Be the spider: Walk on Water

August 26, 2016

TENSION of course can lead to a mighty snap, it can be all too much. That's why tension has to be managed.

A divided society, in the truest sense, is beyond tension- appeals to reason or moderation don’t work in those cases.

The very middle class that is the cornerstone of developed economies’ tax base, the very electorate and spine of 1st World civil society is under pressure. A middle class that is distinguished from the lower class by reaping few or no social benefits and entitlements, but is distinct from the wealthy in that it may be education-rich but relatively asset poor, where income is primarily from wages and not from asset appreciation and capital gains, is really feeling the crunch these days.

Active Versus Passive

August 22, 2016

In High School in California I was always told to use the active voice. Somebody "did something," "Pedro smacked Juan," "the glass fell from the rooftop." It wasn't that the baby was eaten by a dingo... no, no... "the dingo ate my baby."

This is how headlines are written MUCHO active voice

But the Chinese way is different.

See below: literally "In Ngau Tau Kok on Chun Wah Road an Old Fella Was Struck Dead by a Minibus."

If I sound cold and callous in using these tragic traffic accidents as grammatical showcases, I don't mean to. I just want to use a stark example of how people approach ideas differently. The constant here is grief coupled with shock coupled with voyeurism, there is a Chinese-Western commonality there. But in terms of how those ideas are thought of and conveyed, I think there are some subtle cultural differences.

And those bones of contention, the backstreets where Chinese and Western disagree, well, that's where there's tension, and that's where there is an enormous blue sky of untapped cultural space to explore.

That's where I want to be. Ask me questions. Tell me a story. Let's explore it together.

Interfaces and Stories

July 6, 2016

As Aaron Koblin, the data artist said, the 21st century is the century of the interface.

And he's right. We have huge amounts of data sloshing around. It is growing geometrically and we know it. We throw around words and phrases like "algorithm," "data mining," "social graph," and the like as if we know what they mean. I don't really know what these terms mean exactly. I have an idea but, with exactitude I'm a little lost. Yes, we can analyze it all this data. Yes, we can make dashboards and build colorful analytic tools and record it and store it and make it watertight and immortal.

Yet, data fundamentally only has value once it can tell a story. what we do with the data is what matters.

Tension is a Good Thing? No!

May 30, 2016

Tension is entrusting your startup employees with free time and space where they are not under constant surveillance, nor constant pressure to respond immediately to every jittery email. It is giving them the room and freedom to explore and come up with new ideas, positive in the possibility that it will create opportunities for them to stumble onto new things. As effective founders will always tell you, “The door is there, you are welcome to leave.” They have the courage to corral every emotional resource to focus on the prize. Ineffective founders sequester you, they monitor you, they expect you to be effective whilst on a short leash.

Virtues vs. Values

December 12, 2015

Virtues are additive.

That is, you can take ideals like patience, charity, chastity, temperance, honesty and pile them atop each other. Having one doesn't depreciate the other.

We assume they are intrinsically good, and as far as virtues are concerned there is no such thing as too much of a good thing.

Values, on the other hand, you can’t just pile on.