Deep Talks

My wife and I just finished another deep talk. It was heavy. It was honest. And things feel even more solid.

Vacations are perfect conditions within which whole new lives can be planned and agreed to, for instance.

And well, the truth is we have a pretty sweet Sunday planned. So if you don't mind we're gonna knock out now so we can feel fully charged and ready to go. Peaceful Sunday everybody.

In modern times god(s) are...

????

What's your answer?

For me? Clumsy values.

Clumsy in the sense that you mistake the point (i.e. the value) for the example or vessel.

Online or Offline: Which life is more real?

On the plane the other day I listened to a fantastic podcast [here]. Two of my favorite thinkiers were having a fast-paced and far ranging conversation. And Chris Dixon said something to Fred Wilson at this one point in their talk that's really stuck with me.

"I think that at some point the world may see a majority shift to people rating the online world - their digital lives and digital possessions - as important or maybe more important than their offline lives." [poorly paraphrased by me]

Based on what I'm seeing in the early days of NFTs and combined with how much of life *can* be carried out with just a screen and airpods, I think that moment may be closer than many think.

I think I'm gonna post a related question on Cent. The questions and phrasing aren't 100% set so ping me if you have any imput.

1. Which type of life is more important to you?
2. Which one do you think is more important to most people today? 
3. Do you think your response to question no.2 will change in the future? 
4. If you think it will change, please explain why you believe that will be the case.

What I do at Cent

Cent's new intern Damien has begun putting together job descriptions for each of the five member team.

I have copied below (with a few minor edits) what he put together for me describing what I do at Cent when it comes to managing community. Thank you Damien.

About Community at Cent​:
The mission of Cent is to enable anyone to earn income from anywhere. Simply put, it’s the evolution of the social network into an income source.

My position provides the outside communication on our rapidly growing product. My role is to act as a voice advocating internally for the evolving needs of the diverse Centian community.

In addition I convey details of new features to the community, carry out productive conversations that influence product decisions and maintain an open channel of communication.

Our team sees Cent becoming a foundational, legitimate source of decentralized income for anyone and towards this end the community will help drive dApp value and I, as the community manager, will help the users thrive.
Responsibilities:

• Building and executing the strategy of project’s online footprint Initiating positive and supportive conversations inside the community channels such as forums, subreddits, and any other social groups. 
• Monitoring and responding to conversations on owned channels such as the Telegram, Twitter, etc. 
• Organizing the process of developer participation on owned channels (blog, social media, forums); finding topics and resources to answer popular topics; channeling information into documentation; and guiding tone and policy. 
• Sorting, triaging and funnelling customer issues that surface in the community to the proper place and escalation path (documentation, marketing, individual developers); coordinating closely with various stakeholders. 
• Regularly analyze and report community sentiment internally.

A Fair Opportunity

How much will the world change if an easy and powerful means of immediate income generation were to be built that everyone had access to?

That is the question I am thinking of a few hypothetical answers to. 

At the root of any answer though lies the promise of a provably fair opportunity to do anything one wants to, whenever they want to.

Will expound more in tomorrow's post.

Getting Used to Cold Water

No matter how often one swims, cold water always shocks.

There is no way to completely avoid that initial discomfort (that I know of), but there are ways to make it easier and quicker to get used to cold water.

My prefered method is super simple. First wade into the water until you get to waist level before getting out of the water. Then you go back in. Boom. Done.

It's the simplest, and in my opinion the most powerful example of the efficacy of repetition, because you can literally feel the benefit of it. The benefit in this example being that cold water doesn't feel as cold the second time you go in.

The first time doing anything that's beyond a basic-level of difficulty is going to either feel hard or uncomfortable or overwhelming. Maybe you'll feel all those things at once.

But go at that same or similar task again at a later time (but, crucially not too much later) and those feelings will perceptively diminish if not completely evaporate.

Blogging: Mental Sustenance

Fred Wilson's avc.com blog has passed it's 15th anniversary. That's absolutely incredible.

To commemorate that fact, Fred published an awesomely humble and concise blog that I recommend everyone give a read [here].

For me, the following really stuck with me:

> I regularly get people coming to me and asking me to write a book. I always pass because I can’t imagine writing in a format that has an end. I can’t imagine writing in a format that doesn’t provide instant feedback. I can’t imagine writing in a format that requires a structure. I can’t imagine writing in a format that isn’t a stream of consciousness. I can’t imagine thinking about what I am going to write more than ten minutes before writing it. I can’t imagine killing trees to carry my words. So I will continue to write a blog. It’s the perfect format for me. AVC is way more than a book. It is a living breathing thing that sustains me and that is me.

I love that because I agree with everything Fred wrote. And because I'm envious of the 'instant feedback' Fred's been able to get from his blog. That 'instant feedback' and the steady reader base that gives rise to it occupy an enormous chunk of the value proposition of the benefits of blogging to bloggers.

Unfortunately, and as most of my longtime readers know since I've beaten this horse before, most casual bloggers are not able to experience that 'instant feedback' from a steady base of readers. Ever.

But finally - freaking finally! - that no longer need be the case for bloggers, or really any amateur content creators. Why? Because Cent is about to finally introduce a new smart contract that'll first and foremost provide the ability of any creator to monetize their creations, but will also (should the creator seek to utilize the built-in incentive functionality) allow the creator to wrangle up a readership and commenting base on-demand.

I don't want to say too much, but all will (finally!) be unveiled imminently. So stay posted to beta.cent.co for the imminent release of something that will finally(!) help unlock the promise of blogging as a constantly replenishing source of mental sustenance for the mass of casual bloggers and content creators.

Rest & Relaxation

I'm obsessed with Cent.

Cent has been an obsession of mine for the past eleven months. 

And Cent will continue to be an obsession. Especially because 'seeding' is about to be released and that means I'll *finally* be able to post my daily blog on Cent.

Buy as for today, well today is a day of rest. 

So enjoy everything you like as it is today, because like Cent, all good things change. 

SoCal Avo

After a restful flight and chill SoCal avo and evening had with the wife I have great posting for yall.

We hit up Leo's Taco Truck for out first grub. They're famous for their al pastor pork tacos, but my wife and I had to order seconds of their beef tripe tacos.

After a long walk up La Brea we grabbed a classic Carl Reiner (mustard and kraut on a 9 inch hot dog) at the legendary Pink's Hot Dogs.

It's now time to catch some zzz's before waking and beaching it tomorrow morning. Cannot wait.

Exhaustion

These past three weeks have been everything. They've been the shortest three weeks ever. And somehow also feel like they've lasted forever.

I've learned so, so much. Met so many amazing people. Made acquaintances that I can't help but feel will become life-long friends.

And I am running on empty. My left eye keeps twitching. I'm testy as fuck.

Thank god I'm jetting off with my wife. Right now. This is the break we need. Deep breaths. Take off in: 3, 2, 1.

Growing the Cent Team

Today is a good day.

Cent has grown the team to six following the addition of our first ever intern: Damien G.

Check him out on Twitter here and welcome him to the team.

Cent on, Cent strong☄🚀

Day Befores

I love day befores. You know, like the day before the last day of school. Or the day before you fly away on vacation.

I'm on the latter one now. And it's one helluva full day too.

But a soon as I make through, I have pure rest and relaxation awaiting me, for the most part. 

Here's to day befores, may they come often and be memorable.

Visualizing Data

So I've finally visualized a massive knot of individual pieces of information at work.

Since I'm in charge of global recruitment, I've been trying to get a clear picture of 1) the positions that are being - or crucially should be - actively recruited for and 2) the individual candidates for those positions who are at various stages within the overall recruitment process.

Easier said than done.

Well thanks to an awesome 1-page framework I remembered from earlier in my career (that, funnily enough, was completely unrelated to HR management), after collecting all of the data, I was able to simply enter all of it into the framework leaving me with 1-page full of everything I or my bosses would want to know about the state of global recruitment.

The key is to keep the framework up to date. That means I need to now find the proper cadence for aggregating the data from the other recruiting specialists. I'm assuming a bi-weekly checkup on Monday and Wednesday will do the trick.

We shall see.

You v2.0

On the way back home last night after my run I saw this girl standing in the middle of the sidewalk across from our apartment.

She looked so upset. Broken even.

Her looks, by local standards, have probably made it tough to live in Korea. I assume she was probably just dumped.

For some reason my mind immediately went to this thought: She'd have a whole new life - she'd be a whole new person - if she moved to a Western country.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you don't like the game you're playing, fold your hand, get up and find somewhere where there are more people playing your game.

That's what I did when I couldn't bear the thought of taking another student loan out to pay the overpriced tuition of an education that wouldn't give me any extra benefits and dropped out to head to Asia.

Now I'm two languages richer, debt-free, and have my professional plate full of immensely rewarding work. And I have the most gorgeous, sexiest and smartest wife ever.

Impact Analysis - Reading Three Books Simultaneously

Since embarking on reading three books at the same time about one month back, I am beginning my fifth and sixth new books.

The time to completion of a single book has decreased and the volume consumed has increased.

I plan to finish one more book prior to departing on my autumn break to the states with my wife this Friday too. 

Thanks to my new approach to reading I have bypassed my 'one book per month' goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the year. 

That means that I'll have to scoop more books so that I can set a higher goal for 2019. Super stoked.

What is Work?

"Yet if one looks closely one sees that there is no essential difference between a beggar's livelihood and that of numberless respectable people. Beggars do not work, it is said; but, then, what is work?... [Begging] is a trade like any other; quite useless, of course - but, then, many reputable trades are quite useless."

That is an excerpt from George Orwell's wryly amusing and despndantly stark "Down and out in Paris and London" which I just finished today.

I was turned onto this book from C, a former colleague and dear friend after she included the book amongst her top all-time reads.

It's amazing how many times I found myself chuckling while reading what otherwise is a documentary on the foul, detestable and heartbreaking loop-of-desperation the Parisian and London poor found themselves at the turn of the 20th century.

Despite the wry humor that is peppered throughout the work, it never takes away from the abject plight of any of the down and out characters that Orwell briefly captures in the painfully brilliant realistic vignettes that make up the work.

All in all it's an incredible work. I'm a bit ashamed to say it, but it was also my first work from Orwell that I've ever read. While I'd been reluctant to pick up "Animal Farm" or "1984" before, I am actually a bit eager to get my hands on them now.

Bang for Your Buck

I love brevity. And I love clarity.

As Kendrick Lamar said: The simplest shit be more pivotal.

Cent's current one line summary of 'A decentralized & incentivized social network'  is short and concise, but it's not super understandable. It sorta says what it is, but it doesn't.

My current refactoring of this is: An Ethereum-based income generating social network.

The 'Ethereum-based' element replaces the all ambiguous 'decentralized' aspect while we announce the true value proposition of Cent as being a social network that aims to generate income for it's users.

What's missing from this one-line explanation is 'the how' of it all, but to me the fact that it's based on Ethereum is hint enough. That combined with the curiosity I think most people will be struck by when they read that would be just the right combination of clarity and intrigue needed to get new potential users to click through to the site and see what exactly Cent is.

Perhaps.

The Right People

When hiring for the 'right people' the initial screen always looks at an individual's qualifications. If they pass that stage the individual themselves and their personality becomes the objects of review.

But is that the correct order?

For a corporate gig, while the 'right people' for the job is sometimes qualification dependent, for a surprising amount of times it simply is a non-factor. Instead a 'certain type' of person is simply required.

What this 'certain type' of person varies company to company, but in my opinion, at the root of each of those 'certain types' is a common trait: thoughtfulness.

Not everyone currently working in a corporation, not even those who've been working for decades, falls under that 'certain type' category. And how could they? That's not what they were necessarily screened for. And thoughtfulness is not something afaik that's been the target of any screening.

In fact, I'm pretty sure it's been impossible to efficiently screen for.

But what if you could screen for thoughtfulness? And what if thoughtfulness was the first thing screened for, instead of qualifications?

For me, that would drastically improve the employee-employer fit search by at least an order of magnitude. Because if you could be reasonably certain that you're looking at a thoughtful candidate, there really is no limit to what positions you can ask them to try to carry out or, at the very least, you know you'll be getting someone who will take sincere efforts and try to follow through on any work that comes there way.

But this is just a fantasy, for now...

Getting my Bearings

I'm nearing my two week mark in my new job. And I finally feel like I'm getting my bearings.

The extra hours spent spent each night this week (in the office, of course) studying and reviewing everything from my notes taken down during training last week. Combing through the org chart. And the numerous face-to-faces I've had with my new teamates have all been really helpful.

Tomorrow I finally get to participate in my first interview. And I'm ready to go.

I still have a lot more to learn, but getting into the sausage factory will for sure expedite that process. Thankfully my team has my back and have made me feel comfortable learning as I work. Mistakes will be made, but I'm sure I'll be able to correct course swiftly and get better.

The Centian Mission

[Sorry for the delay - I forgot to hit 'submit' this morning (9.11)]

The greatest cause that Centians should focus on is doing what they can to ensure that a circular crypto economy takes hold and grows on Cent.

Cent presents a beautiful promise. The promise of anyone being able to generate life sustaining income from anywhere on earth (or off of it - who knows) simply by being thoughtful and sharing a bit of creativity and knowledge - that's better than good. It's far more meaningful and profound than nearly any one-off charity event or global charity.

New Centians continue to post great bounties that reward and stimulate thoughtful replies and dialogue. What's even more amazing (to me) is that more than a handful of Centians are also taking the ETH they earn to post bounties and tip others. This type of action grows the base of economically active users. It grows the Cent economy and ecosystem which in turn increases the possibility of actually allowing Cent to live up to its lofty promise.

Seinfeld Meets Hodl Culture

I've had this blog for around 10 years now, but I haven't embedded a single video - until now that is. And I'm coming in hot.

With that, I leave you with an epic Seinfeld rant about hodl culture and those with weak hands by Jerry himself. Please enjoy.

Edit: due to technical difficulties I'm unable to embed the video. Please check it out here. Arghh.

The Evolutionary Value of Narrative

Listened to a fantastic new episode of the a16z podcast yesterday [here] about decision making - specifically concerning group or crowd-based decision making - and story telling. You all should check it out if you have time.

To give you a little taste, I'll leave you with my two favorite tidbits from the episode:

"Novels simulate alternative versions of our lives.

We spend an inordinate amount of time reading and watching fiction - things that we know are not true - because there is an incredible adaptive value in placing yourself into someone else's thought process in a given situation. In short, the evolutionary role of narrative of fiction is in expanding the individual ability to run parallel simulations of other peoples lives."

"Reading a good book makes the world feel larger."

The ETH Price Death Spiral

If you've looked at the price of ETH recently, you probably feel as down as it is.

There's no sugar coating it: cheaper ETH sucks if you're hodling any.

But don't let it get you too down. If anything, your feelings are probably just a sign you need to re-evaluate some things.

Perhaps you need to work more on taking profits off the table more frequently
 Or perhaps it means you should be more diversified. Or maybe it just means you need to buidl harder and quicker.

There is something big growing in this crazy world of crypto; something game changing. Who knows if ETH will be involved (I think it will be), but something like it certainly will be.

Nearly everyone on this planet is still amazingly hypocognizant of the power if programable money. Value can be exchanged for any actions to nearly infinite decimal places. These transfers of value can be conditional based on thoughtful community stakeholders and curators that form a decentralized autonomous organization.

We have only just passed zero hour, so there is still a long way to go. ETH will probably go lower too, so make sure you take the necessary steps to ensure your feelings aren't pegged to the price of ETH, then charge into the future guided by the light of progress that great projects like Cent are buidling away at.

Interests

Interests are like lines on an infinite plane, extending across a never ending spectrum. Since interests are infinite too that means that the infinite plane is covered in a web of interest lines, many of which intersect with some point on other interests, but also many of which don't intersect at all.

Any interest that a particular individual holds will fall on some point along the line or spectrum of the specific interest as will everyone else who holds the same interest.

The main assertion that I want to convey is that although many people may hold the same interest, I think a variety of factors will influence and determine where they fall along the spectrum of that interest and thus will change their relationship - or lack thereof - to other interests.

Anti-intellectual Algorithm

0. You don't ask a question
1. They say to ask questions if you are unsure of anything
2. You ask a question
3. They chide you for not knowing what you asked
4. Repeat

Korean Corporate Drinking Culture

"Everyone here was hired because, amongst other things, they can really drink!"

That's an actual quote I heard last night from an actual HR manager. And after they said that they proceeded to fill 8 empty 500ml beer glasses half full with soju...

The nototious drinking culture in Korean corporations is alive and well. Sigh.

An Ode to Mad Men

What's your favorite tv show?

Hands down my favorite tv series is Mad Men, that epic exposition on mimetic theory as told through the lives of the Mad Men of 1960's Madison Avenue.

This series is different. Like transcendently so. It's inspired a cult following of fans that watch the entire 7 season show over and over again. I literally just finished my 9th viewing last night.

Everything about the show is perfect. The writing is soul crushingly powerful. The acting received award after award. The mise-en-scène was so faithfully recreated that you'd be forgiven for thinking the show was actually filmed back between 1962~1970 where the story takes place. And the non-diegetic music - it beautifully and evocatively ties everything that the show is together.

If you're looking for your next (and probably last) tv series, pick Mad Men.

Doppelgängers

Today marked my first day of work at my new employer.

It went well enough, but the weirdest thing happened.

There are 9 other experienced hires in my recruitment class besides myself, and one gentleman is literally the doppelgänger of Mr. Yun, my former Group Leader. Like dead on he could pass for his twin.

I know there isn't any deep meaning or significance to having the doppelgänger of my favorite former boss in orientation with me, but it does make me feel more comfortable in what is otherwise a totally new environment.

There's that, and then as I was riding the metro home in the evening, in the reflection of the window as I was look out past the Han and the Florida orange sunset, I saw an elderly woman who was the spitting image of Xi Jinping. That just made me laugh.

I'm glad today was a good day.

Ethnology & Ethology

Last night I wrapped up my first reading of Rene Girard's "Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World" and I have a feeling that I'll be processing it for the rest of my life.

That's not to say it is super difficult to understand; on the contrary, what the book and Girard says is dead simple. He didn't seek to explain something new that he discovered, but rather he describes a re-discovery - what's been true, but hidden, since the foundation of the world.

I will have many more posts coming that will stem from this work and vein of thought, but today I will leave you with two terms that Girard refers to over and over in the book that he manages to bridge and cover with the truth that he clarifies: Ethnology & Ethology.

Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them.

Ethology is the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait.

New Cent Feature Alert: Sourcing

Hopefully everyone has started their weekend off right. It's already Sunday morning here ><

I just wanted to let you all know that the Cent team has pushed a new function live. Now users can easily and cleanly add sources to their responses.

You can read more in this article that I wrote here: “New Function: Add Sources to Responses." Enjoy the rest of your weeken yall.