Life

Life posts on Thien Le

• Lighten your grip | Jason Fried:

  It’s a curious thing. We tend to hold on too tightly early on. It seems to be part of learning just about anything. It’s in the nature of starting. When you don’t know what you’re doing, at least you know how to squeeze.

  I am experiencing the same thing with learning to drive a car.

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• “You can sell an excellent thing forever.”

  — Shigeru Miyamoto

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• Making FIREWORKS in Tears of the Kingdom:

  Happy New Year, folks! Let’s stay curious and commit to competency in 12024!

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• Why Smart People Hold Stupid Beliefs

  Why Smart People Hold Stupid Beliefs – by Gurwinder:

  It’s an explanation so idiotic only an intellectual could think of it.

  [...] the problem of runaway rationalization is not just a disorder of today’s woke intellectuals, but of educated people of any persuasion and any time. And that includes you. Since you’re reading about intelligence right now, you’re likely above average in intelligence, which means that you, whatever you believe, should be extra vigilant against your intellect being commandeered by your animal impulses.

  There is only one thing that can motivate us to put our intelligence into the service of objective truth, and that is curiosity. It was curiosity that was found by Kahan’s research to be the strongest countermeasure against bias.

  Curiosity is essential to directing your intellect toward objective truth, but it’s not all you need. You must also have humility.

  Anyone who’s sure they’re humble is probably not, so I can’t say whether I’ve succeeded in becoming humble. But I can say that I always try to be humble. And, well, there’s little difference between trying to be humble and actually being so.

  In the end, rationality is not about intelligence but about character. Without the right personal qualities, education and IQ won’t make you master of your biases, they’ll only make you a better servant of them. So be open to the possibility that you may be wrong, and always be willing to change your mind—especially if you’re smart. By being humble and curious you may not win many arguments, but it won’t matter, for even losing arguments will become a victory that moves you toward the far grander prize of truth.

  I wonder if the author plays any Persona game.

  This also helps to explain why changes are hard in the field of software engineering, a field in which includes a lot of smart people.

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• The US is the most mindless country on Earth.

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• Coffee vs. tea smackdown | The Washington Post:

  The article is free, and it is a joy to watch read.

  My prediction: Giving more time to researchers, the result score will change in favor of tea. I enjoy both.

  I’m very fortunate that both are cheaply produced in Vietnam.

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• Thomas L. Friedman | The New York Times:

  Countries that forget their geography get in trouble.

  The same is true with history.

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• Acapulco | Apple TV+:

  Ted Lasso is great, but Acapulco is the best show on Apple TV+ in my opinion. Finished the whole season in 2 days, and every episode looks and sounds great in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

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• Prehistoric Planet — Official Trailer | Apple TV+:

  On a scale you’ve never witnessed.

  Hahahaha 🤣 A must-see for sure.

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• Càfe Ba Lù | RICE:

  A great video about cloth filter coffee tradition in Vietnam. Also very good storytelling from RICE.

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• Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.

  ― Vince Lombardi

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• When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blaming, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.

  ― Thich Nhat Hanh

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• How To Build Great Things

  You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.

  — Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig.

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• Marcos Alonso and the Genius of Thomas Tuchel - The New York Times:

  There is, as ever, no such thing as a good or a bad player, only one in the right or wrong system.

  His is not so much a triumph of making square pegs fit in round holes, but of changing the location of the holes so that the dodecahedrons can work, too, taking all of the raw materials he was handled — all of the players who might have thought their time was up, who might have been written off, who might have gone another way — and turned them into a purring, smooth-running machine.

  The truest test of a manager, though, is to find that system, regardless of the players.

  The more I look at it, the more I see the similarities between football and software engineering.

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• Trevor Noah Responds to Criticism from the French Ambassador | The Daily Show:

  Now, I’m not trying to be an asshole, but I think it’s more a reflection of France’s colonialism.

  I love them, Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, I’ve watched all of them. Like, I love those players and I love how African they are and how French they are. I don’t take their Frenchness away, but I also don’t think you need to take their Africaness away.

  In the comment section:

  If I remember correctly, Einstein said something similar. “If my theory is correct, Germany will call me a German and France will call me a citizen of the world. If my theory is wrong, Germany will call me a Jew and France will call me a German.”

  Mesut Özil:

  In the eyes of (some people) I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose.

  I think those some people should go travel more, it will give them more perspectives by forcing them to strengthen their System 2s.

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• It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work - Jason Fried:

  The answer isn’t more hours, it’s less bullshit.

  See also: How to go fast

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• The Existential Crisis Playlist by Kurzgesagt:

  They know.

  See also: What Are You Doing With Your Life? The Tail End

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• Believe In Future Perfects

  Hiring future perfects - Jason Fried:

  Some people have the potential, but they haven’t had the opportunities. Their portfolios are full of mediocre work, but it’s not because they’re mediocre designers. It’s because they’ve been given mediocre opportunities.

  I think I know what Jason is referring to. Here is an alternative explanation for football fans: There are people like Kante and Mendy, eight years ago they may be unemployed, but given the right opportunity, they can become Champions League winners. Heck, for Kante, he can even win this year Ballon d’Or.

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• Chelsea Won, Again!

  Roman Abramovich: See? This sacking thing really works!

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• Tragedies Are Everywhere

  The Tragedy in Small-Town China by The New York Times:

  Every once in a while, I stumble upon a great story. A very long time ago is Fanboys by The Verge¹. Now is this piece from the Times.

  Both of them are great for similar reasons, the visuals are eye-opening, the reportings are phenomenal, and the problems they reported are real.

  ---

  1. Try jumping between captures to see the article effect. ↩︎

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• What Are You Doing With Your Life? The Tail End - Kurzgesagt:

  I have a small number of videos in my Favorites playlist on YouTube, but two of them are from Kurzgesagt already. Moreover, both of them seem to have a common theme…

  See also: The Egg - A Short Story by Andy Weir

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• Robert Lewandowski The Goal Machine

  The Making of a Goal Machine - The New York Times:

  Robert Lewandowski scored his 41st goal of the season, breaking the Bundesliga record, in the 90th minute of Bayern’s final game, a win against Augsburg on May 22.

  Extraordinary story from The New York Times on the making of Robert Lewandowski. I wish all members of the Vietnamese national team could read it before playing in the upcoming World cup qualification, heck, the U22 team too.

  In that fraction of a second, the 32-year-old Lewandowski still noticed the following things: where Marwin Hitz, the Dortmund goalkeeper, was positioned on his line; when and how Hitz set himself to react to his shot; which of Dortmund’s defenders closed him down and which backed away; and the complex interplay of angles that accompanied their movements.

  He took all that in, computed it and reached a conclusion. “I thought that next time, maybe it would be possible to score either between the legs or to go for the far post,” he said. He logged it for later.

  Continuous learning is his recipe for success, as with many other successful people. Try to be great by sucking less everyday.

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• I Can Design My Own Work Schedule

  Active? Away? How about neither - Jason Fried:

  Everyone’s status should be implicit: I’m trying to do my job, please respect my time and attention.

  For me it is very simple:

  • I will turn off my availability and status on instant messaging apps.
  • We should choose asynchronous communication over synchronous communication whenever possible.
  • If you want to know when I’m available, ask nicely.
  • If you don’t trust my ability to design my own work schedule, why bother hiring me at all? We better not working together.

  In general, if you treat someone like a 13 years old, she will behave like a 13 years old; if you treat a 13 years old like an adult, she will try her best to behave like an adult.

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• Don't Scar On The First Cut

  Just finished reading REWORK by Basecamp’s founders Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), Don’t scar on the first cut is the part that stuck with me for some reason:

  The second something goes wrong, the nature tendency is to create a policy. “Someone’s wearing shorts!? We need a dress code!” No, you don’t. You just need to tell John to not to wear shorts again.

  Policies are organizational scar tissue. They are codified overreactions to situations that are unlikely to happen again. They are collective punishment for the misdeeds of an individual.

  By the way, what’s wrong with wearing shorts to work?

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• LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS Volume 2 Official Trailer:

  The NSFW animated anthology returns with a vengeance. Naked giants, Christmas demons, and robots-gone-wild… Consume irresponsibly. Volume 2 coming May 14.

  It’s just what I wanted ❤️☠️🤖

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• How the Super League Fell Apart:

  Fantastic storytelling from The New York Times on the event. One thing I suggest them to change though:

  The inside story of how a billion-dollar European soccer superleague was born, and then collapsed, in less than a week.

  Corrected:

  The inside story of how a billion-dollar American-style soccer superleague was born, and then collapsed, in 48 hours.

  See also: JPMorgan Apologizes for Its Role in Super League

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• The Greedy League

  I have been a Chelsea supporter for a decade, but since they are one of the “founding clubs” of the Super League, even though they withdrew, I’m done with them and any of their sponsors.

  The same with the remain 11 clubs:

  • Arsenal
  • Liverpool
  • Manchester City
  • Manchester United
  • Tottenham Hotspur
  • Inter Milan
  • Juventus
  • Milan
  • Atlético Madrid
  • Barcelona
  • Real Madrid

  I know for FIFA and UEFA it’s about money too, FIFA is the dictionary definition of corruption, but at least they are being investigated and under their ruling the poor get a dime or two.

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• Work In Progress

  The Super League: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

  In the meantime: UEFA Champions League theme song (acapella)

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• Think About How Many Lives Donald Trump Could Save If...

  Daring Fireball: Least Vaccinated U.S. Counties Have Something In Common: Trump Voters:

  Think about how many lives Donald Trump could save if he barnstormed the states where he’s most popular to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. He could do it Trump style, taking personal credit for the existence of the vaccines, and I’d gladly thank him for it. He could save tens of thousands of lives and keep millions, perhaps, from getting sick.

  The thing is, in order to save people, you have to care about people other than yourself.

  That is what separates heroes from ordinary people, or worse - villains.

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• Why you can’t compare Covid-19 vaccines - Vox:

  Great explanation about COVID-19 vaccines that everyone needs to know.

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• John Oliver On Asian Hate Crimes In The US

  John Oliver on Racism in America:

  John is right (as usual) - there is nothing “un-American“ about this.

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• Meatpacking: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):

  Watching this somehow makes me want to play the Bioshock series again.

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• The Next Pandemic: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):

  No governments will fix this. Maybe that’s why we need more people like Bill Gates?

  But one thing is for sure. We need more people like John Oliver.

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• Who Needs Ethics?

  Bodhisattva mentioning ethics (the Magical Cassock) from Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng−en:

  Whoever wears this cassock of mine will not sink into the mire, will not fall into Hell, will not be ensnared by evil and will not meet disaster from tiger or wolf.

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• TED-Ed Made A Video About The Monkey King!

  How the Monkey King escaped the underworld - Shunan Teng:

  Wonderful animations and story telling (as usual) from TED-Ed. Journey to the West is my absolute favorite among Chinese’s classics.

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• What a Japanese House Party is Like:

  The way people in Japan live, interacting is just amazing, and also very refreshing to watch in times like this. Oh, and their food is absolutely terrific as well. Vietnamese should learn those from Japanese.

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