The Annoying Reality

Have you ever gone to a store and had your order messed up?

The first option you have is to kindly make the person behind the counter aware of their mistake, patiently wait for them to fix it and then move on with you life. You cause no hassle cause you know, it’s probably an honest mistake. They are probably underpaid, overworked and don’t need you making their life worse.

The other option is to kick up a fuss, complain, bitch and threaten. This person’s life just got really painful for messing with you. The result? you get compensated for the ‘inconvenience’ you suffered.

I find this such a backwards system. You do a ‘bad’ and get rewarded while if you do a ‘good’ you get nothing. I mean it is understandable, everybody being self motivated will have reasons to give you as little as possible. The only way to raise this ‘minimum’ is to cause them discomfort.

These situations actually get to me. How is it possible that doing ‘good’ is worse? I justify it in the end because the inconvenience experienced is a first world problem. I just don’t care enough about it to jeopardize my values to receive a free large chips value $3.

The only problem is what happens in bigger situations? What if the complaining is preparation for a mess up in a huge future business deal. What if the willingness to complain leads to an amazing opportunity. What if the not complaining leads to being taken advantage of?

I think the solution lies in being on the other side of the counter. If the idea of cutting costs is reversed and you try to give as much as possible then (I hope) people will reciprocate (or at least attract similar company).

Being liberal could make the world a better place.

>>>>>

When I used to work at killer (KFC) if I messed up an order and they were nice about it I would try sneak them an extra something. Usually more than I would in do in comparison to someone complaining. However managers really don’t like this, it eats into their profits.

McDonald’s and fast food joints are pretty much told that if a customer complains give them what they want 100% of the time.

2012
06/06
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Business
philosophy
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Arete

Arete is a term from Ancient Greece that means to being the best you can be, or reach your highest human potential. The ancient society revolved around this idea and is emphasized in their Homeric heroes. Odysseus for example is a very skilled fighter, has incredible strength and courage, is a brilliant strategist, can keep his end in poetry and the fine arts, and is a model husband.

My interpretation of it is that any form of mediocrity is not accepted; it’s not okay to be lacking in any area. It doesn’t mean be perfect but at least be good enough to understand what is going on.

Arete is a dead concept in modern society.

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance (ZAMM) suggests that this is because of the cultural focus on efficiency. Being well-rounded means that less time is dedicated to perfecting a single area of expertise. This focus means that our society has developed exponentially but it has caused  us to be ignorant in areas that do not directly affect our lives.

Take the split between the left and the right-brained people (the artistic vs the logical). Some people cannot understand technology because they never bothered learning how a computer works and don’t care about it. Others can’t understand abstract art because the creative hemisphere of their brain is underdeveloped.

The lack of understanding causes a split in the human personalities because one hemisphere of the brain dominates. Achieving a balance between the two hemispheres is a high form of self-actualization and makes you wiser (Using techniques of one industry to innovate another).

The other problem from focusing on efficiency relates to the corporate world, anything non-profitable and inefficient gets cut even if it is something amazing (Like helping 3rd world countries, stopping pollution, or creating cheap, high quality products).

ZAMM recognizes that those who promoted the focus on efficiency (Socrates and Aristotle) did it for a noble purpose, it made satisfying basic human needs (like food and shelter) easier for the population. However today basic human needs are guaranteed and the costs of being super efficient (Pollution) is the bigger problem.

Its time to revive the idea of arete and stop being mediocre.

2012
06/05
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philosophy
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Self Taught Education

So in coming to the end of my “Schooling” (Note: I will probably be back) I realise that much in the world I should be able to learn without a teacher or a mentor (With a few exceptions).

I never wanted to pursue an education in IT because I assumed that I could teach myself much of the content (It’s working pretty good so far) and this has extended to many other areas. I have learned that Wikipedia and similar sites are a tremendous gift and that Google is an omnipotent being.

However there is one area that interests me but is very daunting. This is mathematics, I did well but not great when studying maths in high school, further in IT and accounting there are some basic mathematic skills required. But the area of Pure Mathematics is something of a black hole.

I would really like to learn more about this,

Strategy:

  • Find some Good general books on mathematics.
  • Find some Good lecture notes (Provided by online university).
  • Use Khan academy to develop basic skills some more.

I have already found some books and notes that I think would be useful but I need to look more into it.

Challenge Accepted!

2012
06/02
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goals
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Into the Abyss

In a months time our accommodation contract ends and at that stage I’ll need to find a new place to live. However before that can happen I need some form of real employment. Also the next few weeks are the exam period and it is unlikely that I’m going to concern myself with proper job and house searching (half-hearted looking at best).

So at this stage its like looking forward into my future and seeing only a huge cliff, I have no idea where I’m going to end up or what I’m going to be doing.

I can’t tell if I like the feeling or hate it.. Hopefully I find a way so I don’t drive off that cliff and plunge into the abyss.

2012
06/01
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Future
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Employment

Getting a job is related purely to economics. When working in a business you have to produce value that a customer is willing to pay for, or to a lesser extent you have to reduce the cost of someone else providing customer value. This is how the job market works and if you can do this well you will always be employed (However areas that produces customer value changes).

The key to providing customer value is skill and your skill has to exist in a way that is relatively scarce so people are willing to pay for it. Demand for your skill needs to be there but it’s normally common sense whether someone is willing to pay you to do something (having a scarce skill that people are willing to pay for is a marketable skill).

To become skilled requires practice, you need to learn how to do something then work on it until you are distinguished from the crowd of “normal” people. In certain areas (white-collar) you are using your brain and the best way to develop your brain is by reading.

Therefore, more reading =  better chance of getting a job.

Note: if you don’t have a marketable skill then you are just selling your labour, and anybody can do that.

2012
05/30
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books
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Hardgainers

There was a blog I read once (I can’t remember where) related to travelling on a shoe string budget, in this article the author contrasted a proper meal vs dessert and suggested that dessert is better value when you consider cost per calorie. Naturally this annoyed me because dessert is all saturated fat, but then I started thinking about this. This idea on eating more dessert is actually just a form of Dirty Bulking applied to travelling, that is you don’t care what you eat as long as you eat enough calories (McDonald’s all the time). ‘Bad’ calories are easier to consume and cheaper than ‘good’ calories.

Firstly note that I am a hardgainer, in weightlifting terms it means that I can eat crazy amounts of food but never gain any weight, and the huge negative of this means building muscle is incredibly difficult. Your body works through the different energy sources (Sugar then other Carbs then Fats then Protein) to meet its energy requirements, protein is important for muscle development but for some people (Mostly young males) eating enough food to leave surplus protein is difficult.

The useful thing about fat is that it that it is easy to get into your system, Dirty Bulking utilises this. Specifically there is this concept (GOMAD) of drinking a gallon of milk a day; Milk is used in nature to bring a baby animal the large energy requirements needed for infant growth and it represents a cheap and easy way to get enough calories (2500-3000 cal plus 160g protein in a gallon). However it does a lot of damage in regards to its ‘healthyness’.

Dirty bulking has its role in dieting but is never preferential to ‘Clean” eating because of the damage it can do to your body. But sometimes cost and convenience leave no other option.

Note: One of my friends realised that both milk and water hydrate you but from a corner shop 600ml of water can cost $3-$4 while a litre of milk is closer to $2.

2012
05/25
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Fitness
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Modern Slavery

I don’t currently work but as my studies are coming to a finish that is probably going to change in the near future (I have however worked in fast food which probably explains the negative view I have). But as adults work takes up a huge part of our lives.. what do we get out of dedicating so much of our time to this?

Using my keen observation skills I have noticed this thing:

“Work generally makes people unhappy”

Now you can do work that makes you happy, it’s not impossible, but generally work sucks.

With 24 hours in a day, if I spend 8 sleeping that leaves me 16 hours of conscious time (That’s Math), then if I spend another 8 hours (Out of 16) working, that means that HALF of my [conscious]  time is spent unhappy.

Weekends and 4 weeks holiday leave does not make up for that fact.

Solution: Work doing something you love or don’t work at all.. Although that is probably easier said than done.

2012
05/22
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Happiness and minimalism

There is this TED talk about synthesized happiness, it talks about how you can be equally happy without something as you would be with something and I like it a lot. The simple idea is that materially receiving something (Or losing something) only gives you a temporary boost in happiness. Who knows this best?

“Buddhist monks, they live off nothing and are always happy.”

Minimalism is the idea that you should disregard consumerism, learn how to differentiate between actual needs and stuff you just really want. In fight club his apartment explodes, he is left only with his one suitcase with 6 shirts. This is what its like to become a minimalist (But due to synthesized happiness it becomes a good thing).

I acknowledge that I have too much crap, and the worst thing about consumeristic behaviours is that it is expensive.

“The best things are free”

but there are some areas which are good not to skimp out in. Food and experiences.

Buying good food makes you healthier, makes you feel better etc. Experiences broaden your horizons, give you stories, develop you etc.

So eat better food, spend less money on consumeristic crap, work less because you don’t need as much money, then use the extra time you have and experience the world. This is my strategy to maximize happiness.

2012
05/21
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goals
philosophy
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On Learning

So I realised that another thing that is important to spend money on is your education. There is much kerfuffle about tertiary education and how it doesn’t teach people anything and how it is so expensive; but I am coming out of my Degree and feel it was the best money I have every spent.

Regardless of whether I get a job university taught me:

  • Social skills
  • To enjoy learning
  • A better understanding of the world

Even the ethics classes that I loathed taught me to be weary of capitalism.

But it is true, knowledge is contained in books and you can have an amazing education simply from the library. If you use amazon to see what books are the top in each field then borrow (or Pirate) the books you can learn almost anything for free.

Plus some of the best books are classics that are now out of copyright and you can download them for free (GET A KINDLE).

But there are some skills that have a cost associated with learning. If you get involved in the stock market or poker you should see the money you lose as the cost associated with gaining experience.

So it is important to spend money on your education, just be cautious about it (Use the formula: Amount Learned divided by Cost)

2012
05/19
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books
Financial
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Crowd-Funding

If anyone has seen The Tunnel you might notice is was a okayish movie. It is definitely low-budget film but as a horror movie the main aim is to give people a scare, and it definitely managed to do that. Anyway the interesting thing about the movie was it was Crowd-Financed then put on the P2P network for free.

Kickstarter is a crowd-funding website, essentially you pitch your idea then people give money to your cause. Kickstarter adds benefits to some of those who pledge money (Like a signed copy etc) and I reckon it is such a good idea.

Imagine if the norm for film producers was crowd-funding, rather than going to some rich financier they went to the end users for money (Before making the film). All profits would be redistributed to the people watching it, but the end users don’t want profit they want the film for cheap. I feel like the effect would be to bring movie production to the masses, instead of it being focused around the few talented (Like how digital photography opened up the field for many people).

I understand that there are many disadvantages to this model of financing but it is nice to dream (Also its good to know alternatives to the normal always exist).

2012
05/18
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Financial
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