Should AI generated pictures be considered art?
AI generated images are not “Art”. They can be beautiful, even transcendent, but that doesn’t make them art any more than stepping in paint makes my cat the next Picasso.
Differences in Western and Japanese Pottery Aesthetics
I recently had what I would consider a good firing. There were a few outstanding pieces of pottery, lots of okay ones, and a few duds. It was successful in part because of advice shared with me by Ikeda-san. I met Ikeda-san through one of my students and this is …
Personal choices, free will, and the nature of the universe…
I was listening to a podcast this morning which was talking about nature vs. nurture. To what affect does genetics play and how much influence does our upbringing have on us. While listening to this conversation it occurred to me that another forces shape who we become. Our own choices. …
iPhones and true costs we don’t pay
The products that we buy have costs associated with them that we don’t pay. They’re invisible to us because those costs get pushed onto others, usually in less developed counties. For example, you buy a new iPhone for $1500. But only costs Apple $570 to make. In reality though the …
No Billionaires: We’re ridiculously poor at understanding big numbers
To reiterate how poor humans are at judging the differences between big numbers take a look at the Reuters headline regarding Barclays Bank in the UK. “Barclays hit by $361 million penalty over issuance of securities” That is a tremendous amount of money; over a third of a billion dollars. …
Effective Altruism Is White Washing For Rich People
I have had this post percolating in my head for awhile, and the idea is this: effective altruism is white washing for rich people. A few months ago I started this post. And then let it lie, but now with the revelations about Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX I dug it …
Strava just did the same thing
I just got an email from Strava informing me that that my subscription was going up $40/year. I’ve been a customer for over 10 years. Needless to say I promptly cancelled the subscription. I can abide an increase. The cost of everything goes up. But a 67% increase without explanation …
Treating existing customers better just makes good business sense
When I was in university I worked summers in an Italian restaurant, Campo Marina, in my hometown. Osoyoos is a tourist town. The population is around 3500 but would double in the summers when families would flock to Canada’s warmest freshwater lake. The restaurant in the summers was only open …
In Japan to be different is to be wrong
We know that there is a connection between language and culture. How we use language to communicate shapes the way we think and understand the world. We imbue words with meaning that extends beyond the literal meaning. In English for example to say something is different, might not be a …
No Billionaires: How to solve the billionaire issue – Pt. 1
I have wanted to make a website for a while now promoting the idea that billionaires should not exist. Capitalism is a deeply flawed system and billionaires are the by-product of that system. There should be a limit upon how much wealth an individual person can accumulate. And that as …