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The Castle by Kafka

Everything is detached in this book, alienated. Even the third person narration gives a sense of alienation. K. is a strange person in a strange land, he cannot quite fit into any scene of the story. And yet the events are all told as from K.’s perspective, which gives a warped view of the world. […]

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.122018.01.21Posted inReading NotesTags: KafkaLeave a comment on The Castle by Kafka

Scott Alexander on Postmodernism

Slate Star Codex discusses postmodernism. I think Scott actually does a good job explaining some of these concepts. The metaphor at the end is a bit iffy, but overall a nice example of the Principle of Charity. At the end of the day, the best way to learn postmoderism is to read the postmodernists: Foucault, […]

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.112018.03.10Posted inThoughtTags: philosophyLeave a comment on Scott Alexander on Postmodernism

Plays and movies

It took me a while to get into The Castle by Kafka. It can definitely be a boring book, but it doesn’t have to be. What finally got me into the book was this: I stopped imagining the scenery of the story as if it were a movie or a television show: an entire world […]

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.112018.01.11Posted inThought1 Comment on Plays and movies

The Principle of Charity

First off, there is really only one thing to keep in mind when reading a philosophical text, and it’s the thing that seems to be the most lacking in new readers: The Principle of Charity. It asks that you read a text in the strongest, most persuasive way possible, regardless of whether you agree with […]

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.10Posted inThoughtTags: philosophy, reading1 Comment on The Principle of Charity

SQL Database Design with Yesod and Persistent

If you’ve ever designed a database from scratch, or worked with a database migrations, then you know how important it is to get the data schema right the first time. If you get them wrong, then when you (inevitably) have to fix it, you must do a major overhaul of your code just to fit […]

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.082018.01.08Posted inEngineeringTags: haskell, sql, yesodLeave a comment on SQL Database Design with Yesod and Persistent

Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths

Novelty in biology is guilty until proven innocent. Michael Pollan

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.082020.06.05Posted inThoughtTags: biologyLeave a comment on Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths

Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths

Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.082020.05.28Posted inThoughtTags: food, nutritionLeave a comment on Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths

Interview with McKenzie Wark of *A Hacker Manifesto*

Courting Vectoralists: An Interview with McKenzie Wark on the 10 Year Anniversary of “A Hacker Manifesto” – Los Angeles Review of Books

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.07Posted inEngineeringTags: books, hackingLeave a comment on Interview with McKenzie Wark of *A Hacker Manifesto*

Collective decision making defaults toward stasis

It’s easier to scare than to inform and we fear losses more than we desire gains so collective decision-making defaults toward stasis. Alex Tabarrok, Collective Action Kills Innovation, Marginal Revolution  

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.042018.01.08Posted inThoughtLeave a comment on Collective decision making defaults toward stasis

Naval

Reading science, math, and philosophy one hour per day will likely put you at the upper echelon of human success within seven years. Naval Ravikant Of course, it’s no use reading these things if you don’t do anything with the information. This is why I write here: to integrate what I learn.

Posted byBen Sima2018.01.032018.01.12Posted inThoughtTags: math, philosophy, scienceLeave a comment on Naval

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