Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Take Ownership of Your Education


I've rarely accepted to partake in learning engagements at work for the simple reason that most of these "classes" are taught by people that don't know anything beyond the Powerpoint presentation they've created for it. 

Take ownership of your education...

In 2007-08, I was a young, French only, punk about to start my career in the tech industry. In order for me to learn English, I created this blog. The plan was that I would do my research, in English, to write the blogs. Within a year, my English was to the point that I could communicate with my peers. 
A few years later, I was on a project where they were discussing Google Analytics & Adsense. Again, I used this blog to learn about these technologies. On another project, I needed test automation experience... this blog was used for this as well.

My point here is that whenever I needed to learn a new skill I created a little side project to teach myself how to do it. This isn't to say that there's no value in having a teacher but you do need teachers that have the results that you want.

"Listen to those that have the fruit from the tree."

If you can't find good teachers, then the only other option you have is to teach yourself.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

The Universal vs Intellect Perspective of Free Will


Last week, I agreed with the theory that free will is an illusion but I feel the need to expand on it as it depends on the perspective.

From the perspective of the Universe:
  • Everything happens in accordance to the forces at play regardless if a thing is a rock or alive. What begins will end following the pre-determined path - there's no free will as much as things are bound to destiny.
From the perspective of Intellect:
  • Intelligent life is free to shape its surroundings and impact its future. A person can choose to be a doctor or a mechanic and as far as he's concerned the Universe had no impact on his decisions.
From a universal perspective, free will is an illusion because it was created by, and is bound to, itself. From the perspective of Intelligent life, we believe that we're free to choose not realizing that what ever direction we take is still within the Universal parameters. A fish in an aquarium is free to choose what to do within the boundaries of the aquarium.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

The Universe and The Illusion of Free Will


If we throw a rock in space, it will continue on its path until a force comes in contact with it. There's a predictability, or destiny, to it - the adventure begins somewhere and will end somewhere else. 

If we could go back in time to the beginning of the Universe and move some particles it would, over billions of years, create a universe that's different from our own. The resulting universe would act in accordance to the changes made.
If we don't change anything then things should progress as it already did. The Earth would form and we would exist in it exactly as we are now... or would we?

Is there such a thing as free will or are we bound to a path similar to the rock that travels in space? Free will suggests that if we had 2 identical Universes that life would evolved differently in each, based on the decisions made, but if everything is the same then how could life possibly evolve any differently? 

How can decisions be any different when the surroundings are the same?

While there's no way to prove whether or not we're bound to destiny, or set path, I like to believe that we are bound to a degree of destiny as life isn't as unpredictable as some believe it to be. Everything that lives wants to survive and it wants to do so the easiest way possible. If another Universe has every particles exactly at the same place as our own then life would of evolved the same way. It would of crawled into the same cracks trying to find the same source of nourishment.

Free will is an illusion because if we were given the choice between eating at a table Infront of us or climbing a mountain to eat at the top we would choose the table Infront of us every time even if we're free choose. Intelligent life IS predictable in the sense that it takes the easiest way for its survival.

Part of the theory of time travel is that if someone goes back and makes a small change it could have dire consequences on the future.
If we didn't change anything in the past wouldn't this mean that life would progress the same as it did previously?

We think we have free will because we have no way of knowing what the future will bring. We can't predict the future therefor we believe that we're free to create it. 

We can't change the natural progression of time - the events will occur in harmony with the Universe regardless of our supposed free will. Because of our awareness to our surrounding, we have some degree of control over our environments, compared to a rock, but it doesn't mean that our actions aren't already known to the Universe.

We're not living our lives as much as we're discovering it.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

When Easier is Available...

Nobody will take the most difficult path if an easier is made available to them. This is not only true for humans but also for other species as well. My dad recently placed a bird feeder on his property and a large gathering of bird have ensued. They eat the free food with such vigor that one has to wonder what they were eating before this came along. 

This has been going on long enough that birds are now waiting for the food to come rather than hunt for their own food. The birds will continue to wait for their free food for as long as they have hope that it will come and, in this situation, it will come for as long as there’s snow outside. 

Humans are like that too aren’t they? If you offer them social assistance, you effectively remove their willingness to go hunt for their own food. This will go on for as long as there’s free money available. 

I understand that some can’t get their own food and are required to go on social assistance as a result but let’s not kid ourselves here - there are definitely people that are abusing this system.


Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Travelling Isn't for Everyone


As a consultant, there's a demand for me to travel which is something that was made very clear to me when I first started working. I never was the traveler which explains why my managers would tell me things like "you should enjoy travelling while you're young as you won't be able to when you're older".

Travelling is a necessity more so than something that I enjoy doing and I've always found the need to meet people "in person" kind of silly in the world of Information Technology. Whenever I take an airplane I ask myself if the carbon monoxide used to get me somewhere is actually worth it? (to me it isn't)

If you're a traveler then by all means travel; it certainly is great period in our history to do so considering all the methods we have available.


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