“The easiest way for a human to deal with a complex system…is to imagine that there’s a little man inside…seeking retribution or offering a prize…But it might be even more helpful to remember that there’s no homunculus, no narrative, no revenge. Merely a complex system, one we can understand a bit better if we test…
They Can Bleed: Your Enemies Are Not Gods, Your Opponents Are Not Invincible, Or, How To Learn Languages Like Kratos
by khatzumoto
“We continue to see myths in current novels, where we see a hero that defies the odds and make the world a better place. However, we read these passively instead of becoming inspired to be a hero in the real world that we live in. Myths were never meant to be passive. They were meant…
Trauma: Did Your Childhood Mess You Up, Man?
by khatzumoto
American culture has has created, popularized and amplified a great many wonderful things. But one of its bastard children is decidedly unwonderful. And, no, I’m not talking about fast food, although that was a good guess. Trauma. Specifically, the idea of trauma as being indelible and definitive. We take the idea for granted now, but…
The Problem With School
by khatzumoto
The problem with school, at least with respect to getting used to Japanese, isn’t that it’s boring or lame or slow or that it sucks (although it is all of those things and more), but that it doesn’t work. All pain, no gain. All filler, no killer. It seems almost deliberately designed to punish you…
Crisis: Sic Semper Erat, et Sic Semper Erit
by khatzumoto
Recently, I was doing some immersion multiplexing, and this song come up in the background behind the Cantonese podcast I was foregrounding (it’s a very weird podcast, I wouldn’t recommend it unless you like weird things): [(34) gotta get thru this (acoustic) – daniel bedingfield – YouTube] goo.gl/DiQHLy [Gotta Get Thru This (song) – Wikipedia]…
The One True Secret to Being Happy, Productive and Sane Forever
by khatzumoto
This entry is part 26 of 26 in the series Timeboxing TrilogyWhen you’re doing one thing (which by, definition, is something you can do, otherwise you wouldn’t be doing it) never, ever, not for even one femtosecond, think about the infinities of other things you aren’t doing. That includes all the things you can’t do,…