Can’t Stop

“Before I get to work, my day is already a success.” — Jensen Huang

Note: This post was intended to come out on June 16, but did not load. So, I made some edits for readability on June 30 in Shanghai.

Continuity of Knowledge

Knowledge is often defined by context.

For example, if I ask you to describe a frog, you might say that it’s an amphibian, but that assumes a biological perspective.

From a Shanghai bullfrog soup perspective, frogs 🐸 are just animals that taste like chicken and fish.

This sounds stupid, but it’s totally true and is a useful description in some perspectives.

Gadsby

I never appreciated the reader response literary lens because it seems so arbitrary and disconnected from concrete facts.

Don’t Look Back In Anger

You know how in the movies, people see mirages of oases in the Sahara Desert? Today, it was so hot 🥵 (31°C, 86°F) that I saw a guy opening the door to Browne Dining Hall and walking in.

I was walking to Ven, so I wanted to cut through the dining hall for some A/C, but the door was locked and the lights were off???

So, I think I had a hallucination of a guy walking into Browne, but when I told G, he didn’t believe that I saw a hallucination. I’m not sure how I could convince someone else of my hallucination though…

Pathfinding

When seeking shade on a walk, it’s unclear whether to make an adjustment to the original path just to go under a tree or in the shadow of a building.

Upside: more time in the shade!

Downside: more time in the sun!

If you try to walk faster to get to the shade, you might sweat more, which is uncomfortable. If you walk slower while under the tree to relax, it takes longer to get where you’re going.

Building Shade

However, I believe there could be an optimization to walking route calculations on map apps based on the time of day.

For example, if the sun is setting, that means shadows will all be to the east of buildings. So, optimal paths should include more time walking north on the left side of the street and walking south on the right side of the street.

In the northern hemisphere, the sun is usually in the south, so shadows will be on the north side of buildings. So, walking east, apps should recommend walking on the right side of the street, and the opposite for walking west.

Of course, the opposite system for the southern hemisphere.

Gatsby

Back on the topic of literature, I saw an Instagram reel in which someone was saying that they support Gatsby and blame Daisy.

After reading a few comments, they all seemed to have a poor understanding of the book’s themes, so I instinctively wanted to comment saying that Gatsby is at fault for trying to bring back a dead relationship, but I didn’t comment.

It seems like no one sees the book in the same way. Some people are focused on who is at blame due to the vehicular manslaughter later on, some people are more focused on hating Tom (Buchanan), and others are simply fans of Gatsby because the title says he’s great.

Reader response also makes a lot of sense from an age perspective. Older people like Moby Dick and teenagers like Catcher in the Rye. The books are the same, but the reader makes all the difference.

So, maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to pass judgement on Gatsby.

Anterhouse 🐜

Perhaps it’s just the heat, but today, I consulted with W, G, and S about an interhouse ant 🐜 farm where there’s just a network of transparent tubes between every house.

To feed them, we can simply use the food that always gets thrown away at the end of every house dinner.

Every house could have an Ant Manager, or AntMan. There could also be Ant Directors, or AntD’s¹.

Now, after discussing the logistics, I will explain why this is such a great idea:

1. The ants would reduce food waste, increasing our campus’s sustainability
2. The fear of antfestations would discourage students from eating alone in their room², thus leading to increased participation in house dinners
3. Students can appreciate the wonders of life and nature
4. Students may reflect on the implications of their decisions in life, drawing a parallel to those of the ants

Three Quarters

A said in her graduation post that she “only spent 12 quarters on this degree” so I guess that means I have enough quarters to afford one trip on the metro 🚍.

Over the last year, I’ve met a lot of cool people, and I’ll carry some of these memories with me forever.

Too much stuff

The only advice I have is to always only carry with you what you need. When you have to put it away, there’s only too much and never too little.

Footnotes

1. AntDis a great idea? ↩

2. This is extremely sad ↩