Merry Christmas.
This Christmas has been an interesting one for me. (My first, in fact). I started off by religiously informing everybody who wished me Merry Christmas that I, in fact, do not celebrate Christmas. Nobody seemed to like that (at all).
I've been told more than a few times that Christmas has nothing to do with religion but that was never important to me. Those of you who know me know that I religion is not a major concern of mine.
Somehow, not celebrating Christmas, not singing the songs or decorating a tree seems to have seeped into my idea of who I am. I felt like a rebel for never having done it.
Anyway, exactly 1 Christmas later; I really have had a wonderful time.The gift giving was especially fun and although I still don't like the Christmas music, in the future I don't think that I will waste my breath telling people that I don't celebrate Christmas.
Merry Christmas guys (or happy Chanukah or happy holidays).
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
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Thursday, 25 December 2014
Monday, 24 March 2014
On Intelligence - the best book I've ever read!
On Intelligence
On Intelligence is a book about the brain. It is a book about how we think, how we remember and, most importantly, how we predict. On Intelligence was written by Jeff Hawkins, the man who founded palm, the company that produced these. Around 18 years ago, Jeff Hawkins decided that the brain was where it was at. He jumped the technology industry's ship and went back to university. The end result is a theory called the memory-prediction model of the neocortex.How the human brain works...
I'm not going to go into vast amounts of detail - that's all in the book. The basic premise is that the neocortex is the most interesting part of the brain. Humans have the largest neocortex in the animal kingdom and it is in here that we are able to store memories and to predict events. Imagination and creativity are also grounded in here.
The neocortex is wired directly to our senses and to our motor system. Input goes in in the form of vision, hearing or touch etc and output goes out in the form of movement. As the neocortex experiences these inputs, it causes cells in the neocortex to activate. The neocortex contains somewhere in the region of 30 billion cells and these cells have thousands of connections throughout the neocortex. It is in the connections that the magic happens.
As an input activates cells in the lower regions of the neocortex the connections are fired and other cells are activated in higher levels of the cortex and so on up the hierarchy. The hierarchy contains several layers. The easiest example is vision. V1 -> V3 -> V4 -> IT -> Association Levels. There are many association levels and they handle associations between vision and motion or vision and sound etc.
The fundamental unit of a thought is an invariant representation. A generic 'face' or 'square'. Those of you who are familiar with Plato may recognise these as forms and they are basically the same thing except they are not idealised, they are the amalgamation of experience and the more faces we see, the more generalised our invariant representation of 'face' becomes.
In the lowest levels of the hierarchy we will have very simple invariant representations. For example red or a line slanted at 24 degrees. There is a group of cells that handles every possible pixel of input. This raw information is sent higher up the hierarchy and is combined with information from other cells to form representations of corners, of colour gradients and other objects more complex than angles and colours. Step higher again and we start to find shapes. Higher again and structures and objects. Eventually you find a stage where you have an invariant representation of a face, or of your friends face or their voice.
The idea is that the brain builds a model of the world in your brain. The model is populated with invariant representations.
For me, the most interesting part of this whole theory is the hierarchical structure of understanding. These invariant representations can represent abstracts as well such as love and happiness and mathematics. The idea that we first start understanding only the very basic reality of what a thing is....
Take my computer mouse for example. The most basic understanding you can have of it is that it has a shape, a colour, a rollable wheel and clickable buttons. It is quite light and moves the cursor on the screen. If you step up in the cortical hierarchy you can understand it is an interface device allowing you access to the world in your computer. Take it another step up the hierarchy and you understand that it is a way for you to experience the world. It is almost an external muscle. A thing which allows you to influence a world and a part of reality over which you should by any rights have no control. I'd take it up another level but I'm not sure that I can...
It is this stepping backwards to see a grander picture that is the pure nature of intelligence and how the brain works. The more time you spend with a thing, the further down the hierarchy your brain will push the familiar stuff and the more room you will have at the top for new, beautiful and complex interrelationships.
It is the nature of intelligence to step back and wonder about the next link in the chain, the greater purpose... the next level of understanding.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
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Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
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Saturday, 8 March 2014
Who wants to be a millionaire? The secret of the stock markets.
There are several paths to wealth and abundance in this life. I'm going to talk about one of them.
Investing in the stock market is a much lauded way to make millions but how do you actually do it?
Well I've been reading up on it and I keep hearing the same story. You buy them low and, when the price drops, buy more of them. Keep buying them so long as they're undervalued and then when the price finally rises 10-15 years down the line, then you can sell them.
The key to making your millions doesn't lie in knowing any secrets of the stock markets. The thing that will separate an average investor from a man like Warren Buffet is the ability to value a company. It is an ability that I do not yet possess but if you can properly value a company, you can know when to buy and when to sell.
Valuing a company is multi-faceted endeavor. Some of it is simply mathematical where you assess their assets but the vast majority of it is using your judgement to decide on a numerical value for the executive staff of the company. What value those people add or detract from the company. The skill of attaching a fiscal value to people, to products and to ideas is a niche skill that can offer you tremendous value if you want to get into the stock market.
Do you have it in you?
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Investing in the stock market is a much lauded way to make millions but how do you actually do it?
Well I've been reading up on it and I keep hearing the same story. You buy them low and, when the price drops, buy more of them. Keep buying them so long as they're undervalued and then when the price finally rises 10-15 years down the line, then you can sell them.
The key to making your millions doesn't lie in knowing any secrets of the stock markets. The thing that will separate an average investor from a man like Warren Buffet is the ability to value a company. It is an ability that I do not yet possess but if you can properly value a company, you can know when to buy and when to sell.
Valuing a company is multi-faceted endeavor. Some of it is simply mathematical where you assess their assets but the vast majority of it is using your judgement to decide on a numerical value for the executive staff of the company. What value those people add or detract from the company. The skill of attaching a fiscal value to people, to products and to ideas is a niche skill that can offer you tremendous value if you want to get into the stock market.
Do you have it in you?
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Sunday, 13 October 2013
The grass ain't greener, but the sky is!
So, after a week in Shanghai, oughtn't I have learnt something? Oughtn't I have done something remarkable?
Well to tell the truth, in between my social life and my Mandarin classes I've had precious little time (maybe this is why my blog entry is late this week) to do very much except complain about not having enough sleep. Most of what I've seen is the amazing night life here in Shanghai. Some of the best bars and clubs in the world are just 20 minutes away from me. Taxis cost a maximum of £4 and the tube is 30p a journey. Having said that I have spent a fortune since arriving. I'm going to learn to cook food like the Chinese do, because a lot of western vegetables are missing from Tesco's (yes there is a Tesco's here). My first attempt was a disgrace but it was a cheap disgrace. If I did decide to eat out everyday for every meal, I could manage that with about £3 in my pocket per day but I suspect that cooking would be even cheaper.
It is a place of subtle differences and it is remarkable how little culture shock I've experienced. If only I could speak Mandarin fluently I'm not sure I'd have any difficulty at all (apart from of course the squatty potty). Some of the food is fairly strange and my veganism has collapsed in on itself under the combined weight of being unable to communicate and wishing to try every single thing I see. It has been replaced with a partial drinking embargo in lieu of the fact that my heart is not beating like it should after a night out. I figure out of the two, alcohol will kill me much quicker.
The best part about living with a group of people in this way, all within a short walking distance from you, all with a shared goal and all with a shared isolation from the rest of the world is that very quickly you become a family. You develop intimate friendships very quickly and I can see that a few that are growing within me and I already have an invitation to a wedding in India. This city is constantly growing and I feel like I am too. It's ushering me along as it races ahead. It's a city that really is ripe with opportunity. It's a melting pot that's just getting started. Even though, or perhaps because the population is 95% Chinese, when you do meet a kinsman you have an immediate spark and connection beyond what you are likely to find in England, surrounded by English speaking, English thinking people.
The more of the world I see, the more clearly I see the 'Green Grass Fallacy'. The dream about thee grass always being greener on the other side. The grass here is by no means greener (although thanks to the pollution, the sky may be) and the sugar is no sweeter... but the food is better and I think there is more room for growth. Whether I stay after my 3 months remains to be seen, whether I enjoy my time here tomorrow the same way that I did yesterday remains to be seen. I'm keeping my eyes peeled and hoping to find some more answers. Or maybe just some more questions.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Well to tell the truth, in between my social life and my Mandarin classes I've had precious little time (maybe this is why my blog entry is late this week) to do very much except complain about not having enough sleep. Most of what I've seen is the amazing night life here in Shanghai. Some of the best bars and clubs in the world are just 20 minutes away from me. Taxis cost a maximum of £4 and the tube is 30p a journey. Having said that I have spent a fortune since arriving. I'm going to learn to cook food like the Chinese do, because a lot of western vegetables are missing from Tesco's (yes there is a Tesco's here). My first attempt was a disgrace but it was a cheap disgrace. If I did decide to eat out everyday for every meal, I could manage that with about £3 in my pocket per day but I suspect that cooking would be even cheaper.
It is a place of subtle differences and it is remarkable how little culture shock I've experienced. If only I could speak Mandarin fluently I'm not sure I'd have any difficulty at all (apart from of course the squatty potty). Some of the food is fairly strange and my veganism has collapsed in on itself under the combined weight of being unable to communicate and wishing to try every single thing I see. It has been replaced with a partial drinking embargo in lieu of the fact that my heart is not beating like it should after a night out. I figure out of the two, alcohol will kill me much quicker.
The best part about living with a group of people in this way, all within a short walking distance from you, all with a shared goal and all with a shared isolation from the rest of the world is that very quickly you become a family. You develop intimate friendships very quickly and I can see that a few that are growing within me and I already have an invitation to a wedding in India. This city is constantly growing and I feel like I am too. It's ushering me along as it races ahead. It's a city that really is ripe with opportunity. It's a melting pot that's just getting started. Even though, or perhaps because the population is 95% Chinese, when you do meet a kinsman you have an immediate spark and connection beyond what you are likely to find in England, surrounded by English speaking, English thinking people.
The more of the world I see, the more clearly I see the 'Green Grass Fallacy'. The dream about thee grass always being greener on the other side. The grass here is by no means greener (although thanks to the pollution, the sky may be) and the sugar is no sweeter... but the food is better and I think there is more room for growth. Whether I stay after my 3 months remains to be seen, whether I enjoy my time here tomorrow the same way that I did yesterday remains to be seen. I'm keeping my eyes peeled and hoping to find some more answers. Or maybe just some more questions.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Saturday, 5 October 2013
The White Devil
So far I've drunk Bai Jiu, seen numerous fish tanks including several on the back of a bicycle and one full of sharks. I've been propositioned by a prostitute and yelled at by a woman behind the grocery counter in Tesco. I've spoken with Austrians, Australians, Canadians, Americans, Indians, Spanish people, Polish People, Irish People and British people. I've eaten foods I've never seen before and tasted tastes I didn't know could be achieved.
I am in Shanghai and I am having the time of my life. There is a certain friendly energy that permeates the smoggy skies in Shanghai and there is a group of about 20 of us drinking in every oriental scrap of it. Whether it's the street musicians playing home-made instruments or it's the warm cacophony of a busy restaurant, everything from the culture to the subway system is the same but different.
I've only been here for 3 days, and there is still a great deal to see, but this city has the buzz of opportunity about it and I wanna see it all.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
I am in Shanghai and I am having the time of my life. There is a certain friendly energy that permeates the smoggy skies in Shanghai and there is a group of about 20 of us drinking in every oriental scrap of it. Whether it's the street musicians playing home-made instruments or it's the warm cacophony of a busy restaurant, everything from the culture to the subway system is the same but different.
I've only been here for 3 days, and there is still a great deal to see, but this city has the buzz of opportunity about it and I wanna see it all.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Dan Dan goes to China.
Sorry that I havn't posted these last two weeks, I've been saving my mental and spiritual energy for this, my trip to China.
It started today at 3 in the morning when I woke up. I was supposed to wake at 5 but I couldn't get back to sleep again. My 9 am flight has just ended, dropping me at Abu Dhabi Airport and courtesy of their free wifi, I am now writing this blog.
I'm in China for 3 months, 2 months of which will see me as a medical research intern at a company called Devon. The first month is an intensive course in Mandarin.
I'll keep you up to date on the interesting stuff I see and do.
This is a trip that I've been planning for about 7 months now. I really appreciate the support I've had from my friends and my family.
Stay cool!
Dan.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It started today at 3 in the morning when I woke up. I was supposed to wake at 5 but I couldn't get back to sleep again. My 9 am flight has just ended, dropping me at Abu Dhabi Airport and courtesy of their free wifi, I am now writing this blog.
I'm in China for 3 months, 2 months of which will see me as a medical research intern at a company called Devon. The first month is an intensive course in Mandarin.
I'll keep you up to date on the interesting stuff I see and do.
This is a trip that I've been planning for about 7 months now. I really appreciate the support I've had from my friends and my family.
Stay cool!
Dan.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Saturday, 14 September 2013
The Problem With Adverts.
Everybody wants to be a better person.
Not everybody realises just how harmful the effects of advertising can be though. The fact is the advertising companies (for the most part) are against you. They are taking advantage of every scrap of psychology they know because they want you to buy something. Even the Oxfam adverts are selling something, the only difference is that they LOOK like the good guys. Personally I don't trust them.
Every time you watch an advert, there are hundreds of little tricks in there to make you insecure, to make you believe that you need something. To make you angry, or sad, or excited and to connect these emotions to their products or to connect the solutions to their products. Remember that trope of a sleazy salesman who is good at their job, but you wouldn't trust as far as you can slide them across the ground on a trail of their own slime? That's advertisers!
All they want to achieve, is to make you need them.
They do this at great cost to the viewer and advertisements are a source of a great deal of psychological disorders (the obvious example being body dismorphia).
I watch a lot of youtube. Youtube used to be a great place. No adverts, can watch anything you like (almost) and it was a place where I felt like I could escape commercialism. Not anymore however. There are some youtubers that I watch such as Nerd3 who make their living from their youtube videos. This is of course funded by advertisements and he says [paraphrase] 'It's a 30 second advert for the sake of a 30 minute video'. Of course this is better than TV or radio or spotify but I just don't want to see them at all. I remember when advertising on youtube first started. The advertising companies were small fries, they felt less like the bad guys and more forward thinking. Now however, every single advert seems to come from Footlocker or HMV or some record label or yaddah yaddah yaddah. It seems like the price of these adverts has skyrocketed and it has shut out the small businesses once again.
There are some youtube channels that I watch exclusively to learn something, or to grow, or to think about things in different ways. Do you know what stands in between me and enlightenment? Youtube adverts! Well... and a few other things. But it is Youtube adverts that irk me the most.
I understand one thing though. I understand that capitalism is driven by advertising. It is driven and accelerated and has been very effectively. For better or for worse (for worse) we live in a capitalist society and advertising is a simple symptom of a larger disease. I don't have any suggestions where we can go - although the sort of oligarchy discussed in Plato's Republic has always appealed to my naive political sentiments - all I know is that this is not the last stop. We have been here for a long time but we are just waiting for the drivers to finish their coffee and scone.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Not everybody realises just how harmful the effects of advertising can be though. The fact is the advertising companies (for the most part) are against you. They are taking advantage of every scrap of psychology they know because they want you to buy something. Even the Oxfam adverts are selling something, the only difference is that they LOOK like the good guys. Personally I don't trust them.
Every time you watch an advert, there are hundreds of little tricks in there to make you insecure, to make you believe that you need something. To make you angry, or sad, or excited and to connect these emotions to their products or to connect the solutions to their products. Remember that trope of a sleazy salesman who is good at their job, but you wouldn't trust as far as you can slide them across the ground on a trail of their own slime? That's advertisers!
All they want to achieve, is to make you need them.
They do this at great cost to the viewer and advertisements are a source of a great deal of psychological disorders (the obvious example being body dismorphia).
I watch a lot of youtube. Youtube used to be a great place. No adverts, can watch anything you like (almost) and it was a place where I felt like I could escape commercialism. Not anymore however. There are some youtubers that I watch such as Nerd3 who make their living from their youtube videos. This is of course funded by advertisements and he says [paraphrase] 'It's a 30 second advert for the sake of a 30 minute video'. Of course this is better than TV or radio or spotify but I just don't want to see them at all. I remember when advertising on youtube first started. The advertising companies were small fries, they felt less like the bad guys and more forward thinking. Now however, every single advert seems to come from Footlocker or HMV or some record label or yaddah yaddah yaddah. It seems like the price of these adverts has skyrocketed and it has shut out the small businesses once again.
There are some youtube channels that I watch exclusively to learn something, or to grow, or to think about things in different ways. Do you know what stands in between me and enlightenment? Youtube adverts! Well... and a few other things. But it is Youtube adverts that irk me the most.
I understand one thing though. I understand that capitalism is driven by advertising. It is driven and accelerated and has been very effectively. For better or for worse (for worse) we live in a capitalist society and advertising is a simple symptom of a larger disease. I don't have any suggestions where we can go - although the sort of oligarchy discussed in Plato's Republic has always appealed to my naive political sentiments - all I know is that this is not the last stop. We have been here for a long time but we are just waiting for the drivers to finish their coffee and scone.
*******************************
By having read this article, you agree
that I am not responsible for any
distress, discomfort, enragement or
offence caused by your reading
of this article. DFTBA.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Follow me on twitter @dancohen447
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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