Fire & Motion #2

📄The Underrated Pleasures of Eating Dinner Early

You’re familiar with dinner and a movie? Well, how about dinner and a movie and a bath and a book and sex and rearranging your whole spice drawer if you feel like it? Early dinner is great in a restaurant, too: getting a reservation is no problem, the dining room is clean and fresh and running smoothly, nobody at the table is worrying about her meeting the next morning. The relative emptiness of the room nurtures a conspiratorial feeling, energy and relaxation in perfect balance.

Not to mention having dinner earlier brings ourselves better sleep, and so much more health benefit! This great article comes from my subscription of The New Yorker Food newsletter. It's just reminds me of my old principle of doing everything just a bit earlier, such as arriving on the spot 15 mins earlier or making the decision sooner, since it brings a time buffer to make myself be well-prepared for what's coming next.

📕養生主

吾生也有涯，而知也無涯。以有涯隨無涯，殆已；

通常提到「知也無涯」，多用來描述知識的無窮並勉勵學子多多向學 (?) 不過莊子提到的「知」不光只知識，而是指涉更多的思緒、思維、想法，因此用有限的生命去追尋無窮、甚至因此而煩心，那可真是疲倦的一件事啊！讀經典時，我時常對於經典的原文有截然不同的瞭解，因為日常的引用往往去掉了上下文脈絡，導致初始的理解有所偏差。

每至於族，吾見其難為，怵然為戒，視為止，行為遲。動刀甚微，謋然已解，如土委地。

我很喜歡這兩句，因為它寫出就算是功力高強的丁先生，也會面對到稍微難解的部位。該怎麼做呢？心神警惕、慢慢動手，須臾之後便能解。多麼漂亮寫意的描述！

📄台灣的兩個平行世界：富裕與付不起

即便是生產力未提高的領域，其從業人員報酬也會因為其他產業的生產力提高而增加。

科技島讀 (!) 兩年前的文章，而兩年後的今日又準備要選舉了，不過目前的焦點在抄襲和貪汙上。物價上漲的原因相當多，原油上漲 (其他替代物或互補物)、通貨膨脹、外在因素，如戰爭與疫情、政府監管，但這篇文章著重點出：物 (非人) 與服務 (有人) 之間的相對價格也會有影響。如果有能力用 300 元買一份排骨便當的顧客多了五成，那排骨便當是否有機會跟著漲價呢？應不應該漲價呢？

📄掌握複雜系統的利器 — 抽象化思考

中文將 abstraction 翻譯為「抽象化」不太貼切。這裡的 abstract 比較接近「摘要」，因此翻譯為「摘要化」或「本質化」會更精準。摘要的目標是提綱挈領，找出系統的核心，是具體的；而不是像「抽象」聽起來是模糊、不具體的

我非常同意這個見解！同樣是兩年前的文章了，科技島讀什麼時候要重啟啊 (!) 為了強化彈性與易用性，將複雜的系統去蕪存菁後，abstraction 讓系統的本然以更精簡的方式呈現出來，當然不該說是抽象化！

然而，再好的抽象化也會有一天撐不住。有時抽象化會破洞，就像電線露出線頭一樣，讓我們一窺系統底層的原始、複雜，甚至是醜陋。例如當你找不到預定的 Uber 車子，就得回到原始狀態，手忙腳亂地打電話給司機。

前面提到抽象化會犧牲效率。有時抽象化堆疊很多層之後，已經犧牲了太多效率。此時回頭檢查「地基」，重新來過，反而會別有洞天。

這讓我想起在 Reddit 上看到過不少 How to do something without internet 的文章，當我們習以為常的系統不再運作，我們有辦法順利生活嗎？有辦法不靠網路出國玩嗎？該如何訂飯店啊？？The Map Is Not the Territory 的提醒很重要：當地基改變而摘要沒有更新時，反而會造成無效率、無彈性反而但人們不自知；摘要的本質也在於有些細節被捨棄了，若不注意摘要的前提，也會造成錯誤的解讀。

📄The Feynman Technique: The Best Way to Learn Anything

Anyone can make a subject complicated but only someone who understands can make it simple.

Just for this.

📄10 Habits That Helped Me Live a Better Life Worth Smiling About

Thinking about these unusual questions, that may sound odd, brought about some very interesting insights. With time scheduled to think, we take a break from making and managing our lives.

Practical step for me is scheduling a hour-long walk in the nearby urban forest. Usually I take a reflection on what I have learned that day (course, book, article, podcast, etc) and ponder on some lifelong questions, such as what I'm going to do for my career. By the way, it's such a beautiful experience to observe the changing seasons in that urban forest!

There is no point in making money if you don’t invest it instead of spending it. There is a fine line between the two and investing takes advantage of the magic of compounding.

Just putting the money in the bank suffers the opportunity cost of not investing in something that compounds and enriches yourself in the long term. It doesn't have to be financial asset, it can be anything ranges from online course to girlfriend. (invest in relationship!)

Inflation rate is high these days...

📄Mental Models for Career Changes

It’s easy to move fast without getting anywhere. We can stay busy all day without achieving our goals.

Kindly remind me of "in motion is not equals to in progress" Knowing the destination helps us work from where we are now. It's can be as simple as "I want to be excited for work everyday"

One of the things global and local maxima teaches us is that sometimes you have to go down a hill in order to climb up a new one. To move from a local maximum to a higher peak you have to go through a local minimum, a valley.

I would like to quote from a living legend Andre De Shields: "The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing" (also loves the quote "Slowly is the fastest way to go to where you want to be"). And don't miss out one of my favorite podcast episodes with him.

📄A User Guide To Working With You

The most effective User Guides contain snippets that might make you feel vulnerable, like you’re letting the team see you unplugged, in your PJs with rumpled hair. But vulnerability is the secret ingredient to trust. When you acknowledge your imperfections, you will receive far more rewards in the form of support, mentorship, and empathy. And you invite others to be more open with you as well.

I can't help but reflect on the question "How often does your manager show care for you?" during my last job. It reminds me that maybe it's not my manager doesn't care about me, but because my manager doesn't know the better and appropriate to interact with me. "A User Guide to Working with Me" method may also be useful when it comes to relationships. Clarifying strength, vulnerability, growth, life goal, etc help construct a healthy relationship narrative.

Etc.

🏫傅佩榮：先秦儒家哲學 on NTU Open Course

🎥Acknowledge and Embrace Your Negative Emotions on TedxTaipei

🎥Naval Ravikant's Manifesto on Reading on Youtube

📄How to Break Bad News in the Workplace on Hackernoon

🎙️How to Be a Better Presenter on IDEO U