notes collected

Nils Gilman pinned one tweet: People say adversity reveals character, but I say if you really want to know a man, give hime power. Rosa Luxemburg: “In effect, every legal constitution is the product of a revolution.” Every legal constitution is the product of a revolution. In the history of classes, revolution is the act of political creation, while legislation is the political expression of the life of a society that has already come into being. Work for reform does not contain its own force independent from revolution. During every historic period, work for reforms is carried on only in the direction given to it by the impetus of the last revolution and continues as long as the impulsion from the last revolution continues to make itself felt. Or, to put it more concretely, in each historic period work for reforms is carried on only in the framework of the social form created by the last revolution. Here is the kernel of the problem. It is contrary to history to represent work for reforms as a long-drawn out revolution and revolution as a condensed series of reforms. A social transformation and a legislative reform do not differ according to their duration but according to their content. The secret of historic change through the utilisation of political power resides precisely in the transformation of simple quantitative modification into a new quality, or to speak more concretely, in the passage of an historic period from one given form of society to another. Listen to this from Aldous Huxley. In 1958 he predicted a form of dictatorship that would rely not on force, but propaganda - and addiction. Here are some great notes on physics. It is made by Prof David Tong at University of Cambridge. If you are intrested in theoretical physics. Enjoy it. ...

January 19, 2023 · 4 min · un01s

news and readings

The new US congress is still voting for its next speaker. From former speaker John Boehner, “What they’re really interested in is chaos. …They want to throw sand in the gears of the hated federal government until it fails and they’ve finally proved that it’s beyond saving. Every time they vote down a bill, they get another invitation to go on Fox News or talk radio. It’s a narcissistic – and dangerous – feedback loop.” ...

January 5, 2023 · 2 min · un01s

20230104

Start to read the condensed biography of Dostoevsky by Joseph Frank. This is to understand Dostoevsky’s works correctly with its political context of 19th century Russia. To read Dostoevsky, you have to understand the context. Two nice tweets from Steve Stewart-Williams. One is the brain. The other Physics is weird. Another thing is geometry in p5js in this github repo. Beautiful geometric shapes generated by code.

January 4, 2023 · 1 min · un01s

a few writers

There are a few writers I love. Betrand Russell is one of them. “The idea that the poor should have leisure has always been shocking to the rich. In the early nineteenth century, fifteen hours was the ordinary day’s work for a man; children sometimes did as much, and very commonly did twelve hours a day. When meddlesome busybodies suggested that perhaps these hours were rather long, they were told that work kept adults from drink and children from mischief. ...

January 2, 2023 · 2 min · un01s

random notes

Perception illusions Perceptual illusions show us in a clear and unambiguous way that we don’t directly perceive the world around us. Perceptual experience is a simulation—a mental model—that doesn’t always correspond to the reality it aims to depict. human centered Whereas all the other animals have their heads low, eyes fixed upon the ground, the gods desired to give to man a sublime face, a face that could raise its eyes to the heavens above, contemplating the very stars in the sky. ...

December 11, 2022 · 1 min · un01s

Some Interesting Bits

I whispered in his ear “I love you” he said delighted: “repeat it in my other ear so I regain my balance…” If I had more time I would written a shorter letter. – Cicero I always feel that a man and a woman who do not like the same films will eventually divorce. – Jean-luc Godard

December 5, 2022 · 1 min · un01s

weekly notes

Green Koan by Rita Dove That the mind can go wherever it wishes is a kindness we’ve come to rely on; that it returns unbidden to the soul it could not banish and learns to thrive there is life’s stubborn mercy – given to soften or harden us, as we choose. Code is the biggest lever humanity has ever invented From Amjad Masad: Code is the biggest lever humanity has ever invented. Yet it’s still constrained by how fast you can learn and type. Imagine how the world changes when these bottlenecks are solved. ...

November 26, 2022 · 2 min · un01s

Two Pointers

One chinese book on Math and Programming Both math and programming are useful for data science and machine learning. This is the future of digital world. Unique 2-in-1 calculator app in swift Twin-Calc is available for iPhone and iPad. Vocaloid 6 This is a tool powered by AI tech from Yamaha. It can sing according to music and lyrics. Very powerful.

November 18, 2022 · 1 min · un01s

two types of writers

“I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in the house, what kind of roof they’re going to have, where the wires are going to run, what kind of plumbing there’s going to be. They have the whole thing designed and blueprinted out before they even nail the first board up. The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever. But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don’t know how many branches it’s going to have, they find out as it grows. And I’m much more a gardener than an architect.” ...

November 8, 2022 · 1 min · un01s

the power of words and stories

It is easy to forget how mysterious and mighty stories are. They do their work in silence, invisibly. They work with all the internal meterials of your mind and self. They become part of you while changing you. Beware the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world. – Ben Okri Ben Okri was born in 1959. In 1991, he won the Booker Prize with his novel The Famished Road. His answer to the question of what reality is could be summarized as follows: ...

November 7, 2022 · 1 min · un01s