[Originally published on Cent]
I just took this survey that's looking to analyze how individuals interact with and use Ethereum.
While the results as compiled in this article by Steven Yuan weren't terribly surprising, the fact that most of the 100 or so respondents send more than $100 per transaction and only make a handful of transactions per month had me do a double take.
Anyone that uses Cent and engages in Seeding or bountying engages in way more transactions at way smaller amounts.
That's because Cent takes advantage of payment channels.
So go take a few minutes and take the survey so we can help reflect the reality of Cent users and how they use Ethereum.
2019년 1월 20일 일요일
Solitude in the heart of Seoul
[Originally published on Cent]
On the way to meet my wife for sushi near City Hall last night, I took a meandering detour.
I hooked a left at the entrance to Deoksoo Palace (덕수궁) and walked along the narrow stone walled alley (돌담길). It was cold, but peaceful. And quiet.
Finding a quiet place within a metropolis of 15 million souls is rare, but I found something even better last night: solitude in the heart of Seoul.
At the back end of the palace I veered off onto an even narrower path. I thought it would wrap all the way around to the other side where the sushi place and my wife were waiting, but after 250m or so I hit a dead end. But it was the best dead end.
In front of me a centuries old (looking) wall was half hidden in shadow. Beyond it a line of naked gingko trees failed to conceal the hyper-modern glittering urban vista of Seoul.
I took a few deep breaths, listened to Stripe CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison tell me I should bias towards older, time tested and proven books on The Tim Ferris Show beaming from my earbuds into my earballs, and then I turned around.
Cheers everyone, to a peaceful night and savoring those sweet, silent moments of perfection🍻
On the way to meet my wife for sushi near City Hall last night, I took a meandering detour.
I hooked a left at the entrance to Deoksoo Palace (덕수궁) and walked along the narrow stone walled alley (돌담길). It was cold, but peaceful. And quiet.
Finding a quiet place within a metropolis of 15 million souls is rare, but I found something even better last night: solitude in the heart of Seoul.
At the back end of the palace I veered off onto an even narrower path. I thought it would wrap all the way around to the other side where the sushi place and my wife were waiting, but after 250m or so I hit a dead end. But it was the best dead end.
In front of me a centuries old (looking) wall was half hidden in shadow. Beyond it a line of naked gingko trees failed to conceal the hyper-modern glittering urban vista of Seoul.
I took a few deep breaths, listened to Stripe CEO and co-founder Patrick Collison tell me I should bias towards older, time tested and proven books on The Tim Ferris Show beaming from my earbuds into my earballs, and then I turned around.
Cheers everyone, to a peaceful night and savoring those sweet, silent moments of perfection🍻
Living in the Future
[Originally published on Cent]
Last night I blasted out 14 small tips to 14 Centians located in different (unknown) places all around the world.
It took me about a minute to finish tipping everyone. And I did that after I got off the company shuttle on the way to the closest Seoul Metro entrance.
After I sent the last tip, I looked up, out into the glittering metropolis of 15 million souls, and just thought about what I'd just done.
We really are living in the future.
Then I got home and read @rockzu07's post about not having to starve for a night thanks to the money he's earned on Cent, and my mind was totally blown.
Last night I blasted out 14 small tips to 14 Centians located in different (unknown) places all around the world.
It took me about a minute to finish tipping everyone. And I did that after I got off the company shuttle on the way to the closest Seoul Metro entrance.
After I sent the last tip, I looked up, out into the glittering metropolis of 15 million souls, and just thought about what I'd just done.
We really are living in the future.
Then I got home and read @rockzu07's post about not having to starve for a night thanks to the money he's earned on Cent, and my mind was totally blown.
My favorite kind of post
[Originally published on Cent]
I love posts that I can't forget.
Posts that I read once, then again and then can't stop thinking about.
Posts that bother me. That force me to wrap my mind around.
Posts that excite me and make me wanna reply.
@digitalronin made my favorite kind of post earlier today. The title is great too: Why Cent is not the future of social media.
Check it out if you haven't.
What are your favorite kinds of posts, either on Cent or otherwise?
I love posts that I can't forget.
Posts that I read once, then again and then can't stop thinking about.
Posts that bother me. That force me to wrap my mind around.
Posts that excite me and make me wanna reply.
@digitalronin made my favorite kind of post earlier today. The title is great too: Why Cent is not the future of social media.
Check it out if you haven't.
What are your favorite kinds of posts, either on Cent or otherwise?
Deciding Which Books to Buy
[Originally published on Cent]
Last night I ordered two books: 'Battling to the End' by René Girard and 'We are the Nerds' by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin.
I was talking to a co-worker the other week about what books I was reading when she asked me a cool question:
How do I decide which books to buy and read?
Well, in the case of Girard's 'Battling to the End', the last book he published before his death, I was reading a long-form write up published in The New York Review of Books about a new biography on Girard's thought - a figure and topic that I find endlessly fascinating.
Within that long, hyper-detailed work, several books were mentioned, including the book that I ended up purchasing. The way it was described just sounded kind of perfect to me.
Purchasing 'We are the Nerds' was inspired by a direct recommendation from @max in the Cent Slack yesterday.
"Been reading “ We Are the Nerds” - the story of Reddit’s founding and rise. It’s crazy how much overlap we have with their story, and am learning much from it. Highly, highly recommend."
If you love thinking about Cent as much as I do (and I know there are a fair few of you who do) how could you not scoop this book after reading that?
So long-form articles about interesting topics along with friends and folks close to me whose tastes I admire are two of the main channels I utilize to source new reads, but there is a third and fourth channel that I should mention: Twitter and podcasts.
Really though, Twitter and podcasts function as great book recommendation vehicles in a near identical manner to long-form reads and familar voices because, well, Twitter and podcasts are both full of familiar voices talking at length about interesting topics.
Cent could potentially become a fifth channel I feel - that's a large part of the reason why I'm so keen on @Justsomeguy's #dailyreadingclub experiment - but as of today, it isn't quite there. Soon though.
I'm curious if there are any other general good reads acquisition channels that I should be paying attention to?
Last night I ordered two books: 'Battling to the End' by René Girard and 'We are the Nerds' by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin.
I was talking to a co-worker the other week about what books I was reading when she asked me a cool question:
How do I decide which books to buy and read?
Well, in the case of Girard's 'Battling to the End', the last book he published before his death, I was reading a long-form write up published in The New York Review of Books about a new biography on Girard's thought - a figure and topic that I find endlessly fascinating.
Within that long, hyper-detailed work, several books were mentioned, including the book that I ended up purchasing. The way it was described just sounded kind of perfect to me.
Purchasing 'We are the Nerds' was inspired by a direct recommendation from @max in the Cent Slack yesterday.
"Been reading “ We Are the Nerds” - the story of Reddit’s founding and rise. It’s crazy how much overlap we have with their story, and am learning much from it. Highly, highly recommend."
If you love thinking about Cent as much as I do (and I know there are a fair few of you who do) how could you not scoop this book after reading that?
So long-form articles about interesting topics along with friends and folks close to me whose tastes I admire are two of the main channels I utilize to source new reads, but there is a third and fourth channel that I should mention: Twitter and podcasts.
Really though, Twitter and podcasts function as great book recommendation vehicles in a near identical manner to long-form reads and familar voices because, well, Twitter and podcasts are both full of familiar voices talking at length about interesting topics.
Cent could potentially become a fifth channel I feel - that's a large part of the reason why I'm so keen on @Justsomeguy's #dailyreadingclub experiment - but as of today, it isn't quite there. Soon though.
I'm curious if there are any other general good reads acquisition channels that I should be paying attention to?
Corporate overreaction
[Originally published on Cent]
Very few things are deadly important.
That's how I tend to look at life for the most part.
Especially within a large corp, any given task or assignment is rarely - if ever - a matter of life and death.
But for some reason, way too many people tend to work as if their life is on the line with every single task they're in charge of.
Working for such people can be exhausting.
Anyone that's worked in a corporate setting probably has a war story or two to share of a co-worker or boss that was a terrible over reactor.
So go ahead and share your war stories and let's see who's had the worst experiences.
Very few things are deadly important.
That's how I tend to look at life for the most part.
Especially within a large corp, any given task or assignment is rarely - if ever - a matter of life and death.
But for some reason, way too many people tend to work as if their life is on the line with every single task they're in charge of.
Working for such people can be exhausting.
Anyone that's worked in a corporate setting probably has a war story or two to share of a co-worker or boss that was a terrible over reactor.
So go ahead and share your war stories and let's see who's had the worst experiences.
75 Straight Days of Social Income on Cent
[Originally published on Cent]
I decided to do an in-depth review of my earnings on Cent over the last 75 days since Seeding🌱 went live. So if you're curious as to whether anyone can earn any kind of money on Cent, give this a read - because the answer is yes!
Social Income
Over the last 75 days I've earned a total of $429 (3.4011441 ETH) on Cent from posting, seeding other posts, replying to posts and sorting replies - in that order.
To be clear, my Cent account has received multiple new payments every single freaking day, 75 days in a row.
Now I'm not sure if this sort of earning can be classified as passive income or what, so I'm just going to call this 'Social Income*' or 'Social Earning': money that I've earned for engaging with and contributing to social networks.
My posts have been seeded 360 freaking times! Posts I've seeded have received 345 follow up seeds that paid me plus anyone else who seeded before and after me! Although I haven't had as much time to sort replies as I'd like to, I still managed to get paid for sorting replies to 161 different bounty posts. I also received bounty rewards for 33 of my replies to bounty posts.
Ok, now for the powerful part...and Beer Money🍻
Over that same 75 day period, I deposited roughly $422 (3.35 ETH) into my Cent Wallet. And I still haven't managed to spend it all.
I was not expecting that. I mean, I didn't realize I really earned that much over the last 75 days until I checked. And Jesus, that's like, $5.75 a day on average - that's enough to buy a decent pint! It's legit beer money.
So on a 'deposit to earned basis', I've earned more than I deposited. To get specific, I've earned $29 (0.22698472 ETH) more than I deposited after accounting for the 0.17584062 ETH that I deposited but haven't been able to spend yet.
But I've tried to spend every last gwei in my account. I really have.
Fun facts & Seeding🌱
Over the last 75 days I've seeded 340 posts. As many of you know, along with @mckie I am one of the most prolific tippers on Cent and I managed to make 148 tips** over the same period. Of course I've also attached a bounty to nearly every one of my posts (66 out of 75 to be precise).
The $429 earned figure over the last 75 days represents 94% of my all time earnings on Cent; and I've been on Cent basically everyday for the past 13.5 months.
That fact is directly attributable to the introduction of Seeding🌱 on Cent 73 days ago. So, if this isn't validation that seeding *can* work, I'm not sure what is.
Wrapping up
What Cent is doing is so new. As a result a lot of things are unclear. How does seeding work? Why do I need to bounty? Can you really earn any real money on Cent?
Therefore one of the most important jobs anyone on the Cent team has is trying to clarify all of those questions.
This post was conceived and written towards that end. I hope it's helped show that anyone who thoughtfully engages with Cent can earn.
A bit on process
The numbers and figures presented above were derived after I copy-pasted my 'SPENT' and 'EARNED' transaction histories into an excel and edited it lightly to make the raw data readable.
All of this was done on my mobile phone, however, so things took a little longer to refine and analyze. That's also why I haven't included aggregate USD/ETH values of money seeded to my posts or seed earnings for example. I'll append those numbers below this post when I get around to doing that.
Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I apologize if anything is unclear. I'll do a better job next time.
*Although I created the term 'Social Income' independently, after a Google search I found that J.R. Hicks appears to have originally coined the term around 1940 and carried out a ton of subsequent research. After a cursory perusal of said works though, it appears that by happy coincidence my conceptualization of the term appears to be additive to Hick's original concept of 'Social Income'. Potential connections warrant a deeper look at a later date.
**I didn't reflect the outlier 1 ETH tip I sent @charlesx for his illustration services in my calculations.
I decided to do an in-depth review of my earnings on Cent over the last 75 days since Seeding🌱 went live. So if you're curious as to whether anyone can earn any kind of money on Cent, give this a read - because the answer is yes!
Social Income
Over the last 75 days I've earned a total of $429 (3.4011441 ETH) on Cent from posting, seeding other posts, replying to posts and sorting replies - in that order.
To be clear, my Cent account has received multiple new payments every single freaking day, 75 days in a row.
Now I'm not sure if this sort of earning can be classified as passive income or what, so I'm just going to call this 'Social Income*' or 'Social Earning': money that I've earned for engaging with and contributing to social networks.
My posts have been seeded 360 freaking times! Posts I've seeded have received 345 follow up seeds that paid me plus anyone else who seeded before and after me! Although I haven't had as much time to sort replies as I'd like to, I still managed to get paid for sorting replies to 161 different bounty posts. I also received bounty rewards for 33 of my replies to bounty posts.
Ok, now for the powerful part...and Beer Money🍻
Over that same 75 day period, I deposited roughly $422 (3.35 ETH) into my Cent Wallet. And I still haven't managed to spend it all.
I was not expecting that. I mean, I didn't realize I really earned that much over the last 75 days until I checked. And Jesus, that's like, $5.75 a day on average - that's enough to buy a decent pint! It's legit beer money.
So on a 'deposit to earned basis', I've earned more than I deposited. To get specific, I've earned $29 (0.22698472 ETH) more than I deposited after accounting for the 0.17584062 ETH that I deposited but haven't been able to spend yet.
But I've tried to spend every last gwei in my account. I really have.
Fun facts & Seeding🌱
Over the last 75 days I've seeded 340 posts. As many of you know, along with @mckie I am one of the most prolific tippers on Cent and I managed to make 148 tips** over the same period. Of course I've also attached a bounty to nearly every one of my posts (66 out of 75 to be precise).
The $429 earned figure over the last 75 days represents 94% of my all time earnings on Cent; and I've been on Cent basically everyday for the past 13.5 months.
That fact is directly attributable to the introduction of Seeding🌱 on Cent 73 days ago. So, if this isn't validation that seeding *can* work, I'm not sure what is.
Wrapping up
What Cent is doing is so new. As a result a lot of things are unclear. How does seeding work? Why do I need to bounty? Can you really earn any real money on Cent?
Therefore one of the most important jobs anyone on the Cent team has is trying to clarify all of those questions.
This post was conceived and written towards that end. I hope it's helped show that anyone who thoughtfully engages with Cent can earn.
A bit on process
The numbers and figures presented above were derived after I copy-pasted my 'SPENT' and 'EARNED' transaction histories into an excel and edited it lightly to make the raw data readable.
All of this was done on my mobile phone, however, so things took a little longer to refine and analyze. That's also why I haven't included aggregate USD/ETH values of money seeded to my posts or seed earnings for example. I'll append those numbers below this post when I get around to doing that.
Feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I apologize if anything is unclear. I'll do a better job next time.
*Although I created the term 'Social Income' independently, after a Google search I found that J.R. Hicks appears to have originally coined the term around 1940 and carried out a ton of subsequent research. After a cursory perusal of said works though, it appears that by happy coincidence my conceptualization of the term appears to be additive to Hick's original concept of 'Social Income'. Potential connections warrant a deeper look at a later date.
**I didn't reflect the outlier 1 ETH tip I sent @charlesx for his illustration services in my calculations.
Voluntary Associations, Clubs & Collectives on Cent
[Originally published on Cent]
Thanks to @Justsomeguy the #dailyreadingclub channel is a thing. And it's got me pretty excited.
It's design is simple and elegant: post any articles, books, poetry or whatever else you read the previous day.
You can add your thoughts and feelings on what you read too, if you want.
Now you're probably thinking: What's so special about that?
Well, obviously there isn't anything distinguishingly special about this idea, *yet*.
But if you check out the short exchange that @Justsomeguy and I had below my reply to yesterday’s inaugural post, you'll perhaps see a glimpse of why @Justsomeguy and I are getting excited.
Thanks to the frictionless payments on Cent I proposed that we try to commission some custom artwork or photography that can be used in the daily posts to the #dailyreadingclub channel to differentiate us.
Using Cent's bounty mechaniam we can also come up with novel approaches that can powerfully appeal to potential supporters or new members.
That's a bigger deal than it seems.
While book clubs are more powerful than you'd probably first assume (e.g. check out goodreads.com or take a look at the tens of thousands of users that are subscribed to Patrick O’Shaughnessy's Book Club), thinking about the potential impact of being able to spin up a globally accessible digital association of like minds that have access to tools that make it trivially easy to facilitate complex trustless financial transactions with censorship resistant payments is just...well, it's pretty mind blowing.
Location independent associations, which is to say associations that are able to spawn independent and autonomous functioning chapters, are incredibly powerful levers of change.
Whereas the impact of such associations in the past was limited - for the most part - within national boundaries due to constraints imposed by geography, technology and the inability to easily access global financial infrastructure channels, those constraints no longer exist.
For the first time ever in the history of the world, anyone anywhere can spin up these kinds of associations and collectives. And we're starting to do that on Cent. With a reading club😂
So, to abruptly conclude, @charlesx, @CryptoMemes, @127kgs and any other artists on Cent, look out for a RFP post in the near future where you can submit your ideas for a chance to get chosen and most importantly paid for your work.
Thanks to @Justsomeguy the #dailyreadingclub channel is a thing. And it's got me pretty excited.
It's design is simple and elegant: post any articles, books, poetry or whatever else you read the previous day.
You can add your thoughts and feelings on what you read too, if you want.
Now you're probably thinking: What's so special about that?
Well, obviously there isn't anything distinguishingly special about this idea, *yet*.
But if you check out the short exchange that @Justsomeguy and I had below my reply to yesterday’s inaugural post, you'll perhaps see a glimpse of why @Justsomeguy and I are getting excited.
Thanks to the frictionless payments on Cent I proposed that we try to commission some custom artwork or photography that can be used in the daily posts to the #dailyreadingclub channel to differentiate us.
Using Cent's bounty mechaniam we can also come up with novel approaches that can powerfully appeal to potential supporters or new members.
That's a bigger deal than it seems.
While book clubs are more powerful than you'd probably first assume (e.g. check out goodreads.com or take a look at the tens of thousands of users that are subscribed to Patrick O’Shaughnessy's Book Club), thinking about the potential impact of being able to spin up a globally accessible digital association of like minds that have access to tools that make it trivially easy to facilitate complex trustless financial transactions with censorship resistant payments is just...well, it's pretty mind blowing.
Location independent associations, which is to say associations that are able to spawn independent and autonomous functioning chapters, are incredibly powerful levers of change.
Whereas the impact of such associations in the past was limited - for the most part - within national boundaries due to constraints imposed by geography, technology and the inability to easily access global financial infrastructure channels, those constraints no longer exist.
For the first time ever in the history of the world, anyone anywhere can spin up these kinds of associations and collectives. And we're starting to do that on Cent. With a reading club😂
So, to abruptly conclude, @charlesx, @CryptoMemes, @127kgs and any other artists on Cent, look out for a RFP post in the near future where you can submit your ideas for a chance to get chosen and most importantly paid for your work.
MV - I don't know
[Originally published on Cent]
Boy do I have a MV for y'all. I just watched it like 10 times in a row, back to back to back. It's sooo good.
The Korean rapper G2 paired up with Lyricks, one half of the Korean-American rap duo Year of the Ox, and recorded this MV to their song "I Don't Know" and it's really freaking good. Oh, did I say it's good? Check it out.
On top of a super chill beat, the lyrics and MV perfectly capture Seoul nights, Korean drinking culture, and a somehow super relatable feeling of lonely selfishness.
The song is off G2's new album "tHROWING uP bUTTERFLIES" and if it's any indication of what the rest of the album sounds like, I think I may have found my first favorite album of 2019.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a green bottle of soju calling my name.
Boy do I have a MV for y'all. I just watched it like 10 times in a row, back to back to back. It's sooo good.
The Korean rapper G2 paired up with Lyricks, one half of the Korean-American rap duo Year of the Ox, and recorded this MV to their song "I Don't Know" and it's really freaking good. Oh, did I say it's good? Check it out.
On top of a super chill beat, the lyrics and MV perfectly capture Seoul nights, Korean drinking culture, and a somehow super relatable feeling of lonely selfishness.
The song is off G2's new album "tHROWING uP bUTTERFLIES" and if it's any indication of what the rest of the album sounds like, I think I may have found my first favorite album of 2019.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a green bottle of soju calling my name.
Distributed Working
[Originally published on Cent]
I just listened to an episode of Product Hunt Radio and the topic of distributed teams and work came up at around the 20 minute mark.
The Cent team is distributed and our demeanor, communication and trust in one another are turning us into a force to be reckoned with.
After I brought up my personal experience working for a 10,000 employee global EPC contractor in the Cent Slack, @max said:
> a 10,000 person corp...I think we can change the world with under 10.
That's awesome. And I agree. But we can always get better. We can get better in part by learning from other businesses who have significant portions of their organization distributed just like we do.
So I want to ask you all to share any meaty write up, overviews, introductions, analysis - whatever - about companies with successful distributed working cultures that you read before. Or share your own experiences working in a distributed workplace. What worked? What didn't?
Some exemplar companies that I hope you can find articles on could include Automattic, InVision and Buffer.
I just listened to an episode of Product Hunt Radio and the topic of distributed teams and work came up at around the 20 minute mark.
The Cent team is distributed and our demeanor, communication and trust in one another are turning us into a force to be reckoned with.
After I brought up my personal experience working for a 10,000 employee global EPC contractor in the Cent Slack, @max said:
> a 10,000 person corp...I think we can change the world with under 10.
That's awesome. And I agree. But we can always get better. We can get better in part by learning from other businesses who have significant portions of their organization distributed just like we do.
So I want to ask you all to share any meaty write up, overviews, introductions, analysis - whatever - about companies with successful distributed working cultures that you read before. Or share your own experiences working in a distributed workplace. What worked? What didn't?
Some exemplar companies that I hope you can find articles on could include Automattic, InVision and Buffer.
Seeding history revealed
[Originally published on Cent]
As many Centians noticed over the last 24 hours or so, if you click on the seed icon in the top right of any post you can now see the seeding history of all the users who've seeded that post.
After Seeding🌱 itself, this is probably the stickiest action we've unlocked on Cent.
Other social networks have likes, claps, hearts, upvotes, gold and most confusingly power.
While Seeding isn't a like button per se, it does create a signal for the post that it's linked to, and the list of users that seed is reminiscent (at least to me) of the list of users who've hearted your tweets on Twitter or liked your posts on Facebook, but way, way freaking better. Why? Because they're actually *worth* something.
No other social network has anything like this.
I've been obsessively clicking on the seeding button not just for my posts, but on posts of other Centian's to see who likes what.
: :
As profiles get built out and following becomes a thing, the true value of this monetized intent will become clearer.
Until those next updates arrive, familiarize yourself with your supporters. Get to know them. You are all a part of the greatest experiment on the internet that's allowing *all* of you to benefit financially. With greater power will come greater responsibility. So get ready👊
p.s. I may have been the last to find this out, but when you type a username, like @Zubs for example, after you click publish or reply a hyperlink will automagically be generated - no more copy-pasting urls anymore🙌
As many Centians noticed over the last 24 hours or so, if you click on the seed icon in the top right of any post you can now see the seeding history of all the users who've seeded that post.
After Seeding🌱 itself, this is probably the stickiest action we've unlocked on Cent.
Other social networks have likes, claps, hearts, upvotes, gold and most confusingly power.
While Seeding isn't a like button per se, it does create a signal for the post that it's linked to, and the list of users that seed is reminiscent (at least to me) of the list of users who've hearted your tweets on Twitter or liked your posts on Facebook, but way, way freaking better. Why? Because they're actually *worth* something.
No other social network has anything like this.
I've been obsessively clicking on the seeding button not just for my posts, but on posts of other Centian's to see who likes what.
: :
As profiles get built out and following becomes a thing, the true value of this monetized intent will become clearer.
Until those next updates arrive, familiarize yourself with your supporters. Get to know them. You are all a part of the greatest experiment on the internet that's allowing *all* of you to benefit financially. With greater power will come greater responsibility. So get ready👊
p.s. I may have been the last to find this out, but when you type a username, like @Zubs for example, after you click publish or reply a hyperlink will automagically be generated - no more copy-pasting urls anymore🙌
Monetized intent
[Originally published on Cent]
When I hear anyone talk about intent or intentionality, I do two things.
First I get pretty excited because I can basically count on the fact that whatever comes next will be intellectually stimulating. That's what happened after I read @tor's post from a couple days ago entitled 'Social Media and the Power of Intention'.
The other thing I do is think about monetizable intent.
Monetizable intent - specifically the capture, tracking and exploitation of intent - is what made Google and Facebook what they are today. Think AdWords or AdSense for Google and Facebook's insanely hyper targeted advertising capacity.
Intentions are desires, needs, wants, and likes. The ability to aggregate every intention of basically every person on earth (e.g. via a Google search or by clicking 'like'), every result list provided, and then every next step taken as result overlaid on top of webs of social context, well this essentially allows companies to reliably 'predict' or 'guess' what you want to see.
And their guesses are pretty good. But they have made hundreds of billions of dollars for guesses that're based off of *your* monetizable intent; and you, well, you get another cat meme or buzzfeed listicle.
What if the need for guess work (i.e. the work in the form of algorithm development and complicated targeted advertising infrastructure that is the justification of these companies to pocket all that money) largely disappeared? What if you could monetize your own intentions?
In a pretty conspicuous way, that seems to be the case on Cent. Intent is literally monetized when someone Seeds a post or tips another user's reply.
Instead of an algorithm serving up content that Google or Facebook were essentially paid to present you with based on them monetizing your previously expressed intentions, anyone can add bounties to their posts to draw engagement and support from others.
Moreover since money is involved users seem to be extremely supportive of one another and thoughtful in their interactions.
In their post, @tor's main critique of older social networks seems to be the fact that those social networks don't provide anywhere near the amount of personal, emotional and professional support that makes life for everyone good.
Cent seems to be solving for that, but by also allowing users themselves to aggregate their own monetized intent in the form of seeds and tips they've given, based on the fact that Google and Facebook are earning tens of billions of dollars a year guessing what you'd spend money on and like, Cent could also be unlocking the potential for users to earn way more money down the line - whether that would be from Advertisers paying individuals directly or by some other way remains to be seen.
The fact that these TXs of monetized intent take place on Cent's state channels (which are pretty opaque to outsiders) could also be beneficial to Cent the business...perhaps.
When I hear anyone talk about intent or intentionality, I do two things.
First I get pretty excited because I can basically count on the fact that whatever comes next will be intellectually stimulating. That's what happened after I read @tor's post from a couple days ago entitled 'Social Media and the Power of Intention'.
The other thing I do is think about monetizable intent.
Monetizable intent - specifically the capture, tracking and exploitation of intent - is what made Google and Facebook what they are today. Think AdWords or AdSense for Google and Facebook's insanely hyper targeted advertising capacity.
Intentions are desires, needs, wants, and likes. The ability to aggregate every intention of basically every person on earth (e.g. via a Google search or by clicking 'like'), every result list provided, and then every next step taken as result overlaid on top of webs of social context, well this essentially allows companies to reliably 'predict' or 'guess' what you want to see.
And their guesses are pretty good. But they have made hundreds of billions of dollars for guesses that're based off of *your* monetizable intent; and you, well, you get another cat meme or buzzfeed listicle.
What if the need for guess work (i.e. the work in the form of algorithm development and complicated targeted advertising infrastructure that is the justification of these companies to pocket all that money) largely disappeared? What if you could monetize your own intentions?
In a pretty conspicuous way, that seems to be the case on Cent. Intent is literally monetized when someone Seeds a post or tips another user's reply.
Instead of an algorithm serving up content that Google or Facebook were essentially paid to present you with based on them monetizing your previously expressed intentions, anyone can add bounties to their posts to draw engagement and support from others.
Moreover since money is involved users seem to be extremely supportive of one another and thoughtful in their interactions.
In their post, @tor's main critique of older social networks seems to be the fact that those social networks don't provide anywhere near the amount of personal, emotional and professional support that makes life for everyone good.
Cent seems to be solving for that, but by also allowing users themselves to aggregate their own monetized intent in the form of seeds and tips they've given, based on the fact that Google and Facebook are earning tens of billions of dollars a year guessing what you'd spend money on and like, Cent could also be unlocking the potential for users to earn way more money down the line - whether that would be from Advertisers paying individuals directly or by some other way remains to be seen.
The fact that these TXs of monetized intent take place on Cent's state channels (which are pretty opaque to outsiders) could also be beneficial to Cent the business...perhaps.
Cent Home Screen Shortcut Challenge
[Originally published on Cent]
Recently on Twitter a couple of Centians, @ColeGotTweets and @DisruptBanksy, shared screenshots of their respective home screens showing off the sweet Cent favicon.
While Android users have been able to create shortcuts to sites that look like legit apps for a minute, apparently iOS users just got that ability with the latest iOS 12 upgrade. Better late than never, I guess.
Anyways, since it's Saturday and 70~80% of all Centians access Cent on their mobile phones, I thought it'd be cool if everyone could create a Cent shortcut on their home screens and share a picture or screenshot of it.
If you're an iOS user refer to the above gif for how to add a shortcut to your home screen, and if you're an Android user simply visit beta.cent.co in any mobile browser, click the three vertical dots that are typically in the top right, and then select 'create home screen shortcut' or 'add to 'home screen'.
That's it.
Oh, and everyone who shares a picture or screenshot will get a tip from me.
Recently on Twitter a couple of Centians, @ColeGotTweets and @DisruptBanksy, shared screenshots of their respective home screens showing off the sweet Cent favicon.
While Android users have been able to create shortcuts to sites that look like legit apps for a minute, apparently iOS users just got that ability with the latest iOS 12 upgrade. Better late than never, I guess.
Anyways, since it's Saturday and 70~80% of all Centians access Cent on their mobile phones, I thought it'd be cool if everyone could create a Cent shortcut on their home screens and share a picture or screenshot of it.
If you're an iOS user refer to the above gif for how to add a shortcut to your home screen, and if you're an Android user simply visit beta.cent.co in any mobile browser, click the three vertical dots that are typically in the top right, and then select 'create home screen shortcut' or 'add to 'home screen'.
That's it.
Oh, and everyone who shares a picture or screenshot will get a tip from me.
Check out the re-organized 'Help' section
[Originally published on Cent]
PSA: The Cent 'Help' section has been totally re-organized and updated.
Please give it a look over by clicking the hyperlink above or clicking '二' in the top left of your screen followed by 'Help' and then leave a reply if you think it's helpful.
Just know that it's a work in progress, and we are in the process of adding more refined screenshots/gifs in addition to entirely new articles, but we published what we have now because we wanted to get a more helpful version of 'Help' out to users asap.
If you happen to see a new user who is having an issue figuring Cent out, please direct them to this 'Help' section.
Many thanks to all the Centians who have asked quesions and given us feedback on what's not clear about the Cent experience in addition to the hard work of @pavan, @dgerm for helping to get this put together. Teamwork makes the dream work👊
PSA: The Cent 'Help' section has been totally re-organized and updated.
Please give it a look over by clicking the hyperlink above or clicking '二' in the top left of your screen followed by 'Help' and then leave a reply if you think it's helpful.
Just know that it's a work in progress, and we are in the process of adding more refined screenshots/gifs in addition to entirely new articles, but we published what we have now because we wanted to get a more helpful version of 'Help' out to users asap.
If you happen to see a new user who is having an issue figuring Cent out, please direct them to this 'Help' section.
Many thanks to all the Centians who have asked quesions and given us feedback on what's not clear about the Cent experience in addition to the hard work of @pavan, @dgerm for helping to get this put together. Teamwork makes the dream work👊
The third space of the internet
[Originally published on Cent]
I spent about 18 or so hours flying to the other side of the world yesterday.
My flight was great, but I basically passed out before I could write this last night, so that's why this post is a little late.
The other day I was scrolling through Twitter when a tweet from @devonzuegel caught my eye:
> Fortnite the new hangout spot, replacing the mall, Starbucks or just loitering in the city... It's become the coveted 'third place' for millions of people around the world.
Third space? That sounds interesting.
So I dug into the replies below the original tweet and came across this beautifully succinct video overview of that what 'third spaces' means by Sequoia Capital's Stephanie Zhan:
She describes "a shift from passive to active forms of entertainment" and "interactions with both hosts or posters and the greater community" as core aspects of so-called 'third spaces'.
Underlying that description of what third spaces are is the assumption that, at least today, most content is consumed passively or created without a strong expectation of active interaction.
There are myriad reasons why that's the case, but essentially it's because when it comes to active engagement or interaction, it's been super hard to figure out how to encourage *thoughtful* interactions or just any interactions at all. You either get trolled or you get ignored.
On Cent though, users are posting all kinds of different media from videos to podcasts, articles, blogs, memes and pictures and below those posts Centians are starting thoughtful conversations with the OP and with other Centians. That's the default Cent experience.
And that thoughtful interaction is *the* reason why I use Cent.
So that being said, Cent feels like it's starting to become the third space of the entire internet. At least that's how it feels to me. What about y'all?
I spent about 18 or so hours flying to the other side of the world yesterday.
My flight was great, but I basically passed out before I could write this last night, so that's why this post is a little late.
The other day I was scrolling through Twitter when a tweet from @devonzuegel caught my eye:
> Fortnite the new hangout spot, replacing the mall, Starbucks or just loitering in the city... It's become the coveted 'third place' for millions of people around the world.
Third space? That sounds interesting.
So I dug into the replies below the original tweet and came across this beautifully succinct video overview of that what 'third spaces' means by Sequoia Capital's Stephanie Zhan:
She describes "a shift from passive to active forms of entertainment" and "interactions with both hosts or posters and the greater community" as core aspects of so-called 'third spaces'.
Underlying that description of what third spaces are is the assumption that, at least today, most content is consumed passively or created without a strong expectation of active interaction.
There are myriad reasons why that's the case, but essentially it's because when it comes to active engagement or interaction, it's been super hard to figure out how to encourage *thoughtful* interactions or just any interactions at all. You either get trolled or you get ignored.
On Cent though, users are posting all kinds of different media from videos to podcasts, articles, blogs, memes and pictures and below those posts Centians are starting thoughtful conversations with the OP and with other Centians. That's the default Cent experience.
And that thoughtful interaction is *the* reason why I use Cent.
So that being said, Cent feels like it's starting to become the third space of the entire internet. At least that's how it feels to me. What about y'all?
Making bank on Cent
[Originally published on Cent]
Some users may have noticed, but I'm currently no. 2 on the Cent leaderboard. If you're curious how someone can earn over $300 a month on Cent, this post is for you.
Engage. Engage. Engage.
Rule number one is simple: Stay engaged.
Engage with other posts by leaving a reply or comment. Engage with users who reply to your posts. Shout out users you think are doing great things. Check in multiple times a day to see what posts are new. Sort replies to posts, and do it thoughtfully. Our thoughtfully engaged user base is a key reason why new users are joining, staying and spending on Cent.
High engagement will get you paid too. If you give a tight reply to a bounty post you'll (probably) get rewarded. Sorting replies to bounty posts will yield small change on a per-post basis, but over time it becomes non-trivial. By engaging with the community you'll become a familiar voice - imho this is super helpful for when you really want to start earning money on a more regular basis by posting.
Posting
Pushing out daily posts has been one of the two major ways I've been able to earn and climb the leaderboard. Every post I make isn't a home run - and home runs for me aren't common to begin with - but a steady group of users have been seeding my posts everyday for over two months now.
While only 25% of seed money goes to me, 25% of all seed money over 30 posts really add ups. Although I don't engage in this practice (yet), seeding one's own posts is a way to earn more than that base 25% rate, especially when you seed your own post *first*. [Note: The reason why I haven't seeded my own posts is because I don't want to artificially inflate my earnings - as a member of the Cent team that just wouldn't be a good look. When seeding history is revealed y'all can check.]
Seeding
The second major way I've earned a lot (perhaps even more than I've earned from my daily posts, I'm not 100% sure - I'll do a deep dive on my earnings at some point) is through seeding. I'm pretty obsessed with Cent, so I'm checking the site to see if any new posts have been made all the time. Since earnings from seeding are maximized if you seed early, diligently checking Cent is crucial. Like I said above: Engagement, engagement, engagement. It helps that there are a ton of interesting posts popping up all the time though.
My tipping philosophy is two-fold. I'll seed posts that genuinely interest me regardless of whether or not I think many other people will seed after me. That's my seeding-as-tipping approach. My other approach is to seed posts as early as I can that are made by bigger names or that provide a whole bunch of value and/or are extremely high quality (e.g. NFTY News, Week in Ethereum, @Kelechief videos) that I think a significant number of users are likely to give follow up seed money to. The ROS (Return on Seed) of being the first seeder on those kinds of posts can be in the range of 300~500%.
Tipping
A low key powerful way to earn on Cent in a way that'll boost your leaderboard ranking is to accept payments over Cent's state channels from other users utilizing the tipping feature built into the top right of every reply card. The breadth and depth of talent and skill sets contained within the Cent community is growing by the day, and paying someone for doing something for you or getting paid for providing a service to another user over Cent is lightning quick. For example, I paid @charlesx on Cent to make a series of unique digital drawings for my daily posts.
Get Money👊
Well that's pretty much it, at least for now. In the future as more varied content gets posted across various mediums, I hope to provide analysis on what content earns users the most. As always, let me know it you have any questions, ideas or suggestions.
And finally, just to avoid any potential mis-understanding I want to make the following clear: In my particular case, my leaderboard earnings don't necessarily reflect pure profit. I put a lot into Cent in the form of bounties and seeding posts that may not yield me any additional earnings, so on the whole I may be putting more into Cent than I earn back, but *if* I wanted to focus on profit maximization, that is totally attainable.
Some users may have noticed, but I'm currently no. 2 on the Cent leaderboard. If you're curious how someone can earn over $300 a month on Cent, this post is for you.
Engage. Engage. Engage.
Rule number one is simple: Stay engaged.
Engage with other posts by leaving a reply or comment. Engage with users who reply to your posts. Shout out users you think are doing great things. Check in multiple times a day to see what posts are new. Sort replies to posts, and do it thoughtfully. Our thoughtfully engaged user base is a key reason why new users are joining, staying and spending on Cent.
High engagement will get you paid too. If you give a tight reply to a bounty post you'll (probably) get rewarded. Sorting replies to bounty posts will yield small change on a per-post basis, but over time it becomes non-trivial. By engaging with the community you'll become a familiar voice - imho this is super helpful for when you really want to start earning money on a more regular basis by posting.
Posting
Pushing out daily posts has been one of the two major ways I've been able to earn and climb the leaderboard. Every post I make isn't a home run - and home runs for me aren't common to begin with - but a steady group of users have been seeding my posts everyday for over two months now.
While only 25% of seed money goes to me, 25% of all seed money over 30 posts really add ups. Although I don't engage in this practice (yet), seeding one's own posts is a way to earn more than that base 25% rate, especially when you seed your own post *first*. [Note: The reason why I haven't seeded my own posts is because I don't want to artificially inflate my earnings - as a member of the Cent team that just wouldn't be a good look. When seeding history is revealed y'all can check.]
Seeding
The second major way I've earned a lot (perhaps even more than I've earned from my daily posts, I'm not 100% sure - I'll do a deep dive on my earnings at some point) is through seeding. I'm pretty obsessed with Cent, so I'm checking the site to see if any new posts have been made all the time. Since earnings from seeding are maximized if you seed early, diligently checking Cent is crucial. Like I said above: Engagement, engagement, engagement. It helps that there are a ton of interesting posts popping up all the time though.
My tipping philosophy is two-fold. I'll seed posts that genuinely interest me regardless of whether or not I think many other people will seed after me. That's my seeding-as-tipping approach. My other approach is to seed posts as early as I can that are made by bigger names or that provide a whole bunch of value and/or are extremely high quality (e.g. NFTY News, Week in Ethereum, @Kelechief videos) that I think a significant number of users are likely to give follow up seed money to. The ROS (Return on Seed) of being the first seeder on those kinds of posts can be in the range of 300~500%.
Tipping
A low key powerful way to earn on Cent in a way that'll boost your leaderboard ranking is to accept payments over Cent's state channels from other users utilizing the tipping feature built into the top right of every reply card. The breadth and depth of talent and skill sets contained within the Cent community is growing by the day, and paying someone for doing something for you or getting paid for providing a service to another user over Cent is lightning quick. For example, I paid @charlesx on Cent to make a series of unique digital drawings for my daily posts.
Get Money👊
Well that's pretty much it, at least for now. In the future as more varied content gets posted across various mediums, I hope to provide analysis on what content earns users the most. As always, let me know it you have any questions, ideas or suggestions.
And finally, just to avoid any potential mis-understanding I want to make the following clear: In my particular case, my leaderboard earnings don't necessarily reflect pure profit. I put a lot into Cent in the form of bounties and seeding posts that may not yield me any additional earnings, so on the whole I may be putting more into Cent than I earn back, but *if* I wanted to focus on profit maximization, that is totally attainable.
Goodbyes
[Originally published on Cent]
Holidays come and go for everyone. That's life.
But family can't always go with you after the holidays pass. That's what makes leaving home when the holidays are nearly over so tough.
I remember when I was about 13 years old. It was my first time having to head back to my dorm after a long winter break spent with family.
My parents had driven off hours ago. The dorm was silent. I left my room on the second floor and walked to the end of the long corridor where I curled up in the window nook. I just sat there, staring out the window.
A few cars were still cruising along Lincoln Highway. Tears turned those head and tail lights into multi-sided geometric splashes of color.
All I could think about was the warm memory of the holiday - now long gone - spent together with my family, and how I had been so cold and withdrawn. I felt so sorry. Why hadn't I played that board game with the family like my mom wanted? Why did I just sit on the couch reading the whole time?
But then I remembered the afternoon I spent with mom doing some last minute shopping before Christmas. We had lunch at a Friendly's. I sipped on my strawberry Fribble and listened to my mom talk before telling her all that I had been up to at school. I remembered all the football I watched with my Dad and waking up on Christmas morning with my little brother and sister.
Closing my eyes, I swallowed past the lump in my throat, got up, and went back to my room. The 'KYW // news radio // 10-60' jingle was coming out of my portable Sanyo am/fm radio as I closed the heavy wooden door behind me. Laying down I closed my eyes and replayed the good memories before I drifted off to sleep.
Tomorrow morning my parents are taking me to the airport so I can head back half way around the world to the foreign land that I now call home. I can almost feel that same lump in my throat and those same sad thoughts that went through my mind when I was 13.
Goodbyes are never easy, and no one is ever perfect, but thinking about the good times spent with loved ones makes the bitter pill that one is often forced to swallow after saying goodbye to loved ones and before getting into a regular routine again just a little bit more bearable.
Holidays come and go for everyone. That's life.
But family can't always go with you after the holidays pass. That's what makes leaving home when the holidays are nearly over so tough.
I remember when I was about 13 years old. It was my first time having to head back to my dorm after a long winter break spent with family.
My parents had driven off hours ago. The dorm was silent. I left my room on the second floor and walked to the end of the long corridor where I curled up in the window nook. I just sat there, staring out the window.
A few cars were still cruising along Lincoln Highway. Tears turned those head and tail lights into multi-sided geometric splashes of color.
All I could think about was the warm memory of the holiday - now long gone - spent together with my family, and how I had been so cold and withdrawn. I felt so sorry. Why hadn't I played that board game with the family like my mom wanted? Why did I just sit on the couch reading the whole time?
But then I remembered the afternoon I spent with mom doing some last minute shopping before Christmas. We had lunch at a Friendly's. I sipped on my strawberry Fribble and listened to my mom talk before telling her all that I had been up to at school. I remembered all the football I watched with my Dad and waking up on Christmas morning with my little brother and sister.
Closing my eyes, I swallowed past the lump in my throat, got up, and went back to my room. The 'KYW // news radio // 10-60' jingle was coming out of my portable Sanyo am/fm radio as I closed the heavy wooden door behind me. Laying down I closed my eyes and replayed the good memories before I drifted off to sleep.
Tomorrow morning my parents are taking me to the airport so I can head back half way around the world to the foreign land that I now call home. I can almost feel that same lump in my throat and those same sad thoughts that went through my mind when I was 13.
Goodbyes are never easy, and no one is ever perfect, but thinking about the good times spent with loved ones makes the bitter pill that one is often forced to swallow after saying goodbye to loved ones and before getting into a regular routine again just a little bit more bearable.
2018년 12월 31일 월요일
2018 Reading List in Review
I'm not one for resolutions, but at the outset of 2018 I decided that I would read at least one book a month.
With a day to go until 2019 I've completed 19 books and I am in the middle of book number 20. *pats self on back*
Unlike most 'reading list in review' posts, I won't give you a book report on each book I read - that would be a waste of my time and yours.
Instead I will bucket each of the 19 books I read under one of three categories: Books I'd like to re-read again in their entirety; books I'll review certain parts of again; and books that are good enough to read once, but not again.
This way I can provide an easy to understand and quickly actionable list of books for anyone who reads this.
When appropriate I'll add some additional commentary below certain books, but for the most part I'd like deeper discussion on any of the books to take place in the replies and comments - so feel free to ask or talk about any of the books in my list.
Books That I'll Re-read
Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World by René Girard
René essentially combines Mimetic Desire and Scapegoat Theory to explain everything - literally everything - about mankind's history since our essential break from the rest of the animal kingdom along with a very interesting proposal for humanity. The message of this book is so simple, yet so profound and far reaching that I will probably have to read this book once a year every year to fully internalize its full import.
The Everything Store by Brad Stone
The ups and downs of Amazon should be inspiration to anyone who is trying to start a blockchain business.
Propoganda by Edward Bernays
A short piece of actual propaganda which makes it clear that the basically everyone is trying to shape our opinion in someway for some sort of specific purpose. This was my second re-reading.
Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Inspiration to think rigorously, simply and mathematically.
Books That I'll Review
Sex at Dawn by Chris Ryan and Cacilda Jethá
Humans are more like bonobos, not chimpanzees. Thought provoking book challenging fundamental social norms, mores and narratives around male and female sexuality.
Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
Think about how bureaucracies see and approach the world.
The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook by Niall Ferguson
It's a mistake to conceive of the state and market as a simple dichotomy since hierarchies are just a special kind of network.
Networks may be spontaneously creative, but they are not strategic. Networks are not easily directed 'towards a common objective'. Large, vertically organized corporations are able to strategically concentrate resources in space and time towards specific ends, but can be vulnerable against networks powered by powerful new technology.
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
Highly relevant to understanding 'sorting' on Cent, particularly the four conditions of wise crowds:
1. Diversity of Opinion (i.e. each person should bring some private information)
2. Independence (i.e. people's opinions should not be determined by the opinions of those around them)
3. Decentralization (i.e. people are able to specialize and draw on local knowledge)
4. Aggregation (i.e. some mechanism should be able turn private judgements into collective action)
Radical Markets by Glen Weyl and Eric Posner
Fresh ideas for re-thinking mechanism design - obvious parallels and potential applications to crypto.
Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan
Different mediums affect and at the same time are an extension of the sense lives of individuals with potentially far reaching socio-political impacts. Blockchain is the ultimate money medium.
The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborne Jr.
Interesting pedagogical philosophy.
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
A must read for any founder or anyone interested in non-traditional forms leadership.
One and Done Books
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Upstarts by Brad Stone
The China Fantasy by James Mann
Why I Write by George Orwell
The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
Be persistent. Keep emailing someone your ideas until they respond. Don't give up until you get what you want. Most people give up before they get what they want.
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark
The Accidental Billionaires by Beb Mezrich
-fin-
p.s. I am in the middle of Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages by Carlota Perez and will not be able to finish it before 2019, thus I will include in my 2019 Reading List in Review.
p.p.s. @Ezincrypto I hope this list satisfies your original request for a list of books I read;)
With a day to go until 2019 I've completed 19 books and I am in the middle of book number 20. *pats self on back*
Unlike most 'reading list in review' posts, I won't give you a book report on each book I read - that would be a waste of my time and yours.
Instead I will bucket each of the 19 books I read under one of three categories: Books I'd like to re-read again in their entirety; books I'll review certain parts of again; and books that are good enough to read once, but not again.
This way I can provide an easy to understand and quickly actionable list of books for anyone who reads this.
When appropriate I'll add some additional commentary below certain books, but for the most part I'd like deeper discussion on any of the books to take place in the replies and comments - so feel free to ask or talk about any of the books in my list.
Books That I'll Re-read
Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World by René Girard
René essentially combines Mimetic Desire and Scapegoat Theory to explain everything - literally everything - about mankind's history since our essential break from the rest of the animal kingdom along with a very interesting proposal for humanity. The message of this book is so simple, yet so profound and far reaching that I will probably have to read this book once a year every year to fully internalize its full import.
The Everything Store by Brad Stone
The ups and downs of Amazon should be inspiration to anyone who is trying to start a blockchain business.
Propoganda by Edward Bernays
A short piece of actual propaganda which makes it clear that the basically everyone is trying to shape our opinion in someway for some sort of specific purpose. This was my second re-reading.
Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Inspiration to think rigorously, simply and mathematically.
Books That I'll Review
Sex at Dawn by Chris Ryan and Cacilda Jethá
Humans are more like bonobos, not chimpanzees. Thought provoking book challenging fundamental social norms, mores and narratives around male and female sexuality.
Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott
Think about how bureaucracies see and approach the world.
The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook by Niall Ferguson
It's a mistake to conceive of the state and market as a simple dichotomy since hierarchies are just a special kind of network.
Networks may be spontaneously creative, but they are not strategic. Networks are not easily directed 'towards a common objective'. Large, vertically organized corporations are able to strategically concentrate resources in space and time towards specific ends, but can be vulnerable against networks powered by powerful new technology.
The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
Highly relevant to understanding 'sorting' on Cent, particularly the four conditions of wise crowds:
1. Diversity of Opinion (i.e. each person should bring some private information)
2. Independence (i.e. people's opinions should not be determined by the opinions of those around them)
3. Decentralization (i.e. people are able to specialize and draw on local knowledge)
4. Aggregation (i.e. some mechanism should be able turn private judgements into collective action)
Radical Markets by Glen Weyl and Eric Posner
Fresh ideas for re-thinking mechanism design - obvious parallels and potential applications to crypto.
Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan
Different mediums affect and at the same time are an extension of the sense lives of individuals with potentially far reaching socio-political impacts. Blockchain is the ultimate money medium.
The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborne Jr.
Interesting pedagogical philosophy.
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
A must read for any founder or anyone interested in non-traditional forms leadership.
One and Done Books
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The Upstarts by Brad Stone
The China Fantasy by James Mann
Why I Write by George Orwell
The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump
Be persistent. Keep emailing someone your ideas until they respond. Don't give up until you get what you want. Most people give up before they get what they want.
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
The House That Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark
The Accidental Billionaires by Beb Mezrich
-fin-
p.s. I am in the middle of Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages by Carlota Perez and will not be able to finish it before 2019, thus I will include in my 2019 Reading List in Review.
p.p.s. @Ezincrypto I hope this list satisfies your original request for a list of books I read;)
The Missing Middle
Vinay Gupta blasted off another thought provoking thread on Twitter the other day.
It's worth reading in full, but Vinay's concept of the 'Missing Middle' deserves another look.
According to Vinay, the 'Missing Middle' refers to the lack of a conspicuous market for easily customizable, high quality goods at fair prices.
:
Currently finding low-priced high quality products entails a substantial investment of time to find the equivalent of diamonds in a sea of cheap shit. It also means, essentially, dealing directly with manufacturers.
Unfortunately most people simply can't be bothered to take the time to discover these high quality gems, which is understandable - it can be very hard to identify who these manufacturers are as supply chains are highly guarded secrets. Thus the middle of the market is filled with decent, but crazily marked up products sold in malls.
But as everyone knows, most malls are dying. The opportunity then, as Vinay sees it, is that digital marketplaces which are orders of magnitude better at aiding consumers in discovering high quality products at fair prices will (hopefully) begin to appear and provide a legitimate middle market between high-end designer goods and the oceans of everything.
That future is premised on supply chains becoming more transparent such that market forces (i.e. consumers and their dollars - hi @Xerographica!) will be able to identify and surface low-cost high quality alternatives.
I feel like that could be a possible future, but as Vinay also alluded to within his thread, there are "nerdy-as-hell review blogs" that help surface the best of such cheap alternatives *now*.
To me it's those curators - and more specifically the identifying, surfacing and tracking of their actual purchases - that could serve as a transition strategy towards the future Vinay is envisioning. I know @Xerographica probably agrees, but what say anyone else?
It's worth reading in full, but Vinay's concept of the 'Missing Middle' deserves another look.
According to Vinay, the 'Missing Middle' refers to the lack of a conspicuous market for easily customizable, high quality goods at fair prices.
:
Currently finding low-priced high quality products entails a substantial investment of time to find the equivalent of diamonds in a sea of cheap shit. It also means, essentially, dealing directly with manufacturers.
Unfortunately most people simply can't be bothered to take the time to discover these high quality gems, which is understandable - it can be very hard to identify who these manufacturers are as supply chains are highly guarded secrets. Thus the middle of the market is filled with decent, but crazily marked up products sold in malls.
But as everyone knows, most malls are dying. The opportunity then, as Vinay sees it, is that digital marketplaces which are orders of magnitude better at aiding consumers in discovering high quality products at fair prices will (hopefully) begin to appear and provide a legitimate middle market between high-end designer goods and the oceans of everything.
That future is premised on supply chains becoming more transparent such that market forces (i.e. consumers and their dollars - hi @Xerographica!) will be able to identify and surface low-cost high quality alternatives.
I feel like that could be a possible future, but as Vinay also alluded to within his thread, there are "nerdy-as-hell review blogs" that help surface the best of such cheap alternatives *now*.
To me it's those curators - and more specifically the identifying, surfacing and tracking of their actual purchases - that could serve as a transition strategy towards the future Vinay is envisioning. I know @Xerographica probably agrees, but what say anyone else?
Give @bread_KRumbs a Follow on Twitter
Today's post is simple.
My Twitter handle is @bread_KRumbs and I think it'd be swell if you give it a follow.
I'll tip every new follower who provides a 'proof of follow' picture in their reply $0.25. Simple, right?
Proof of follower pictures should be screenshots of my Twitter profile picture with a 'Following' indication next to my handle with a follower number higher than 119.
Since I've dedicated most of my time on Twitter to making sure Cent Twitter stays litty🔥🔥 [full disclosure: I'm the guy behind Cent Twitter], follower growth on my personal Twitter account has stagnated.
Hopefully we can change that today.
My Twitter handle is @bread_KRumbs and I think it'd be swell if you give it a follow.
I'll tip every new follower who provides a 'proof of follow' picture in their reply $0.25. Simple, right?
Proof of follower pictures should be screenshots of my Twitter profile picture with a 'Following' indication next to my handle with a follower number higher than 119.
Since I've dedicated most of my time on Twitter to making sure Cent Twitter stays litty🔥🔥 [full disclosure: I'm the guy behind Cent Twitter], follower growth on my personal Twitter account has stagnated.
Hopefully we can change that today.
The Emotional Valley of Life
Real life is generally lived within a narrow range of emotions.
Imagine a well worn but narrow path that is surrounded on both sides by two steep mountain slopes - that's the typical emotional valley of life.
Most people limit their emotional expressions to what could be described as 'neutrally restrained' or the equivalent of always plodding along that narrow path.
Think about how people within a corporate culture express themselves across their day to day interactions and you should have a pretty clear picture of what I mean.
On the flip side, think of all the people you know, and then think of everyone you've ever had bawl their eyes out to you or flip out or scream and run away from things or tell you off.
I can pretty confidently assert that the number of grown adults (or even kids past a certain age) that have acted like that around you or to you probably represent an extreme minority.
While this is in no way revelatory - I mean it's as mundane as mundane gets - it's interesting, at least to me.
It's interesting mainly because I tend to feel that the narrow emotional valley is stronger in the real world versus the digital world, and then within the digital world the compulsion to walk along that narrow path is stronger with digital videos or pictures than in writing.
Perhaps it's that comparatively wider emotional valley that exists in the digital world that makes it so very compelling to spend more and more time online for so many.
Or perhaps the digital world is simply a better place for people to practice a wider range of emotional expression so that they can engage in wider, more varied expressions in the real world.
Imagine a well worn but narrow path that is surrounded on both sides by two steep mountain slopes - that's the typical emotional valley of life.
Most people limit their emotional expressions to what could be described as 'neutrally restrained' or the equivalent of always plodding along that narrow path.
Think about how people within a corporate culture express themselves across their day to day interactions and you should have a pretty clear picture of what I mean.
On the flip side, think of all the people you know, and then think of everyone you've ever had bawl their eyes out to you or flip out or scream and run away from things or tell you off.
I can pretty confidently assert that the number of grown adults (or even kids past a certain age) that have acted like that around you or to you probably represent an extreme minority.
While this is in no way revelatory - I mean it's as mundane as mundane gets - it's interesting, at least to me.
It's interesting mainly because I tend to feel that the narrow emotional valley is stronger in the real world versus the digital world, and then within the digital world the compulsion to walk along that narrow path is stronger with digital videos or pictures than in writing.
Perhaps it's that comparatively wider emotional valley that exists in the digital world that makes it so very compelling to spend more and more time online for so many.
Or perhaps the digital world is simply a better place for people to practice a wider range of emotional expression so that they can engage in wider, more varied expressions in the real world.
Distributed Teams
Yesterday, per Christmas tradition, my whole family opened presents, ate a ton of tasty food and then proceeded to watch Die Hards 1 and 2 - back to back.
I've watched both movies many times before, but since I tend to be a different person (i.e. older with more life experiences) each time I actually watch these movies, I tend to see something new that I hadn't seen during prior viewings. This time it was distributed working environments.
Distributed work gets carried out in both movies by both 'good' and 'bad' sides. But when it comes to the most powerful example of distributed working - not to mention one of the all-time best distributed teams depicted in any movie ever - John McLane and Sgt. Al Powell in Die Hard 1 are really in a league of their own.
That pair single handedly brought the terrorist attack on the Nakatomi building in downtown LA to a successful resolution - all over a common frequency using two-way walkie talkies and all without ever having even seen the other's face.
In the face of adversity from both the 'bad guys' led by Hans Gruber and the supremely incompetent 'good guys' led at various times by someone in either the LAPD or FBI, the deeply trust-based team of John McLane and Sgt. Al Powell were able to systematically neutralize every obstacle that got in their way.
How did they accomplish this? Through brutally efficient honesty.
Every time they had the chance to speak, they really made it count. No superfluous catchup meetings for them. They also remembered everything they said to one another previously and built deeper ties each chance they got. In a short amount of time they got to know one another's *deepest* fears and regrets and helped both move on from them.
The ability to forge deep relationships with faceless 'others' who may be thousands of kilometers away or right outside the building you're in is an ability unique to humans.
While it was possible prior to Cent to meet someone online that you could theoretically set up a distributed team with, Cent seems to be a place where anyone can make that happen anytime.
Take the above illustration created by @charlesx for example. That's one of a series of incrementally unique illustrations that will accompany each of my daily photos heading forward. These illustrations are the result of several back and forth communications over Cent and Telegram solidified by a monetary transaction over Cent. That last point is crucial.
Now that crypto has made digital payment channels at least 100x easier and quicker to establish with anyone anywhere around the world, that combined with all the existing apps that facilitate simple, quick communication help make anytime the best time in history to set up a distributed team to accomplish anything.
In order to spin up a distributed team you just need an idea of what you want to do. So what do you want to do?
I've watched both movies many times before, but since I tend to be a different person (i.e. older with more life experiences) each time I actually watch these movies, I tend to see something new that I hadn't seen during prior viewings. This time it was distributed working environments.
Distributed work gets carried out in both movies by both 'good' and 'bad' sides. But when it comes to the most powerful example of distributed working - not to mention one of the all-time best distributed teams depicted in any movie ever - John McLane and Sgt. Al Powell in Die Hard 1 are really in a league of their own.
That pair single handedly brought the terrorist attack on the Nakatomi building in downtown LA to a successful resolution - all over a common frequency using two-way walkie talkies and all without ever having even seen the other's face.
In the face of adversity from both the 'bad guys' led by Hans Gruber and the supremely incompetent 'good guys' led at various times by someone in either the LAPD or FBI, the deeply trust-based team of John McLane and Sgt. Al Powell were able to systematically neutralize every obstacle that got in their way.
How did they accomplish this? Through brutally efficient honesty.
Every time they had the chance to speak, they really made it count. No superfluous catchup meetings for them. They also remembered everything they said to one another previously and built deeper ties each chance they got. In a short amount of time they got to know one another's *deepest* fears and regrets and helped both move on from them.
The ability to forge deep relationships with faceless 'others' who may be thousands of kilometers away or right outside the building you're in is an ability unique to humans.
While it was possible prior to Cent to meet someone online that you could theoretically set up a distributed team with, Cent seems to be a place where anyone can make that happen anytime.
Take the above illustration created by @charlesx for example. That's one of a series of incrementally unique illustrations that will accompany each of my daily photos heading forward. These illustrations are the result of several back and forth communications over Cent and Telegram solidified by a monetary transaction over Cent. That last point is crucial.
Now that crypto has made digital payment channels at least 100x easier and quicker to establish with anyone anywhere around the world, that combined with all the existing apps that facilitate simple, quick communication help make anytime the best time in history to set up a distributed team to accomplish anything.
In order to spin up a distributed team you just need an idea of what you want to do. So what do you want to do?
The Meaning of Christmas
[Originally published on Cent]
He was a long wispy fellow.
Always there but never noticed; a mere afterthought. An apparition. Aloof to the whole social process. Sad, sappy, stagnant was he.
I speak in the past tense because he vanished that Christmas past.
In church, 8 o'clock - no - no, it was 9 o'clock service at a local church, when in walked his shadow.
Greasy locks of hair the daggers of his soul shielding his eyes - that is if he even had any; no one could really tell.
The warmth of the occasion was depressed by the icy cold breaths he exhaled. He was simply a bane on the human economy of life. He was dead then, he was dead then...
Who bore such a thing. What vile creatures bear the same family name?
It was around half past the hour and unbeknownst to all, the atmosphere had warmed considerably until a cry was heard from the bell tower overhead.
From the icy depths of hell a shriek resounded within the souls of all.
The already fragile flames of the delicate candles extinguished in unison. Glassy eyed and solemn all stood and began to head to the origins of the death to see what they already knew.
Hanging above, limbs quivering like the whisps of a willow over a frozen pond, eyes engorged and bulging with bloody burst capillaries, exposed torso whiter than sun bleached bone, he hung.
Everyone stood, heads tilted at a revolting angle, mouths slightly parted almost as if about to mumble a few words, but nothing escaped them.
Nothing could be said for nothing was known.
Nothingness was ever filled in that hollow shell gently swaying overhead.
It was an undulating omen to remind us what is really important on this day - to fill not boxes with some material commodity, but to allow the experience of life to permeate our lives and grow like yeast, filling our souls with meaning and a diverse spectrum of individually unique hues and colors.
Have a joyous and bountiful Christmas everyone!
He was a long wispy fellow.
Always there but never noticed; a mere afterthought. An apparition. Aloof to the whole social process. Sad, sappy, stagnant was he.
I speak in the past tense because he vanished that Christmas past.
In church, 8 o'clock - no - no, it was 9 o'clock service at a local church, when in walked his shadow.
Greasy locks of hair the daggers of his soul shielding his eyes - that is if he even had any; no one could really tell.
The warmth of the occasion was depressed by the icy cold breaths he exhaled. He was simply a bane on the human economy of life. He was dead then, he was dead then...
Who bore such a thing. What vile creatures bear the same family name?
It was around half past the hour and unbeknownst to all, the atmosphere had warmed considerably until a cry was heard from the bell tower overhead.
From the icy depths of hell a shriek resounded within the souls of all.
The already fragile flames of the delicate candles extinguished in unison. Glassy eyed and solemn all stood and began to head to the origins of the death to see what they already knew.
Hanging above, limbs quivering like the whisps of a willow over a frozen pond, eyes engorged and bulging with bloody burst capillaries, exposed torso whiter than sun bleached bone, he hung.
Everyone stood, heads tilted at a revolting angle, mouths slightly parted almost as if about to mumble a few words, but nothing escaped them.
Nothing could be said for nothing was known.
Nothingness was ever filled in that hollow shell gently swaying overhead.
It was an undulating omen to remind us what is really important on this day - to fill not boxes with some material commodity, but to allow the experience of life to permeate our lives and grow like yeast, filling our souls with meaning and a diverse spectrum of individually unique hues and colors.
Have a joyous and bountiful Christmas everyone!
2018년 12월 24일 월요일
What's better than Cent?
[Originally posted on Cent]
Seriously, can you think of anything better?
I'm visiting my family, whom I haven't seen for nearly a year, and while I love them dearly, I just can't stop thinking about Cent.
This time last year I was also thinking about Cent non-stop, but for completely different reasons.
Last year the promise and potential of Cent as a specific product idea captured my imagination.
Now though, it's the real thoughtful users and deep conversations I've had with them and thinking about we can better incentivize and encourage those two things heading into 2019 that has me more obsessed with Cent than ever.
If posting on Cent is heading towards feeling as good as it does to create something on Medium, we want the deep, thoughtful discussions that more and more users are starting to get into to occur as simply and feel as good as it does to engage on Twitter.
Following as a feature is definitely something that will help deepen and extend thoughtful engagement between users and it is something that we're thinking about very hard now as a team in terms of how and in what ways we should roll it out within the application.
Regardless of how following turns out though, I know it's going to be awesome and feel right when it's live.
But until following becomes a real thing on Cent, I'll still be on the look out for posts, replies and comments of the Centians I wish I could be following already.
In no particular order the Centians who I'm already following are:
@kwame, @Xerographica, @agfnzn10, @Joel, @Ezincrypto, @Elrapierwit, @charlesx, @rhyzom, @ninjatron, @phoebe, @RingMaster, @geekkid, @dgerm, @max, @cameron, @rayma, @mckie, @vineet15, @GreenGiant, @yk101, @Reol, @gizzgig656, @acousticsteveo, @rallyqt, @brianxv (come back soon brother!), @magpie and @Houwang.
I'm so extremely thankful to each and every one of these Centians. It's because of their thoughtful posts and the thoughtful engagement I've had with them that has inspired me, helped me think differently and has me constantly working harder and harder on clarifying my own ideas so that I can express them with maximum impact as best I can.
All of y'all have made and are making Cent what it is. I love all of you. And we are going to absolutely kill it and do things that will surprise the world in 2019. Boom⚡
Seriously, can you think of anything better?
I'm visiting my family, whom I haven't seen for nearly a year, and while I love them dearly, I just can't stop thinking about Cent.
This time last year I was also thinking about Cent non-stop, but for completely different reasons.
Last year the promise and potential of Cent as a specific product idea captured my imagination.
Now though, it's the real thoughtful users and deep conversations I've had with them and thinking about we can better incentivize and encourage those two things heading into 2019 that has me more obsessed with Cent than ever.
If posting on Cent is heading towards feeling as good as it does to create something on Medium, we want the deep, thoughtful discussions that more and more users are starting to get into to occur as simply and feel as good as it does to engage on Twitter.
Following as a feature is definitely something that will help deepen and extend thoughtful engagement between users and it is something that we're thinking about very hard now as a team in terms of how and in what ways we should roll it out within the application.
Regardless of how following turns out though, I know it's going to be awesome and feel right when it's live.
But until following becomes a real thing on Cent, I'll still be on the look out for posts, replies and comments of the Centians I wish I could be following already.
In no particular order the Centians who I'm already following are:
@kwame, @Xerographica, @agfnzn10, @Joel, @Ezincrypto, @Elrapierwit, @charlesx, @rhyzom, @ninjatron, @phoebe, @RingMaster, @geekkid, @dgerm, @max, @cameron, @rayma, @mckie, @vineet15, @GreenGiant, @yk101, @Reol, @gizzgig656, @acousticsteveo, @rallyqt, @brianxv (come back soon brother!), @magpie and @Houwang.
I'm so extremely thankful to each and every one of these Centians. It's because of their thoughtful posts and the thoughtful engagement I've had with them that has inspired me, helped me think differently and has me constantly working harder and harder on clarifying my own ideas so that I can express them with maximum impact as best I can.
All of y'all have made and are making Cent what it is. I love all of you. And we are going to absolutely kill it and do things that will surprise the world in 2019. Boom⚡
A Great Decentralization
[Originally posted on Cent]
Since I'm feeling a bit jet lagged this Saturday morning I'll keep this post brief.
I just wanted to share this interesting article from Quillette and see what others think about it.
The article looks at PewDiePie, arguably the most popular creator on YouTube, and how his current tribulations vis-à-vis YouTube and journalistic misrepresentation highlight the precarious position of any creator (or user really) may find themselves if their on any site that relies on or hoards access to a set of critical economic protocols (e.g. identity, payments, broadcast).
For me this salient quote at the end of the article sums up the problem well and points towards what a solution to the current problem could look like, which to me seems to describe Cent:
"Here, I am getting into an argument that is made better elsewhere—specifically, that this kind of power hoarding exists only because of insufficiently farsighted design of the early web. Were there ... a public protocol for value exchange, there would be no need for content that is almost exclusively monetized by advertising—a development that has ushered in a risk-averse ad-driven corporate culture with its attendant censorship and house politics.
There is some hope among futurists that these technological problems can be remedied in the near future, thereby allowing something like a Great Decentralisation. And PewDiePie, for all his rough edges and bro amateurism, gives some insight into what this would look like: content creation and idea exchange in real time, with a tight feedback loop linking artist and audience; and communities forming around these ideas because they want to, not because they feel they have to; all mediated by an infrastructure that cannot be turned against them, because it has no controller."
Since I'm feeling a bit jet lagged this Saturday morning I'll keep this post brief.
I just wanted to share this interesting article from Quillette and see what others think about it.
The article looks at PewDiePie, arguably the most popular creator on YouTube, and how his current tribulations vis-à-vis YouTube and journalistic misrepresentation highlight the precarious position of any creator (or user really) may find themselves if their on any site that relies on or hoards access to a set of critical economic protocols (e.g. identity, payments, broadcast).
For me this salient quote at the end of the article sums up the problem well and points towards what a solution to the current problem could look like, which to me seems to describe Cent:
"Here, I am getting into an argument that is made better elsewhere—specifically, that this kind of power hoarding exists only because of insufficiently farsighted design of the early web. Were there ... a public protocol for value exchange, there would be no need for content that is almost exclusively monetized by advertising—a development that has ushered in a risk-averse ad-driven corporate culture with its attendant censorship and house politics.
There is some hope among futurists that these technological problems can be remedied in the near future, thereby allowing something like a Great Decentralisation. And PewDiePie, for all his rough edges and bro amateurism, gives some insight into what this would look like: content creation and idea exchange in real time, with a tight feedback loop linking artist and audience; and communities forming around these ideas because they want to, not because they feel they have to; all mediated by an infrastructure that cannot be turned against them, because it has no controller."
Who do you want to see join Cent next?
[Originally posted on Cent]
I'm about to fly half way around the world, and as I'm sitting in my seat looking out onto the runway, I'm thinking about all the amazing writers, creators and publications that have started to show up on Cent over the past few weeks.
@flynnjamm started things off by cross-posting his NFTY News, and then the dopeness of @Kelechief and the comprehensive coverage of @EthNews and @evanvanness's Week in Ethereum appeared.
I'm curious who do you want to see join and start posting on Cent next?
I'm about to fly half way around the world, and as I'm sitting in my seat looking out onto the runway, I'm thinking about all the amazing writers, creators and publications that have started to show up on Cent over the past few weeks.
@flynnjamm started things off by cross-posting his NFTY News, and then the dopeness of @Kelechief and the comprehensive coverage of @EthNews and @evanvanness's Week in Ethereum appeared.
I'm curious who do you want to see join and start posting on Cent next?
The Money Closet
[Originally posted on Cent]
"This funeral is definitely one of the better ones - the food is not bad at all. Cheers!"
~ Anonymous Korean conglomerate employee
I heard that last night. At a funeral. And it wasn't inappropriate at all - in fact, it was spot on.
Aside from lighting an incense stick, bowing 3 times in a row to a picture of the deceased individual and their surviving family members, eating as well as drinking (of course) are core parts of the 3 day long Korean funeral experience.
If you support a Korean funeral in some way, for example by swiftly removing shoes that guests take off before entering the funeral parlor (as I unfailingly did from 9am to pm last night) you eat and drink the same rice, soup and side dish spread 3 times in a row. Family of the deceased eat and drink the same 9 times in a row.
But as I zip through the Korean countryside at 300 km/hr sitting comfortably in the premium section of the KTX bullet train from Cheongju to Seoul, more than the pretty good funeral food, I can't help but think of one (even more) surprising aspect of the Korean funeral experience that I witnessed for the first time last night: the money closet.
As with Korean weddings, envelopes filled with cash money from every guest at the funeral are given to the surviving family an expression of condolence. This money is referred to as a condolence gift or 부의(賻儀).
Naturally, since money is involved, the management and recording of the envelopes (along with the names of who gave how much) are very seriously, very meticulously recorded.
The funeral I happened to attend was for the mother-in-law of a "very important" senior executive. That means a lot of envelopes. As of the end of day 2 of the funeral, 867 to be exact. Oh and the names written on these envelopes are hand written, and often written in Chinese characters.
In order to discreetly record the names and amounts given in these envelopes, two trustworthy junior employees are typically seconded in a private room where no one can see them open the envelopes, count and rubber band the stacks of cash and record the names of who gave what.
To be clear, before yesterday I knew all of this was done, I'd just never seen it. But when I went to fetch my coat in the little closet tucked into the corner of the funeral parlor and opened the door, I was shocked.
First of all it felt like I had opened the door of a volcanic sauna, the air was a bit rank, and very thick. Second, sitting on the floor in a hot sweaty mess were two junior employees, white shirts stained with sweat, surrounded by cash, envelopes and a ledger with names. It was as if I walked into the backroom of a 1970's era casino owned and operated by the mob.
I quickly grabbed my coat and left. That was a little before 10pm. Around 1am, unbeknownst to me as I was sleeping in my motel room, I get the following message from one of the junior employees still stuck in the money closet begging for help deciphering a name:
Handwritten anything is hard to read, at least for me. But handwritten Chinese characters take it to another level, especially when penned by octogenarians who also tend to be the only ones still writing Chinese characters in Korea.
If I had to guess, that junior employee is probably still stuck in the money closet. Pray for him y'all (and if any of you can read that second middle character on the left, let me know, I can't for the life of me figure it out despite having studied Chinese for years).
"This funeral is definitely one of the better ones - the food is not bad at all. Cheers!"
~ Anonymous Korean conglomerate employee
I heard that last night. At a funeral. And it wasn't inappropriate at all - in fact, it was spot on.
Aside from lighting an incense stick, bowing 3 times in a row to a picture of the deceased individual and their surviving family members, eating as well as drinking (of course) are core parts of the 3 day long Korean funeral experience.
If you support a Korean funeral in some way, for example by swiftly removing shoes that guests take off before entering the funeral parlor (as I unfailingly did from 9am to pm last night) you eat and drink the same rice, soup and side dish spread 3 times in a row. Family of the deceased eat and drink the same 9 times in a row.
But as I zip through the Korean countryside at 300 km/hr sitting comfortably in the premium section of the KTX bullet train from Cheongju to Seoul, more than the pretty good funeral food, I can't help but think of one (even more) surprising aspect of the Korean funeral experience that I witnessed for the first time last night: the money closet.
As with Korean weddings, envelopes filled with cash money from every guest at the funeral are given to the surviving family an expression of condolence. This money is referred to as a condolence gift or 부의(賻儀).
Naturally, since money is involved, the management and recording of the envelopes (along with the names of who gave how much) are very seriously, very meticulously recorded.
The funeral I happened to attend was for the mother-in-law of a "very important" senior executive. That means a lot of envelopes. As of the end of day 2 of the funeral, 867 to be exact. Oh and the names written on these envelopes are hand written, and often written in Chinese characters.
In order to discreetly record the names and amounts given in these envelopes, two trustworthy junior employees are typically seconded in a private room where no one can see them open the envelopes, count and rubber band the stacks of cash and record the names of who gave what.
To be clear, before yesterday I knew all of this was done, I'd just never seen it. But when I went to fetch my coat in the little closet tucked into the corner of the funeral parlor and opened the door, I was shocked.
First of all it felt like I had opened the door of a volcanic sauna, the air was a bit rank, and very thick. Second, sitting on the floor in a hot sweaty mess were two junior employees, white shirts stained with sweat, surrounded by cash, envelopes and a ledger with names. It was as if I walked into the backroom of a 1970's era casino owned and operated by the mob.
I quickly grabbed my coat and left. That was a little before 10pm. Around 1am, unbeknownst to me as I was sleeping in my motel room, I get the following message from one of the junior employees still stuck in the money closet begging for help deciphering a name:
Handwritten anything is hard to read, at least for me. But handwritten Chinese characters take it to another level, especially when penned by octogenarians who also tend to be the only ones still writing Chinese characters in Korea.
If I had to guess, that junior employee is probably still stuck in the money closet. Pray for him y'all (and if any of you can read that second middle character on the left, let me know, I can't for the life of me figure it out despite having studied Chinese for years).
기레기
[Originally posted on Cent]
In Korean, 기레기 (gi•lae•gi) is an epithet hurled at journalists who write specious and sensationalist articles or engage in any other actions of low journalistic repute.
Literally translated 기레기 means 'reporter trash'. It's a portmanteau of the words '기자' meaning reporter and '쓰레기' meaning trash and was first coined in 2010.
It's now nearly 2019, and I think I just had my first ever encounter with a 기레기 this morning. Luckily my 기레기 wasn't of the sensationalist variety. Instead I got the entitled East Coast pretentious PC freelancer type, but is was still frustrating as hell.
There's no need to go into further detail, but I just want to say that time is precious for everyone.
When trying to schedule a time to do an interview, it's in all parties best interests for everyone to provide a range of dates *and* times that work for them at first in order to work down to a date/time that works for everyone.
Not doing so, and then acting as if a hate crime has been committed when another party is aiming for promptness in deciding the final schedule, well, that's just pure 기레기 status.
That said, if anyone knows any non-기레기 journos that they think would have their minds blown by Cent to the point that they'd do a write up on us, please direct them to Cent, at you earliest convenience. Please. And thank you.
In Korean, 기레기 (gi•lae•gi) is an epithet hurled at journalists who write specious and sensationalist articles or engage in any other actions of low journalistic repute.
Literally translated 기레기 means 'reporter trash'. It's a portmanteau of the words '기자' meaning reporter and '쓰레기' meaning trash and was first coined in 2010.
It's now nearly 2019, and I think I just had my first ever encounter with a 기레기 this morning. Luckily my 기레기 wasn't of the sensationalist variety. Instead I got the entitled East Coast pretentious PC freelancer type, but is was still frustrating as hell.
There's no need to go into further detail, but I just want to say that time is precious for everyone.
When trying to schedule a time to do an interview, it's in all parties best interests for everyone to provide a range of dates *and* times that work for them at first in order to work down to a date/time that works for everyone.
Not doing so, and then acting as if a hate crime has been committed when another party is aiming for promptness in deciding the final schedule, well, that's just pure 기레기 status.
That said, if anyone knows any non-기레기 journos that they think would have their minds blown by Cent to the point that they'd do a write up on us, please direct them to Cent, at you earliest convenience. Please. And thank you.
New Governments & New Products
[Originally posted on Cent]
"To form a new government requires infinite care and unbounded attention, for if the foundation is badly laid, the superstructure must be bad.”
~ George Washington, 1776
I love that quote; and not for any nostalgic, American-pride reason, but because it clearly drives home the ungodly, gargantuan, all encompassing effort needed to get a new product the initial traction it needs to have a fighting chance at becoming something more.
Infinite care
You need to have god-level consideration for every new user and their experience. Every pain point needs to be identified and sanded off. When you talk with users, you need to really hear what they're saying and show them love back. And then you gotta follow through and deliver on what you talked about and heard!
Caring infinitely is a self-sustaining practice though. The more you care, the more positive feedback you'll get. Product updates, new features, different perspectives, novel use cases you hadn't considered before - all of these things become possible as a result infinite care and in turn fuel you so that you and your team so that you all can continue to move forward and develop the product.
Unbounded attention
The internet never sleeps. Likewise your product can be used and mentioned anytime, all the time. Your attention needs to be always on your product and users. The time you spend thinking about and monitoring your project is never enough. What's more, you need to pay attention to everything else going on around you (unbounded ftw) because external changes and risks can be just as, if not more consequential than internal or local factors.
Paying attention without limits also means biases and pre-judgements need to get set aside. Seeing things as they really are is paramount. If takes more effort to convince yourself that you are seeing one thing instead of another as opposed to simply seeing one thing or another. This clarity and energy conserving attention are as self reinforcing as the benefits of infinite care.
And all this effort is just to ensure that the foundation is properly laid. That's basic table stakes. There is still so much more to build and so much more that can go wrong!
But if infinite care describes you and at least a couple other members of your team, and if you and your partner-in-crime can focus your attention on anything and everything all the damn time, well then those next features or mechanisms will start to present themselves in a way that begins to make sense within a bigger picture that in turn will continue to be revised and checked against reality at every step of the way.
During the First Continental Congress in 1787, Washington said he “attentively heard and read every oral and printed information on both sides of every question that could be procured” while intervening in debates or making final decisions infrequently. The foundation laid as a result of that meeting is legend.
That's a leader. That's someone who, even if they aren't responsible for making every single decision, can influence the right decisions and help make everyone else better by their simple example. Leaders are responsible for laying the foundation. Thus leaders must show infinite care and display unbounded attention. If they don't, well, it all falls down.
"To form a new government requires infinite care and unbounded attention, for if the foundation is badly laid, the superstructure must be bad.”
~ George Washington, 1776
I love that quote; and not for any nostalgic, American-pride reason, but because it clearly drives home the ungodly, gargantuan, all encompassing effort needed to get a new product the initial traction it needs to have a fighting chance at becoming something more.
Infinite care
You need to have god-level consideration for every new user and their experience. Every pain point needs to be identified and sanded off. When you talk with users, you need to really hear what they're saying and show them love back. And then you gotta follow through and deliver on what you talked about and heard!
Caring infinitely is a self-sustaining practice though. The more you care, the more positive feedback you'll get. Product updates, new features, different perspectives, novel use cases you hadn't considered before - all of these things become possible as a result infinite care and in turn fuel you so that you and your team so that you all can continue to move forward and develop the product.
Unbounded attention
The internet never sleeps. Likewise your product can be used and mentioned anytime, all the time. Your attention needs to be always on your product and users. The time you spend thinking about and monitoring your project is never enough. What's more, you need to pay attention to everything else going on around you (unbounded ftw) because external changes and risks can be just as, if not more consequential than internal or local factors.
Paying attention without limits also means biases and pre-judgements need to get set aside. Seeing things as they really are is paramount. If takes more effort to convince yourself that you are seeing one thing instead of another as opposed to simply seeing one thing or another. This clarity and energy conserving attention are as self reinforcing as the benefits of infinite care.
And all this effort is just to ensure that the foundation is properly laid. That's basic table stakes. There is still so much more to build and so much more that can go wrong!
But if infinite care describes you and at least a couple other members of your team, and if you and your partner-in-crime can focus your attention on anything and everything all the damn time, well then those next features or mechanisms will start to present themselves in a way that begins to make sense within a bigger picture that in turn will continue to be revised and checked against reality at every step of the way.
During the First Continental Congress in 1787, Washington said he “attentively heard and read every oral and printed information on both sides of every question that could be procured” while intervening in debates or making final decisions infrequently. The foundation laid as a result of that meeting is legend.
That's a leader. That's someone who, even if they aren't responsible for making every single decision, can influence the right decisions and help make everyone else better by their simple example. Leaders are responsible for laying the foundation. Thus leaders must show infinite care and display unbounded attention. If they don't, well, it all falls down.
2018년 12월 16일 일요일
Pre-Holiday Buzz
[First published on Cent]
This Friday afternoon I'll fly home to see my family for the holidays.
My wife and I are stoked.
The flight tickets have been reserved (thank you company benefit), all the presents are wrapped except for my wife's since she already opened hers (h/t to @charlesx for the clutch reply to my gift idea post yesterday), so now all that's left is to get through this week and board the plane.
Since I'm from the East Coast heading home from Seoul is a proper slog. But not at Christmas.
I think it's the combination of flying (which I love), extended leave from my day job, the overall good vibes of Christmas, amazing food, and the awesome moments I know I'll spend with my family that give me a pre-holiday buzz just thinking about it all.
When the holidays come to an end though - as they inevitably must - and I am on the airport bus back to my apartment in Seoul from Incheon international airport, I always think back rather longingly to the pre-holiday buzz moments.
These moments before the big moments are just so valuable and special. So this year I want to really try and stay in the pre-holiday good vibes zone, and just enjoy the low key most underrated part of the holidays as much as I can🌲
This Friday afternoon I'll fly home to see my family for the holidays.
My wife and I are stoked.
The flight tickets have been reserved (thank you company benefit), all the presents are wrapped except for my wife's since she already opened hers (h/t to @charlesx for the clutch reply to my gift idea post yesterday), so now all that's left is to get through this week and board the plane.
Since I'm from the East Coast heading home from Seoul is a proper slog. But not at Christmas.
I think it's the combination of flying (which I love), extended leave from my day job, the overall good vibes of Christmas, amazing food, and the awesome moments I know I'll spend with my family that give me a pre-holiday buzz just thinking about it all.
When the holidays come to an end though - as they inevitably must - and I am on the airport bus back to my apartment in Seoul from Incheon international airport, I always think back rather longingly to the pre-holiday buzz moments.
These moments before the big moments are just so valuable and special. So this year I want to really try and stay in the pre-holiday good vibes zone, and just enjoy the low key most underrated part of the holidays as much as I can🌲
Gift Giving
[First published on Cent]
I have a confession: I'm a terrible gift giver.
I'm just not creative when it comes to gift giving.
If I had it my way, every future present from me would be a url loaded with crypto, that I'd send out via email or instant message.
A few months back I found out about Eth2.io that allows anyone to do just, so I'm legit tempted to do that. Seriously.
But if I give my wife a url loaded with crypto, well, I just don't think that'd go over very well.
So I need your help, fellow Centians.
Please give me some suggestions for what I should get my wife for Xmas this year.
I'm going shopping tomorrow, so if any Centian can make my life a little easier by giving me a good suggestion that saves me time shopping, I'll make sure to send an extra tip. Many thanks.
I have a confession: I'm a terrible gift giver.
I'm just not creative when it comes to gift giving.
If I had it my way, every future present from me would be a url loaded with crypto, that I'd send out via email or instant message.
A few months back I found out about Eth2.io that allows anyone to do just, so I'm legit tempted to do that. Seriously.
But if I give my wife a url loaded with crypto, well, I just don't think that'd go over very well.
So I need your help, fellow Centians.
Please give me some suggestions for what I should get my wife for Xmas this year.
I'm going shopping tomorrow, so if any Centian can make my life a little easier by giving me a good suggestion that saves me time shopping, I'll make sure to send an extra tip. Many thanks.
Like Twitter With Money
[First published on Cent]
Earlier today @mckie tweeted this out:
*Go to Cent to see the Tweet image*
Comparing Twitter to Cent is interesting.
Although I wasn't an early adopter of Twitter, I've read a lot about its origin story and meteoric rise as a completely new way of communicating.
Twitter essentially took the socially sticky asynchronous aspect of blogging one's thoughts and added the ability to engage in banter with the entire world. That was revolutionary.
In the words of early Twitter investor Fred Wilson:
"Twittering [sic] is an emerging new form of communication on the Internet that changes the expectations associated with other forms of communication and yet it's fundamentally different than blogging. Twitter provides a platform for banter that blogging doesn't and it's available in so many places via IM, mobile text messaging, or the Web that it induces a different sort of behavior. Twitter encourages people to adapt and invent behavior to suit their needs."
The feeling that any first time Twitter user gets when they experience that first back-and-forth about an area of common interest is freaking electric.
I think Centians feel the same way when they post or reply to something and someone responds turning that bell in the top right red. I know I do.
But if Twitter's stroke of genius was focusing on banter in 140 character bursts, I think Cent is proving that people are starving for richer, deeper engagement, from people like them.
Reliably rich, deep exchanges from potential strangers is hard, expensive, time consuming, and pretty unprecedented, at least as far as I can tell.
What's allowed non-famous Cent users like myself to achieve a reliably regular expectation that what I write will receive thoughtful engagement is obvious: it's all about the incentives.
For new posters to Cent, bounties help garner immediate engagement. This seems obvious, but it's still a strange action to many. It works though, and thoughtful engagement still feels electric, regardless of whether it was paid for or not.
But the electric jolts don't end there. When your post or reply gets tipped or seeded for the first time - boy oh boy - does that feel good.
There's more though. When you seed an awesome post early and then 10s of other Centians pile money on top, literally paying you more than you gave - dude seriously - it is hard to think of anything better.
And maybe this's what @mckie meant with his tweet. Regardless, that tweet meant a lot to me.
Earlier today @mckie tweeted this out:
*Go to Cent to see the Tweet image*
Comparing Twitter to Cent is interesting.
Although I wasn't an early adopter of Twitter, I've read a lot about its origin story and meteoric rise as a completely new way of communicating.
Twitter essentially took the socially sticky asynchronous aspect of blogging one's thoughts and added the ability to engage in banter with the entire world. That was revolutionary.
In the words of early Twitter investor Fred Wilson:
"Twittering [sic] is an emerging new form of communication on the Internet that changes the expectations associated with other forms of communication and yet it's fundamentally different than blogging. Twitter provides a platform for banter that blogging doesn't and it's available in so many places via IM, mobile text messaging, or the Web that it induces a different sort of behavior. Twitter encourages people to adapt and invent behavior to suit their needs."
The feeling that any first time Twitter user gets when they experience that first back-and-forth about an area of common interest is freaking electric.
I think Centians feel the same way when they post or reply to something and someone responds turning that bell in the top right red. I know I do.
But if Twitter's stroke of genius was focusing on banter in 140 character bursts, I think Cent is proving that people are starving for richer, deeper engagement, from people like them.
Reliably rich, deep exchanges from potential strangers is hard, expensive, time consuming, and pretty unprecedented, at least as far as I can tell.
What's allowed non-famous Cent users like myself to achieve a reliably regular expectation that what I write will receive thoughtful engagement is obvious: it's all about the incentives.
For new posters to Cent, bounties help garner immediate engagement. This seems obvious, but it's still a strange action to many. It works though, and thoughtful engagement still feels electric, regardless of whether it was paid for or not.
But the electric jolts don't end there. When your post or reply gets tipped or seeded for the first time - boy oh boy - does that feel good.
There's more though. When you seed an awesome post early and then 10s of other Centians pile money on top, literally paying you more than you gave - dude seriously - it is hard to think of anything better.
And maybe this's what @mckie meant with his tweet. Regardless, that tweet meant a lot to me.
Compresssd Ideas
[First Published on Cent]
My day usually begins with me penning a Tweet to blast out from Cent Twitter. I do this as I'm riding the company shuttle into my day job.
Before I start writing anything I always have an idea of what the Tweet should say or be about.
But the thing is, there are so many ways to say the same thing.
I've found the best way to say something though, is usually the simplest.
Simple writing speaks volumes.
I'd like to believe that Twitter has honed my ability to write simply. Or, at the very least, it's made me more aware of what I'm writing as I'm writing.
Podcasts are helpful in a similar way too, but with speaking.
Every podcast is like an experiment in expressing ideas differently.
The best podcasts, in my personal opinion, contain at least one instance where someone expresses an idea in a super simple way that I haven't heard before.
Often I find myself repeating, nearly verbatim, thoughts and concepts I hear expressed on podcasts. That's utility. That's real value.
The latest example of this was on the latest North Star Podcast episode with guest Samo Burja.
Samo likes to analyze companies and people like Peter Thiel for instance.
Aa Samo was talking about Peter and his contrarian approach, he brought up the fact that much of Peter's approach and life view have been informed largely by René Girard's 'Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World'.
I just read this mind expanding book in August, but for those of you who are unfamiliar, René essentially combines Mimetic Desire and Scapegoat Theory to explain everything - literally everything - about mankind's history since our essential break from the rest of the animal kingdom along with a very interesting proposal for humanity.
Anyways, there is a ton to digest and think through in that book.
Sumo summarizes the work, and a major takeaway as follows:
"Most people act the same and follow what other people do. But every once in a while someone stands out and does something different, like Bill Gates when he revolutionized personal computing.
"When times are good, the mass of society treat people like Bill Gates like kings or gods. But when times get tough, and social unrest increases, those masses start laying blame on criticism on people like Bill Gates, essentially calling for his head as a way to relieve psychic distress caused by increased instability in the external environment."
This pattern happens over and over. Just think about Zuckerberg and Facebook.
That anecdote is a super simple way to convey a significant part of René's thinking and is a perfect example of how ideas can be compressed and made more sharable.
My day usually begins with me penning a Tweet to blast out from Cent Twitter. I do this as I'm riding the company shuttle into my day job.
Before I start writing anything I always have an idea of what the Tweet should say or be about.
But the thing is, there are so many ways to say the same thing.
I've found the best way to say something though, is usually the simplest.
Simple writing speaks volumes.
I'd like to believe that Twitter has honed my ability to write simply. Or, at the very least, it's made me more aware of what I'm writing as I'm writing.
Podcasts are helpful in a similar way too, but with speaking.
Every podcast is like an experiment in expressing ideas differently.
The best podcasts, in my personal opinion, contain at least one instance where someone expresses an idea in a super simple way that I haven't heard before.
Often I find myself repeating, nearly verbatim, thoughts and concepts I hear expressed on podcasts. That's utility. That's real value.
The latest example of this was on the latest North Star Podcast episode with guest Samo Burja.
Samo likes to analyze companies and people like Peter Thiel for instance.
Aa Samo was talking about Peter and his contrarian approach, he brought up the fact that much of Peter's approach and life view have been informed largely by René Girard's 'Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World'.
I just read this mind expanding book in August, but for those of you who are unfamiliar, René essentially combines Mimetic Desire and Scapegoat Theory to explain everything - literally everything - about mankind's history since our essential break from the rest of the animal kingdom along with a very interesting proposal for humanity.
Anyways, there is a ton to digest and think through in that book.
Sumo summarizes the work, and a major takeaway as follows:
"Most people act the same and follow what other people do. But every once in a while someone stands out and does something different, like Bill Gates when he revolutionized personal computing.
"When times are good, the mass of society treat people like Bill Gates like kings or gods. But when times get tough, and social unrest increases, those masses start laying blame on criticism on people like Bill Gates, essentially calling for his head as a way to relieve psychic distress caused by increased instability in the external environment."
This pattern happens over and over. Just think about Zuckerberg and Facebook.
That anecdote is a super simple way to convey a significant part of René's thinking and is a perfect example of how ideas can be compressed and made more sharable.
Off Days
[First published on Cent]
I'm not quite sure how to take an "off day" from writing.
Fred Wilson, my model for daily writing, essentially takes every Friday and Saturday off by uploading an easier to write "Funding Friday" post along with a Saturday post that typically - but not always - consists of an embedded YouTube video of someone else talking about this or that.
I feel like I am burning the candle at both ends these days. That isn't healthy.
So I am looking for suggestions that could become the "Funding Friday" and regular Saturday video embeds for me and Cent.
The key point that I am struggling with is that these "easier" posts should *still* be valuable for anyone reading them.
So let me know what I should post when I am drunk or hungover, as those are the equivalent of Saturday and Sunday for me.
※ p.s. cheers to @charlesx for what will hopefully become daily, similar but unique artwork.
I'm not quite sure how to take an "off day" from writing.
Fred Wilson, my model for daily writing, essentially takes every Friday and Saturday off by uploading an easier to write "Funding Friday" post along with a Saturday post that typically - but not always - consists of an embedded YouTube video of someone else talking about this or that.
I feel like I am burning the candle at both ends these days. That isn't healthy.
So I am looking for suggestions that could become the "Funding Friday" and regular Saturday video embeds for me and Cent.
The key point that I am struggling with is that these "easier" posts should *still* be valuable for anyone reading them.
So let me know what I should post when I am drunk or hungover, as those are the equivalent of Saturday and Sunday for me.
※ p.s. cheers to @charlesx for what will hopefully become daily, similar but unique artwork.
Centology
[First published on Cent]
On my daily run tonight I was thinking:
Once the hashtag feature gets rolled out on Cent - which, uh...I hear is imminently - what hashtags will Centians start using? What hashtags will I start using?
If my posts on Cent over the past month are any indication of what I'll write about in the future, I can think of at least two distinct, reusable hashtags that I'll probably use fairly regularly.
#BOTI is the first, obvious hashtag.
The second one though, I'm still not 100% on. As a lot of you know, I like to think and write about Cent, a lot. I think and write about Cent from an almost academic perspective.
Therefore, I was thinking #Centology might work. What say you? I'm totally open to better ideas.
I'm also curious to know what hashtags other Centians are planning on using, or any hashtag suggestions anyone may have based on certain types of posts or topics they've seen on Cent more than a few times.
So reply with your hashtag suggestions and ideas. There is only one constraint to bear in mind: Only one (1) hashtag will be allowed per post or reply.
On my daily run tonight I was thinking:
Once the hashtag feature gets rolled out on Cent - which, uh...I hear is imminently - what hashtags will Centians start using? What hashtags will I start using?
If my posts on Cent over the past month are any indication of what I'll write about in the future, I can think of at least two distinct, reusable hashtags that I'll probably use fairly regularly.
#BOTI is the first, obvious hashtag.
The second one though, I'm still not 100% on. As a lot of you know, I like to think and write about Cent, a lot. I think and write about Cent from an almost academic perspective.
Therefore, I was thinking #Centology might work. What say you? I'm totally open to better ideas.
I'm also curious to know what hashtags other Centians are planning on using, or any hashtag suggestions anyone may have based on certain types of posts or topics they've seen on Cent more than a few times.
So reply with your hashtag suggestions and ideas. There is only one constraint to bear in mind: Only one (1) hashtag will be allowed per post or reply.
Obseissive Minority
[First published on Cent]
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
~Margaret Mead
"Revolutions are unarguably driven by an obsessive minority. And the entire growth of society, whether economic or moral, comes from a small number of people."
~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb
If Cent is thought of as a system, then we can say that it is the emergent result of all the interactions that take place between all the parts that comprise Cent, so every user and every feature.
The interactions between all of these parts are what really matters in determining what Cent is today and what it will be tomorrow. And there are some super simple rules that all interactions can obey.
One of those rules is the minority rule, or what Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls the mother of all asymmetries. Essentially what that means is any minority group can dictate the culture and preferences that the majority abides by *if* the minority group has some significant skin (or soul) in the game such that their numbers are above a certain trivial percentage of the overall population.
While the claim that a small number of people could potentially hijack a society and turn it into something it doesn't want to be sounds frightening, in the context of Cent and any other newly emerging digital community, the minority rule actually seems to offer amazing hope and promise.
I think a few of us can see the future that could be possible if Cent remains committed to compensating those who add creative value while growing a community of thoughtful users. That would represent a complete social evolution from where the world is now.
So if the minority rule actually has any legs, as long as a small group of us continues to obsess about being thoughtful and instilling that value in other users while tipping, seeding and bountying (i.e. literally keeping our skin in the game) we will turn that future vision into a reality.
But we need to be mindful of the other groups competing against us. On the one hand we have mediocrity, you know, users like @Kamran who add valueless replies. On the other hand are other obsessives, those who don't hold our values, but are trying, through brute force, to make it seem like they are a major presence or influence within Cent. Then there are the traditional social networks and payment channels.
I'm in it to win it though. Are you?
Ok. Rant over. Now it's time to get back to 'Skin in the Game' before I pass out - god what a damn good book.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
~Margaret Mead
"Revolutions are unarguably driven by an obsessive minority. And the entire growth of society, whether economic or moral, comes from a small number of people."
~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb
If Cent is thought of as a system, then we can say that it is the emergent result of all the interactions that take place between all the parts that comprise Cent, so every user and every feature.
The interactions between all of these parts are what really matters in determining what Cent is today and what it will be tomorrow. And there are some super simple rules that all interactions can obey.
One of those rules is the minority rule, or what Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls the mother of all asymmetries. Essentially what that means is any minority group can dictate the culture and preferences that the majority abides by *if* the minority group has some significant skin (or soul) in the game such that their numbers are above a certain trivial percentage of the overall population.
While the claim that a small number of people could potentially hijack a society and turn it into something it doesn't want to be sounds frightening, in the context of Cent and any other newly emerging digital community, the minority rule actually seems to offer amazing hope and promise.
I think a few of us can see the future that could be possible if Cent remains committed to compensating those who add creative value while growing a community of thoughtful users. That would represent a complete social evolution from where the world is now.
So if the minority rule actually has any legs, as long as a small group of us continues to obsess about being thoughtful and instilling that value in other users while tipping, seeding and bountying (i.e. literally keeping our skin in the game) we will turn that future vision into a reality.
But we need to be mindful of the other groups competing against us. On the one hand we have mediocrity, you know, users like @Kamran who add valueless replies. On the other hand are other obsessives, those who don't hold our values, but are trying, through brute force, to make it seem like they are a major presence or influence within Cent. Then there are the traditional social networks and payment channels.
I'm in it to win it though. Are you?
Ok. Rant over. Now it's time to get back to 'Skin in the Game' before I pass out - god what a damn good book.
2018년 12월 8일 토요일
Sleepy Saturday in Seoul
[First published on Cent]
We're in the middle of our first major cold snap of the winter here in Seoul. The temperature dropped to 12 below today and it looks like it'll stay like that for another day or two.
So aside from a quick run and short pull-up sesh in the morning, today was a loungey relaxing day spent indoors.
I had an interesting discussion with @Xerographica under their reply to my post on light trust about quadratic voting (QV), put a real dent in Nassim Nicholas Taleb's 'Skin in the Game', napped and just finished listening to a fantastic podcast.
YC Combinator's eponymously titled podcast has worked it's way into the short list of must listen to podcasts.
Each episode typically features guests from YC alum companies or individuals affiliated or connected with YC in some way. The questions and discussions are really illuminating and for anyone interested in business innovation, company building, operating leadership, and entrepreneurship I highly recommend you check out this podcast.
The episode I listened to today though was with YC CEO and justin.tv co-founder Michael Seibel. Michael also happens to be a great essayist who likes to share super actionable and practical lessons learned as a serial entrepreneur. Over the course of the podcast he goes in depth into the background and inspiration behind some of his most popular essays.
This is a meaty episode and there is a ton of take away, but Michaels elaboration on product market fit and how different that is from simply having a product with users along with his relentless first principles approach to analyzing new startup ideas and the problems they are potentially solving for - or not solving - left a pretty strong impression.
And with that, it's time for me and my wife to tuck into some hearty 닭볶음탕 and watch us some Narcos. Enjoy your weekend everybody.
We're in the middle of our first major cold snap of the winter here in Seoul. The temperature dropped to 12 below today and it looks like it'll stay like that for another day or two.
So aside from a quick run and short pull-up sesh in the morning, today was a loungey relaxing day spent indoors.
I had an interesting discussion with @Xerographica under their reply to my post on light trust about quadratic voting (QV), put a real dent in Nassim Nicholas Taleb's 'Skin in the Game', napped and just finished listening to a fantastic podcast.
YC Combinator's eponymously titled podcast has worked it's way into the short list of must listen to podcasts.
Each episode typically features guests from YC alum companies or individuals affiliated or connected with YC in some way. The questions and discussions are really illuminating and for anyone interested in business innovation, company building, operating leadership, and entrepreneurship I highly recommend you check out this podcast.
The episode I listened to today though was with YC CEO and justin.tv co-founder Michael Seibel. Michael also happens to be a great essayist who likes to share super actionable and practical lessons learned as a serial entrepreneur. Over the course of the podcast he goes in depth into the background and inspiration behind some of his most popular essays.
This is a meaty episode and there is a ton of take away, but Michaels elaboration on product market fit and how different that is from simply having a product with users along with his relentless first principles approach to analyzing new startup ideas and the problems they are potentially solving for - or not solving - left a pretty strong impression.
And with that, it's time for me and my wife to tuck into some hearty 닭볶음탕 and watch us some Narcos. Enjoy your weekend everybody.
Light Trust
[First published on Cent]
Trust. If you've been reading me over the past month (e.g. here or here) you know that trust - specifically in the digital world - is a topic that I find deeply interesting.
The other day as I was finishing up the very thought provoking new-ish book 'Radical Markets' co-authored by Eric Posner and Glen Weyl (which I highly recommend), a short paragraph on pg. 271 in the chapter entitled 'Going to the Root' caught my attention. In that paragraph the concept of "light" trust came up.
Apparently light trust is a concept originally coined by urbanist Jane Jacobs which denotes the modicum of responsibility that city dwellers take for each other *even if* they have no pre-existing ties or connections. Light trust is trust in cities.
In the context if 'Radical Markets' light trust is significant because it represents the sociological spirit of the market. This light trust amongst strangers and near-strangers is what allows for both increased diversity and new strangers to continue joining the sorrounding community and is enanced by well functioning markets.
Markets and cities are both intimately linked. Cities typically formed around major markets, and all cities have markets of one kind or another. So it makes sense that light trust originates in market places first before emanating out to the greater community.
Natively introducing crypto to any website or app has the potential of turning those digital spaces into mini-markets.
Take Cent for example. The market on Cent involves the exchange of creative, human engagement for money.
Perhaps it's this market aspect of light trust that's fundamentally responsible for the generally high level of civility that seems to exist between our diverse base of users and their interactions. Perhaps.
Trust. If you've been reading me over the past month (e.g. here or here) you know that trust - specifically in the digital world - is a topic that I find deeply interesting.
The other day as I was finishing up the very thought provoking new-ish book 'Radical Markets' co-authored by Eric Posner and Glen Weyl (which I highly recommend), a short paragraph on pg. 271 in the chapter entitled 'Going to the Root' caught my attention. In that paragraph the concept of "light" trust came up.
Apparently light trust is a concept originally coined by urbanist Jane Jacobs which denotes the modicum of responsibility that city dwellers take for each other *even if* they have no pre-existing ties or connections. Light trust is trust in cities.
In the context if 'Radical Markets' light trust is significant because it represents the sociological spirit of the market. This light trust amongst strangers and near-strangers is what allows for both increased diversity and new strangers to continue joining the sorrounding community and is enanced by well functioning markets.
Markets and cities are both intimately linked. Cities typically formed around major markets, and all cities have markets of one kind or another. So it makes sense that light trust originates in market places first before emanating out to the greater community.
Natively introducing crypto to any website or app has the potential of turning those digital spaces into mini-markets.
Take Cent for example. The market on Cent involves the exchange of creative, human engagement for money.
Perhaps it's this market aspect of light trust that's fundamentally responsible for the generally high level of civility that seems to exist between our diverse base of users and their interactions. Perhaps.
via negativa
[First published on Cent]
Bear markets are about cleaning the slate. All the excess, all the fakes and phonies are exposed and removed. In that way bear markets act via negativa - they act by removing.
And boy is crypto in a bear market.
While a lot of personalities and projects have gone radio silent - with more sure to follow - more and more naysayers and critics seem to be popping up, letting us know how foolish we were.
To take one example let's look at “The Blockchain Is a Reminder of the Internet’s Failure” a Medium piece by Andrew Leonard, one of the earliest writers and chroniclers of the early internet back in the 1990s.
It's actually an interesting article. Essentially Andrew wants to dissolve the utopian promises and pie-in-the-sky language that have dominated a lot of the conversations about crypto until now. Why? Because he's reminded of the same promises he heard (and believed) during the internet's early heyday which ended up crashing in spectacular fashion.
But even Andrew admits that blockchain tech, after dissolving the false promises and naive proclamations that surround it, will then probably lead to the appearance of "some useful applications that make [his] life more convenient and don’t break the planet."
I believe the applications he's speaking of are the web3 cousins of Amazon, Google and PayPal which arose out of the rubble of the dotcom crash, of which Cent is as strong a candidate as any to become one of the applications that will have a major impact on not just his life, but many others.
Towards the end of the piece Andrew writes:
"Instead of seeking out the anomie of decentralization, we need to figure out how to come together. To successfully deal with the failings of humanity, we have to spend more time with humans and less time thumbing our smartphones."
First of all, is it me or does that language sound very similar to the idealistic language of crypto evangelists that he was criticizing in the first place?
But more than that, his desire for humanity to "be able to come together" and "spend more time with [other] humans" reminded me of how much I've actually interacted with and gotten to know quite a few other incredibly like minded and thoughtful people on Cent.
Having long extended texting sessions or phone calls with people you meet on the internet isn't supposed to be common. But on Cent it seems to be increasingly common - which is both awesome and something I hope Andrew notices. But to Andrew's main point, that phenomenon isn't *due to* crypto; it's simply made possible *by* crypto.
That's a subtle but powerful distinction that only becomes clear it one removes the pink tinted lenses of idealism. So it's in that light that we can begin to see the main benefit of bear markets acting via negativa - that from a subtraction, a positive reaction is stimulated.
Bear markets are about cleaning the slate. All the excess, all the fakes and phonies are exposed and removed. In that way bear markets act via negativa - they act by removing.
And boy is crypto in a bear market.
While a lot of personalities and projects have gone radio silent - with more sure to follow - more and more naysayers and critics seem to be popping up, letting us know how foolish we were.
To take one example let's look at “The Blockchain Is a Reminder of the Internet’s Failure” a Medium piece by Andrew Leonard, one of the earliest writers and chroniclers of the early internet back in the 1990s.
It's actually an interesting article. Essentially Andrew wants to dissolve the utopian promises and pie-in-the-sky language that have dominated a lot of the conversations about crypto until now. Why? Because he's reminded of the same promises he heard (and believed) during the internet's early heyday which ended up crashing in spectacular fashion.
But even Andrew admits that blockchain tech, after dissolving the false promises and naive proclamations that surround it, will then probably lead to the appearance of "some useful applications that make [his] life more convenient and don’t break the planet."
I believe the applications he's speaking of are the web3 cousins of Amazon, Google and PayPal which arose out of the rubble of the dotcom crash, of which Cent is as strong a candidate as any to become one of the applications that will have a major impact on not just his life, but many others.
Towards the end of the piece Andrew writes:
"Instead of seeking out the anomie of decentralization, we need to figure out how to come together. To successfully deal with the failings of humanity, we have to spend more time with humans and less time thumbing our smartphones."
First of all, is it me or does that language sound very similar to the idealistic language of crypto evangelists that he was criticizing in the first place?
But more than that, his desire for humanity to "be able to come together" and "spend more time with [other] humans" reminded me of how much I've actually interacted with and gotten to know quite a few other incredibly like minded and thoughtful people on Cent.
Having long extended texting sessions or phone calls with people you meet on the internet isn't supposed to be common. But on Cent it seems to be increasingly common - which is both awesome and something I hope Andrew notices. But to Andrew's main point, that phenomenon isn't *due to* crypto; it's simply made possible *by* crypto.
That's a subtle but powerful distinction that only becomes clear it one removes the pink tinted lenses of idealism. So it's in that light that we can begin to see the main benefit of bear markets acting via negativa - that from a subtraction, a positive reaction is stimulated.
Algorithms for Good Living
[First published on Cent]
With 2018 quickly coming to a close, I'm beginning to reflect on what I've done this year.
A big part of that reflection revolves around the books I've read since January.
Normally I have a good memory for what I've read in any given year, so I was a bit perplexed when I scanned my '2018 - Read' checklist in Diaro without seeing anything from Yuval Noah Harari.
I knew I read Sapiens last year, but I could've sworn I read Homo Deus in January. Nope. Wrong.
According to my '2017 - Read' list it turns out that I read Homo Deus last September. Well, alright.
Anyways, as I was reading through the notes that I has jotted down over the course of my reading (as I try to do with every book) I paused over this little nugget:
"Algorithm: A methodological set of steps to make calculations, resolve problems and reach decisions."
I love that definition of algorithm. It's so simple. Not only does it perfectly convey the elegant power of algorithmic thinking, it shows that algorithms are tools. Tools to help us live better, to live the good life.
There's a simple but effective algorithm that I like to use whenever I eat out.
If it's a good place, I order the special. If it's a bad place, I order what they can't screw up.
I'm curious if my fellow Centians have any tried and true good living algorithms that they employ regularly or in specific situations. Please share and let's upgrade our lives together.
With 2018 quickly coming to a close, I'm beginning to reflect on what I've done this year.
A big part of that reflection revolves around the books I've read since January.
Normally I have a good memory for what I've read in any given year, so I was a bit perplexed when I scanned my '2018 - Read' checklist in Diaro without seeing anything from Yuval Noah Harari.
I knew I read Sapiens last year, but I could've sworn I read Homo Deus in January. Nope. Wrong.
According to my '2017 - Read' list it turns out that I read Homo Deus last September. Well, alright.
Anyways, as I was reading through the notes that I has jotted down over the course of my reading (as I try to do with every book) I paused over this little nugget:
"Algorithm: A methodological set of steps to make calculations, resolve problems and reach decisions."
I love that definition of algorithm. It's so simple. Not only does it perfectly convey the elegant power of algorithmic thinking, it shows that algorithms are tools. Tools to help us live better, to live the good life.
There's a simple but effective algorithm that I like to use whenever I eat out.
If it's a good place, I order the special. If it's a bad place, I order what they can't screw up.
I'm curious if my fellow Centians have any tried and true good living algorithms that they employ regularly or in specific situations. Please share and let's upgrade our lives together.
2018년 12월 4일 화요일
Decentralize it all? Or just one thing?
[First published on Cent]
There are a few projects doing some cool things towards making decentralized organizations a thing.
Case in point: Aragon.
The Aragon team have a bevy of heavy hitters and deep thinkers behind them. And their promo is like an episode of Mr. Robot.
Their mission is laudable too. They want to allow anyone to come together in order to interact, make decisions together, share in a common enterprise and benefit together, from anywhere. Sound familiar?
They have a client app that serves as the interface between users and their latest smart contract framework (currently aragonOS 4-A).
It looks like this👇
With that "simple" app, users can spin up a decentralized organization with shares, shared finances, custom permissions, votes, payroll management and more. Much more, apparently. And all decentralized. Did I say there's more?
As someone who works in a 10,000 employee organization with tens of billions of dollars worth of going concerns across 30 countries, it strikes me that the Aragon team seems to be creating a tool capable of enabling a (more) decentralized version of where I work.
Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like complexity is being overlayed with a new complexity creating something that most people can't and don't want to be bothered with - at least right now.
But directionally they're right. My main contention is that to allow the most people to potentially join and participate in a non-traditional organization *simplicity* is needed.
Instead of decentralizing *every function* how about simply taking payments, traditionally the most centralized and core function of any organization, and creating a suite of transparent automated tools that anyone could use in any way they wanted?
This is exactly what @Ezincrypto (and @elrapierwit) seem to be proposing with their idea of co-creator reward splitting put forth in a recent post.
Or to view an existing tool in a different light, let's take a look at Seeding🌱. It's been described both as incentivized generosity as well as a hybrid of tipping/staking.
But to me Seeding🌱 looks like a tool that can guarantee and automate payments to a distributed group of early supporters *if* those supporters do the advertising and marketing needed to attract additional micro-subscribers to a specific creators post.
This arrangement eliminates the need for employment contracts, not to mention payroll and accounting departments (at least). Crucially there is no room for the creator to break their promise to pay since that promise has already been guaranteed in code at a set split.
That's interesting. Or at least it is to me. Let's be clear though, there is still a ton of experimentation left. And that has me so damn excited.
There are a few projects doing some cool things towards making decentralized organizations a thing.
Case in point: Aragon.
The Aragon team have a bevy of heavy hitters and deep thinkers behind them. And their promo is like an episode of Mr. Robot.
Their mission is laudable too. They want to allow anyone to come together in order to interact, make decisions together, share in a common enterprise and benefit together, from anywhere. Sound familiar?
They have a client app that serves as the interface between users and their latest smart contract framework (currently aragonOS 4-A).
It looks like this👇
As someone who works in a 10,000 employee organization with tens of billions of dollars worth of going concerns across 30 countries, it strikes me that the Aragon team seems to be creating a tool capable of enabling a (more) decentralized version of where I work.
Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like complexity is being overlayed with a new complexity creating something that most people can't and don't want to be bothered with - at least right now.
But directionally they're right. My main contention is that to allow the most people to potentially join and participate in a non-traditional organization *simplicity* is needed.
Instead of decentralizing *every function* how about simply taking payments, traditionally the most centralized and core function of any organization, and creating a suite of transparent automated tools that anyone could use in any way they wanted?
This is exactly what @Ezincrypto (and @elrapierwit) seem to be proposing with their idea of co-creator reward splitting put forth in a recent post.
Or to view an existing tool in a different light, let's take a look at Seeding🌱. It's been described both as incentivized generosity as well as a hybrid of tipping/staking.
But to me Seeding🌱 looks like a tool that can guarantee and automate payments to a distributed group of early supporters *if* those supporters do the advertising and marketing needed to attract additional micro-subscribers to a specific creators post.
This arrangement eliminates the need for employment contracts, not to mention payroll and accounting departments (at least). Crucially there is no room for the creator to break their promise to pay since that promise has already been guaranteed in code at a set split.
That's interesting. Or at least it is to me. Let's be clear though, there is still a ton of experimentation left. And that has me so damn excited.
2018년 12월 2일 일요일
What Sets Cent Apart
[Also published on Cent]
Most people who know me - so, friends, wife, family, fellow Centians - know that I'm obsessed with Cent.
If I'm not on Cent, I'm most likely thinking about Cent big picture.
I love talking about Cent too. That's why I live for the daily Cent team calls each morning Monday through Friday.
Outside of those calls and weekend evenings when I'm out eating and drinking with my wife, the times when I can really talk about Cent with others have been pretty few and far between.
But I think that may be changing, finally.
Other users are starting to get as excited about Cent as I've been. Like really, really excited.
Out of this growing sub-group of Centians, I've actually had the opportunity to speak with a few of them on calls over zoom and Telegram.
Those calls have been happening more and more frequently and the discussions with those individuals have been awesome.
Outside of product suggestions (most of which are eerily similar with the planned updates on our internal product roadmap) I've particularly enjoyed hearing how others fundamentally see and think about Cent in the wider app landscape.
Talks with @Joel have been particularly inspiring.
I can't remember if he said it over a call I had with him last week or if it was a comment he made during his very entertaining Friday Drinking Show, but something he said about how thinks about Cent really helped crystalize my own thoughts on what truly sets Cent apart from other apps and platforms out there.
To paraphrase:
"Facebook is everyone you know in the real world.
Instagram is everyone you want to be or everything you want.
Twitter is every topic you're interested.
Cent is full of everyone who *really* gets you."
I'm still working through the phrasing to best express what I really mean, but that comes closest for now.
One of the consistently delightful experiences I've had using Cent is being able to really engage with other users and having those users not simply remember me, but remember what I said by quoting or paraphrasing me in their own posts and replies.
That isn't common. Not on the internet, and not even in the real world. But man is it invigorating and special.
Getting into a real discussion, or receiving real substantive feedback, or having another user really hit a homerun for you in terms of matching or exceeding your expectations - all of that is fuel for living thoughtfully and being creative.
I'm curious how all of you see Cent big picture. Let me know if anything I've said vibes with you, or if you have a better way of expressing what I want to say or just a different perspective all together.
P.S. Shoutout to @charlesx for the dope Telegram sticker. You are all kinds of talented.
Most people who know me - so, friends, wife, family, fellow Centians - know that I'm obsessed with Cent.
If I'm not on Cent, I'm most likely thinking about Cent big picture.
I love talking about Cent too. That's why I live for the daily Cent team calls each morning Monday through Friday.
Outside of those calls and weekend evenings when I'm out eating and drinking with my wife, the times when I can really talk about Cent with others have been pretty few and far between.
But I think that may be changing, finally.
Other users are starting to get as excited about Cent as I've been. Like really, really excited.
Out of this growing sub-group of Centians, I've actually had the opportunity to speak with a few of them on calls over zoom and Telegram.
Those calls have been happening more and more frequently and the discussions with those individuals have been awesome.
Outside of product suggestions (most of which are eerily similar with the planned updates on our internal product roadmap) I've particularly enjoyed hearing how others fundamentally see and think about Cent in the wider app landscape.
Talks with @Joel have been particularly inspiring.
I can't remember if he said it over a call I had with him last week or if it was a comment he made during his very entertaining Friday Drinking Show, but something he said about how thinks about Cent really helped crystalize my own thoughts on what truly sets Cent apart from other apps and platforms out there.
To paraphrase:
"Facebook is everyone you know in the real world.
Instagram is everyone you want to be or everything you want.
Twitter is every topic you're interested.
Cent is full of everyone who *really* gets you."
I'm still working through the phrasing to best express what I really mean, but that comes closest for now.
One of the consistently delightful experiences I've had using Cent is being able to really engage with other users and having those users not simply remember me, but remember what I said by quoting or paraphrasing me in their own posts and replies.
That isn't common. Not on the internet, and not even in the real world. But man is it invigorating and special.
Getting into a real discussion, or receiving real substantive feedback, or having another user really hit a homerun for you in terms of matching or exceeding your expectations - all of that is fuel for living thoughtfully and being creative.
I'm curious how all of you see Cent big picture. Let me know if anything I've said vibes with you, or if you have a better way of expressing what I want to say or just a different perspective all together.
P.S. Shoutout to @charlesx for the dope Telegram sticker. You are all kinds of talented.
The Waves of Life
[Also published on Cent]
Waves set life in motion.
We're all born into some relation to a wave.
Depending on a myriad of individual circumstances, your life may have started out in front of a wave, or you may have been lucky and started off riding perfectly through the barrel, or not and got slammed by a crashing one.
Societies can be on different parts of the same wave at different times. Different climates and other factors make the same wave look and feel different.
That's why when you visit another city or another country it can sometimes feel like you're going back in time or into the future. Don't be confused though, it's still the same wave.
Waves are trends. In Korean or Chinese a trend is called 流行 which literally translates to a flowing going. Waves are always flowing and going forward; until they crash and another one comes from behind.
Despite the wave of conspicuous consumerism that is still cresting for a large part of the world, it's crashing in many other places. Behind it a wave emphasizing experiences has been rising up and is beginning to crest.
Most people know that they are on a particular wave and end up simply getting pushed forward and consumed by it, sometimes to the point that they don't want to swim back out to catch the next wave.
The insightful can spot that a wave is crashing and thus understand how much more valuable timing and catching the next one can be.
True wisdom, though, lies in knowing that there is always a hidden, as yet unformed third wave coming from behind.
So, what wave are you on? What do you see as being the next wave? And where do you think the best place to catch that next wave is?
Waves set life in motion.
We're all born into some relation to a wave.
Depending on a myriad of individual circumstances, your life may have started out in front of a wave, or you may have been lucky and started off riding perfectly through the barrel, or not and got slammed by a crashing one.
Societies can be on different parts of the same wave at different times. Different climates and other factors make the same wave look and feel different.
That's why when you visit another city or another country it can sometimes feel like you're going back in time or into the future. Don't be confused though, it's still the same wave.
Waves are trends. In Korean or Chinese a trend is called 流行 which literally translates to a flowing going. Waves are always flowing and going forward; until they crash and another one comes from behind.
Despite the wave of conspicuous consumerism that is still cresting for a large part of the world, it's crashing in many other places. Behind it a wave emphasizing experiences has been rising up and is beginning to crest.
Most people know that they are on a particular wave and end up simply getting pushed forward and consumed by it, sometimes to the point that they don't want to swim back out to catch the next wave.
The insightful can spot that a wave is crashing and thus understand how much more valuable timing and catching the next one can be.
True wisdom, though, lies in knowing that there is always a hidden, as yet unformed third wave coming from behind.
So, what wave are you on? What do you see as being the next wave? And where do you think the best place to catch that next wave is?
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