Epicycle 2
Week 4
March 10th, 2014
The Power of Gratitude
Acknowledging someone for anything that impacts you life has tremendous power in how we relate and become better persons. Whether it’s the work they are doing, something they said to you, the support they have gave you, or simply be being there when you’ve needed it, being grateful to them would create the flow you need to live a happier and more meaningful life. It also takes into account the moments, places, and all the other things that make your life better. The power of gratitude with what you have in your life is utterly important to be a better person. Unfortunately, we forget this too often. We forget to say “thank you” to our parents that are awake at night waiting for us to come home to serve us dinner, to our friends who have supported us in the moments we needed support and also in the happy ones for making it possible to share that happiness, to our mentors who are willing to spend time to help us become better persons, to that person who opens the door for us, to the people who are making the world awesome.
During the morning we watched a TED Talk given by Laura Trice called The Power of Saying Thank You. I had three learning from this experience.
1. Be clear, honest, and transparent about what you need and ask for help.
2. Don’t be afraid of being vulnerable and connect with others. Life becomes better when you are able to create bridges with people so you can connect with them.
3. Tell people how to approach and acknowledge you.
When you have the habit of being grateful to someone or something in your life, you start to realize and become more aware of the wonderful things you have. Life becomes more enjoyable.
PS: I use Lift to help me build habits I would like to have. Lift is a mobile app that help you reach your goals with the help of a community with the same goals as yours.
The Power of Gratitude
Acknowledging someone for anything that impacts you life has tremendous power in how we relate and become better persons. Whether it’s the work they are doing, something they said to you, the support they have gave you, or simply be being there when you’ve needed it, being grateful to them would create the flow you need to live a happier and more meaningful life. It also takes into account the moments, places, and all the other things that make your life better. The power of gratitude with what you have in your life is utterly important to be a better person. Unfortunately, we forget this too often. We forget to say “thank you” to our parents that are awake at night waiting for us to come home to serve us dinner, to our friends who have supported us in the moments we needed support and also in the happy ones for making it possible to share that happiness, to our mentors who are willing to spend time to help us become better persons, to that person who opens the door for us, to the people who are making the world awesome.
During the morning we watched a TED Talk given by Laura Trice called The Power of Saying Thank You. I had three learning from this experience.
1. Be clear, honest, and transparent about what you need and ask for help.
2. Don’t be afraid of being vulnerable and connect with others. Life becomes better when you are able to create bridges with people so you can connect with them.
3. Tell people how to approach and acknowledge you.
When you have the habit of being grateful to someone or something in your life, you start to realize and become more aware of the wonderful things you have. Life becomes more enjoyable.
PS: I use Lift to help me build habits I would like to have. Lift is a mobile app that help you reach your goals with the help of a community with the same goals as yours.
March 12th, 2014
The Solution to Unmotivation and Unhappiness
Do you constantly feel unmotivated and procrastinate on the things you should do? On average, this is more like a rhetorical question than one to think about. It happens to us more often than you think, and it’s very common among people. Only few have managed to stay on track with their objectives, feel most of the time motivated and happy, and live a productive life. These are the people we commonly consider successful and happy. What’s the difference?
I think the solution can be found in Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People. More specifically, in Habit 2, “Begin with the End in Mind”. I’ll say that the main reason why we act unmotivated and procrastinate on things that help us reach our objective is that this objective is not clear. We are not completely aware of our purpose for doing the things we do, and thus it becomes so easy to deviate into things that destruct value in our life. As Stephen Covey says, “It’s easy to say no when you have a deeper yes burning within.”
In order to live a life with happiness, meaningfulness, and a proud sense of achievement, this habit must be practiced at all levels of our life. From the small things we do daily to the bigger picture of what we want to achieve and become in the long run. This way it becomes easier to resist the temptations of giving up and quitting what may be beneficial to our life. Having a guide of action and sticking to it can help us overcome obstacles and enter the restricted group of the happy and successful people.
Here’s an article on this topic I found useful. It’s called Discover Your Purpose – Building Your Mission Statement. You’ll find helpful tips on improving this habit.
The Solution to Unmotivation and Unhappiness
Do you constantly feel unmotivated and procrastinate on the things you should do? On average, this is more like a rhetorical question than one to think about. It happens to us more often than you think, and it’s very common among people. Only few have managed to stay on track with their objectives, feel most of the time motivated and happy, and live a productive life. These are the people we commonly consider successful and happy. What’s the difference?
I think the solution can be found in Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People. More specifically, in Habit 2, “Begin with the End in Mind”. I’ll say that the main reason why we act unmotivated and procrastinate on things that help us reach our objective is that this objective is not clear. We are not completely aware of our purpose for doing the things we do, and thus it becomes so easy to deviate into things that destruct value in our life. As Stephen Covey says, “It’s easy to say no when you have a deeper yes burning within.”
In order to live a life with happiness, meaningfulness, and a proud sense of achievement, this habit must be practiced at all levels of our life. From the small things we do daily to the bigger picture of what we want to achieve and become in the long run. This way it becomes easier to resist the temptations of giving up and quitting what may be beneficial to our life. Having a guide of action and sticking to it can help us overcome obstacles and enter the restricted group of the happy and successful people.
Here’s an article on this topic I found useful. It’s called Discover Your Purpose – Building Your Mission Statement. You’ll find helpful tips on improving this habit.
March 13th, 2014
Who You Should Be Friends With?
Today was full of consciousness. Conscious Business I must say. We went with Carmen to meet and greet and get an autograph from Fred Kofman (although I already knew him). He was meeting with Giancarlo so we took the opportunity and went to talk with Gianca while we were waiting for FK. During the day we talked about the book and Fred’s ideas with Carmen and later in the evening we had the chance to spend some time talking with Fred. After the meeting, the CEES had planned a dialogue on minarchism and anarchism with Fred as a participant, so I decided to stay and participate.
Fred started with a question that I want to address now. He asked, who should I be friends with? I haven’t given too much thought on this before and I guess not too many people have acted differently, but it’s a question worth of stopping and analyzing it. The way I had answered this question was this. A friendship is defined by the desire of mutual improvement. A friend is one that helps you become a better person and in this process also adds value to your life. It’s someone that you can count with unconditionally and vice versa. I think that’s one major part but it’s not enough for one to consider someone a true friend.
For Fred, a friend is one who shares your essential values. To him, he can only be a friend with those who share the non-aggression principle. Otherwise, he would use the non-association principle and would not be friends with them. If someone doesn’t share this essential value, he would engage in a dialogue with him and expose his position. If that person still doesn’t agree with him, then he would apply the non-association principle.
I get from Fred’s position the importance of sharing essential values with your circle of trust, i.e. your friends. Complementing my position about friendship, I would say that for you to consider someone a true friend, he or she must make you a better person and vice versa and you must share essential values. Fortunately you would consider many people your true friends, but most probably is that after this, you would realize that only few people would get in your circle of trust. Keeping the expansion of your circle of trust and friends is a life-long process and to achieve it you must remain open to different point of view, understanding contradicting values, open to the learning of people and the capacity to redemption, and of your capacity to constantly learn and remain humble.
Who You Should Be Friends With?
Today was full of consciousness. Conscious Business I must say. We went with Carmen to meet and greet and get an autograph from Fred Kofman (although I already knew him). He was meeting with Giancarlo so we took the opportunity and went to talk with Gianca while we were waiting for FK. During the day we talked about the book and Fred’s ideas with Carmen and later in the evening we had the chance to spend some time talking with Fred. After the meeting, the CEES had planned a dialogue on minarchism and anarchism with Fred as a participant, so I decided to stay and participate.
Fred started with a question that I want to address now. He asked, who should I be friends with? I haven’t given too much thought on this before and I guess not too many people have acted differently, but it’s a question worth of stopping and analyzing it. The way I had answered this question was this. A friendship is defined by the desire of mutual improvement. A friend is one that helps you become a better person and in this process also adds value to your life. It’s someone that you can count with unconditionally and vice versa. I think that’s one major part but it’s not enough for one to consider someone a true friend.
For Fred, a friend is one who shares your essential values. To him, he can only be a friend with those who share the non-aggression principle. Otherwise, he would use the non-association principle and would not be friends with them. If someone doesn’t share this essential value, he would engage in a dialogue with him and expose his position. If that person still doesn’t agree with him, then he would apply the non-association principle.
I get from Fred’s position the importance of sharing essential values with your circle of trust, i.e. your friends. Complementing my position about friendship, I would say that for you to consider someone a true friend, he or she must make you a better person and vice versa and you must share essential values. Fortunately you would consider many people your true friends, but most probably is that after this, you would realize that only few people would get in your circle of trust. Keeping the expansion of your circle of trust and friends is a life-long process and to achieve it you must remain open to different point of view, understanding contradicting values, open to the learning of people and the capacity to redemption, and of your capacity to constantly learn and remain humble.
Week 2
March 17th, 2014
Catch Up
I haven’t written a daily reflection since March 15th. That would be completely normal if the day that I’m writing this was actually March 17th, but it isn’t. Today is, I’m afraid, April 19th. So I’m faced with a dilemma. I can try to remember and write about each day as it was supposed to or I can write about the most significant learnings and experiences I’ve had since. The problem with the former is that information that it’s not fresh, it’s probably going to suck. On the other hand, if I write about the things I’ve learned and try to incorporate events that happened during this time, I believe it would be more significant to myself and to my readers. So I would go with the latter. Of course, there are some days that I remember very vividly and I would write about it as if it happened a few hours ago, but my mind is limited to remembering only a fraction of all the days and that’s the reason I won’t be able to do it with every day.
This may sound to some that I’m trying to avoid the work of searching the significant event of each day, but trust me when I say that I truly believe that I think my decision is better. It would create more meaningful content, lessons I’ve learned during this past weeks and have put into practice (or are in the process of doing so). Finally, I would leave it to my discretion to search for more information of those days I believe deserve a more profound inquiry than my pure, non-perfect memory can remember.
“Memory is a wonderful thing if you don’t have to deal with the past.”
- Celine, from Before Sunset
Catch Up
I haven’t written a daily reflection since March 15th. That would be completely normal if the day that I’m writing this was actually March 17th, but it isn’t. Today is, I’m afraid, April 19th. So I’m faced with a dilemma. I can try to remember and write about each day as it was supposed to or I can write about the most significant learnings and experiences I’ve had since. The problem with the former is that information that it’s not fresh, it’s probably going to suck. On the other hand, if I write about the things I’ve learned and try to incorporate events that happened during this time, I believe it would be more significant to myself and to my readers. So I would go with the latter. Of course, there are some days that I remember very vividly and I would write about it as if it happened a few hours ago, but my mind is limited to remembering only a fraction of all the days and that’s the reason I won’t be able to do it with every day.
This may sound to some that I’m trying to avoid the work of searching the significant event of each day, but trust me when I say that I truly believe that I think my decision is better. It would create more meaningful content, lessons I’ve learned during this past weeks and have put into practice (or are in the process of doing so). Finally, I would leave it to my discretion to search for more information of those days I believe deserve a more profound inquiry than my pure, non-perfect memory can remember.
“Memory is a wonderful thing if you don’t have to deal with the past.”
- Celine, from Before Sunset
March 18th, 2014
April 20th, 2014
Why E8 Life Pattern?
Earlier today, I was in the bathroom thinking I had never explained in detail why my blog carries the name of E8 Life Pattern. It’s been more than one and a half years since I named it and I thought having some mystery was good, but now I think it would be nice to explain how I came up with such rare name. Besides, it’s appropriate to resume my reflections focusing on what I want to transmit and E8 seems like a good start.
It all started with a TED Talk I watched that Mabe recommended me. It’s called An 8-dimensional model of the universe by Garrett Lisi. I got really interested in the meaning of what Lisi was presenting although now I don’t remember it too well. Here’s the description of the talk in the TED website, “Physicist and surfer Garrett Lisi presents a controversial new model of the universe that — just maybe — answers all the big questions. If nothing else, it's the most beautiful 8-dimensional model of elementary particles and forces you've ever seen.” By the way, this 8-dimensional model is called E8.
This got me thinking about our ability to discover life and the answers to the fundamental questions of it. I don’t know if we would we ever be able to answer them, but there’s something beautiful in trying to pursue them. What I wanted to project in my writings was my human experience and the encounters I have with the universe. The life pattern I’m trying to transmit is my process of building a theory of everything of my life, my learnings, and my way of seeing the world. I think everybody builds this tacitly and only few articulate it consciously, so this is my attempt to be one of those few.
http://www.ted.com/talks/garrett_lisi_on_his_theory_of_everything
April 20th, 2014
Why E8 Life Pattern?
Earlier today, I was in the bathroom thinking I had never explained in detail why my blog carries the name of E8 Life Pattern. It’s been more than one and a half years since I named it and I thought having some mystery was good, but now I think it would be nice to explain how I came up with such rare name. Besides, it’s appropriate to resume my reflections focusing on what I want to transmit and E8 seems like a good start.
It all started with a TED Talk I watched that Mabe recommended me. It’s called An 8-dimensional model of the universe by Garrett Lisi. I got really interested in the meaning of what Lisi was presenting although now I don’t remember it too well. Here’s the description of the talk in the TED website, “Physicist and surfer Garrett Lisi presents a controversial new model of the universe that — just maybe — answers all the big questions. If nothing else, it's the most beautiful 8-dimensional model of elementary particles and forces you've ever seen.” By the way, this 8-dimensional model is called E8.
This got me thinking about our ability to discover life and the answers to the fundamental questions of it. I don’t know if we would we ever be able to answer them, but there’s something beautiful in trying to pursue them. What I wanted to project in my writings was my human experience and the encounters I have with the universe. The life pattern I’m trying to transmit is my process of building a theory of everything of my life, my learnings, and my way of seeing the world. I think everybody builds this tacitly and only few articulate it consciously, so this is my attempt to be one of those few.
http://www.ted.com/talks/garrett_lisi_on_his_theory_of_everything
March 19th, 2014
OK
Is There Good and Evil People? Part 1
How fascinating is the human brain that it creates concepts so easily. I believe it’s part of our evolutionary adaptation so we are more apt to survive. We build concepts, stereotypes, references, and meanings to things we encounter and these allow us to behave accordingly to each situation, avoiding risks and living more harmonically. This also has its negative counterpart, which is that we can get biased and make prejudgments on people and things when actually they are nothing like we imagine them to be. To be more precise, here’s an example. You’re walking in a not-so-good neighborhood during the night and you see a group of black people approaching you. What do you do? Well, you change sidewalks. Is this racist? Not necessarily. It’s your survival brain telling you there’s a stereotype of black men and their possible criminal actions within that specific context you’re in. Maybe you’re wrong, but your suspicions are hopefully based on previous experiences and you simply don’t want to take those risks. On the positive side, you survive and nothing bad happens to you. On the negative side, you’re labeling individuals with your perception of the whole group. Having a holistic approach leads to terrible consequences in your life. You close yourself to exploring, connecting, and learning from people and the experiences you may have with them. It slows down your growth as a human being and ability to expand your knowledge horizons. It makes you see what you want to see and not the reality of how things actually are. It may be useful sometimes, but it’s more harmful in the long run.
OK
Is There Good and Evil People? Part 1
How fascinating is the human brain that it creates concepts so easily. I believe it’s part of our evolutionary adaptation so we are more apt to survive. We build concepts, stereotypes, references, and meanings to things we encounter and these allow us to behave accordingly to each situation, avoiding risks and living more harmonically. This also has its negative counterpart, which is that we can get biased and make prejudgments on people and things when actually they are nothing like we imagine them to be. To be more precise, here’s an example. You’re walking in a not-so-good neighborhood during the night and you see a group of black people approaching you. What do you do? Well, you change sidewalks. Is this racist? Not necessarily. It’s your survival brain telling you there’s a stereotype of black men and their possible criminal actions within that specific context you’re in. Maybe you’re wrong, but your suspicions are hopefully based on previous experiences and you simply don’t want to take those risks. On the positive side, you survive and nothing bad happens to you. On the negative side, you’re labeling individuals with your perception of the whole group. Having a holistic approach leads to terrible consequences in your life. You close yourself to exploring, connecting, and learning from people and the experiences you may have with them. It slows down your growth as a human being and ability to expand your knowledge horizons. It makes you see what you want to see and not the reality of how things actually are. It may be useful sometimes, but it’s more harmful in the long run.
March 20th, 2014
OK
Is There Good and Evil People? Part 2
All of this labeling and holistic approach became relevant during our debate session on Wednesday. It all started by someone asking whether we could say that Hitler was evil or not. Bert gave a drastic no as an answer, but some of us thought differently. He argued that people cannot be evil, but it’s only actions that can be good or evil. Labeling someone as good or evil is not realistic since everyone is always changing. He said that we must understand the dynamism of human beings and that they change over time, so we must remain open to them. Thus, we can say that Hitler did evil actions but he himself was not evil (nor good).
I agree on the part of understanding the dynamism of human beings, but have a different approach on deciding whether someone is good or evil. To me, you can say someone is good or evil and of course it would depends on his or her actions. We learn this from Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics we he says, “Moral virtues come from habit…They are in us neither by nature, nor in despite of nature, but we are furnished by nature with a capacity for receiving them, and we develop them through habit…These virtues we acquire by first exercising them…Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it…by doing just acts we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we become brave.”
By doing just acts we come to be just, by doing good acts we come to be good, and by doing evil acts we come to be evil. This doesn’t imply a permanent state, rather the opposite and goes along with the dynamism argument, but states that we are what we decide, intend, and finally do. That’s the responsibility of our actions! Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is therefore nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is.” We are the sum of our actions, humans have history, they evolve, they change, but they are what they do and nothing else.
OK
Is There Good and Evil People? Part 2
All of this labeling and holistic approach became relevant during our debate session on Wednesday. It all started by someone asking whether we could say that Hitler was evil or not. Bert gave a drastic no as an answer, but some of us thought differently. He argued that people cannot be evil, but it’s only actions that can be good or evil. Labeling someone as good or evil is not realistic since everyone is always changing. He said that we must understand the dynamism of human beings and that they change over time, so we must remain open to them. Thus, we can say that Hitler did evil actions but he himself was not evil (nor good).
I agree on the part of understanding the dynamism of human beings, but have a different approach on deciding whether someone is good or evil. To me, you can say someone is good or evil and of course it would depends on his or her actions. We learn this from Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics we he says, “Moral virtues come from habit…They are in us neither by nature, nor in despite of nature, but we are furnished by nature with a capacity for receiving them, and we develop them through habit…These virtues we acquire by first exercising them…Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it…by doing just acts we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we become brave.”
By doing just acts we come to be just, by doing good acts we come to be good, and by doing evil acts we come to be evil. This doesn’t imply a permanent state, rather the opposite and goes along with the dynamism argument, but states that we are what we decide, intend, and finally do. That’s the responsibility of our actions! Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is therefore nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is.” We are the sum of our actions, humans have history, they evolve, they change, but they are what they do and nothing else.
Week 3
March 24th, 2014
OK
How to Become a Weirdo in 3 Simple Steps
Although I may project self-confidence and security, I’m usually a little timid with doing things out of my comfort zone (and my comfort zone isn’t that big so I feel limited in doing a lot of stuff). But throughout my time at MPC, I’ve gotten the opportunity to expand my comfort zone and do things I never thought of doing like walking through UFM dressed as a bishop or Caesar, or dancing hip-hop on a terrace where everybody can see you at 7 a.m. (the time where most people enter UFM). Today happened the latter. For our dancing session, Grace prepared a hip-hop class. I must admit that I was not comfortable at the beginning, especially when all the people passing by sees you and laugh at your clumsy moves, but after a while you start to feel less inhibited and start freeing yourself from your perception of what people might say or laugh about you. When you accept the fact that your happiness and joy in life comes from within you, the things you do and who you share them with, you become immune to criticism and people thinking you are a really weird person. Common perception is that being a weirdo is something bad, but I find that being different, a kind of limited edition product is what makes you stand out within the crowd. So I came up with three simple steps on how to become a weirdo:
1. Do things that get you out of your comfort zone. I know this sounds cliché and you’ve heard it a lot of times, but what I mean is that I believe people’s comfort zones are not that different because we have this “society’s standards”, so by getting out of your comfort zone you’re probably becoming a little more weird.
2. Laugh with the ones that laugh at you. This is for two reasons. First, they don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, so don’t get too stressed about their ignorance, instead laugh at it (not at them). And second, if you become angry at other people’s reactions, you are ruining your moment and not enjoying it. So don’t care too much. Laughing and enjoying what you’re doing makes everything easier and makes you even weirder than you think.
3. Don’t respect context or time. A joyous life is made up of spontaneous moments. You’ll remember those random moments when you did something crazy. Do them whenever you feel like doing them, and do it often. The worst thing that could happen is that you’ll be embarrassed for a while, but the most common thing that happens is that people laugh.
That’s it, you are ready to become a true weirdo!
OK
How to Become a Weirdo in 3 Simple Steps
Although I may project self-confidence and security, I’m usually a little timid with doing things out of my comfort zone (and my comfort zone isn’t that big so I feel limited in doing a lot of stuff). But throughout my time at MPC, I’ve gotten the opportunity to expand my comfort zone and do things I never thought of doing like walking through UFM dressed as a bishop or Caesar, or dancing hip-hop on a terrace where everybody can see you at 7 a.m. (the time where most people enter UFM). Today happened the latter. For our dancing session, Grace prepared a hip-hop class. I must admit that I was not comfortable at the beginning, especially when all the people passing by sees you and laugh at your clumsy moves, but after a while you start to feel less inhibited and start freeing yourself from your perception of what people might say or laugh about you. When you accept the fact that your happiness and joy in life comes from within you, the things you do and who you share them with, you become immune to criticism and people thinking you are a really weird person. Common perception is that being a weirdo is something bad, but I find that being different, a kind of limited edition product is what makes you stand out within the crowd. So I came up with three simple steps on how to become a weirdo:
1. Do things that get you out of your comfort zone. I know this sounds cliché and you’ve heard it a lot of times, but what I mean is that I believe people’s comfort zones are not that different because we have this “society’s standards”, so by getting out of your comfort zone you’re probably becoming a little more weird.
2. Laugh with the ones that laugh at you. This is for two reasons. First, they don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, so don’t get too stressed about their ignorance, instead laugh at it (not at them). And second, if you become angry at other people’s reactions, you are ruining your moment and not enjoying it. So don’t care too much. Laughing and enjoying what you’re doing makes everything easier and makes you even weirder than you think.
3. Don’t respect context or time. A joyous life is made up of spontaneous moments. You’ll remember those random moments when you did something crazy. Do them whenever you feel like doing them, and do it often. The worst thing that could happen is that you’ll be embarrassed for a while, but the most common thing that happens is that people laugh.
That’s it, you are ready to become a true weirdo!
March 25th, 2014
OK
The Lesson We Never Learn
Today was our last dialogue of Hazlitt’s book, Economics in One Lesson. It’s a very easy-to-read book and very straight forward. It was a good reminder of one of the foundations of liberalism and in general of a good life. The lesson can be simply stated as the following. You should always look not only at the short term consequences but also at the long term ones, and you should also look for the consequences to all the groups affected by an action and not only to a specific group. It’s pretty much common sense, but common sense isn’t that common.
We wondered why policy makers ignore this lesson. I believe they are not stupid, in fact they are pretty smart, but it must be their incentive system that makes them act a certain way that ignores this common-sense lesson. Why would they even bother to make good policies that would benefit everybody and not harm a specific group when they can gain more personally in terms of public preferences by privileging a specific group in detriment to the wellbeing of another one? For these people, incentives are align so they don’t follow the one lesson Hazlitt recommends. This is sad. It becomes our responsibility to change the incentives by which these people guide their actions and this means not falling for the politicians’ favoritisms for a specific group. This is a lot easier when you are being one of the plundered groups, but how would you change the mind of those who receive their privileges? I’m still not clear about the best approach on this, but I believe the change is in our education.
OK
The Lesson We Never Learn
Today was our last dialogue of Hazlitt’s book, Economics in One Lesson. It’s a very easy-to-read book and very straight forward. It was a good reminder of one of the foundations of liberalism and in general of a good life. The lesson can be simply stated as the following. You should always look not only at the short term consequences but also at the long term ones, and you should also look for the consequences to all the groups affected by an action and not only to a specific group. It’s pretty much common sense, but common sense isn’t that common.
We wondered why policy makers ignore this lesson. I believe they are not stupid, in fact they are pretty smart, but it must be their incentive system that makes them act a certain way that ignores this common-sense lesson. Why would they even bother to make good policies that would benefit everybody and not harm a specific group when they can gain more personally in terms of public preferences by privileging a specific group in detriment to the wellbeing of another one? For these people, incentives are align so they don’t follow the one lesson Hazlitt recommends. This is sad. It becomes our responsibility to change the incentives by which these people guide their actions and this means not falling for the politicians’ favoritisms for a specific group. This is a lot easier when you are being one of the plundered groups, but how would you change the mind of those who receive their privileges? I’m still not clear about the best approach on this, but I believe the change is in our education.
March 26th, 2014
OK
The Dynamism of Human Preferences
Today we were supposed to have Karen Vaughn as our virtual professor, but because of confusion with the scheduled time this was not possible. Instead of having the dialogue with her, we decided to read and discuss Hayek’s essay, The Use of Knowledge in Society. This is a meaty essay; it has a lot of important insights on the acquisition and use of knowledge and how the price system works. But I want to focus not specifically on these but on another. Hayek says that the economic problem of society is one of a rapid adaptation to change. He is referring to the problem that a person that centrally controls the decisions in a market, although could be able to have all the relevant information, would not always make the correct decision because of the dynamism of human preferences.
What this means is that if somehow, let’s say a machine, is able to compile all the preferences of individuals and transmit it to that central authority, by the time in which this information is transferred, individuals might already changed their preferences. Applied to our daily life, in education we see how much more efficient is a dialogue for resolving questions almost immediately than being in a lecture and asking your questions afterward. Also, in management, the larger the business, the most likely to have problems in planning as in a larger government than in small business with a culture of empowerment. These are only a couple of example of how much more efficient is a decentralized system versus a centralized one and how in the former the problem of dynamism in human preferences is best solved than in the latter.
OK
The Dynamism of Human Preferences
Today we were supposed to have Karen Vaughn as our virtual professor, but because of confusion with the scheduled time this was not possible. Instead of having the dialogue with her, we decided to read and discuss Hayek’s essay, The Use of Knowledge in Society. This is a meaty essay; it has a lot of important insights on the acquisition and use of knowledge and how the price system works. But I want to focus not specifically on these but on another. Hayek says that the economic problem of society is one of a rapid adaptation to change. He is referring to the problem that a person that centrally controls the decisions in a market, although could be able to have all the relevant information, would not always make the correct decision because of the dynamism of human preferences.
What this means is that if somehow, let’s say a machine, is able to compile all the preferences of individuals and transmit it to that central authority, by the time in which this information is transferred, individuals might already changed their preferences. Applied to our daily life, in education we see how much more efficient is a dialogue for resolving questions almost immediately than being in a lecture and asking your questions afterward. Also, in management, the larger the business, the most likely to have problems in planning as in a larger government than in small business with a culture of empowerment. These are only a couple of example of how much more efficient is a decentralized system versus a centralized one and how in the former the problem of dynamism in human preferences is best solved than in the latter.
March 27th, 2014
OK
Finding Your Balance
What better way to start your day relaxing and focusing with Tai Chi? Okay, I could think of a few other ways but in the context of MPC this was a great start. It was Javi P’s morning meeting and he taught us some Tai Chi. He has been taking Tai Chi lessons for a couple of months now and thought it was nice for us to know more about it, so he arranged the terrace, put some oriental music, and guided us through the session. It was really great. I felt very peaceful and disconnected for a while and it helped me get focused for the rest of my day. I really like these oriental techniques for meditation and finding your balance.
Making Tai Chi reminded me of the importance of finding balance in your life. As Aristotle would’ve said, finding the mean would lead you to a virtuous life. But how do you find you balance? Is it something you plan, feel, or both? I believe the conscious part of it has to be planned. It’s doing things like dividing your time wisely, scheduling the important aspects of your life and giving time to each one, and finding the activities that help you pursue better your aims. In a more unconscious way, there’s something you feel when you are at balance. You find peace in your spirit, mind, and body, and that’s where you know and feel you in balance.
OK
Finding Your Balance
What better way to start your day relaxing and focusing with Tai Chi? Okay, I could think of a few other ways but in the context of MPC this was a great start. It was Javi P’s morning meeting and he taught us some Tai Chi. He has been taking Tai Chi lessons for a couple of months now and thought it was nice for us to know more about it, so he arranged the terrace, put some oriental music, and guided us through the session. It was really great. I felt very peaceful and disconnected for a while and it helped me get focused for the rest of my day. I really like these oriental techniques for meditation and finding your balance.
Making Tai Chi reminded me of the importance of finding balance in your life. As Aristotle would’ve said, finding the mean would lead you to a virtuous life. But how do you find you balance? Is it something you plan, feel, or both? I believe the conscious part of it has to be planned. It’s doing things like dividing your time wisely, scheduling the important aspects of your life and giving time to each one, and finding the activities that help you pursue better your aims. In a more unconscious way, there’s something you feel when you are at balance. You find peace in your spirit, mind, and body, and that’s where you know and feel you in balance.