Work Experience is Better than Certifications

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My cousin, who works in the I.T. field, was asking me questions about which certifications she should be getting in order to advance her career. She was telling me that she wanted to build a mobile app and had no idea how to setup a database for it and how it could be a good opportunity for her to get a database related certification.

My advise to her was to just get the app done and not worry about the certifications.

While there's nothing wrong in working towards certifications, I would argue that building an app does a lot more for future potential work opportunities than the certifications alone. A certification is proof that you successfully completed a course but an app is proof that you were able to apply knowledge.

Certifications are useful for those looking to start a career. However, once you're years into these careers you should be able to use your past experiences to further your career. What employers are looking for are proof that you can do the work that will be given to you. That proof can certainly be a certification but it can also be based on previous work that you've done.

If you're looking to work for a company that builds mobile app then previous experience, like building your own mobile app, will definitely be valuable for it. The key is to figure out what you need to do, at the new position that you want, and get that experience (or certification).

All you need is to prove that you can do the job.

Debt Should be Illegal

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It's illegal in Canada to own slaves but it's not illegal for financial institutions to own someone else's finances. The difference between a slave and someone in debt is that the person in debt has a "choice". However what choice is there really for someone making 30k a year when a decent house cost 3-5 times more? What choice does someone have when the average car is also 30k? What choice does someone have when the average college/university degree is 100k?

Debt is no longer a choice...

Maybe at one point debt was a choice but we it can't really be considered as one anymore. We don't realize how bad the economy is because part of it is covered up by debt and makes it look better on the surface than it actually is. As long as we can maintain the illusion then all is good right?

No - all is not good... When my dad was in his 20s, he bought a brand new car for 3k and a bag of chips was 5cents. He built a family home for roughly 45k...

Folks there's a problem here and the solution isn't to "raise minimum wage". Every middle class employee in the world needs to make payments on their government's debt. Can the Canadian Government really offer "free" Ambulance service when each Canadian ow roughly 60k towards the Government's debt?

We need cutbacks, we need a government that says "no", we need debt to be restricted or downright illegal... we'll never see something like this because political parties want to buy votes and you can't "buy" votes by removing something. 

Debt will never be made illegal because some people are making money off of it. Nobody owns slaves but who ever owns someone's debt can still exercise a degree of control over them.

War Will Never End

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You're part of a happy family. One day, soldiers drop at your door and kill everyone except for you.

War will never end...

War will never end because if we were in this situation we would go to great lengths to exercise our vengeance. How could anyone forgive something like this? 

Love can give birth to hatred...

For peace to be possible, enough people must move beyond hatred and sacrifice their desires for vengeance for the sake of peace. We put an end to wars when those impacted by them take it upon themselves to not spread the hatred that they've endured. 

For the cycle to end, we need more people that will push aside their pain for the greater good, for other people to enjoy peace, for war to end.

I want humanity to be at peace and focus on the issue that impacts us all. Disease, global warming, pollution, poverty... don't we have enough problems already? Do we really need to fight each other?

What Would Be the Point of Money?

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Governments are discussing ways to provide basic income. They understand that they’ll eventually be a need for this as all things productive will be handed over to various automated technologies.
When that day comes, what will even be the point of holding onto a monetary system? If money serves as a way to determine the value someone brings to society then what would be the purpose of it when the responsibility for production, or value, is handed over to automation?

We based our entire civilization on a system designed to encourage people to produce. If people are no longer required to produce then there’s no point to the system.

Intellectually speaking, we’re not ready for a system that would provide us with an excessive amount of leisure as we need goals in order to thrive. Money has provided us with a sense of purpose to the point that we can’t even imagine a world that wouldn’t require it to purchase something. How can we possibly “own” something without first exchanging dollars for it? 

We would need to learn how to live in this new world which isn’t something easy to do when you consider that we’re creatures of habits and we’ve carried this habit for millennias. Eventually, however, the new system would become the new normal.

The Hollywood Strike May Loose to A.I.

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With A.I., there’s no longer a need to have a room full of writers anymore. In-fact, there will be a day when we may no longer need actors or voice actors. The Hollywood strike, while necessary for those involved, may actually be speeding the transition towards those A.I. tools. The A.I. revolution we’re seeing here as a striking resemblance to the revolution that occurred in the early days of the car. Those responsible for horses and buggies were ultimately swallowed by progress.

The car revolution certainly wasn’t pleasant for those who were negatively impacted by it but the general public decided that cars were better than horses/buggies. A similar situation may be brewing with the Hollywood strike as well – does the general public really care that a script was written by a person rather than A.I.? Or acted using A.I. rather than a person?

I believe the general public wants more entertainment rather than less. We will see a day when entire movies will be created by a single person with the help of A.I. or made entirely by it.

Those artist may need to adapt to the changes in similar ways that those responsible for horses and buggies had to do. Some stayed in the industry until they no longer could and some were forced to join into the revolution or do something else.

Being a hobbyist writer myself, I do feel a sense of powerlessness with A.I. as it’s eating away one of the things I like to do and I know I will see the day when it will take over what I do for work as well. I don’t believe this is something we can fight as too many people will adopt it and we’ll effectively become the causalities of it.