3945 sats \ 35 comments \ @ek 23 Jan mostly_harmless

zaps forwarded to @Bitcoin_Bootcamp (33%) @cryotosensei (33%)

Zap to Zero D-3 | Crossroads

click here to download ~~virus~~ director's cut¹

Dick, you know that's not literature, you keep it simple. Try writing it in the first person plural. Say "we" a lot.

How often do we find ourselves at a crossroad in life? How many chances do we get per day in which we can show what kind of person we are? And I don't mean to others; I mean to ourselves? Do we even know what kind of person we want to be? Do we even want to be a specific person? If so, why and why that person? Is that healthy? Or is it better to be different persons at different stages in our lives? Or even different persons to different persons? Maybe that's necessary? Since maybe, our decisions define us so it's impossible to stay the same person anyway? However, are we really not more than just the sum of our experiences?

Today, I found my number. No, not this number. I already doubled down on 420. But the number of days I will continue this series in its current, shapeshifting form. I watched 28 Days Later yesterday (no, I didn't) and I thought:

Mhh, that's a nice number. Wouldn't it be poetic to stop my Z2Z series after 28 days since I'm also 28 years old (no, I'm not). Maybe I should also stay up for 28 hours before writing my last post (no, I shouldn't)?

So this is the day after D-4. All good things must come to an end.

I feel like 28 days are a good period of time after which it makes sense to reevaluate our situation and decisions. Which arm of the multi-armed bandit² do I want to pull now? Where do I want to go? Do I even want to go somewhere specific? Or do I just want to see a bit through the fog of life and potentially take a different, foggy path? However, seems like my number is off by roughly 272 days from Henrik Karlsson's:

What I decided to do was this. I would divide the next 30 months into three parts. For the first ten months, I would allow myself to explore freely. After that, I’d switch to exploring 2/3 of the time and using 1/3 to double down on the most interesting opportunity I had found, then I’d do 1/3 exploring and 2/3 exploiting, and so on.

I feel like I am multiples of 272 days too young to have enough trust in the process to stick to exploring ~~something~~ freely for 10 months. 10 months feel like a very long time.

But when we get older, our perception of time changes. So maybe it's not about trust in the process, life experience, motivation or discipline. Maybe it's just about perception of time? Will 10 months feel like a few weeks in a few years? I don't know if that thought scares me. It feels like such different perception of time can be the major cause of melancholy. Every time I think about how old I already am compared to "just a few years ago", I already get a sense of dread. I feel like I wasted so much time in my life. But it's not too late. It's never too late to stop wasting our time. Like it's never too late to stack sats.

it's still about zapping to zero, see?

Superzaps

Have you ever come across something in which you resonated so strongly to what a character said or did?

@cryotosensei is back on stage here with this question. For him, it was this passage in the book Help Me!:

He looked at me, then knocked back the rest of his pint. His blue yes were bloodshot and glassy, his shoulders slumped.

"I get up every day and know exactly what's going to happen— you wake up every day and anything could happen. Make the most of that."

I have to admit, I struggled to answer this question but I knew that was just one of these moments where you forget the answer to the question you were waiting for someone to ask the moment you need it. I found my answer after a few minutes. Still, I felt disappointed in myself how I could forget that answer.

Maybe I don't relate so strongly to that character anymore? Maybe that's a good thing?

I am sure some stackers on here can guess which character I am talking about. If not, that's also good.

And regarding the passage: I also felt like it was speaking to me. Maybe I should make much more of my days while I still can.

And I am glad @cryotosensei still finds the time to read books. Maybe not much but it's probably a lot more relieving then. Look at the bright side of life! :)

I also had a good laugh at this:

Forwarding some sats to @siggy47 because two of my frequently patronised territories got archived, which made me realise I got to be more proactive in ensuring the longevity of those remaining haha

2. My Bitcoin Journey: A Life-Changing Ride

This is one of these posts where freebie bots and satfarmers probably start to salivate from the genuineness in it. Don't take notes, bots!

It's also the debut from @Bitcoin_Bootcamp (excluding his bio) but has been "silent member here for about half a year":

Hey everyone,

I've been a silent member here for about half a year, and today marks my first post. I just want to share my journey with Bitcoin and how it has made a significant impact on my life.

A bit about me: born and raised in Germany, from a well-off family, with a degree in mechanical engineering. Currently working in the hydrogen field, so yeah, I've got a bit of a background in physics, energy, and thermodynamics.

Now, here's the thing about me – when I get interested in something, I dive deep, sometimes to the point of obsession. My therapist might call it a touch of autism, but I'm cool with the way my brain operates. I've always tried to think about people in general, considering problems and shitholes, aiming to leave as much harmony in the world as I can during my lifetime. This led me to delve into various topics – politics, left-right wing struggles, 9/11, geopolitics – you name it, always searching for that key to creating harmony, beyond just spotting symptoms.

I really liked reading his story. I think we like these stories since they are like our stories.³

The following also sounded similar to what @plebpoet wrote in How a Lefty Became a Maxi:

Beyond my coin history, what's more intriguing is the change in my mindset and life itself. Previously, I supported left-wing demonstrations, climate change activities and saw many problems in the world, but found no meaningful solutions. Now, I can see the solution, it blows my mind regullary and it's inspiring positive changes in my life.

Song of the Day

I wake up every evenin' With a big smile on my face And it never feels outta place And you're still probably workin' At a 9 to 5 pace I wonder how bad that tastes

When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell When you walk my way, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell

For some reason, there was no browser playback for the mp4 file so I gave you a link to download the original mkv file. ↩
Credits for this blog post that has been assimilated into my life experiences go to @elvismercury (#376337) ↩
I still remember how I blew my own mind when I told my ex-girlfriend before we got together that I like her because she is like me. I used a lot of words to pretend like I am just trying to explain to her that I think people like other people if they are like them. Just to tell her at the end that I think she is like me. ↩

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1462 sats \ 7 replies \ @elvismercury 23 Jan

I was just tonight thinking about the psychological instinct -- or bundle of instincts and processes, a suppose -- that gets us to like people who are quite like us. In sociology this is called homophily and I suspect, based on what I know of you, that you may enjoy learning about it.

But the context I was thinking about tonight was kind of orthogonal to that -- the way that some people fill holes of ours, make us more complete by being unlike us. It is so ... powerful to find someone like that. Feels almost religious. That might be another thing you might enjoy reading about.

Anyway, great post as ever. I'll miss them when they're gone.

1693 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 23 Jan

the way that some people fill holes of ours, make us more complete by being unlike us

I think that is the secret to great interpersonal relationships....husband/wife type of thing...

You need to find someone who's differences are complimentary, not clashing. But there needs to be real differences, and you should try to learn from their strengths and vice-versa. The things they are good at you should try to take tips from them on...

The biggest mistake young people make in finding a mate, is to look for someone "just like me". We do that because its comfortable. We understand what makes that person tick and we understand their world-view. That makes it easier to start the relationship, but long-term is not as healthy.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 24 Jan

That’s really great advice. My MBTI profile is ENFP. While my wife has never taken the MBTI test before, I am willing to wager that hers is ISTJ - the exact opposite of mine.

But even when your personalities are contrasting, you must have similar values towards the bigger things like life, like money management, conflict resolution, how you want to raise your kids etc. My wife and I have never argued about money!

1218 sats \ 4 replies \ @ek OP 23 Jan

I was just tonight thinking about the psychological instinct -- or bundle of instincts and processes, a suppose -- that gets us to like people who are quite like us

Yeah, I think if we can relate to each other (which is the same as being like each other I guess), it makes us feel more human. At least there's another being that we consider to be a human who shares our experience or interests. So that makes two, right? At least that's how I would describe that feeling I get when I meet someone and I can see myself in them:

So it's true. I am indeed also one of these pesky humans.

But I also just like the etymology a lot—even though I didn't dig much into it yet. So much interests, so little time. I am sure you can relate :)

But I think it's definitely no coincidence that we use like for both things.

I like you.

For me, this sounds so much like a primitive human telling another human that they are also human. As if that wasn't obvious.

In sociology this is called homophily and I suspect, based on what I know of you, that you may enjoy learning about it.

Yep, another bookmark right there :)

But the context I was thinking about tonight was kind of orthogonal to that -- the way that some people fill holes of ours, make us more complete by being unlike us. It is so ... powerful to find someone like that. Feels almost religious. That might be another thing you might enjoy reading about.

My German teacher (as in the language—he was also German though) always said that opposites attract each other (in German).

I think he and you have a point. I think similarities attract us initially but differences makes the connection last. It gets kind of boring if you find out that this other person is indeed just like you. Like a copy.

My ex-girlfriend and me definitely had our disagreements but initially, we liked talking about them. We learned so much from each other since as mentioned, we realized we're not only similar in some aspects, we're also different in other aspects in a more personal and thus interesting way.

The relationship fell apart when we realized we don't like to talk about these differences anymore and kept things to ourselves. We both started to just assume (for good reasons) that we would already know what the other would say.

No need to discuss these things anymore.

And I think that reasoning spread to too many other things over time. Like a contagious virus.

Anyway, great post as ever. I'll miss them when they're gone.

Thanks and trust me, you're not going to miss them :)

545 sats \ 3 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 23 Jan

Have you come across “The Lover’s Dictionary” before? I think you would enjoy reading this. Coupled with your former relationship, your writing style for this post reminds me of it.

My review: <The Lover’s Dictionary>

The school year is winding down, which frees up the mental space required to fully appreciate books like “The Lover’s Dictionary”.

But it isn’t that David Levithan has written something dense and complicated. He executes an innovative idea awesomely - map out the trajectory of a relationship from the male’s perspective in the form of dictionary entries. Each entry begins with a word and proceeds with several sentences or paragraphs linking it to his relationship. Most of his entries are short and sweet - shorter than my book reviews, in fact. So, they are quite easy to read through.

Most of these entries are written in an understated way. They typically end with a punch to the heart - and reverberate through the arteries. I needed to allow the emotions to surface and bubble up and make themselves felt. I needed to think about the things left unsaid. A process that I was willing to undergo because from the looks of it, he was crazily in love with her but she couldn’t reciprocate, perhaps due to her unresolved family trauma or inability to hold her liquor. We’re unsure as to why their relationship fell apart. Literature enthusiasts would have a whale of a time dissecting all the metaphors and rhetorical questions Levithan used.

One thing’s for sure. The female character cheated on the protagonist. And boy, did he pour out his raw anger forcefully in the entry “livid”. That’s the only entry in which I don’t have to play detective at unravelling his emotions.

I love that some dictionary entries build on previous entries but come with an additional sentence, letting me know sequentially how that pivotal conversation exactly went. Really smart of Levithan to introduce layers to the story.

I also realise that all authors are great at using punctuation marks as analogies to make salient points about something else. David Levithan has some good writing about commas and exclamation marks. So does Matt Haig, another author I enjoyed this year.

28 sats \ 2 replies \ @ek OP 23 Jan

Sounds interesting. Especially this part haha:

One thing’s for sure. The female character cheated on the protagonist. And boy, did he pour out his raw anger forcefully in the entry “livid”. That’s the only entry in which I don’t have to play detective at unravelling his emotions.

I will check it out. Thanks for the recommendation!

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei fwd 24 Jan

It’s a quick read. 2-3 hours should do it. Faster if you don’t slow down to digest the emotions being evoked haha

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek OP 30 Jan

Huh, interesting. I will check it out sooner than later then!

408 sats \ 5 replies \ @Bitcoin_Bootcamp fwd 23 Jan

Oh wow, I am feeling a honored here. Thanks for all the love, and you are right; after I joined the platform in April '23, I lost track of it due to personal issues. Now I am refreshed, back, and feeling really happy to reconnect with my first post. I even managed to publish a second one, delving into the network security of BTC in Germany. @cryotosensei was also in the comments of my first post and encouraged me to stay and prolong with more posts.

I hope I can provide you with some insights here and there from Germany, as the community here seems more US-driven.

Thanks a lot for your feedback and the share in the post here <3

380 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 23 Jan

You make me motivated to write about the Bitcoin situation in Singapore. Haha. I think that’s the best way to honour the four hours you put into writing your second post. Give me some time and be prepared for another tag!

28 sats \ 3 replies \ @ek OP 23 Jan

I hope I can provide you with some insights here and there from Germany, as the community here seems more US-driven.

Yep, definitely very US-driven just like HN and a lot of other sites in the English domain.

I might also be from Germany but don't tell anyone :)

128 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 24 Jan

If you are German, this explains your methodical n logical writing style.

A German friend said that I was organised and would make a good German. I still hold the compliment to heart today

105 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek OP 24 Jan

A German friend said that I was organised and would make a good German. I still hold the compliment to heart today

lmao yeah, we probably invented bureaucracy

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 24 Jan

Well Singapore is right up there with you guys. We are not allowed to invest in spot BTC ETFs. Not that I particularly want to, but it’s a tough pill to swallow when your central bank is so heavy-handed

654 sats \ 2 replies \ @BitcoinIsTheFuture 23 Jan

Powerful and thoughtful. Especially the thoughts on your ex. Very deep. Makes you think. Thanks!

56 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek OP 23 Jan

You mean the three sentences in the footnotes?

At least something good came out of this relationship then, lol :)

I am just kidding. I am happy for the time I had with her.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 24 Jan

I just wanna say:

You were enough

380 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 23 Jan

What a coincidence. Today is my 29th day of wearing the cowboy hat. 28 days may not be a lot in the grand scheme of things, but something momentous can still happen. It evokes possibilities.

You asked very existential questions, which reminded me of the person I was before I turned 30 haha. I’m not sure if you are asking rhetorical questions or actively seeking for answers. But I guess one thing I really realised when I turned 40s is that I am not as tolerant of bullshit as the younger, more obliging and easygoing me was. So I would say no to my colleagues directly if I found their requests ridiculous, work harmony be darned. But I think it’s a necessary evolution because I needed to protect the things that matter to me most

218 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek OP 23 Jan

You asked very existential questions, which reminded me of the person I was before I turned 30 haha. I’m not sure if you are asking rhetorical questions or actively seeking for answers.

Actively seeking for answers. But I also just like to think about these questions. I don't feel like I need the answer—or I am at least not in a hurry. It's more about discovering interesting things to think about, I think. And getting to know myself better is just a byproduct.

But I guess one thing I really realised when I turned 40s is that I am not as tolerant of bullshit as the younger, more obliging and easygoing me was. So I would say no to my colleagues directly if I found their requests ridiculous, work harmony be darned. But I think it’s a necessary evolution because I needed to protect the things that matter to me most

Funny, that sounds similar to this from the article I linked to in the post:

As a rule of thumb, you can only do 1 or 2 things well. Some people are exceptional: they can do 3. I’m not exceptional.

I learned this, as many do, when I had my first child. I had been a bit nervous about becoming a father. Having failed to achieve what I had expected I would, I thought strapping a child to my chest meant setting myself up for permanent failure. It did not. When Maud ate about half my time, I had to force myself to make priorities: I would care for her, I would write, and I would say no to everything else.

Narrowing my life like this, at least doubled how much I could achieve. When I had more time, I had spread myself too thin to get stuff done.

This is something I now notice whenever I read biographies of people who have done exceptional work: they lived narrow lives. They allowed themselves to care about less than others do. To take two quotes at random, here is Jony Ives who designed the iPhone:

One of the things Steve [Jobs] would say [to me] because he was worried I wasn’t focused — he would say, “How many things have you said no to?” I would tell him I said no to this. And I said no to that. But he knew I wasn’t interested in doing those things. There was no sacrifice in saying no [to those things]. What focus means is saying no to something that with every bone in your body you think is a phenomenal idea, you wake up thinking about it, but you say no to it because you are focusing on something else.”

Not exactly the same thing since it seems like you're using "no" as a defense against bullshit but the Steve Jobs used "no" as a defense against distractions.

635 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 23 Jan

It’s good that you are not in a hurry. The thing I always ask my Gen Y colleagues is: why are you in such a hurry to accomplish? I’m in my 40s and satisfied not having it figured out haha.

Sharing a timeless quote by Baz Luhrmann: Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you wanna do with your life; the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Of course, you owe it to yourself to sharpen your self-awareness - and I’m not suggesting that you should lie back and wait for life to happen to you haha

I think the best way to find out the authentic you, your inner core is to live and work overseas. My time on the Japan Exchange Teaching program pulled away all the blinders from the consciousness. I felt stripped down to my essence. I didn’t know Japanese well; I was unfamiliar with the rules, both spoken and unspoken. I was also refreshingly away from the sociocultural norms of my home country. Every day as I tried to build my life, I got to ask myself what I truly cared about and believed in. I got to examine if I am a unique individual or a run-of-the-mill product of my culture. Fun times!

489 sats \ 12 replies \ @Undisciplined 23 Jan

That did in fact read like something written by an author who had been awake for 28 hours.

28 sats \ 11 replies \ @ek OP 23 Jan

You can do better than this

573 sats \ 10 replies \ @Undisciplined 23 Jan

I should have included that it's very impressively written by an author who's been up for 28 hours (and has become a little cranky apparently). My bad.

531 sats \ 9 replies \ @ek OP 23 Jan

Nah, I'm not cranky yet

621 sats \ 8 replies \ @Undisciplined 23 Jan

Normally, it's difficult to deny being cranky without coming off as cranky. That was artfully done on your part.

28 sats \ 7 replies \ @ek OP 23 Jan

Yeah, I considered responding in a cranky way that I am not cranky but that would have been too predictable.

That was artfully done on your part.

Now you're flattering me. Or it's sarcasm. Emotional rollercoaster either way. Thanks.

477 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined 23 Jan

That was sincere: I set a trap and you dodged it.

28 sats \ 5 replies \ @ek OP 23 Jan

Now I am confused. A sincere trap?

view replies

56 sats \ 1 reply \ @kurszusz 23 Jan

Zap to Zero D-3 | Crossroads

So this is the day after D-4. All good things must come to an end.

"All good things must come to an end."

As a Hungarian song says "the good in everything bad the bad in everything good is that it will end someday - never forget it... everything is transient"

Btw...your 3rd footnote is vey good!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei fwd 24 Jan

This is so poignant

Maybe @carlosfandango will get inspired to pen a haiku from this

Zap to Zero D-3 | Crossroads

Superzaps

1. Any character that you related to so strongly?

2. My Bitcoin Journey: A Life-Changing Ride

Song of the Day

Footnotes

Zap to Zero D-3 | Crossroads