J.D. Moyer

sci-fi author, beatmaker

Did She Really Lose?

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On November 14

In Culture Rants/Shares

Trigger warning: election stress

Generally I shy away from conspiracy theories, but real, actual conspiracies do exist. While the United States is undoubtedly experiencing a rightward shift in sentiment, even to the point of the outright embrace of racism and fascism by many, I’m not quite ready to accept that MORE THAN HALF the country feels this way.

Am I in denial? Quite possibly. But maybe it’s a little early to start analyzing why Kamala’s numbers were so much lower than most reputable polls predicted.

I’ve been spending some time on the houstonwade subreddit, and some recent posts have raised my eyebrows. How bad, exactly, were the team-Trump election shenanigans?

For example:

Was the election stolen? Probably not. But I’m hoping for recounts, especially in MI and PA, to verify that the ballots add up with the tabulation system results. The next four years will be hard enough to stomach without the sneaking suspicion that the whole thing was rigged.

Ringstation Coalition Human Rights Charter

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On November 9

In Culture Rants/Shares, Fiction Writing

In Book 2 of the Reclaimed Earth Series, there’s a reference to the Ringstation Coalition Human Rights Charter. In the final version I turned into Flame Tree Press, an overview of the charter was included in a footnote. My editor delicately informed me that formatting several epic footnotes I’d included in Book 1 had been a royal pain in the ass (especially for the e-book), and was there any way I could NOT include footnotes in The Guardian. I said sure, no big deal, I can publish it on my blog. But I don’t think I ever did…

I think as Earthlings and citizens of various nations, we each have some responsibility to think about what an ideal government would look like. And if we live in a democracy, to vote in such as way that moves us closer to that vision.

So now seems as good a time as any to publish the closest thing I have to a “political platform”. As I’m taking in the results from Tuesday’s election, my nauseous optimism has turned into sourness, despair, and no small part rage. Not a good state of mind. As a small step towards reorienting my mind towards social progress, here’s the complete footnote:

Ringstation Coalition Human Rights Charter

First: Expression (free speech, writing, assembly)

Second: Privacy (thought, perception, personal communication, consensual intimacy)

Third: Bodily Integrity (protection from abuse, forced sexuality, torture, unnecessary confinement)

Fourth: Sustenance (clean water and nutritionally sound food)

Fifth: Shelter (Earth-like pressure, gravity, air supply, housing, infrastructure)

Sixth: Justice (no detention without charge, speedy trial, innocent until proven guilty)

Seventh: Healthcare (free access to medical treatment, preventative care, regular nanodrone treatments)

Eighth: Education (no-cost full-lifespan education)

Ninth: Property (right to private property and taxation ceiling)

 

Why Do We Try Hard Things?

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On October 6

In Metaprogramming

A few weeks ago Kia dropped a huge self-knowledge bomb on my head. Well-meaning, of course. And totally off-the-cuff. But her comment made me understand something profound about myself. And that realization has significantly changed my self-image.

I was complaining about how something I was trying to do was difficult (as I often do). Kia pointed out that almost everything I try to do is difficult. Writing fiction and getting it published, producing music and selling it online, writing good software. None of these things are easy.

Crowded markets, intense competition, middling rewards–these are the hallmarks of the things I choose to do.

Even the things I do for recreation are challenging: improving my chess ELO, collecting every item in Elden Ring, collecting every shiny in Pokemon GO, painting tiny miniatures with very small brushes.

Everything I try to do is…really hard.

Maybe you’re the same way. We push ourselves in different ways. Some people run marathons or lift really heavy weights. I prefer “grindy” challenges where I try over and over again until I get slightly better at what I’m doing, or just get really lucky.

It’s not hard to understand why I enjoy taking on difficult tasks. The struggle and effort are mentally stimulating, and succeeding and/or winning feels good. If the challenge were less, so would be the intrinsic rewards.

But I didn’t fully realize that this was my way. Now, when I felt frustrated with a string of losses or a huge expenditure of effort with little immediate result, I can step back and remind myself “I chose to live this way” (and maybe dial it back a bit, or take a break).

I can be ambitious without feeling trapped by that ambition.

Words in a Likely Order

By

On September 8

In Culture Rants/Shares

Last week I was working on a technical problem for a client. Someone on my team filed a support ticket with one of the software companies we’re working with. The company wrote back with a solution. Fantastic! The problem was really annoying, so I was happy to see that there was a workaround. All we needed to do was change a setting.

I looked up the setting, but couldn’t find it. I sent screenshots to the client. Could they find the setting with their admin login?

They couldn’t find it either.

My colleague wrote back to the software company. They responded that the “solution” was an AI generated response, and was incorrect.

What the actual fuck.

At least four people’s time wasted, because an AI made up some words that resembled a technical solution.

And this type of thing is happening all over the tech world. Companies are cutting costs by reducing support staff, replacing them with AI. But the end result is degraded service for the customer, and extra work for the remaining support staff sorting out the bullshit AI responses.

AI is capable of generating “words in a likely order”, as my wife puts it. But the AI doesn’t know or care if the words are true, and apparently neither do the companies deploying the AI tools.

What a fucking scam.

10K Hours is B.S.

By

On August 27

In Metaprogramming

As I get a bit older, and the number of activities I have spent ten thousand or more hours practicing increases, I’ve come to the realization that just doing the thing is not enough to get really good. Malcom Gladwell’s observation that the world’s best in every category have accumulated at least ten thousand of practice in their field is just that–an observation. Ten thousand hours of practice may correlate with elite mastery, but it doesn’t cause elite mastery. You need more.

Like many of Gladwell’s big ideas, this one has been refuted many times. The most recent research shows that hours of practice are only loosely associated with mastery. Those with natural talent (and/or good teachers and/or a good study plan) progress much faster that those who focus solely on grinding out the practice hours.

I have at least two natural talents, and I have practiced both very little. One is thinking in abstract data models. From the moment I was exposed to databases, I “got” them. I managed to turn this talent into a part-time career that pays most of my bills. I still had to put in the hours learning to code, but the mental models always came easily.

My other natural talent is that people believe me, without question, based on the sound of my voice. It’s weird. I’ve never practiced it at all. It drives my wife crazy, especially when I happen to be wrong.

In other life areas I’d like very much to be good, but I’m only mediocre. Like chess. I watch chess videos, solve puzzles, play many games, but struggle to break 1000 ELO on chess.com. I’m still in the top 20% of players on the site, but I’ll never be elite. Still, I’m really proud of the progress I’ve made. It’s sweeter because it’s hard earned.

For me, I’ve decided that it’s worth it to try to get better in areas that interest me, even if I’m not naturally talented. It’s exciting to make progress, to devise a study plan and follow it. And access to knowledge, lessons, and expertise has never been easier, thanks to the internet and YouTube. Thanks, Youtubers who take the time to teach others. You rock!

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