Interlude
Thoughts on the future of this blog.
Lately, there’s been a lot on my mind. War and finance, mostly. The implications of which worry me.
As a thinker who sacrifices details in favor of examining the general state of things (including my investments, friendships, and stories), it’s a hard knock when abstract issues become painfully real. Increased prices of groceries and delivery are one such issue. Cost of living is another. Rent prices, especially, worry me.
This isn’t a bad thing, I hope. If anything, I’ve never been more motivated to solve real-world issues. In the words of Elon Musk, “If you want the future to be good, you must make it so.” This seems wise. Doesn’t take a genius to recognize that effort begets progress. For dummies like me, however, a short message from Elon is necessary for Practical Me to pluck Theoretical Me from my gopher hole and encourage me to look at things from higher up.
My life is small. To most, insignificant. Not noteworthy. If I died a cruel and violent death tomorrow, the only great impact it might have upon the world at large would surely be symbolic — a victim of gun violence, a victim of terrorism, a victim of war, etc. I have created nothing — no idea, process, or person — of enough value to make my death more than a statistic to anyone other than my close family and friends.
I want to change that. Not because I’m scared of dying in obscurity (I’ve got much more pressing fears — man-eating land sharks, for example). Not because I want to be special (it would be nice, but it’s not what gets me up in the morning). I’m motivated by self-interest. In my case, that’s the desire to follow my curiosity whilst enriching my close social circle.
Since I have yet to do such a thing, logic demands I change. This blog, an outlet for my personal and professional challenges, might just help me overcome the overwhelming sense that whatever I do won’t be enough, can never be enough to change the trajectory of certain stressful things like climate change, political corruption, and my own short-sightedness. For example, I farted just before climbing into bed yesterday, and the smell was abominable. A short-sighted, preventable action on my part (totally joking, but also not?).
I’ve come up with a number of exciting opportunities to change for the better. One such opportunity is unleashing my left-brain upon this blog in order to help me construct better-functioning mental models. In my case, that means a more efficient, flexible, repeatable model of seeing the world. I have a lot of ideas that I never flesh out, and this seems as good as a place an any to do so.
If you find my nonsense useful, then all the better.
…
Alright, I’ve convinced myself. Ironically, over the course of writing this post, I’ve convinced myself this is a good idea. That’s a good sigh of things to come.
Be back soon.
Note-to-self: left-brain is decidedly less humorous than right-brain. Weird.
