I enjoyed these two Ribbonfarm pieces about human perception of time and how we use it to inform our actions and justify the consequences.
After Temporality
I think it’s interesting how much mental time travel is involved in crushingly mundane activities. As I became a better cook, I noticed that when I got a food idea (a new dish or way of cooking), I would spend a great deal of time mentally simulating the process of slicing, sautéing, whisking, sprinkling, baking.
This article is about more than beer:
The true apex of appreciation is the ability to locate the sublime in any style (not, of course, any beer). This means being able to pick up a glass of helles–or English mild or Belgian bière de table or even a characterful mass market lager (of which, admittedly, there are not a great number)–and find the flavors as pleasant and satisfying as when you heft a barrel-aged imperial stout.
Lex Friedman and Dave Addey both have thoughtful articles about app pricing. Go ahead, you really should go read them if you care about apps or developers.
I can’t disagree with their premise. There’s a common perception that apps should cost next to nothing.1 The low cost of software is changing the traditional business model of software.2
While I don’t disagree with Lex and Dave’s fundamental premise, I think that neither article recognizes a basic sea change taking place in software: The average computer user is losing their fear of software and that means a bigger market for everyone.
At first I learned about physics the hard way. I learned through dodgeball, rope swings and lawn darts. These were the educational toys of my day and experimentation inevitably led to painful repercussions. Later, I learned through coursework and controlled small-scale experimentation. I built pendulums and trebuchets. I made mousetrap-powered cars and suspension bridges of toothpicks. But I was in high school before I began to internalize the basic principles of physics.
Often I write about technology or curiosities. Occasionally I write about comedy or politics. Rarely I write other things.
On those rare occasions, I press a publish button that hurts just a little. I put skin in the game. Sometimes I ask myself why. It hurts to write things down that matter. It hurts more to pull back the skin to reveal the tissue and sinew to the world. Why do I do it?
