The Time I Decided to Quit Avoiding Political Subjects

There's a lot going on in the world right now, and while I don't want to weigh in on them directly, I would like to comment on the state of our politics as a whole.  I'd like to talk about what I think is the most important issue right now, and that is Electoral Reform.

Most modern democracies have their major processes for implementing change to be as slow, and as easy to abort as possible.  This is to prevent anything that may not be in the best interest of its citizens from being passed before every possible consideration can be made.  Frankly its a good system, as in general any change is an opportunity to subvert freedoms and people are for the most part capable of making the right decisions without government intervention.  However we are at a point and have been at this point for quite sometime where change is required, and its not happening.  Its a complex issue with many factors, but today I would like to discuss three of the main factors with how we choose are politicians I think are important, and how we need to fix them.

The first factor: campaign finance reform.  Even when we elect the politicians that want to make change, they are immediately hampered by the existing system.  Their job from the get go is no longer to make and advocate for policy, is it to get reelected.   They are forced to begin fundraising for their next election campaign as time and time again it has been show that the campaigns that raise the most are significantly more likely to win an election.  Policy decisions that become delegated to the senior members of each party that are so far entrenched in their office because they receive all the financial support they need from whatever backers want them to maintain the status quo.  Newly elected persons are simply there to be a vote for existing policies for their party and nothing else.  If they cant tow the line, they are easily replaced next election cycle.

There are many possible solutions to this but I believe one inscrutable option is to add single sequential term limits.  Once you're elected you are automatically disqualified for running for the same position in the next term.  You are however not permanently unable to run for reelection, you just would not be able to hold an office for multiple sequential terms, there would need to be another elected candidate in between your terms.

Edit:  This is another post I started 2 years ago and never finished.  I dont even remember the context so at this point its just lost to time.  

My Lessons of 2020

 I met someone new whos really been able to slice through my walls, I thought Id share some lessons they've taught me about myself so I don't forget them.

First, don't set unreasonable expectations of yourself.  I feel like I've been struggling to embrace my feelings for others because I'm worried about the negative ways they'd perceive them in, and its just not a fair assessment of how people feel about me.

Second I've been focusing on the negative influences in my life, the people I don't want to be like become the driving force in my actions.  I should focus on the ways I do want to live, the people I do want to emulate, the positive things I want to do and be.

Third I need to release some of the fear I have about my own insecurities, its okay to be vulnerable in front of people.  I didn't realize until very recently how much I've missed this and how much I need to experience this again.

It sounds pretty simple, but its been a very eye opening experience.  I've felt a lot of growth from it, but that doesn't mean anything if I don't put these new ideas into practice, 2021 will be the year I make real growth towards the things I truly care about, I just needed to remember what those were.

A very special thank you to the empress for bringing me here, no one has ever had such a positive impact in my life, especially considering the short amount of time we've met.

Shout Out to the Legend

Relatable lol.

The Time I Decided to Quit FIAT Currencies

I like cryptocurrencies, so Id thought I do a post about it with some history and possible future, etc.  Its a break from my normal content but maybe for once that will make it interesting.  Lets start with cryptocurrencies in general.

I think we all understand what money is and why its important.  I'm not sure how many chickens a dodge ram is worth, but I have a pretty good idea how many dollars its worth, you get the idea.  Well one of the main problems with traditional currencies is how they are created and issued.  Currently some governing body just arbitrarily decides when and how much to create, and thus has the majority control of its value.  This makes the currency vulnerable to hyper inflation, as said governing body could just decide to print unlimited funds and thus several debasing their original value.  Imagine overnight your life savings now are only worth a few cents, and there is nothing you can do about it.  Well surely that would never happen right?  Well it happens more then you'd think.  One example would be the German mark.  After their defeat in World War I, the Germans were forced to pay reparations to the allied power for damage caused during the war.  Of course their economy was also damaged from the war and so they were forced to print money to maintain payments and thus the value of their own currency plummeted.  At its height they were printing bills as large as 100 trillion marks.  Of course this is not sustainable, and lead to the complete collapse of the German economy, the great depression, and eventually the rise to power of the Nazi party.

This possibility is a consequence of how our money works, and is really a modern problem.  Before our money's value was directly tied to gold, aka 'the gold standard', but this just isn't economically feasible anymore.  Frankly the price of gold is fairly arbitrarily set as well, a simple supply and demand economy.

Well sometime in the early 2000's, someone thought of a new way to issue currencies using computers, and that is via cool math games.  Okay maybe not exactly cool math games, but by solving arbitrary math problems.  By creating a currency that isn't issued by a single governing body, and instead as a reward given out at a set rate to the first person to solve said problems, they have essentially eliminated the possibility of hyper inflation.  But why math problems?  Well one problem with currency, and digital currency is no different is forgery.  In paper currencies we use fancy printing techniques to make reproducing fake bills incredibly difficult and easily spotted when compared to the real deal.  I realize now is a very poor time to be talking about counterfeit bills, but I will continue.  How do you make something that has no physical properties difficult to copy then?  Well you make it computationally difficult to replicate.  The above mentioned math problems are so difficult that no one person has a strong enough computer to make counterfeit currency.  By having multiple people with multiple computers running these calculations, we essentially build a consensus on who has what and no one person can over rule the rest.  It honestly sounds pretty sketchy, but it has worked now successfully for over 10 years without any major incidents in many cryptocurrencies.

This is the system used by most cryptocurrencies including all of the major ones, bitcoin, litecoin, etherum etc.  It is fundamental to their function but it is also their Achilles heal.  It turns out tying all the transactions of your currency to arbitrarily complex math problems is an effective security feature, it also uses a tremendous amount of computer resources.  So much so infarct that it puts a very severe strain on the capacity of transactions it can support.  We call this the scaling problem.  For any of you familiar with bitcoin, when its price peaked in 2018, the transaction cost also peaked at around $20.  Imagining trying to buy something for $5 and then having to pay a transaction fee of $20, it just doesn't make sense.  Since then the adoption of bitcoin was repealed in many high profile retailers as it was no longer economical to accept it.

Well then how do we fix it?  The community is actually quite divided over that, and have basically split into two camps, side chains vs bigger blocks.  As you may have heard one of the fundamental technologies of cryptocurrencies is the block chain.  Its the fundamental data structure of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies where transactions are grouped together in blocks and then the blocks are chained together.  Each block has its own solved math problem and then is linked to its previous block forming a chain.  That way once a block is accepted as valid by the majority of people on the network, it is impossible to change later as it is already embedded in the chain.

The bitcoin community decided that the solution they would go with is side chains, where a lot of the smaller transaction load would be moved of the main bitcoin  block chain onto other more efficient chains.  The problem with this solution is that the programming required to do this is very complex and is still in its infancy.  The first major side chain called 'segwit' for example has been out for 2 years and is only at 60% adoption by bitcoin users.

Some people opted for the bigger blocks solution, where the blocks that contain transactions are made larger so they can contain more transactions.  Instead of adopting segwit, they opted to split the bitcoin block chain in whats called a 'hard fork' and start development of their own coin.  Technically this is a much simpler solution and has already been successfully deployed for a few different spin off coins.  The main technical downside is that bigger blocks require more storage space and thus makes it require much more complex (and thus expensive) computer hardware to run the bitcoin software.  One of the fundamental mission goals of the bitcoin community is to provide access to basic banking services to people who do not have access to traditional banking services, most likely due to endemic poverty in their nations.  Increasing the hardware complexity requirements of bitcoin makes this goal unnecessarily more difficult, hence why the majority of the bitcoin community decided not to adopt it.  The reason why the major people who did decide to adopt it is actually quite self-serving, but that's a story for another time.

I have quite a bit more to share on this topic but I think this post is already probably too long so Ill call it here.

 

Follow Up: The Time I Decided to Quit Back Pain

So I forgot one key detail in the previous post on back pain.  I guess that's the problem with writing the entire post at once, but there's no reason I cant add things later, especially when its such a simple thing they had such a big impact on me.  And what is that thing?  Flax seed oil.

Normally when I tell people that, I immediately follow it up by mentioning that its a supplement you take, usually in pill form.  For some reason the first impression everyone gets is something else, I don't know why.  You can get it in a liquid, and I have tried it before, but it doesn't taste good and the consistency is really gross.  Its possible the liquid I had was rancid, its a common problem with oils.  You cant taste when capsules are rancid, but you still don't want to be eating rancid oil so maybe liquid is better in that sense, but then again I have no idea.

How does it work?  Well from what I've read its all about your ratio of Omega-3s to Omega-6s.  They're both essential fatty acids, which means your body cant produce them on their own, so you need to consume them somehow.  Now deficiencies in either of these oils can cause negative health effects, and there's a lot more complexity to just the broad number of fatty acids encompassed by these umbrella terms which Im not going to cover right now, maybe a bit later.  For now Im going to focus on the effects of the ratio these oils have.  Lets start by talking about vegetable oil, there's a pretty good break down of the fat content of oils on wikipedia, here it is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Types_of_cooking_oils_and_fats

As we can see nearly every oil we consume has a much higher omega 6 content then omega 3s, which a few exceptions, notably flax seed oil.  If you're not aware, and I wasn't until I had read about it, these oils are in the majority of processed foods.  They're usually listed in the ingredients as vegetable oil, sometimes with what particular types of oil.  In general the most common are canola, soy, sunflower and safflower.  They're used in deep friars, they're used as a substitute for butter in margarine and baked goods, they've even replaced peanut oil as the primary oil in peanut butter.

Ill let you in on a little secret, I started writing this two weeks ago, then I stopped to watch the new season of black mirror.  So why did it take me two weeks to continue, well I suffer from insomnia.  I just didn't have the mental energy to put in the solid thought required to write something Id actually consider worth writing.  Ive actually become pretty good at managing my insomnia, but clearly I havent fully over come it.  It was really an eye opener to how even what I would consider a small event really effected me, I just wasn't operating at 100% even a full week after I was back to normal sleep.  Its something I plan to write a full post on sometime, hopefully once Ive really got it under control, but maybe not, its still something I dont have a clear solution to yet.

Clearly I was working on this and just never came back to it, I honestly dont know why, but better late then never I guess.

Follow Up: Why I Decided to Create This

Well its been awhile, I had honestly forgotten I had even made this, but with a lot of free time on my hands due to this whole corona virus thing, I decided to come back.  At least it only took one year this time instead of three.

So I mentioned previously that it was a podcast with Jordan Peterson that inspired me to do this, but it was more then just that.  He has this website called the self authoring program.  It's a series of long form answer questions they ask with the intent of identify your goals as well as the consequences of continuing on the path you're on without achieving them.  I worked on it for several days straight, putting in a few hours of work until I felt mentally drained and then coming back the next day, and even then I only finished about half of it.  I'd say I got the point of what it was trying to show and it really did help me make big improvements in my life.  Part of me is thinking I should go back and finish it but, the other part of me just wanted to expand on the work I had already done in a more long form, and so here we are.

I still have a few ideas I had started last year and partially finished.  I even have a few new ideas of things that have happened to me and are still continuing today.  I think I might start writing them now while the events are still fresh in my head but I wont post them later until things are fully resolved.

I would like to say things are going well in my life, but I only return here when I'm unhappy with certain things.  Not everything, not even most things, but there are things I need to change and I'm not sure if I will be able to do it.

I'm still not even really sure why I'm doing this.  I still have never shown this to anyone and never really intend to.  Maybe someday but I don't know when or to whom that would be.

Oh I almost forgot, I had been thinking about this post for awhile but didn't really start it until something inspired me.  I actually discovered this youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV8Qe8z3RDLiAV7E0WP7-Fg

I felt a lot of the stories were in a similar tone to mine, but obviously less mundane.  It really puts it into perspective when you see someone with real issues that yours suddenly seem trivial.  Its really hard to reconcile your own feelings when faced with this.  Its also strange when a strangers tragedy bring you your own sense of peace, I wish I could repay them somehow but how do you help a complete stranger really?  I don't think you can really.

Follow Up: The Time I Decided to Quit World of Warcraft

I was working on another post that is turning out to be a lot more difficult then I had anticipated, so I thought Id take a break to do something a little easier.  A big part of my post on world of Warcraft is the movie revolver, and in it I mention that it really isn't a well made film.  It lacks subtlety in how it deliver's its message, and while I still agree that is exactly what I needed at the time, its still the major flaw of that film.  Well then is there a film in my opinion that portrays this message with better execution?  Yes, probably several, but one in particular stands out and that is The Duellists, and here's the trailer.

The Duellists was the fist feature film of director Ridley Scott, who is more famously known for his films Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, all of which I also enjoy.  It takes place in Napoleonic France, and tells the historic story of two officers in the french Grande Armee.  One of the officers, Feraud played by Harvey Keitel, takes offense at a perceived slight from another officer, d'Hubert played by Keith Carradine, and decides the only way to get justice is to challenge him to a duel to the death.  The pair are evenly matched and it ends indecisively and is then followed up with several more contests as they cross paths through out their lives.

This is the trap of the ego, it creates unnecessary conflict.  Feraud is only able to see the situation from his perspective, that Hubert has insulted him and refuses to admit responsibility.  However if he were able to see things from Hubert's perspective he would realize that Hubert, who doesn't even know who Feraud is, has no reason to insult him and that it's clearly an accident.  Hubert isn't completely absolved of guilt in this situation either, as he is bound by honor to accept the duels.  The idea of honor is a tricky one, in that ideally its used to uphold the reputable treatment of others, both friend and foe.  However in this case it seems to cause more harm then good, from its misapplication by both Feraud and Hubert.

Im going to talk about the ending next, so if you don't want it spoiled skip this section.  The climax of the film is a final duel between the two, this time with pistols.  It's not how I'd imagine a traditional pistol duel, you know back to back take ten paces turn and fire.  It's more a dangerous game as Feraud stalks Hubert through a wooded area around a destroyed castle.  Feraud discharges both of his pistols and misses, from which Hubert takes the opportunity to catch Feraud unarmed at point blank range.  Hubert could easily kill Feraud, thus permanently ending their rivalry, however he decides to spare Feraud's life under the condition that they have no further contact, including no further duels.  This is a risk by Hubert, as its possible Feraud could go back on his word and attempt to duel Hubert again, which could result in Hubert's death.  Why?  Hubert never actually wanted to kill Feraud, he was bound by his own code of honor to respond to the duels.  Killing Hubert would actually be a failure of his own personal beliefs, and ironically enough a victory for Feraud, as he was the one that wanted the duels to be to the death.  The final scene of the film involves Feraud gazing out across a landscape as the sun rises in the distance.  The camera slowly zooms out to give the effect of an expanding horizon, to symbolize the metaphorical expansion of Feraud's horizons as he is no longer trapped in his misguided quest for revenge.

I think it's only fair since I started this post by pointing out the flaws in revolver that I should point out the flaws in this film as well.  It's been awhile since I've seen it, so there's probably more I just cant remember, but certainly it's Harvey Keitel.  He's not a bad actor, and gives a good performance in this film, but his accent is just not meant for period piece roles.  Don't get me wrong, its not Kevin Costner as Robin Hood bad, but its certainly distracting.  I ended my revolver discussion unsure if I should recommend it or not, and I guess now it's time to decide the same for this.  Both of these movies have had an important positive impact on my life, and on that grounds I have to recommend them.  However if you aren't really in a place where you're ready for some introspection fuel, and thus these movies would be purely judged on their entertainment value, then I wouldn't recommend them.  I personally enjoyed the duelists because I find history interesting, but I'm not sure the story can carry itself outside of the setting its told in.  Ultimately the decision is yours, if anyone ever does read this Id be interested to hear if any other films had a similar impact on you.