THE INFINITE MONEY QUESTION

October 3rd, 2019

Here’s an exercise that’s worth trying with anyone you know.  It’s particularly good with new acquaintances.

Give the person the premise:

You suddenly have infinite money.  Not just billions or trillions, but Infinite money.  You quite literally can’t spend all of it, nor can it ever run out, nor will this source of money ever be taken away from you.

Now, after your period of hedonism.  Because everyone is going to go travelling, or drink the most expensive wine, or buy ungodly amounts of shoes and nice coats, and all that stuff and that needs to get out of the way. 

And that’s the thing… this period of hedonism and gluttony would get old.

The only real reason that such things are so appealing to us now is because we can’t do this.  It’s like a dog chasing it’s tail.  The moment it catches it’s tail, it no longer knows what to do.

But back to the question:

After all that hedonism had run it’s course….

what would you do?

Ask yourself the question.  And then ask others.  It’s been well tested and it works wonders to peel back the layers and reveal interesting things about people.

CONDUCIVE

October 2nd, 2019

Late nights can be strangely conducive to getting work done.  There is something quiet and contemplative about the time when most people have succumbed to slumber.

At least some of the reasons are easy to point out: there’s fewer people who are likely to bother you, what with people being asleep or making the polite assumption that you might be asleep.  There’s also fewer places open that might tempt one to venture out, and of course darkness takes the flashy color out of everything.

It’s worthy to note here that the iphone’s screen can be converted to greyscale in the settings and this has been shown to make addictive apps… less addictive.  To think about why this might be the case, just think about how flashy and colorful everything is at a casino.  Especially those slot machines.

And yet, when we try to sit down for a stint of concentrated work in the middle of the day, what do we do to make things more conducive?  We check email to make sure there’s nothing lingering we should take care of.  We go to YouTube to find the perfect music to listen to and expose ourselves to all of the algorithmically addictive selections of recommended videos.  We get a snack to make sure we won’t get hungry.

And of course we keep our phone close by… just in case.

Ironically, we do the exact opposite of what happens with nightfall.  We add potential distractions to our plate instead of understanding the allure of the meditative night.

Night time eliminates distractions. 

There are still plenty to waste time with.  Youtube for one never sleeps.  But with less overall chances to be distracted, we are more likely to have the time needed to engage in deeper work.

It’s not unusual for those with some kind of 9-5 job to say that their best and often only work really gets done in the morning.  Some people get to work early for this period.  And it makes sense as an extension of night time.  Less people around, less chance of being distracted.

But of course, the reasons why night time can be so conducive to productivity can be manufactured at any time of day.  The phone can be turned off for an hour or two.  YouTube can be consciously avoided in favor of some old faithful choice.  The door can be shut, or the location can be changed. 

Strangely enough, even fasting is a valuable tool for productivity because a firm resolution to not eat ultimately precludes the break of getting food from being a potential option that can crop up in order to break our attention.

As with most things, we are quick to state what works or doesn’t work for us.  But we’re slower or even totally inactive when it comes to knowing exactly why something works or doesn’t work. 

It’s this second perspective on our own preferences that unlocks a flexibility and agility that we can use to cater situations more to our use. 

By rearranging the situation we have, we can make things more conducive to our own ends.  Whether that be focused attention or some other aim in life.

RESOLUTION PREREQUISITE

October 1st, 2019

Resolution usually increases before we go.

The moon, for example, was first just a disk in the sky with some textured coloration.  Then Galileo invented the telescope and we started to get a better look at the thing.  Telescopes became better and better, and by the time the first Apollo mission landed on the moon, we had the whole thing mapped in pretty good resolution.

The same thing is true about things in the other direction.  The first microscope was invented in the early 1600’s but it would be quite some time before that resolution increased to the degree that we’d be able to tinker with all of the tiny structures we could see.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why visualizing a goal is very effective:

Vague is very difficult to execute because action requires specificity. 

Any goal or achievement that we might strive for boils down to a string of basic actions.  The higher resolution we have with regards to what each little detail requiring an action might be, the less time we spend simply being stuck.

Resolution increases agency by providing navigational details. 

Think of it the other way around.  If you instantaneously found yourself in a totally different environment and it was completely pitch dark, what would be the first, default reaction?

Well, you certainly wouldn’t go waltzing around.

You’d freeze.  You’d stay very still for at least a moment, and then you’d start putting out feelers, putting a toe out to see if there are safe places to step and what not.

Even taking a few casual steps could actually be dangerous in such a situation. 

And with everything, it remains dangerous until we gain some resolution on the environment.

It’s a good rubric for analyzing failure:

Did I understand what I was actually trying to do?  Or was a I missing a lot of the picture?  What parts?  Or was it simply details I missed due to a lack of resolution?

How do I zoom in for the next attempt?

Or perhaps I need to zoom out?

This episode references Episode 54: The Well-Oiled Zoom

THE LAST DOMINO

September 30th, 2019

This episode is an extension of Episode 496, entitled Organized Systems which addressed the issue of Tinkered Thinking releasing episodes late.  The premise of the episode is that every recurrent problem requires a system that solves it automatically.  For most people, this is going to take the shape of a habit. 

James Clear and Charles Duhigg have written extensively about the creation and use of habits and one of the largest take-aways from such research and work is that the first month is the hardest, but it gets easier as the run streak of repeated behavior passes certain thresholds.  3 days, 5 days, 7, 21 and 30 days seem to be the most notable.  That first month is the hardest.

So Tinkered Thinking set out to commit to a month of on time posting and today marks thirty days in a row.  There were one or two days that were a couple hours behind the designated time due to unforeseen recording issues, but not one day went by without a post.

James Clear in particular outlines a good system for how to make this first month happen, and much of it was simplified for this Tinkered Thinking experiment.  Two things in particular were of great benefit.  Each time a ‘habit threshold’ was passed, some sort of pre-planned reward was at hand, and small daily pleasures were withheld until the daily work was finished. 

A set time every day for this work would be ideal, but do to the nature of other primary projects, this doesn’t get to happen everyday.

It is remarkable to look back over the first month while building any habit.  Things do get easier, and by the time the end rolls around, it feels nearly inevitable.  Like the falling of the last domino.  The work isn’t so hard to do, because so much work has already been done. 

After just one short month, there’s already momentum.

Do we stop here, and simply expect it to continue? or is there some way we can Level-up and further entrench the progress?

Staying on time is one thing, but what about staying ahead?

Perhaps this will be the next iteration of the habit to install, but for now, there are rewards to be enjoyed…

This episode references Episode 496: Organized Systems, and Episode 42: Level-Up

A LUCILIUS PARABLE: THE MATRYOSHKA DOLL OF MODERNITY

September 29th, 2019

The bus jolted forward and quickly stopped at a red light, making Lucilius waver from side to side in his seat.  Lucilius was living in a well-to-do city, getting on with the days, enjoying what moments he could and even learning how to enjoy the time in-between.  It was a beautiful, clear day and the bus was crowded.  Lucilius was trying to soak it in and see if he could make a mundane moment memorable by simply focusing his attention.  It was at that point a loud, wet snort and followed by a hacking cough drew his attention. 

Someone in a far less fortunate situation had gotten on the bus and most of the people around Lucilius were staring at the person.  Snot ran down over their lips, soaking into whiskers and bloodshot eyes shifted around at the ground.  Lucilius noticed someone holding a sleeve to their nose and then Lucilius could smell the weeks without bathing.

The bus jolted to a stop and the doors opened.  A couple with huge backpacks and loud accents tramped aboard and stood in the only space available, not noticing the unfortunate person who was still the focus of most people on the bus. 

The two were happily barking about their plans for the day, recounting the mundane adventure they’d just finished with all the enthusiasm that comes with the frame of travelling, when another loud wet snort rattled the hunched and stinking person near them.

The couple stopped talking, and the woman turned to look at the homeless person hitching a ride on the bus.  Her upper lip curled, much like many others on the bus, and she turned back to her partner.  And without discretion nor shame she said simply:

“disgusting…”

Everyone on the bus could hear it.  Lucilius looked back at the homeless man and wondered about the assessment, thinking about the times during his life when he’d been homeless.  But a whisper interrupted his remembrance.  Sitting next to Lucilius, one friend whispered –almost inaudibly to another:

“figures an Australian would say that…”

Lucilius sighed, taking in the whole situation, and thought about how much sense it made that someone in this well-to-do city would say that about an Australian.

And then,

Lucilius burst out laughing.