Where Will The Jobs Be?

The Atlantic has a piece that may very well be the definitive article on what the future of work is going to look like -- as in nonexistent.

I recommend reading every word of it.  It starts with a clear examination of the human implications, and then moves into some extremely well-organized arguments about automation and then a look at how this future could play out.

Again, read the whole thing, but I want to highlight the opening because it (inadvertently) demonstrates something I have now come to believe -- that we are already through the first phases of the decline of industrial civilization, and that when future generations look back to when the decline started they will see it happened in the late 70's.  This is, after all, when incomes for all but the highest percentiles started to stagnant, and the birth of what we call the "rust belt."  These are known facts, I am just trying to put them in perspective.  I am reminded of a quote by William Gibson that ran something like "the future is here, it is just not evenly distributed yet."  What if Detroit is the future?

Or, imagine if the drought continue in California, the home of 1/5th of the U.S. population, the story of our times will show a great shift that crippled the working class, followed by huge migration to the sunbelt, which became hollowed out due to further automation and ecological catastrophes.

At some point these problems will hit enough people that we'll give up our story of perpetual progress -- after all, many people have already gone down for good.

Still, the point of this blog is about personal progress -- not being a mediocre person and expecting the growth of the society around to bail you out and improve your life.

French Parellel Texts, Spanish Texts

After spending some time on Memrise and learning 272 words in French, I felt much more comfortable reading parallel texts in French.  This comfort isn't something I can objectively measure, but the subjective difference is huge, and I think I could measure adherence rates if I were called on to be more scientific.

I own two lovely books that are anthologies of great French writers, with the left side being the original and the right being a translation.

I do not think, to be clear, that I could do the same thing with Turkish or Russian or such after so few words (my head hurts just thinking about it).  French parallel text reading is possible so quickly because of 1.) cognates with English 2.) cognates with Spanish 3.) (the least important) words I have picked up from my flashcard-like study.  Nonetheless, this has been a real confidence boaster.  It makes me think I can read Italian classics one day as well.

Lastly finally giving in to my desire to learn French seems to have re-motivated me in Spanish.  After the workout of a few pages of French, it is nice to be able to move to much more freely through another foreign language.  It shows me how much progress I have made in Spanish.

On LESS

I have been getting into The Archdruid Report, a blog on the implications of living through the decline of the industrial age.  I got turned onto it through early retirement extreme.

In one of my favorite pieces the Archdruid writes: 

Any attempt to walk the talk that we’ve been discussing here, in other words, has to begin with the individual, and has to start with the acceptance of a very significantly lowered standard of living. To return to an acronym I’ve proposed here already, any response to the future that doesn’t involve using LESS—Less Energy, Stuff, and Stimulation—simply isn’t a serious response to the downside of the industrial age. The toolkit of the Seventies organic gardening and appropriate tech movements, which I’ve discussed here at some length, is among many other things a very effective way of responding to the need to use LESS in a humane and creative manner.

By growing a garden and raising chickens in your backyard instead of buying packaged and processed vegetables and eggs that are shipped halfway across the continent, conserving energy relentlessly and getting as much as you can from local renewable sources, and sharply downscaling the pursuit of material excess in favor of a life that’s rich in experiences, relationships, and meaning, it’s possible to get by very comfortably on a small fraction of the energy, stuff, and stimulation that most Americans think they need.

I couldn't say it better myself (which is of course why I quoted it).

I think I have less stuff down pretty well (though it is certainly arguable).  So that leaves me working on less energy (hence typing this in a house with the AC set at 78 degrees at night and 82-84 during the day (I foresee a time when it is possible that is not enough).

The last one is stimulation.  I think a good step is to make stimulation practically free.  In a big way that is the project of this blog

Next is clearing the mind with things like meditation, spirituality, and moving through nature (walks, hikes, and gardening).  These are many of my favorite things in life, it is important to keep them in the front of my mind.  But they are so quiet that they can easily get lost.

But at least I can say I am working on all of these dimensions of LESS and it will help me to be ahead of the curve in the future.  I urge you to consider doing the same.

Mental Math Saga . . . 10 X 20 table

Sorry for the commercial nature of it, but it is good stuff.

I am not sorry for this guy's intensity; we need to stop being so jaded and ironic.  We should love what we love.



Oh, and if you ever had problems with the 8s times table, here's a video for that as well.

The Joy of Missing Dutch Words

I'm really starting to like Dutch again.  When I came back from Nationals, I had over 2,000 words stuck to review on Memrise.  

Recently, I have been trying to whittle it away a bit each day, trying to move down a digit each day.  For example, today I am going to be below 599, and tomorrow's game is to move below 499.  I have an eventual goal of getting everything cleared up before we leave for a vacation -- fully knowing I will have a lot to look through when I come back. 

But that's just the thing -- I have a win/win.  If I remember a word after a break -- score (quite literally, because Memrise plays like a game.)  If I don't remember, then it is an opportunity to make up some silly linkword association. And those are really fun.  And since all of the words are already ones I had to do repetitions on to get through, this creates a euphoric "aha" feeling of something clicking into place.  What can I say? Learning languages is fun.

So instead of feeling bad about what I forgot -- or, what I forgot because of neglect -- this is a joy, made moreso by the faith that I will learn all of the words.

Get a Grip, I Say

In trying to work on strength first so I can a.) be better at building muscle and b.) more useful in real life situations I am taking to heart the advice to work on my core and my grip.  This started with me doing hanging leg raises.  I also read up on some other ideas.

The one I tried to add first was finger-tip push ups, but I discovered yet again that I am a weakling.  This doesn't really bother me, however, it just gives me more games to play during my breaks after I do any bit of intellectual work for 25 minutes.  

My new game is to do regular planks for a bit then take one hand and plant it by the finger tips and then the other and do the same and try to do a finger tip this finger-tip plank. 

Let's pretend I make no progress on this, it'd still be a wonderful way to prevent me moping around during the times it is just too dang hot to go out.  I will never get tired of writing about my revelation brought on by the pomodoro system -- 25 minutes of intellectual work/play and do something physical for 3-5 minutes.  Right now, when a timer goes off, I choose to do a grip and core training 5 days a week (one day doing the hanging leg raises, the next the plank protocol from this post) and then I clean or tidy something.

But in reality, there is progress.  It is measurable and thus it is a game.  It gives a lot of hits along the way and eventually I (probably) get to enjoy a great result.

Living Up to the Name of Math-Hacks

Just a great video showing the fun of figuring this stuff out.