Paradoxes drive development of the self:
Freedom lies within one's limitations.
Authenticity begins by pretending.
Responsibility entails responding less.
Meaning often is ineffable.
@oliverbeige Alphabet is the VW AG of compute. They bought their own Lamborghini (Deep Mind) which attracts / retains engineering talent & halo effect trickles down to their ล koda, SEAT, Scania, MAN...
@edelwax@banu__guler In any case, I'd imagine working on one's sartorial identity--even if it were anxiety-ridden--beats 95% of the identity work out there.
@oliverbeige Do you think such internal bureaucratic hurdles are more tenable institutionally or culturally than an explicit "we're going to focus on the hoi polloi"?
@Pastpassport 1 nautical mile =1 minute of arc (1/60th of a degree)
& 360 degrees to Earth's circumference.
I grew up on miles & lived 20 years as adult abroad in kilometers, etc., but metric seems ill-suited to navigation.
@Chris_arnade@CatherineProj Ah. This summer, @zenahitz quoted a Democracy section that implied Tocqueville had relied on the Front Row, not the Back Row for that concrete example.
Was in her lecture on Moby Dick. (implied to me; don't know anyone shares my take).
@Chris_arnade You must be in the honeymoon part of the book.
(Without spoilers) his enthusiasm wanes into worry.
This decade--and next--may show his fears further tested.
@TerrorismGuy@chrisschmitz Mass mobilization excuse tracks--& worries me more than my assumption past year or 2:
Putin can't survive losing to Ukraine
He can survive losing to NATO
He'd escalate to de-escalate, then stand down ("call'). But mobilization throws many more chips on the table.
Some arrive in a limo.
Others leave with LIMO: Little Iโm Missing Out
Crash a room now and then. It teaches you that most rooms arenโt worth entering twice.
"I don't believe in 50 friends. I believe in a smaller number. Nor do I care about society events. It's the most senseless use of time. When I do go out, from time to time, it's just to convince myself again that I'm not missing a lot."
- Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of Red Bull
@cduhigg@grok Can you ID ways to swap out the middle gear?
Cue: When I hit knowledge-work forks in the road (What to work on next?) I consume news.
Reward: impactful stories where I have (near) zero agency relieve my anxiety of making trade-offs where I got ample, even scary agency.