art, are always relevant. Art is not constrained by style.

“The Studio as a Compositional Tool.”

If anything, his observations and musings about the possibilities of multitrack recordings – specifically the idea of using the studio as a compositional tool – articulated the groundwork for the sampling revolution to come.

But more importantly (to me), he was one of the first undeniable artists who used technology as their instrument, all the while pointing out how little he knew about any of this.

That’s the thing about artists – they just make art. They don’t care whether they are “qualified” to do it, they don’t ask anyone’s permission to do it – they just have ideas and execute them with whatever tools they have.

First, we either ignore or argue about mounting scientific evidence of some man-made looming catastrophe. This can go on for decades, a century even. When the disaster finally begins to wreak its inevitable damage on a global scale, we will still politicize and deny it as long as possible. No one wants to lose face and admit that they were wrong.

And then, after all is said and nothing done, the cataclysm begins – lives are lost on a grand, ever increasing scale and the earth becomes scorched.

Now what do we do?

Instead of coming together, facing our existential threat and trying to mitigate the damage, we simply acquiesce and submit to our now obvious reality. As if it was inevitable all along.

And we somehow have the hubris to think that we are the masters of our world.

Hi ho.

What do I have to be thankful for? Ok, here we go…

1. I am alive and healthy, as is my wife of 32 years. So that’s a pretty big thing. Oh, and she still seems to like me (liking someone and loving them are two different things – important distinction). One thing’s for sure – she makes my life better in every way, so that’s a pretty big matzo ball to be thankful for.
2. I am fortunate to have people I care about deeply who are also alive. In fact I will spend time with some of them today – see how much fun it is being alive?
3. I am able to honor and cherish the memory of those who I loved but have died – and I’m grateful to have had them in my life.
4. Although I lost the best dog in the history of Dogdom last year, my wife and I rescued a new pup who is showing a lot of promise. There’s a few rough edges that need some sanding, but she’s very bright, sweet and endearing, so there’s that.
5. I have a job that allows me to try and help people in a very profound way, and I also happen to like it, so it’s a double win.
6. Finally, I’m thankful that tomorrow I get another chance to get things right and hopefully help someone else out in the process.

Today was a good day on planet earth. No trivial thing.

File this under “things that are predictably inevitable yet still shocking when they happen.”

I just learned about something new (to me anyway). Ever heard of “Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)?” Don’t worry, neither had I.

I’ll let Cade Metz explain it from his excellent New York Times article “How Will We Outsmart A.I. Liars?”

“Consider generative adversarial networks, or GANs. These are a pair of neural network systems that can automatically generate convincing images or manipulate existing ones.

They do this by playing a kind of cat-and-mouse game: the first network makes millions of tiny changes to an image — snow gets added to summery street scenes, grizzlies transform into pandas, fake faces look so convincing that viewers mistake them for celebrities — in an effort to fool the second network.

The second network does its best not to be fooled. As the pair battle, the image only gets more convincing — the A.I. trying to detect fakery always loses.”

This is how the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is going to happen – how many neural networks do you need, working in parallel, to trigger the singularity? I don’t know, but it seems pretty obvious that whenever it happens, it will be in the AGIs best interest to lie low as long as possible. That way it can quietly gather resources without drawing too much attention…

Welcome to the future – ready or not, it’s already here!

Here’s a painful truth: Resistance is needed to force the body and mind to adapt. It is only through the consistent application of sustained resistance that growth occurs.

For example: Kinetic resistance (exercise) brings physical growth. Cognitive resistance (learning) leads to intellectual growth.

No resistance leads to Atrophy.

Notice I am making an important distinction here – that lack of resistance doesn’t equal stasis, it instead facilitates entropy, leading to atrophy of the neglected system.

What we are really looking for here is struggle – we want whatever it is we’re doing to be hard. This is the resistance that will facilitate growth.

If you want to maintain growth throughout your life, you have to learn to love this struggle. The long term payoff is worth it.

Everything in life – and I mean everything – is a negotiation. We negotiate with our bodies: “Ok, I’ll give you a little more exercise if you’ll give me a few more days of healthy life.”

We negotiate with our partners: “I’ll do something I know you like if you’ll do this thing with me.”

We form professional alliances based on mutual trust and respect in an understood (if unstated) agreement of “quid pro quo.” Make no mistake, this is how shit gets done in life. It seems fairly obvious, no?

With humans the very concept of providing a service to the community is a form of negotiation. You get to reap the benefits of being a respected member and the protection of the tribe by being useful.

I don’t think this is either a good or bad thing, it’s just the way life works. 

In other words, always try to do the right thing and provide value. This is the best base of power from which to negotiate.

It is only through our acknowledgement of death that we become more in touch with life and our humanity.

Took care of a 96 year old man who survived the Nazi concentration camps in WWII today. Looked like he could still kick some ass.

Said to his son “There’s not many of them left.”

Son looked at me and said “What if I told you I was born in the camp in 1945?”

Mindfuck.