Absurdvations

INTP. Unpolished thoughts... Hoping to spark something more. 

[bagofmayo]

It’s unsettling how the entirety of my hopes, dreams, and ambitions can be wiped from existence from an angry man with a hammer.

And how he doesn’t even need to be angry.

Or have a hammer.

Or be a man.

[bagofmayo]

Learning: Intro

The following truly is not a revolutionary thought: high school does not really teach you "true" knowledge.

I have been pretty much an autodidactic my entire life. I have multiple interest that I pursue through, well, the internet. I find most of how school is traditionally taught to be slow, tedious, and unnecessary. Memorization over intellectual rigor, to say the least.

But, of course, the greatest benefit of such institution is structure. With self-learning, I tend to shift abruptly from one place to another. However, proficiency only comes through focused understanding.

Recently, I have stumbled across Scott Young's Ultralearning. He documented how he learned the MIT computer science curriculum in a year (MIT Challenge... he has a fantastic TED talk on Youtube).

This led me to want to start my own Ultralearning project through MIT open courseware. I have finals coming up in a month, but for a couple weeks now and during winter break I have a lot of time in which I can pursue my goals.

[bagofmayo]

The Importance of Akuracy

"Only through intellectual vulnerability can one obtain the truth"

Accuracy is a trait that I strived to achieve for as long as I can remember. I find great value in refining my internal frameworks and theories, accounting for the numerous inconsistencies or exceptions. I often find myself obsessing over specific word choices or unimportant guidelines. This has led me to become largely reclusive, especially in terms of my innermost ideas or personal interests. Honing over the smallest of details lead to reluctance. Reluctance lead to internalized resistance.

However, this, for the most part, resulted in more harm than good. After all, without communication, how would I open myself to questioning? How else would I receive criticism? 

The quality I wish to obtain is impossible. In truth, it is fundamentally unattainable with human nature. No matter how educated one is with logical fallacies or propositional calculus, the elimination of ones animalistic irrationalities and psychological heuristics doesn't present itself as an option.

Although I still strive for scientific and mathematical thinking – and hopefully, will be a trait I will utilize in its intensiveness for the rest of my life – the overly pedantic obsession should often be met with opposition.

Akuracy shall not hinder with effective communication

[bagofmayo]

Self Improvement

Okay.

I've basically always enjoyed the process of translating my thoughts into words. However, I've always been extremely hesitant with sharing my thoughts. But, I thought to myself, what is holding me back? Myself. I think I should change that.

A little about me: I'm a student pursing a career in stem. I get its pretty vague, but I will leave it at this for now.

I always had this fascination with understanding the underlaying mechanisms of the world, and overall, making "sense" of things.

I hope this blog will above all make my ideas more tangible. I like concocting theories in a number of fields, such as medicine, physics, and psychology.

I think what really pushed me into this is that I gained a lot of self-awareness the past few days. Just going through a bad relationship made me see the big picture. Mostly the faults in myself through connecting past memories.

Thanks. More to come, I promise.

Peace.

[bagofmayo]

Unnecessary Redundancies

HIV virus. LCD Display. ATM Machine.

These are all examples of the RAS syndrome. RAS stands for "redundant acronym syndrome", which makes this phrase homological (which holds a very special place in my metaphorical love-for-linguistics corner).

Redundancies should not be confused with repetition. Redundancies provide no additional meaning to the reader, often cluttering up statements. This consequently makes writing more difficult to understand. Repetition provides an aid to the listener, providing emphasis whenever the speaker perceives it necessary. For example, textbooks often contain repetition by stating multiple explanations to explain one core concept.

After stumbling upon tautology – which is the repetition of two words with similar meanings such as "end result", "future plans", and "past history"– I started to encounter them everywhere. Although it is a classic case of the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, the knowledge that its merely a perceived growth in frequency provided no impediment from it becoming my newfound obsession. Learning about tautologies, and ultimately redundancies, improved my systematic approach to writing.

Tact is often the difference between good and bad linguistic usage. Since writing is a fluid system, saying all use of a particular concept is "bad" is a hasty generalization. The subtle nuances of language, mathematics, and medicine – the core mechanisms that govern our universe and thinking – await deeper truths that are to be discovered.

Look deeper. Be wary of overgeneralization.