jansho

I used to have this and it was as inconvenient as you said here. I tried to work on extending this 'skill' (really important to first acknowledge that it's not necessarily a weakness) by just feedbacking "reality-check" to scenario-modelling. For example in my "Deliver a class" mental scenario, I used to assume that I'd be as smooth as Feynman. In real life presenting, that's obviously not the case! I used to cringe and get frustrated so much, until I told myself to back off and let the process continue (indeed, it's not easy to shut your brain down!) So I tried introspection. I realise several factors about myself and what things from the environment affect me ... so I loop all this back to my mind so the next time I do another mental presentation scenario, I take these into account. It gradually gets more 'accurate' (by this I mean real outcomes don't seem as widely off-the-mark ... it also helps to acknowledge a large margin of error!) and now I use it for "important conversations" as a way to find key points/ questions and, surprisingly, to get myself more relaxed.

Hope this helps somehow!

> For example Boris Johnson

Dear lord that would put a ribbon on everything!

Weekend for me already!

Curious about this too!

Which won't be popular, unfortunately.

Yes but see, the same uncertainty also goes to you. Evidence may paint a picture, but evidence is also continuously fluid so there is never a correct picture. A more accurate picture, possibly. But even so, we're not just ruled by rational thinking. Even scientists are driven by a thing called wonder and curiosity - you need those facilities together to make progress. Call intuition as one tool to take advantage of.

But hey I may be wrong too. There's no telling unless He says "Game's up, now who amongst you could see me." I admit that there is that fear in me, but as I explained in another child post, I just can't put down the super complexity and beauty of this world to a chance.

(If my tone seems condescending, I apologise as this is not in my intention at all.)

If there is a god, of course there are consequences. (This opens up another mess of a rabbit hole so I'll stop here!)

You're right, I "intuit" it because it's unifying and seems to cover all bases, and therefore quite a comfortable position to be in. I also "intuit" it because of the vast indescribable complexity of this world, and it's not just the equations but the thrill, humility and beauty of it all is too much that I have to accept that it doesn't just happen.

But in my earlier point, I wanted to show that a belief in a 'Great Programmer' is not incompatible with a belief in science. I am free to be interested in those two things you mentioned, but I can also attribute the wonders to a god. In a way this is like enjoying an unfinished picture/ story, but knowing how the thread begins and ends: everything comes from him, and everything returns to him. It's like sitting in the privileged seat to witness a slice of this drama. And for me, the least I can do is to acknowledge the great auteur behind it.

Well,

"Why not" is one way to keep an open mind. Why not this world in a multiverse. Why not this world in a simulation. Why not a simulation within a simulation. Why not a programmer who wrote the code for this world - and how is this any stranger than our other what ifs.

We're human, we don't just operate on facts - we rely on educated assumptions that we make, some of which may be strong enough to translate into belief. This may be driven by evidence, or just our humanly intuition and experiences.

But this is also human: The beauty of science is that it adapts as new evidence is revealed - someone here said this earlier. [No final answer] but rather based on the current evidence, an answer can be formulated that is consistent with the evidence available at that time.

It's human because it depends on our perspective; where we are in time, whether we find the truths (evidence) or not, and whether we are capable of perceiving all truths. Science is continually evolving in our minds - or more accurately, in the collective minds over time. Can the great jigsaw puzzle ever be solved? That's not the aim of science, as it is proud to point out, but it argues that whatever picture we come up with, it's justified as long as it's based on the current collection of evidence - this is a philosophy.

And I'm personally not satisfied with this, as a way of life. Why don't I deserve the truth in its entirety, in my lifetime? You would ask, why do I even question whether I deserve or not? I guess it's a human thing. But for me, as a person, I intuit closest to monotheism. Monotheism provides a framework where anything is possible, but bound by the belief in the Great Programmer who can do whatever he wants. It can work for anyone, regardless of their time and place; and for me as a person fortunate to live in an advanced age, I can accept evolution, because I think it's pretty robust and who am I to question how he creates the world. This for me is more liberating than having to accept whatever picture current evidence is showing - actually, I look forward to witness more development. It's also quite a comfortable position to be in; if science does show that we live in a simulation, that's OK, if it shows that we live in a multiverse, that's cool too.

Shrugs, it was biodegradable.

I don't know, the inability to admit being wrong is a human trait and can apply to anyone, including scientists and believers.

Why does everyone think that there's only two "origin" stories and they're both mutually exclusive? I believe in evolution, and I'm a monotheist. I don't reach this conclusion very easily. Why not evolution as God's* way of creating things.

*I hesitate to use this word because of the baggage it carries, but somehow Designer or Creator doesn't seem sufficient here...

No we got spaceship-wrecked.

> If you allow yourself to enjoy the beautiful things that really matter, if you don’t let social or peer pressure dissuade you from pursuing a field which appeals to you

I'm amazed at some of the comments here who seem to say "If you just ignore it, it will get better." I highlighted the ifs above because NOT everyone has the strength to overcome what they perceive as discrimination. Sure we can debate as much as we like whether the different treatment was due to discrimination or not, but let's stick to the real fact here: the treatment is perceived to be different.

When this happens sometimes, we can shrug it off - it's not exactly productive nor courteous to express outrage all the time. And absolutely, it may just be in our imagination, or someone is having a bad day! But when that different treatment happens often enough, no matter how subtle it seems, it can cause pain and affect the person's behaviour and performance.

Not everyone is delusional. Not everyone wants to get the limelight. So if someone is claiming that he/she is being discriminated, listen.

I am super excited about this. The thought of applying for YC was never on the table because I'm reluctant to move to the US. Startup School is great, but sometimes I feel that it's a little too condensed and, well, at the end of the day it's still passive consumption. Mentoring personalises things a little, so this news is welcoming.

My question is, can this mentoring be as effective as having a 'real' mentor? I have no doubt that YC mentors are highly qualified individuals, but with 10k startups, I can't help but feel that these sessions would be as rapid-fire as one of the live office hour videos in Startup School. Nothing wrong with that, but for me, I look for relationships the most from mentors.

This also makes me think that this may just be a Round One to perhaps a lengthier process to sift for startups with the best potential..

"Women-friendly policies" don't just cover things like maternity leave. Ultimately they do boil down to "human-friendly policies." How: they accommodate women more and thus balance a culture that's traditionally male-dominated. At least that's the idea.

(I was going to quote seaknoll's comment until I realised that you already mentioned it!)

Ah ok, I was curious to know your opinion since for me, "women-friendly policies" mean consideration for pregnancy, childcare and so on!

Regarding diversity events, I slightly disagree with you. Ironically I became an advocate only after my engineering education, when I suddenly experienced 'different' treatment. Welcome to the real world, they say, but it affected me quite badly. I suddenly found those women support groups comforting. None of the meetups I went was ever "Down with the opposite sex!" although yes, I find myself wishing that there's more rad startups than just fashion and makeup. But there is something refreshing about just listening to leaders, entrepreneurs and hopefuls, all driven and comfortable with their identities, including being female. I mean, if they can do it, I can do it too, right??

Tokenism is definitely an ass. I happen to come with a baggage of other labels (minority within minority within minority...) and even in so-called open environments, I often find myself on this super awkward scale:

- Ignored (only for the same idea to be suggested by another, receiving whoop-whoop, pat on the back)

- Disdained (do your job yeah but you're not supposed to do it so well it makes your colleagues inferior)

- Tokenistic photo add-on

I ain't taking that crap anymore so I'm flying solo now.

I've given up finding that great company culture. Bro cultures, and yes even female jealousy, but the dealbreaker for me is work inflexibility. I get utterly exhausted working in open office environments, and I swing from absolutely crap in small talk to excitable gushing about last night's TV (that nobody watches.) People apparently don't like randomised personalities! I figured that the life of a salaryperson may just be wrong for me...

Now I split my time 30:30:30 on contracting, developing my edtech baby and reading/ art/ learning. The 10% is allocated for family and the blue days.

At the risk of misleading others, please remember that every person has a unique pattern. It seems a lot like retiring but believe me it's not haha. I have to work extra hard in finding and maintaining my contracts, just so I can support my edtech project with enough cash and time.

And, although flexibility is what I was looking for, it's very easy to become idle. In the first few months, I struggled - but this I suppose is a much needed exercise in taming my short attention span (!) It's still too early to tell - it's been ten months now - but as an individual, learner and founder, I think I'm happier and made far more progress than before. And at last my baby is growing! ;)

Hmm. So I ran away rather than deal with toxic/ mediocre environments ... but perhaps this is the best!

> company has to really push for women-friendly policies to be a great place for women to work, which I happen to completely disagree with.

Could you elaborate a little bit more please, beyond the cringey paper-scissor activities?

Hey it depends who you're following. For designers, artists and wannabe bakers, it's a goldmine of inspiration. Cat accounts are good for the soul too ;)

Same social media rule applies: if you don't like it, just unfollow. I'd argue that it's easier to do that on IG than FB as it feels less personal.

A step ahead of James Cameron's Avatar?

Hmm I'm not sure though. Where would all that celebrity goss come from then..

The silver lining.

"All you talented people in the US, allez, France welcomes you with big arms."

Yeah this article's a bit mixey.

Side note: You know I have a Saudi friend who told me that it's incredibly patronising when the 'West' talk so much about their (lack of) rights, like as if they're so helpless and living such miserable lives ... they're practically reduced to the very black figures they were criticised to be.

> because its inventor was stuck indoors waiting for her “male guardian” to drive her somewhere

But yeah. Things are changing even in Saudi Arabia.. http://m.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-prince-su...

> Just handing a device to every student will not automatically improve education, though; they're not magic.

This. Blended learning is more of an art; if you are interested in how it can be applied in schools, I highly recommend this MOOC: https://www.coursera.org/learn/blended-learning

Lots of different models, readings and videos, including tours of the more "tech-savvy" schools :)

> It would be more helpful to ditch the 'myth' that age-segregated classrooms are an improvement over the one-room school house.

They still mix ages in Montessori schools. There is a stronger self-learning culture, including peer-to-peer collaborations and older children playing a mentorship role to younger ones. The teachers observe, faciliate and are there whenever they are needed.

It's not always so rosy in real life though. One school I volunteered at actually had to do more age-segregated classes (rather than lump Lower Primary together) because it was way too disruptive to mix 6 - 9 years old together. To add context, since the school was specifically for disadvantaged children, most (especially refugees) either join much later or stop suddenly, so couldn't fully benefit from the Montessori system.

Thanks. But excuse my dumminess, just need to get this right: so the three channels of data can be converted into RGB to give the "shades" to make a photo ... but you can pick a dominant colour filter, like blue, green or in the Horsehead's case, pink?

I am mesmerised by Juno's photos but wondering if it's true to the human eye (like as if we are there.) The photo caption hints otherwise [1] but I'm not sure if my understanding is correct!

[1] Multiple images taken with the JunoCam instrument on three separate orbits were combined to show all areas in daylight, enhanced color, and stereographic projection.

Do you know if these images have been colour-enhanced, like those photos of glowing nebulae? http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Nebulae/Horsehead/FullSizeJpg/...

Lots of good advice already:

- Let it all out to a psychologist (definitely this)

- Take a holiday somewhere sunny and not too crowded (definitely this)

- And most definitely this, your new job: how you can delegate your work as much as possible, AND how best to upskill your new "minions"

Hang in there, OP :)

Edit to add: don't forget to talk to your wife about your real state!

> so many people in the (still relatively free) West denying basic agency to their fellow human beings

Because there's a lot of cynicism with charities and foreign aid. There is an active campaign here in Britain to reduce the latter and anecdotally, I have friends and relatives who refuse to donate to aid agencies because they believe that the whole thing is a sham.

Sure there's bureaucracy, but most of them are genuinely hardworking and already operating on shoestring budgets...

Because to do so would be rather unfair on the vast majority of followers who do not share the values of these terrorists. Ever wonder why the world hasn't burnt down? Because there isn't a "sleeper switch" in every Muslim you pass in the streets.

There are discussions of Islam and ISIS - the Atlantic's most popular article covers just that (so thorough that it's praised by ISIS even.) And then there's the likes of the Daily Mail, which rather than heal serves to deepen divisions and hatred - that is the aim of terrorists.

Sigh, it seems so surreal now that the Arab Spring was once cheered on by the whole world.

Edit: word