Substrate

Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.

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This, from Paul Graham in 2008, was resurfaced somewhere recent. I've read it a couple of times before and it always reminds me how much I dislike having a "boss".

I was in Africa last year and saw a lot of animals in the wild that I'd only seen in zoos before. It was remarkable how different they seemed. Particularly lions. Lions in the wild seem about ten times more alive. They're like different animals. I suspect that working for oneself feels better to humans in much the same way that living in the wild must feel better to a wide-ranging predator like a lion. Life in a zoo is easier, but it isn't the life they were designed for.

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As a thought experiment, all things being equal, I think I'd rather go to China than the US at the moment.

It's just the arbitrariness and uncertainty of it all; one of the most powerful countries in the world taken over by an unpredictable narcissist.

I really like the idea of an e-ink monitor for writing. I've got an A4 size reader that I've paired a keyboard with before to sit outside in the sunshine, but it was more of an experiment.

Ideally, I'd like a laptop that could which between a regular screen an e-ink screen at the flick of a switch.

We're used to the mantra that things that are measured get improved. But, also, if you put any sort of number next to someone's name, they will try and make it go up. That doesn't mean that they've chosen that as something that is good for them, their community, or their organisation. So we need to think about who benefits from the measurement.

This is good in relation to my upcoming zine:

These are the emerging ways that friction brings meaning to our lives:

• Friction creates memorable experiences
• Friction invites reflection
• Friction invites responsibility
• Friction raises awareness
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I'm sure there's a way I could automate this, but I keep track of projects by copy/pasting the number of hours spent on projects from Toggl into a spreadsheet. The trouble is that this then needs formatting into something that the spreadsheet (in this case, Proton Sheets) can deal with.

When reading this post I couldn't help but think about Stafford Beer's Viable System Model (VSM) which I think is the perfect fit for an organisation made up of humans and AI agents. I've written about VSM numerous times as part of my postgraduate studies into Systems Thinking.

From The Salmon of Doubt:

We are stuck with technology when all we really want is just stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still technology? A good clue is if it comes with a manual.

I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:

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