🧙🏿‍♂️ String Theory, Patriarchy, and SO Much More

Week 5 and 6

Warning, this newsletter is VERY long!! 😅

Tldr:

• What if we could model the universe via actual strings?

• Patriarchy is disgusting and harmful for everybody.

• Competition is a toxic pretense for/indirect way to get cooperation

• Mickey Factz got BARS!! He created one of the best diss tracks in history

• We need more/better bikes

• Mushrooms are super fckn cool

• Credit is a legalized mafia system

• People are animals, our mental models are our environment

• Design is not art. We need more designers.

• Deathworlders should be it’s own series

• The Black Ignite Talk was great!… but it was stressful to do.

• I like music.

📚 What I’m learning:

String Theory

Lex Fridman’s interview with Cumrun Vafa about string theory was absolutely amazing! I have always been super interested in this area of physics but it’s been years since I last looked into it. 

I highly suggest you go take a listen if you’re interested, even a little bit. Here’s a couple things they mentioned here that I want to touch on a bit. 

1. Is string theory ‘real science’? Many people are skeptical of this field because it seems like its not testable. But Vafa points out that it is testable, and it can (and has) make predictions. The biggest problem is that we simply don’t yet have the technology to test many of its key elements. But the same could be said for Einstein's theory of gravity via special/general relativity. It took decades for humans to be able to test his theories, and even to this day we are only just now able to build detectors that can actually prove the existence of black holes and lensing effects that Einstein predicted.

2. Why does it matter? This question always bothers me. People love to ask why does it matter that we dont know what  x or y thing is that we can’t even see and can’t interact with directly? Why do we ‘waste’ time and money on these things? For the same reason we do anything… because we’re curious. That is reason enough. But for the cynics in the back, its also because it almost always creates more opportunities down the line. Once again, Einstein theory of Relativity. The fact that the speed of light is fixed means that space and time bends once you move near or at the speed of light. However, we don’t directly experience this effect, so why does it matter? Because we send satellites up into space, and there, gravity is much lower, thus causing time itself to run slower. Meaning without understanding relativity, we would not have cellphones or the internet or GPS. Science allows us to understand the world in such a way that we can materially benefit from what was just theoretical decades before.

3. Beauty in mathematics (and science) - It seems that beauty, elegance, symmetry, etc are universal concepts. These are often markers of deep truth. Though beauty itself does not mean something is true or real, once you do the work and get down to a truth that describes the world, it seems to hold that those truths turn out to be beautiful. 

A Thought Experiment

Here’s an idea that I have about string theory. I first thought about this years ago when I was deeper into it but frustrated with myself (and the field) for the heavy dependence on math to describe things. I figured, why not try to philosophically and/or geometrically describe string theory? 

This is just a completely ignorant layman’s sky thoughts on string theory, so take this with a gotdamn planet of salt.

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What if 'strings', i.e. the smallest things in the universe, is space itself? I know its crazy! But hear me out. Vafa describes strings as ‘the smallest units of energy’... but what is energy? In math/physics it is just a way of measuring this nebulous concept of ‘ability to do work’... It’s just like how temperature is a way to measure how much heat (i.e. movement/transfer of particles) is in a system.

‘Energy’ is no more a physical thing than temperature… so when he says ‘energy’.. What does he mean? What is doing the work? You can describe this well with math and physics, but I can’t so I’m describing it for now as the ability for space itself to do ‘work’ (or maybe this whole idea is already off the deep end and I should STFU, but… I wanna try anyways, just to see if something can come of this).

I’m basically trying to take ‘the fabric of space-time’ literally because it seems that space itself behaves like a fluid or some other strange material. Relativity shows that space ‘curves’ around mass and those curves are gravity. 

So I figure, what if we imagine space itself to be made up of irreducible ‘strings’ just like a fabric? String theory also says that subatomic particles making up atoms are basically different vibrations of those strings. (Just like when you pull a string by two ends and it vibrates, or when you strum a guitar). 

He mentions that spatial dimensions are the intersections of these strings (if I am understanding this correctly). So what if ‘matter’ (from atoms to objects) are ‘knots’ and different intersecting strings? And the different ways in which strings form knots while vibrating create different tensions. Those tensions are the ‘forces’ that we can measure (ie strong and weak force, nuclear force, electromagnetism, and even gravity). 

The reason you have such vastly varying tensions or forces that exhibit more influence at different scales (i.e. the strong force is only super strong on the scale of particles) is because the vibrations of the knots themselves, and the strings in the knots, are constrained according to the tension they experience (meaning the ‘tightness’ of the knot). The looser the knot, the ‘weaker’ the vibrations, but the longer and more widespread they are (i.e. gravity). The tighter the knot, the stronger the vibration, but the shorter and more compact they are (i.e. nuclear forces). 

I won’t get into the specifics of how exactly this could play out for every particle, but I think this idea will give more people a way to think about this level of physics without math or arcane concepts like cabua manifolds (granted the real goal of this thought experiment is to see how we might be able to describe those arcane concepts in a more intuitive way for the layperson). If this is useful, it could even be used to develop games, toys, and physical models that regular people can use to develop a more intuitive understanding of our world… But let’s continue.

The beauty of this concept is how it can be consistent from the quantum to the macro.

• Subatomic particles could be described as really small and tight knots

• Atoms could thus be bigger knots made up of those tiny knots, some looser than others based on how many knots they are made of…

• That means molecules and bigger objects are balls of knots

• And planets are huge mountains of knots made up of knots of all varying sizes and shapes and vibrations.

This could explain relativity. The reason why mass bends space is because of the internal tension of those knots! 

I know nobody else is excited about this besides myself lol. I probably am not even making half as much sense as I think I am. But this excites me because I was always confused about how to think about gravity and relativity and so on.

Gravity is often depicted as either a ‘downward pull’ or a … bowl in space… but the image of a gravity well kinda uses gravity to explain gravity. I know they are just trying to show the curvature of space, but *why* is there any curvature at all? I have found it exceedingly difficult to get a simple explanation as to why mass curves space. Videos like this do a really good job, but I wanted to try my hand at this too. :D

I think this knot idea might just do that. 

Its just like if you tie a knot in your blanket, all of that material gets ‘pulled’ towards the knot because of the tension you have just created in the blanket! It doesn’t matter if its rightside up, upside down, or sideways, the threads in your blanket are still ‘curved’ in the direction of your knot.

Do you see where I’m going with this now??

Mass is macro-scale tension. Thus gravity is just the term we use to describe that ‘pull’ that we feel when near (or on) a large body of mass. Of course, we don’t individually feel the gravity of other people or objects, because we ourselves are made of ‘knots’ at the same scale as those other things, and we are inside of the huge inception-like knot of knots that is our planet. Our tension effectively cancels each other out. Thus why it’s so hard to escape the ‘gravity well’ because we have to disentangle ourselves from others knots by going really fast. (Just like how you can untie a double knotted shoelace by yanking the right string in the right direction… or perhaps a better metaphor is trying to ‘push’ a select few knots from the countless knotted threads of a blanket beyond the big knot by burning up the surrounding knots.. Idk, still working on it).

But to… ehm, wrap this up, energy is measuring the vibration of those strings and knots, while the forces are describing varying scales of ‘tension’ in strings and knots.

This is probably quite confusing in written form, but the whole point of this is to create more intuitive visuals. So one day, if I can get some physicists to tell me whether or not this is a scientifically accurate way of describing things, then it would all be described via animated videos, and maybe even interactive ‘toys’!

Of course, the devil is in the details, how can I explain all the finer distinctions of particle and nuclear physics? Quantum physics? Special/general relativity? I have some ideas… but that’s for a later date.

What do you think?

1. This is stupid (vote here)

2. This is cool (vote here)

3. I don’t get it (vote here)

4. Something else… (tell me in the comments!) (vote here)

See results

Car Rentals … and Credit (a predatory/racist system?)

Last week I learned that you can’t rent a car without a credit card. Usually. The idea is that if you get into an accident, if your insurance can’t pay for it, the rest will come out of your credit account. 

Now I already talked about my experience with this in my audiojournal, and I have not researched the details of why we even have a credit or car rental system set up like this, but I am going to ask a few questions that I will research over the next few weeks…

How in the fuck would it make sense to use someone’s credit account to cover expensive car damages that can run thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars, if even your insurance can’t pay for it???

You’re telling me, that we are required to pay insurance for a vehicle (in addition to maintenance, gas, and the car note) just for the *chance* that you get into an accident… only for that insurance to possibly not even cover those costs??? And because insurance and car rental companies know this whole system is fucked, they tack on a shit ton of fees PLUS demand you have a credit card in which they can offload their risks back onto you???

Of course, in order to maintain a credit card (and good credit), you have to open up an account that you must actually use to go into mini debt every month, then pay off that debt… BUT NOT TOO FAST! Because otherwise it will make you seem desperate, and of course, you have to do this at least 3-4 times simultaneously to have a ‘healthy’ amount of credit lines open. And oh, a ‘good’ credit line is one that has been open for quite a few years, so its best to start while your young!!!

What in the GOTDAMN FUCK is that??? 

😤

Hysterics aside. Let’s seriously think about this. The claim is that one’s credit score tells people how ‘responsible’ you are. It's supposed to show that you are a ‘trustworthy’ citizen who can afford to make regular, on-time payments for things that you are not paying in full (or for things you are borrowing and paying back later). Sure, that makes some kind of sense. Kind of.

To accomplish this, we somehow came up with a system which requires consumerist, risky behaviour. Meaning, you literally have to buy things on a regular basis, and don’t pay them off immediately. We created a system that normalizes borrowing money from people who will extract more money than you borrowed or make your life miserable if you don’t.

You know another word for that? Extortion. That is literally what the mafia does! 

What’s the difference between the mafia and the credit bureau? The latter is legal. The fact you literally can’t even participate in the market unless you ‘opt-in’ to these inherently abusive and coercive systems is quite frankly disturbing. 

The fact that many people will justify this entire system (or is just reserved to it) is even more disturbing. It literally feeds on indoctrination (starting young and teaching young people that this is how you become a ‘responsible adult’), propaganda (claiming that this is the only way to figure out ‘trustworthiness’ at scale), and cult behaviour (in order to ‘opt-in’ you have to partake in the behaviour we deem acceptable, and if you don’t then you’re ‘irresponsible’ or ‘deserving of your poverty’). 

I don't think I have to explain how this is inherently racist too do I? I’ll get the receipts in the following weeks.

I now understand those ‘crazy’ people who liken the government to legalized crime. It quite literally is. 

And yes, I understand why and am glad for services like Turo that allow people to rent cars directly from individual car owners with just a debit card as a win for the ‘free market’. My problem is that this entire system (and the workarounds for all the people that can’t or won’t partake) should not even exist.

I know I know… credit is ‘useful’ … it allows us to make big purchases you wouldn’t otherwise be able to make. But why not allow debit payments to count towards your credit score? If you actually want to see how ‘responsible’ and ‘dependable’ I am… look at my fcuking bank statements where you can clearly see how few overdraft or late payments I have made. 

I was raised to simply not buy things that I can’t afford. To plan and save. To never borrow money. But I guess all of that is ‘irresponsible’. 

Now I have to worry, will I be able to buy my own car without a credit card? Rent an apartment? Buy a house? Why are so many critical elements of life tied to a system that should be completely optional (or at least updated)??

And yes, I (now) know that the idea that you have to let a small credit balance carry over a few months is somewhat of a myth, but it's one credit companies do nothing to dispel, because that is how they make their money. So they are often encouraging this sort of behaviour by increasing your credit limit and through other means (that are legal, who knows what shady things they do).

As you can tell, this lesson has been exceedingly ‘hard’ for me… Yet another reason why a complete upending and reimagining of society is necessary in my eyes.

Fungi, Mushrooms and Psychedelics

On a much better note, I watched this amazing Netflix documentary on Fungi. I’ll try to stay concise, as we have much more to discuss in this newsletter. Here are some key learnings:

• Fungi are actually the most diverse and numerous of anything in the animal kingdom, there’s more types of mushrooms than there are types of plants!!

• I knew myocelia, the fungal network, was dope, but I didn’t know that it not only enables trees to communicate, but they also communicate specific messages and identify their relatives through the network too! Some trees even send signals to encourage their relatives to grow further away if pests are detected through the network in that local area!!

• The human brain likely evolved hand-in-hand through the consumption of mushrooms over millions of years… something that could easily explain the creation of art, religion, abstract thought, and even consciousness itself.

Related to all of this, I also watched this great youtube video about detritivores. Here are some notes:

• The ‘top’ of every food chain is really the things that break down dead matter and release those nutrients back into the food chain, without things like hyenas, vultures, dung beatles, slugs, and fungus, the world would be filled with dead bodies that hold most of the nutrients (and ecosystems would quickly die). 

  • How can the human system learn from this? How can we not just ‘manage’ our waste, but also break it down and allow those resources to circulate back into the environment?

• Trees take just as long to fully die as they do to grow! A 100 year old tree will take roughly 100 years to fully decompose, and all that time it is still giving back to the environment. So cutting down trees and taking them is THRICE as fucked up as you’d think, because not only does cutting down trees reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that can be turned into oxygen, but removing it also removes key nutrients and habitats that would otherwise have sustained that environment for decades or even centuries for larger, older trees.

  • How can we build structures such that even in death, they can serve a key purpose for other life forms to flourish?

A Masterclass on Rap

So I have been spending more time than I probably should have on this whole Royce Da 5’ 9” vs Lupe Fiasco vs Mickey Factz beef… but it’s one of the most interesting things to happen in the hiphop industry (on the side of the lyrical rappers) in a while. 

I won’t get into the drama much, because a lot of it goes beyond even my purview as I have not been very up-to-date on battle rap or these other artists who I probably should have known about.

Just listen to this amazing song by Mickey Factz:

Even if you don’t typically listen to rap, I Highly suggest at least checking out this breakdown by Lost in Vegas, because it will give you an appreciation for the sheer amount of intelligent, high-level craftsmanship that went into this work of art.

Scru-face Jean also has a great reaction vid from a battle rapper’s perspective, but he doesn’t break it down as much. Part 1 (Royce and Lupe) is here.Part 2 (Mickey Factz) is here.

And if you don’t want to do any of that, at least look at this example of a fucking QUADRUPLE ENTENDRE!!

From this stanza:

Do an entendre without comic wit

I don't subscribe to it, I'm the definition of opposite

Chain punching, you do Tetris, I do Columns shit

Get stoned with a great structure until you're monolith

Obelisk, look what I'm amounting to, it's steep yes

At my peak next, no TV when Ryan seek rest

Top of the hill, here's the cliffhanger like Cosby closet

Eating pork, claiming Muslim, hogwash, Ryan wildin'

Stop it novice

That bolded line is quadruple entendre because of the following:

1. Seek Rest – Mickey Factz is stating he’s climbing to the top with “At my peak next” while Ryan (Royce Da 5'9’s birth name being Ryan Montgomery) is trying to rest, commonly done while watching TV but not in this case.

2. See Crest – Tying into the previous bars with wordplay surrounding mountains – (a-mountin-g, steep, peak, stone, monolith, obelisk). Crest is another word for the top of a mountain.

3. Seacrest – Referring to the Television host Ryan Seacrest. Wordplay with both TV and Royce’s birth name Ryan. Which ties back to Royce talking like a TV host on IG Live rather than rapping.

4. Secrets – This is in reference to the next lines where Mickey Factz tells us a secret about Royce that he wouldn’t want you to see on TV – being Muslim and eating pork.

You can check out the full explanation on Genius where they explain the full build up.

But OMG, this is why I love rap so much!!! This is why to me, the best of hip-hop will always be lyricists who can pack SO MUCH into so little while still making you bop your head. THIS is what I wish more rappers aspired to do.

Bikes

Back again with urban planning!! These two videos (and many others) taught me even more stuff about bikes. I’ll try to keep it short:

• Bikes in America suck, they are built for enthusiasts and athletes, not for casual and comfortable transit. Even bikes for kids are inherently designed for sport-like play rather than for utility. We need bikes like they have in Amsterdam with comfortable seating, step-through frames, solid builds, carrying capacity, and more.

[Pic]

• Bike lanes in much of America suck too. Just sticking a bike lane right next to a car lane with nothing but a strip of paint to protect bikers is terribly unsafe and doesn’t really encourage more biking (and thus less car use). You have to build bike lanes that are safe and use more direct and complete routes from residential areas to popular commercial or schooling areas (and eventually build more multi-purpose areas in the first place).

• Furthermore, the proliferation of ebikes could very well be the ‘renaissance’ we need to encourage more people to ride bikes, since they reduce the sweat factor and increase the range drastically, which is great for maneuvering urban sprawl. As more people opt to ride bikes, cities will (hopefully) respond and become less car-dependent and make those bikes even more convenient.

The Double Edge Sword of Patriarchy

The two following videos (having a lot of pairs today) are inadvertently great for shedding light on the double sided problem of patriarchy.

F.D. talks about how patriarchy harms men (especially black men) by reducing us to nothing more than a ‘provider and protector.’ In Chris Rock's words: ‘Men are loved for what they do, not who they are’. Many men do not experience unconditional love, even from their wives or children; due to our patriarchal system, we are taught to only be of value or worthy of love and care if we can provide. 

Relatedly, we are also discouraged from expressing (and thus learning how to deal with) any emotions beyond anger or lust… the video goes further so I recommend taking a look.

Even reading that, many people won’t even see the problem with that. And will have all sorts of excuses ready to defend that mentality.

The problem is simple: 

If the value of a man is only in what he produces, then he is not a man, but a machine. 

Sure, you can take pride in being able to ‘provide and protect’,... but if that is your entire identity and source of esteem, then are you really wholly human?

Just as we should love our ‘feminine’ partners for more than being able to cook, clean, bear children, and provide pleasure; we in turn should love ourselves (and be loved) for more than simply ‘providing and protecting’... Not to mention actually having the emotional maturity to fully express love, sadness and other emotions!!!

Shanespeare, on the other hand, speaks to how patriarchy, particularly in modern times, has a pedophilic slant. Which is terribly disturbing. She points out how many women are upheld to an ideal of beauty that inherently likens them to children. Many men (and women) expect grown ass women to be as hairless as when they were children. To exhibit the same ‘innocence’, naive intelligence, obedience and even voice inflections as a child too. This makes it so that women feel a need to infantilize themselves in order to be more appealing. This also gets into the whole idea of needing to feel like we must ‘provide and protect’ for women as well, which creates a vicious cycle of unhealthy codependency. 

This is why many men feel like women and children must depend on the ‘strong, mature’ man to provide for and protect these ‘weak’ children and women… and ONLY that. Thus why so many men feel existentially threatened by the idea of independent women (and liberated children), because if your entire sense of identity is centered around being the provider and protector, what are you if that is not needed/wanted?

While women in turn are raised to believe that they can’t do things for themselves, and that their role is to nurture. They are often taught, and expected, to present themselves in a way that would be attractive to a ‘dependable man’. They are encouraged to essentially infantilize themselves in nearly every way.

I’m sure people will disagree, but I urge you to check out the video, she’s got receipts.

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Nonetheless, people will always have some sort of belief that ‘this is natural’ and the way of things. But when you actually observe ‘nature’ you will see that plenty of animals do things in all kinds of ways. Even amongst mammals, who all typically have male/female dichotomies where the female is typically smaller than the male, still many of them take on a diverse range of roles depending on season, environment, group dynamics and more. Such as the famous lion pride where the females typically do much of the hunting; or the hyenas where the women are bigger, pretty much always in charge, and even have a pseudo penus they use in relationships.

But using other animals is often a silly argument anyways because many people love to point out that we are so much more ‘advanced’ than other animals… and yet, we seem to want to cling to seemingly biological ‘reasons’ as to what defines a woman and what defines a man. As opposed to actually raising our consciousness and disposing of simplistic gender binaries altogether. 

Sure, there are and have always been patterns that seem to correlate with gender and other factors, but that does not mean we have to create and reinforce societal roles and expectations based on that. Those patterns just serve as data. What we should do with that data is only limited by our imagination and intelligence. I for one want to exhibit much higher levels of imagination and intelligence than blindly following (or reinforcing) surface-level patterns. (And it is surface-level, because no matter how old these patterns are, there are so many more interesting interactions with how these patterns break, switch, or manifest in counter-intuitive ways.)

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On a tangentially related topic, I looked into the history of deodorants recently as well, as I was frustrated with my own and wanted to figure out why it seemed like my perspiration has been getting out of hand as I try new products (my armpits are sensitive, I can’t put any ole kinda stuff on there without breaking out, but I also sweat a lot so I can’t go without for too long). 

Turns out, there is a difference between ‘deodorants’ and ‘antiperspirants’ (I know obvious right? But I never really paid much attention, and I bet many others havent either). One tries to kill the bacteria in your armpits that creates bad odors, and the other tries to stop you from sweating out of your armpits (sweat by itself doesnt actually smell!). 

Oftentimes they’re combined into one, and done really poorly. Because what actually happens is that the chemicals used (such as aluminum, sulfates, etc) kill ALL your bacteria, even the good ones that don’t cause bad odor. This leaves a space for new bacteria to grow there, which means your body is now having to fight off a whole new type of bacteria it was never prepared for. 

It creates a cycle of dependency where you need deodorants to manage this constant influx of new bacteria, rather than your body creating a natural defence against the bad bacteria. 

Just another example of modern medicines nuking our immune system creating an overall weaker, more dependent body. But I’ll get into that later.

The relation here is that, though many societies have used things for smell and sweat before (usually body oils or creams), it wasn’t until recently that deodorant companies used sexist advertisements to make insecure young women feel like the reason they haven’t found love is because they stink… this and similar ads eventually made it seem like using deodorant is a matter of hygiene rather than just an occasionally useful thing. 

And of course, because the products literally create the environment for an unhealthy armpit ecosystem, it becomes a self-justifying (parasitic) product.

Of course, this type of marketing spread to men too. Building on societal definitions of ‘manliness’ to convince dudes that the manliest of men wore this too (Old Spice, Axe, etc)… These marketing tactics prey on insecurity (even if they are funny), and usually have negative consequences that reaffirm the need for the product (and strictly-defined ‘hetero-normative’ gender roles). It probably wasn’t on purpose… but they certainly did nothing to fix the problem either.

In addition to taking down this patriarchal system that does a disservice to everyone, I really hope that more people create and market products that serve to strengthen our microbiological, psychological and social ecosystem rather than weaken it.

Anarchy … A Case Against Competition

This transition would have been even better if I was on track and read the next section where the Anarchy Works book talks about how humans were actually NOT always patriarchal. But I didn’t read that part yet…I really wonder as to the origins of patriarchy, so I look forward to reading that chapter next!

But this portion on competition also talks a bit about anti-patriarchal systems. The book shows how the Mbuti of the Congo practices traditions that directly encourage gender fluidity. Though they have distinct roles where women typically do jobs such as foraging for fruits and crafting, and men typically hunt, there is no shame in switching when necessary. In fact, it is encouraged to change roles whenever it is clear somebody else needs help (more on this later). There are patterns but not expectations

There is nothing wrong with a woman who wants to cook and clean or a man who wants to provide and protect. The problem lies in the EXPECTATIONS, when people assume and demand that you (or themselves) must only do what they think you should do, and that you are only what that role allows you to be. It is that primitive, unevolved, backwards, dogmatic, ignorant, arrogant, selfish, authoritative, and absolutely disgusting behaviour that poisons our society and our very souls.

But yeah… competition.

Competition is yet another idea that is actually terribly harmful to our psyche and society,... But has been vaunted as the best we can do because it’s ‘human nature’ or ‘better than the alternative’.

This section of the Primer goes into why competition is not ‘human nature’:

• Competition is used as an excuse to justify inhumane behaviour (e.g. depriving workers of healthcare, safe environments, and even psychological safety) in order to ‘stay competitive’ via a ‘work hard play hard’ attitude, or being destructively cheap, or firing without cause or care to that person's livelihood, etc

• The Mbuti is a great example of a society who has not only lived without government for thousands of years, but who has also exposed themselves to capitalism in recent times and still decided to reject those principles.

• In fact, the destruction of the Congo forest the Mbuti call home, plus the literal and figurative cannibalization of their people due to capitalist interests, is a stark reminder that ‘competition’ encourages the worst type of behaviour.

Here are some excerpts that I don’t even want to paraphrase:

Mbuti children were given a high degree of autonomy, and spent much of their days in a wing of the camp that was off-limits to adults. One game they frequently played involved a group of small children climbing up a young tree until their combined weight bent the tree towards the earth. Ideally, the children would let go all at once, and the supple tree would shoot upright. But if one child was not in synch and let go too late, the child would be launched through the trees and given a good scare. Such games teach group harmony over individual performance, and provide an early form of socialization into a culture of voluntary cooperation. The war games and individualized competition that characterize play in Western society provide a notably different form of socialization.

The Mbuti also discouraged competition or even excessive distinction between genders. They did not use gendered pronouns or familial words — e.g., instead of “son” they say “child,” “sibling” instead of “sister” — except in the case of parents, in which there is a functional difference between one who gives birth or provides milk and one who provides other forms of care. An important ritual game played by adult Mbuti worked to undermine gender competition. As Turnbull describes it, the game began like a tug-of-war match, with the women pulling one end of a long rope or vine and the men pulling the other. But as soon as one side started to win, someone from that team would run to the other side, also symbolically changing their gender and becoming a member of the other group. By the end, the participants collapsed in a heap laughing, all having changed their genders multiple times. Neither side “won,” but that seemed to be the point. Group harmony was restored.

I highly recommend reading further about them if you’re interested, but let’s also talk about how even in our highly competitive environment, where we are basically brainwashed to believe that competition is the keystone of progress and society, competition falls to the weyside in favor of cooperation and collaboration.

The book goes on to show how even in times of disaster, when you’d think it would be ‘every man for themselves’... those are actually the times when regular people come together. 

Gelderloo drives home this point with a double whammy: during Hurricane Katrina (can’t believe that was almost 20 years ago) the people of New Orleans came together to save those caught in the flood, share their limited resources, and other folks outside of the affected area opened their homes to those refugees. But here’s the whammy… *the media actively made it seem like none of this was happening!!* There is actual proof that the media made it seem like black people were just ‘looting’ while white people were ‘scavenging’, or that the police or national guard were the only ones rescuing people, when many of them was actually trying to stop people from getting resources from stores that were already flooded and would have thrown away those supplies anyways.

Talk about media manipulation. We don’t need Russia or China to do that, our own government and media is sowing enough discord on their own.

But even outside of disastrous moments, I personally think that the ‘competition’ that we all attribute to the success of capitalism is actually an illusion. I think the only good thing competition does is create opportunities for high levels of cooperation. And I think the successes of our society can all be traced back to amazing feats of collaboration *despite* the absolutely toxic environmental destruction of competitive practices. 

Competition encourages zero-sum games where only one or a few people can win at the expense of everyone else. It discourages empathy and encourages apathy. It makes you think that those who lost *deserve* their lot in life. As if depriving people of the ability to have a home, eat healthy food, love who they want to love, and just live free is a necessary result of the ‘game’ of life. Competition encourages people and companies to cut corners, to hide their mistakes, to manipulate people, to rig the game, to justify corruption, because the goal is to WIN… by any means necessary. What are you winning?

Money, power, influence? These are all just things to compete with… not actual fulfilling goals.

We have deluded ourselves into thinking that competition is the goal… is the only thing that matters… so much so that most people dont even know why. Most people don’t have a purpose or a mission in life. Most people feel constantly alone, worthless, or lost because everyone is competing for limited resources (social, physical, or economic currency) and they can’t trust and depend upon other people nearly as much as we evolved to do.

In reality, the best way to divvy out limited resources is to share. To come together to figure out who needs what and how to get more. To build together. To live together. To grow together. And so long as we think we have to be competitive, then we will never be able to come together for long.

That’s the same problem with money. A long time ago it stopped being a tool for measuring value or facilitating trade and began being the judge of value and the goal of trade.

Competition often brings out the worst in people. Even when we do ‘good’ things, it comes at such a steep cost that it's questionable if the ends really did justify the means. (Spoiler: it didn’t).

🧠 What I’m thinking (Big IDeas):

People are just … people … Everyone, anyone… is just people

This is an idea I haven’t quite refined yet,… but I think its worth sharing even in its infancy. I am trying to get to the root of why authoritarianism is so problematic… and more importantly create a sort of ‘vaccine’ to inoculate oneself from falling down the trap of appealing to authority and not engaging in your own ability to think critically.

Some people think they can't understand certain topics… They put their faith in those who say they understand. This opens the door for a predatory relationship...

Others think they do understand certain topics.. but don’t try to question what they know. They get their ideas, wittingly or unwittingly, from outside sources that seem trustworthy without ever thinking to put those ideas to the test.

But the truth is: people are people… they have ideas about the world that may or may not be useful. Those ideas are often the problem. The people are just

In other words, humans, like any other animal, respond to their environment… but we humans respond to the environment of our minds just as much (if not moreso) than the physical environment.

• Super obvious and perhaps silly to say/think about, but I am realizing the greater depth to this idea

• Literally every single human, no matter how rich or powerful or pretty or whatever… no matter how confident or arrogant,... no matter how loud or mean or critical… no matter how smart or magnetic or wise…. Are just people

• What do I mean by that? Its hard to really communicate what I am intuiting… but this is somewhat related/inspired by what Jeff Hawkins said about how the brain (specifically the neocortex) works: Everybody has a mental model about the world… but its just a model, it can be wrong, and likely is wrong… but most people refuse to update that model…

• So to me, that sparked another thought in my mind about not taking external validation personally, whether it is positive or negative… that person’s thoughts speak more about how they see the world more than who you are.

• Which also connected to the idea that we are all trying to figure out reality...

• No matter who people are… they can be wrong… they probably are. The question is how… and to what extent. What is useful from their model? What is not? How can we learn from what is or is not useful? 

• Thus… people are people. Even the smartest, coolest, most powerful or ‘successful’ people you know… can and will be wrong about many, many things. 

• Most importantly… this means that even ideas that a lot of people have, can also be false. Because mental models can be shared between people without actual improvement of that model. 

• This is a ‘dangerous’ idea though… in that it can be misused/misinterpreted to mean that you shouldn't care what anybody thinks or that any/every idea is completely false and thus your idea is just as good as any other. But this is where you employ humility and science.

• Humility allows you to hold this idea in your head without falling into the trap of assuming that your own ideas are just as good as those other ideas. Because though it is true that anybody and everybody is likely wrong… it is very likely that they are less wrong than you, if your mental model is not as good at explaining the world as theirs is.

• Science allows you to test ideas. To take any mental model and test it to see how accurate it is and where it falls short. Humility allows you to do good science, and science allows you to improve those mental models. It's a positive cycle.

• In this way, we humans can become less and less wrong about the world.

What do you think?

Cells at work… 

This absolutely amazing video about the immune system is dope AF!!!

From the comments, I discovered the anime ‘Cells at Work’ which is also really cool!!

This all brings me back to my Osmosis Jones days… I wish we had more movies and shows that showcased how amazing and intricate the world is, from the microbiology of our bodies, to the micro ecosystem of insects, to the life of fungi, and even the astronomically large systems of the cosmos. 

What would it be like if we had more content that showed:

• Immune system - I want to see more videos like Kurzgesagt’s where the cells are not anthropomorphized so that we can see all the weirdly alien and complex glory of our bodies.

• Nervous system - I want to see content showcasing how the brain is inextricably tied to the body, sending, receiving, and responding to signals billions of times a day.

• The Lawn Apocalypse - I want to see movies and stories showing the biodiversity that a lush lawn can have and how typical lawns are a wasteland that kills off many important species from fireflies and bees to hummingbirds and butterflies.

• Human Nature throughout history - I want to see stories of humans from different time spans and societies showing how their culture created fundamentally different value systems and traits. Thereby showing that ‘human nature’ is dependent upon the physical and social environment we construct for ourselves.

And so much more!!

Design is NOT art… no matter how much you want it to be.

It seems that many people have an inherent misunderstanding of what design is… even designers! I’m not sure exactly when this happened, but its obvious why: because of aesthetic bias and the melding of art with design in disciplines like graphic design and marketing.

Art is defined as

While Design is defined as

So you see, these are quite different. Yes, they have similarities, but they are often mutually exclusive in some cases. But because many designers are inspired by art, or want to be artists, they (and thus everyone else) mesh the two together. I have no problems with designers being inspired by art and making beautiful, elegant, or even experimental designs, but when that comes at the cost (and often comes above) the actual functionality of the thing you are designing… that is a problem.

And this happens ALL. THE. TIME. Many visual designers are hired for their ability to make things pretty, rather than to efficiently and concisely guide the user towards their desired goal. People take that second definition and run with it.

Dribbble is easy pickings for this problem of mistaking visual design for art, so I won’t go there… for now. 

But just think about this for a moment. Art is often created for the purpose of self expression and/or evoking emotion. It is meant to be open to interpretation. Design, on the other hand, is created for the purpose of figuring out how something functions. It is not open to interpretation. In fact, you want to minimize varying interpretations as much as possible in order to communicate exactly what you need to communicate for the desired action. 

(Con)fusing the two is what enables many of the problems we see today, such as art directors being in charge of design teams, and design schools being conflated into art schools. 

To add to this, creativity itself is often conflated with design and/or art. People think that being ‘creative’ is the exclusive domain of designers and artists. You see this in everything from the use of ‘Creative studios’ to those art directors being put in charge of the ‘Creative’ team. This is a really disgusting and insidious insinuation, because creativity is literally one of the core aspects of humanity and sentience. Insisting otherwise seems terribly dehumanizing to me.

Our ability to be creative is a major thing that differentiates us from other animals. Being able to use mundane objects in new ways, to imagine things that don’t exist, to solve problems in interesting ways, and so on is intrinsic to ALL humans. Unfortunately, many people today don’t even consider themselves creative, and our institutions feed this delusion by calling only certain disciplines as ‘creative’. 

In reality *every* discipline, and every person can be creative and requires some level of creativity (yes, even finances). By assuming that creativity is limited to certain people/professions, you are reinforcing the devolution of your fellow human. Creativity is a key part of solving problems. We need to encourage *everyone* to be creative in their daily lives and professions in ways that make sense for them.

So, just because design is not art, does not mean we can’t be creative or aesthetic. 

On a similar note with the problem of design today, there is a huge problem where designers are rarely ever seen as high value. Even when companies *know* they need a designer, they conflate designers as artists, and thus they don’t even think to hire non-visual designers. 

Furthermore, almost every company has far more engineers (and marketers, and sales, and even PMs) than designers. This is so very weird to me, because its designers that *should* determine what products and services are offered. Business needs should reflect the needs of the users, and its designers who make it their job to figure out those needs.

Let’s flip this around a bit.

Imagine if Designers outnumbered Engineers…
(and their definition of ‘user centricity’ did not extend to technical considerations)

• Companies would spend a lot of time and money on creating amazing designs but very little towards actually building them out. This would result in products that function well in theory, but don’t actually work very well in the real world.

• Designers only know ‘rules of thumb’ about coding and support ‘Dev Thinking’ which would be a watered down, ambiguous, fun-house mirror mockery of the Software Development Lifecycle. 

  • Most designers would think coding is just simply having some kinda framework, having a database, using APIs somehow, etc but no real understanding of what that means or what that entails in terms of time, budget, and skill.

• Companies with low engineering maturity would have no real understanding of the importance of code optimization, security, or technical debt… 

  • PMs would tell engineers to just code what they think should be coded to make the design work, regardless of if the design is technically feasible, or if it uses bad code practices (like saving account information in clear text because its ‘easier’ or not bothering with testing your code because ‘we know the code’).

• Design teams would try to push ‘business needs’ in relation to design vision, with no real understanding or appreciation for the budget necessary to make the code work (or test and iterate on the code).

• Problems with the product are blamed on the poor coding… on the code not being ‘pretty’ enough (ie not using the newest trends and languages). 

I could probably go on, but I hope you see my point now. Perhaps flipping things around can show people why it's really problematic to have dozens or even hundreds of engineers and only a handful of designers.

Of course, simply having more designers doesn’t solve the problem. This has to work hand-in-hand with divorcing design from art; with allowing design to have its own process apart and/or ahead of typical agile sprints; with training designers to actually care about the science of research, interaction design, testing, and so on. And everything else folks like Debbie talks about in her videos.

Turning Webfictions into Movies/Shows/Games

Webfictions are so freaking great!! Not only are they often far more original than typical novels, but they are also much longer and thus build out their worlds far more than a typical novel. 

With so many movies and shows based on books, I would at least like to see a few of the more polished webfictions be translated (faithfully!!) into series that could span years.

The main one I am thinking about right now is Deathworlders, a somewhat positive science fiction web serial that really explores aliens to a degree that I have not seen in modern literature. The entire premise is built upon the question: What if humans are naturally one of the most fearsome creatures in the galaxy? What if our planet is actually super hostile and most intelligent life is found on more ‘hospitable’ planets (ie with lower gravity, more regular weather, less bacteria, etc)? I don’t want to say more in fear of spoiling it… but please check it out if you are a fan of scifi!!

Nonetheless, the set pieces, technology, fantastical creatures, differing cultures, intricate plotlines, worldbuilding, and character development all scream to me of an absolute goldmine for visual media. Of course, I would also really hate to see this corrupted and disfigured by people who don’t actually care for all the details and just want to wring out all the joy for short-term profits or IP monopolization.

I dearly hope (and will make it my goal) that if the author ever wants to make it into a visual medium, that their story is followed to the letter, and/or that the author himself can communicate their vision if changes are necessary to make it come alive on screen. 

This is the science fiction that I crave!!

Black Ignite Talk

I spent the bulk of my time this past week just trying to create my Black Designers Ignite talk. I’ve talked about it plenty in my audiojournal, but I’m glad to say that I finally got it all done and it was a huge success at the event on Sunday!!

It took me 21 pages to do!! You can check out all my drafts here (warning, I get very personal in many of them). I also completely revamped my presentation after discovering a better way to visualize my cosmic aesthetic. 

Here is the old version. (View the full presentation on Figma here)

And here is the new.

Elijah - Identity, The Journey 2021 •  Black Designers Ignite

I still kinda wanna record the whole talk separately for my YouTube, possibly with background music… and I want to make longer versions… and more poetic versions… AND I think it would be super cool to have a different version of this talk for every other speaking engagement that wants a similar type of story. I would switch up the memories/elements of my story to show that our identity/journey is ever-shifting and fairly ambiguous… it would also allow me to explore more aspects of myself and my ‘story’. :D

Feel free to check out the recording of the whole talk on Crowdcast! (My part is around 4 hours and 58 minutes into the event).

💼 My Projects:

Personal Development

Most of my projects have been put on hold (mostly by accident) so that I can realign myself with a central mission from which all my goals are prioritized. 

I think I have finally come into alignment with my purpose and goals! 

The most important value to me… my purpose in life I feel, is to make an IMPACT!

To me, that means having *meaningful moments* in every interaction, whether that be work, relationships, thinking and learning, or whatever else.

What makes a Meaningful moment in my life is doing actions that are measurably positive, as measured by the principles of Healthy Transcendence in SB Kaufman’s revised integrated sailboat for Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

In order to achieve that ultimate vision, my Top Priority goal is to become financially stable. 

Here’s my mission for the next few months (for the rest of 2021):

Make 5-8K per month (after taxes), in the next 6 months, consistently and sustainably, doing design work (in the XR space?) that makes a positive difference in people's lives.

For the rest of August (though I may have started much too late to accomplish this):

Solidify my personal brand such that I get leads, opportunities, and 10 True Fans through my website, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube or Newsletter.

Here is a snapshot of my new calendar!

And here is my whole ‘worksheet’ I used to create this, feel free to take a look, comment, or copy. Please help keep me accountable!!

😰 Failures and Concerns:

Energy Levels

I have been struggling a lot lately to get and retain enough energy to work consistently. I realized that only roughly half of that was directly under my control via prioritizing my goals. But even after that, there are things like my environment, my food, and my mental state that I don’t seem to be able to directly control. 

Even as I write this (Aug 16th, 2021), its only noon and I already feel tired even though I got my usual 7 hours of sleep. I’ve been napping for 15-30minutes fairly consistently for over a year now, but recently my naps have been at least an hour. Maybe I’m just getting old. 😂… That feels silly to say as I am only 26, 27 next month, but still… I know the human body unfortunately seems to degrade quickly. But I want to check the other things that may be impacting me before I truly consider age a major contributor.

• I just don’t have access to the healthiest foods. We eat well enough at my house, a lot of staple foods such as rice, chicken and pasta, but not only does that get boring (and I don't just mean in a privileged sense, I mean in terms of the necessary dietary diversity humans need to survive) it's also just not nutritious enough. 

• I don’t have my own space. This is something I’ve grown up with so it's hard for me to really see it as a problem, but when I am able to find quiet moments for long periods of time like when I went on the off-grid retreat with my SO, and when I am able to actually change more of my environment, I realize the importance of this. 

• I really do think I may be neurodivergent. As I am exploring better ways to optimize my productivity and fulfillment, I am finding it increasingly difficult to take advice that is meant for people who simply seem to think and act differently on a neurochemical level. I hope I can get diagnosed, not to get any sort of medicine, as I feel quite functional, but to figure out what methods and advice to pay more attention to for my continued growth.

Black Ignite Talk

Another struggle I have been dealing with is finishing (or just creating) my Black Ignite talk… being able to tell my story… how does one explore in 5 minutes what has been taking me hundreds of blogs, audiojournals, videos, and a book to map out over the last few years?? I know that kinda makes me sound narcissistic or something, since many other people have been alive for much longer (and had more ‘interesting’ lives) but can create concise stories about themselves… but I feel like that is also part of the problem. Because I feel as if every single story we tell ourselves or others: the elevator pitch, the resume, the interview question, the bios, etc are just somewhat arbitrary cherry picking.

Our brains soak up countless data points on a daily basis, and our memories are poor storage mediums that change the content of what has been stored every time you ‘read’ that data (i.e. remember something)... How can we ever be okay with any one story of ourselves when it is certain that such a story is like trying to capture a waterfall with a teacup? 

By dismissing all the details that make up our lives in favor of some apparent ‘highlights’ that make up a concise story, we ignore the infinite complexities of a blade of grass. :P

--

I wonder if my strain with my father also leads into this… but I still don’t quite feel comfortable talking about that in detail right now… I analyzed myself on this in past audiojournals.

--

But as I am finishing this section (as of Aug 23rd, 2021), I feel so much better!! Maybe it was just the stress of getting the talk done?? Or maybe it was all of that hitting me at the same time last week. Either way, I feel pretty much back to normal today.

Now I just gotta stop feeling like such a failure for not being where I want to be in life. 😅

🎶 Favorite Songs/Artists This Week:

Mickey Factz - Wraith
Go listen to it!!

Skrillex, Nosia, and Josh Pan - Supersonic
I honestly have not enjoyed Skrillex’s music since his brostep days… I understand that people didn’t like brostep, but I did, and this is a *beautiful* way to bring back a bit of that aggressive, eclectic sound alongside some melodic vocals that more people would find palatable. 

Lil Nas X - Industry Baby Without Music
Montero is just a genius and hilarious. Can’t get enough! Also, check out this song which may or may not be a secret upload. 👀

Remble - Ted Talk & Touchable 
This dude is awesome! Looks like a found another underground artist the likes of Ak, HDBeenDope, Sylvan Lacue, Kemba X, etc that will no doubt have a cult following if not go mainstream.

Tobe Nwigwe - FYE FYE (At the Crib version)
Tobe is just INCREDIBLE! Absolutely love this version of his latest hype song.

Powerwolf!! A great power metal band that seems to be under the same Napalm Records as my favorite power metal band: Gloryhammer. Some great Powerwolf songs I’ve been enjoying is Faster Than the Flame, Call of the Wild and Demons Are A Girl’s Best Friend. Shout out to Unleash the Archers too!

I have also been exploring the Flobots’ discography. Though I think their flow is not always how I’d like it, I do really enjoy their unique instrumentals and messages. Panacea for the Poison, By the Time You Get this Message, The Moon, and One Love are some of my faves.

Speaking of experimental instrumentals, Lazy Susan by 21 Savage ft Rich Brian, Masiwei and Warren Hue is such an interesting exploration! Absolutely love seeing him work with the 88rising folks.

SPAZ by CitzyBoiGreg has been all over twitter. It’s a bop and I added it to my playlist! Shout out to Oh Shit!!! by Injury Reserve which is what always comes to mind when I think about ‘Spaz Rap’ 

Another fun song I found is THICK OF IT by Championxiii on Soundcloud. Gotta love that Backyardigans sample. :P

JID, Denzel Curry, Tech N9ne, Big KRIT, Run The Jewels, Lupe Fiasco, and Megan Thee Stallion also had some dope music that I enjoyed these past two weeks. Can’t wait to get some new projects from all of them!!

Other Stuff

• THE Suicide Squad

• What if… ?

• Parasitic Design

• Levels of Service (Urban Planning)

• Josh Blue

• Tsu Surf

• Voidtrain

• Crypto Scams

• He-Man: Masters of the Universe

• Sub-Saharan?

• Celebrating 50 Years

• Using Brave

• Side Cramp Tweet

🔌 Always Be Plugging:

• Thoughts of a TechnoWizard - Check out my (almost) daily audiojournal if you want to hear my unrefined, raw ‘train(wreck) of thought’

• A More Delightful Future - Listen to interviews with incredible people designing emergent technologies.

• Becoming a TechnoWizard - Watch me learn about all manner of things on my quest to build a better, more magical world on my YouTube.

• Path of a Trillionaire/TechnoWizard - Feel free to support me on Patreon! If you think this is a lot, watch what I do when I have some actual money in my pockets!!

• The Journal of TechnoWizardry - If you like this newsletter, please share!!