jer979Purpose Struggle
Yesterday, I decided that my blogging career should come to an end. I was doing myself a disservice. I told myself that the goal of the posts was to dig deeper, peel back the layers, get down to the core. But by publishing online (or on-chain as the case may be), I was subconsciously writing for others, even if I told myself that I didn't care if others read. So, in an effort to be more authentic, I figured I'd stop publishing and start doing a private journal. Within 2 hours of that decision...
jer979Value. Happiness.
I feel happy. It's fun, it's light, like a feather floating at the beginning of Forrest Gump. But, like the feather, it's not grounded. It can flitter and float away. Value is also ephemeral. We know it when we see it. We feel it, somewhere deep inside. Something connects to us, saying "yes, this is worth it." The "it" that it's worth is energy. Energy in the form of time, attention, money. The things of which our possession is limited. There's a reason why all the great traditions point to "...
jer979Coffee with AI
Every day for the past month, I’ve had a coffee date with AI. I literally sit down, with a cup of coffee, with an appointment on my calendar that says “coffee with AI”. During that time, AI (I’ve used ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Venice) and I literally have a chat, the way I would with a friend. It’s not “write this letter for me” or “do this or that.” No, it’s a chance for us to have a conversation about whatever topic I want. Many days, recently, at least, it’s been about quant...
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jer979When the Alternative is Better
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Support jer979
jer979When the Alternative is Better
jer979Purpose Struggle
Yesterday, I decided that my blogging career should come to an end. I was doing myself a disservice. I told myself that the goal of the posts was to dig deeper, peel back the layers, get down to the core. But by publishing online (or on-chain as the case may be), I was subconsciously writing for others, even if I told myself that I didn't care if others read. So, in an effort to be more authentic, I figured I'd stop publishing and start doing a private journal. Within 2 hours of that decision...
jer979Value. Happiness.
I feel happy. It's fun, it's light, like a feather floating at the beginning of Forrest Gump. But, like the feather, it's not grounded. It can flitter and float away. Value is also ephemeral. We know it when we see it. We feel it, somewhere deep inside. Something connects to us, saying "yes, this is worth it." The "it" that it's worth is energy. Energy in the form of time, attention, money. The things of which our possession is limited. There's a reason why all the great traditions point to "...
jer979Coffee with AI
Every day for the past month, I’ve had a coffee date with AI. I literally sit down, with a cup of coffee, with an appointment on my calendar that says “coffee with AI”. During that time, AI (I’ve used ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Venice) and I literally have a chat, the way I would with a friend. It’s not “write this letter for me” or “do this or that.” No, it’s a chance for us to have a conversation about whatever topic I want. Many days, recently, at least, it’s been about quant...
www.twitter.com/jer979
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I recently attended a Buddhist meditation session where the teacher was asked “do you need to be Vegan in order to be Buddhist?”
His answer, like many Buddhists, was subtle. That it’s impossible to never do any harm, so what we look to do is minimize the amount of harm that we actually do. Eventually, he suggested, the more you study Buddhism and the more you meditate on things like Lovingkindness and Compassion, the more you find the idea of eating animals to be unacceptable.
But then he made a point that I found very interesting.
“We’re pretty much at the point where you can find vegan alternatives to pretty much everything out there, whatever you want, and we’re also at the point where you can’t tell the difference between the two. Soon, it will become unacceptable for people to knowingly eat actual meat because the alternatives are just as good, if not better for you, for the environment, and for your conscience.”
The next morning, I was sitting in St. Pancras International station, awaiting the Eurostar train to Paris. I didn’t notice any advertisements in the entire station, except one. It was for a company called Courbet, which makes “Lab Grown Diamonds.”
I can’t remember now as I write this (I’m on the train) what the tagline was, but it was something like “the alternative is better.” Maybe I am misremembering though.
Regardless, if that’s the case (and I would bet that it is), anyone who has seen the movie Blood Diamond should be asking themselves the same question.
We’ve seen it happen with fur…why wouldn’t we see it happen with diamonds and meat?
But it only happens when the alternative is just as good, if not better.
Crypto is the same way. It’s an alternative, but it’s definitely not just as good and it’s definitely not better.
But, like vegan meat and lab grown diamonds, one day it will be.
lab grown diamonds
crypto
I recently attended a Buddhist meditation session where the teacher was asked “do you need to be Vegan in order to be Buddhist?”
His answer, like many Buddhists, was subtle. That it’s impossible to never do any harm, so what we look to do is minimize the amount of harm that we actually do. Eventually, he suggested, the more you study Buddhism and the more you meditate on things like Lovingkindness and Compassion, the more you find the idea of eating animals to be unacceptable.
But then he made a point that I found very interesting.
“We’re pretty much at the point where you can find vegan alternatives to pretty much everything out there, whatever you want, and we’re also at the point where you can’t tell the difference between the two. Soon, it will become unacceptable for people to knowingly eat actual meat because the alternatives are just as good, if not better for you, for the environment, and for your conscience.”
The next morning, I was sitting in St. Pancras International station, awaiting the Eurostar train to Paris. I didn’t notice any advertisements in the entire station, except one. It was for a company called Courbet, which makes “Lab Grown Diamonds.”
I can’t remember now as I write this (I’m on the train) what the tagline was, but it was something like “the alternative is better.” Maybe I am misremembering though.
Regardless, if that’s the case (and I would bet that it is), anyone who has seen the movie Blood Diamond should be asking themselves the same question.
We’ve seen it happen with fur…why wouldn’t we see it happen with diamonds and meat?
But it only happens when the alternative is just as good, if not better.
Crypto is the same way. It’s an alternative, but it’s definitely not just as good and it’s definitely not better.
But, like vegan meat and lab grown diamonds, one day it will be.
lab grown diamonds
crypto
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