not reading
The art of not reading is a very important one. It consists in not taking an interest in whatever may be engaging the attention of the general public at any particular time. When some political or ecclesiastical pamphlet, or novel, or poem is making a great commotion, you should remember that he who writes for fools always finds a large public. A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays and Aphorisms
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
“It’s funny. No matter where you go, or how many books you read, you still know nothing, you haven’t seen anything. And that’s life. We live our lives trying to find our way. It’s like that Santōka Taneda poem, the one that goes, ‘On and on, in and in, and still the blue-green mountains.”
“But, I don’t know, maybe it takes a long time to figure out what you’re truly searching for. Maybe you spend your whole life just to figure out a small part of it.” ― Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
simple with no deficiencie or complicated with no obvious deficiencies
I conclude that there are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies.
The first method is far more difficult. It demands the same skill, devotion, insight, and even inspiration as the discovery of the simple physical laws which underlie the complex phenomena of nature. It also requires a willingness to accept objectives which are limited by physical, logical, and technological constraints, and to accept a compromise when conflicting objectives cannot be met. No committee will ever do this until it is too late. ― C.A.R. Hoare
the rise of hyperpleasure
Sex: If sex gives an 8, 9, 10 on the pleasure scale, then internet pornography gives a 20, 30, 100, etc. Sex demands vulnerability and requires two bodies, both of which will almost always be imperfect. Internet pornography, on the other hand, gives users the capacity to indulge any fantasy imaginable, almost always with perfect bodies. The user is almost always alone, which means he completely foregoes the social demands required during sex.
Play: If children sword fighting with sticks gives them an 8, 9, 10 on the pleasure scale, then video games give kids a 20, 30, 100, etc. Sword fighting with sticks requires an exertion of energy and use of the imagination. Video games are played on couches in an air-conditioned climate, where the work of imagination is done for them.
Reading: If reading gives an 8,9, 10 on the pleasure scale, then social media is a 20, 30, 100, etc. Reading requires a constant stream of focus, and not every sentence will hold our interest. Social media works around that discomfort by presenting bite-sized content, curated to be 100% interesting to us 100% of the time.
Conversation: If conversations give us an 8,9, 10 on the pleasure scale, then videos give us a 20, 30, 100, etc. Conversations demand something of us: We must pay attention to social cues, move things along with questions and statements, read the other person’s intonations and emotions. Videos give us all the benefits of conversation without any demands: We hear stories, we learn, we laugh, we delight in other people. All that’s required of us is to sit and passively receive.
Notes: hyperpleasure is just a metaphor here. Choice. Inconvenience. To see beauty in limitation is not easy. To appreciate imperfect is not easy too.