I wish it was easier to disagree with people. My first reaction when I happen upon a disagreement with friends is to sweep it under the rug, to simply not say anything, or to leave a brief counter-point that summarizes my disagreement. Beyond that, disagreement is uncomfortable and awkward, and I wish it wasn’t. But […]
Category: Culture
The Search for Truth
I was praying to the Christian God in a Buddhist temple when I felt like God revealed a part of my calling to me. He said that he would make me like a bridge between people. I don’t know the full significance of all that I heard there, but I’m eager to find out. It […]
Phone Joys/Woes
I just spent about $500 on a new phone. I’m kind of excited for it, but I also kind of want to throw up. My first smart phone was around $330. It overheated a few times while hiking, and started acting up. Known motherboard issue. My second smart phone was also around $330. It worked […]
The Difficulty of Providing Public Goods
I occasionally hear people talk about housing and food as basic human rights, but there are some philosophical complications with this, not the least being the fact that we live in a world of specialization and that self sufficiency is largely impossible without some prior investment. The entire concept of human rights is complicated, but […]
Tradeoffs in Quality and Price: The Insane World of Aftermarket Parts and Social Expectation
I’ve often mentioned that I prefer to install original Toyota parts in my car, but this certainly comes at a price. Sometimes I’ve paid up to 4 times the cost of an aftermarket part that is otherwise considered to be good quality. There’s always this nagging question inside of me, though: is it worth it? […]
Thoughts on Currency
I don’t have a background in finance, so there are a number of concepts about banking and currency that are way over my head, but the most interesting thing that I’ve started to pick up on over the past few years is that the topics of banking and currency are still being figured out: nobody […]
Creatively Small Appliances: Their Advantages and Disadvantages
Several years ago, I learned about the existence of mini-washing machines. I thought they were super cool. I had spent several years volunteering with refugees, and one issue with the apartments they lived in was the lack of washer and drier hookups. To avoid the cost and hassle of going to a laundromat, many would […]
The Quest for a Robust Philosophy of Investing
I’ve recently been writing a post on how the physical structure of a house can positively or negatively affect the overall cost of the house. In the process, I started wondering what exactly the mechanism of growth is for real estate, and off the top of my head, it occurred to me that an increasing […]
Money and Judgement!
What does it mean to be “good” with money? Does it mean spending very little of it, spending a small portion of it relative to one’s income, spending it judiciously, or does it consist of some other quality? Conversely, what does it mean to be “bad” with money? Does it mean spending a lot of […]
Similarities Between Investing and Driving in Traffic
Saturday I got a late start driving to the mountains for some ruin hunting. I almost chose not to go, but decided that a little traffic with hiking was better than no traffic with no hiking, so I took off on I70. And traffic there was! I prefer to get started early to avoid the […]