interactiverobert

On Trails by Robert Moor I have an early memory of my great grandfather telling me how Native Americans always walked in others' tracks. IDK if that's entirely true, but it made an impression on me. A few years ago, I stumbled upon this book on my way to Peru for a retreat.  The chapters about how Native Americans used existing big game trails contained a similar message. I also found it interesting how they "terraformed" the New World; or how the beautiful, manicured gardens of nature, which our ancestors encountered when they came here, were a result of the indigenous population being good stewards of their environment -- and how the lack of stewardship of our environment (lack of responsible logging, for example), it could be argued is at least part of the cause of all of these wildfires.  Just before that time, and separately on my spiritual path, I had learned about Jainism . People who follow that path take a vow of non-violence, among other things. The...

Ironically, this is from the Civility section of the New York Intelligencer. That's worth a cynical laugh from the start. It is, however, very well articulated. The message: be kind? Yes. But to everyone, regardless of their actions? Not so much. Hate begets hate. But for the people who can handle a little more nuance, there is a better third option: ignore him. I don't hate him. I don't like him. I have just enough time for him to write this, and no more. "Tens of thousand s of people are dead (actually this article is sadly US centric: hundreds of thousands of people are dead if you count the humans on the other side, and hundreds of thousands more physically or mentally disabled from IEDs) because his administration (knowingly) lied to the American public about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and then, based on that lie, launched a war that’s now in its 16th year. " That must have consequences. The message to be kind to everyone is ...

Excerpts from: SW prequel Yoda: “Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is”. What does this line mean? This is essentially a question about the nature of attachment. A set of quotes from the movie are presented and the person asking the question wants to know how they relate to attachment, and to just generally make some sense of this philosophy. Yoda: "These visions you have ..." Anakin: "They are of pain, suffering ... death." ... Yoda: "Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin! The fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side." Anakin: "I won't let my visions come true, Master Yoda." Yoda: "Rejoice for those around us who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is." Anakin: "What must I do, Master Yoda?" Yoda: "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." This is an important the...

Excerpts from this stack exchange post. This is a fascinating discussion and way over my head. You must read it, because I've made no attempt to adequately summarize with these excerpts. In fact, the content I pulled is barely tied to the question. Is There a Philosophical Basis for the Conflation of the Cultural Left and the Economic/Fiscal Left? The question(s): Is there a philosophical reason why cultural left and economic left go together, or is it a historical coincidence? Do they share any fundamental principles other than changing the status-quo? It seems to me that Left Hegelians seem to align with the cultural left, and Marx started out as a Left Hegelian, before going to formulate Communism. Is there a relation between the two? Is that the origin of the correlation? Is there any merit at all to the idea that the various aspects of the cultural left in today's Western discourse did indeed originate with the Frankfurt School? Did members of the Frankfurt school ...

It's about time for another public diary entry, but there's just too much to cover and I don't want to crap it all out here without thinking. It doesn't matter than no one is reading. This is supposed to be where I take what's been happening in my life and process, synthesize it until I have it distilled down to something worth sharing, as a way of helping to make good changes and insights stick. To wear the groove deeper. I don't want it to be over edited or sanitized. Not necessarily organized, but at least comprehensible, instead of stream of consciousness ramblings. It may seem that way. Maybe it has been. But that's not how I want this to be. I think of my first public diary post: On the Importance of Personal Development. Good stuff in there. Well thought out. Maybe not so much since then, but enough has happened that I'd like to put together something similar. I guess we'll see if that happens.

From  https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/41431/why-does-the-u-s-military-use-mercenaries Short answer: they're cheaper, no one cares if they die, and the law doesn't see them as soldiers.

I've spent the past year or so learning about Reduced Environmental Stimulus Therapy, aka REST, aka Sensory Deprivation. I became aware of it through the internet consciousness, likely a recommendation from reading about and watching so much content on meditation and psychedelics. My story with this isn't much different from the average story: someone gets introduced to floating and immediately becomes a fanatic. With many words of caution, I began researching not just how it works, but how I could provide this service to others. Typical, with the typical learning curve, challenges and mistakes, like underestimating the funds needed to get started right. I took possession of a unit in which I plan to install a couple tanks. Or maybe just one. Plans are in progress and should be submitted to the county for approval in the next few weeks. Once I get an idea of the cost of the build out, I can decide whether I'll have to do it in two stages or if I can take it all on at on...

I’m not done yet. I realized after my last post that, if I was going to complain, and that’s what it was, I needed to be better balanced in my complaint. My complaint was my persistent feelings of loneliness and sadness. The post was about how their impact has diminished. And complaining. My acknowledgement of this is an improvement. Another thing I’ve noticed is my diminished ego, and my aversion to doing things that feed it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got an ego and I’m often oblivious to its workings, it’s just that now I’m more aware, and I think it has less of an influence on me than it has in the past. For example, during previous travel, I had a little too much to drink and was mindlessly talking. At some point I noticed that what I was saying I judged to be egocentric. I was tooting my own horn, or I was getting ready to. I was talking to make myself sound better. I stopped mid sentence and froze. I didn’t say another word. The group probably thought I had blown a fuse. I gu...

Time for another diary entry. I've been feeling on edge for the better part of a year. I've been experiencing a sort of low grade depression. Unlike previous experiences, I've been feeling this one, but it hasn't clouded my perception and isn't accompanied by high frustration or despair. Previously, these feelings would make me look at my life, my relationships, work, etc., to see if I could identify what was causing my low mood. The result would inevitably be something I couldn't change without completely disrupting my life, and so I'd remain stagnant. I suppose that's the main difference: now if I feel a little down and I can attribute it to some aspect of my life, I can do something about it if I wish, or I can look at other aspects and gain a little contentment. How is this different? I suppose now I feel empowered, whereas before I felt at the mercy of systems of control I'd felt I had no choice but to accept. The main system of control that...

From The Guardian... "When was the last time you really stopped running around and just stood still? At a time when work, endless emails and a million distractions vie for our attention, the idea of taking time to just be present is more popular than ever." https://www.clinicalfloatation.com/the-guardian-suffer-from-anxiety-try-a-sensory-deprivation-tank

Sometimes there are some good puzzles on StackExchange. Here's an interesting one: https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/81316/unlock-my-phone-february-2018 Here's the answer, see if you can work out why: 115132219018763992565095597973971522401

Floating in a half ton of Epsom salt in nearly full weightlessness is absolutely incredible for your muscle recovery and joint health, but is there more to it? The environment encourages more focus and is incredible for visualization tactics, too. In the video below, Amanda Allen, two-time CrossFit Games Masters Champion, four-time Top 5 Australian CrossFit Regionals competitor and 2011 Individual CrossFit Games competitor weighs in on why she floats and how she thinks it's upped her game.

Excerpts from  Why does the idiom “Jig is up” mean “discovered in the act of dishonesty”? The question I was reading a manga on Mangarock in English when I saw this idiom, can you confer with me on why the meaning of this idiom "jig is up" is "discovered in the act of dishonesty"? Definition of the jig is up US, informal + old-fashioned —used to say that a dishonest plan or activity has been discovered and will not be allowed to continue The jig is up: where did you hide the stolen goods? None marked as answer, but this is the answer Jig is an old term for a lively dance, and in the Elizabethan era the word also became slang for a practical joke or a trick. This idiom derives from this obsolete slang word.

Excerpts from: Android relative layout background crash The Question: On loading an exception is raised: android.view.InflateException at the RelativeLayout's line. If I remove "android:background", everything works perfect. What's wrong with my_shape_normal? The Answer: Caused by: org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParserException: Binary XML file line #6 <gradient> tag requires 'angle' attribute to be a multiple of 45 That's right: the angle of a gradient is defined as an integer, but you can only provide integer values that are multiples of 45. What happens when you don't? Your application crashes. You want a different angle? Too bad. Now, it's reasonable to expect that developers will encounter this error throughout the course of their usual development, and will fix it. This is just another one of those items on the list of tribal knowledge an Android developer must acquire. The chances of this getting out in the wild are slim to none, but...

I used to be a passionate person. I wore my emotions on my sleeve. When I was happy, I was stoked. When I was sad, I was deeply depressed. When I was mad, I was furious. I write all of that in the past tense, as if I no longer have passion or somehow have heroically mastered my emotions and am in complete control of my thoughts and feelings. I’m not making that claim, only that I have been mindful of this and am constantly practicing to better understand my feelings and to gain space between that spike of negative emotion and how I act on it. A mentor of mine helped me realize the value of playing in the gray. That’s quite an achievement. I’ve been struggling with my practice for the second half of this year. I have spent so much time in introspection, learning new ways of understanding myself and the world. But I am not taking enough action to cement these learnings. I heard a quote recently, “loving your neighbor is all well and good when you have nice neighbors.” This and other th...

I’ve heard 4%, this says 1%. Be informed and do your homework: if you pursue a MLM opportunity, the chances are slim to none that you will make money. I’ve known this since my college roommate tried to get me to join Amway. Here’s a paper distributed by the FTC that provides some facts about the viability of MLM for profit. The Case (for and) against Multi-level Marketing By Jon M. Taylor, MBA, Ph.D., Consumer Awareness Institute

Excerpts from: Why do immortals not use any neck armour in Highlander (1986)? First, the question: "An immortal in Highlander can die only if decapitated. That is their only vulnerable point in a sword fight. (I stick to the canon of the original Highlander, as in Highlander V we see immortals resurrecting after they die.) I think it is extremely unwise not to protect the neck with any kind of armour - especially when being able to prepare for a fight. The importance of protecting the neck has been recognised by mortals - they used gortets, aventails, bevors, etc. Why is the use of such protection uncommon among immortals? In case of any inconsistencies I consider only the original (1986) movie canon." Some comments: "Just guessing, but maybe they realize that if they make themselves basically unkillable then none of them will ever collect 'the prize'". "In Addition: Armor in real life does not work like in a video-game. Wearing only some kind o...

Excerpts from How is Bitcoin useful as a currency if so few services accept it? So why does no one accept bitcoin as a currency? Because it has no inherent value, and it cannot be used to settle a tax debt. And because it is insecure [no authority to assist with payment issues]. And because it does not 'play well' with a modern electronic economy [try explaining to a mom and pop shop how to set up a bitcoin wallet securely, and confirm their payment receipts on the blockchain, vs just paying Visa 3% and forgetting about it]. And because it is deflationary by nature [who wants to pay someone 10 BTC for a pizza worth $20 today, when it could be worth $200k in 5 years?]. And because it is volatile [who wants to accept 1 BTC today for $20k, when it could be worth $6k in 3 months?] So why does BTC have a value at all? Because it avoids 'know your client' banking requirements allowing money laundering or black market activity. And because people love to gamble. And becau...

From Time Magazine http://time.com/floating/