Which will happen first? Our societies will learn to curb our use of water Our technologists will discover/invent a way to purify and transport water effectively to keep up with our rising demand We will perfect the art of splicing genes and adapt our species to be able to consume salt water directly We will hit the water cap and see our species growth top out and/or start shrinking Water will not be the limiting factor because we will have already have experienced extinction or massive population reduction due to some other limited resource and/or foolish action I would be hard pressed to ever make a bet on humanity curbing consumption. Run technologists, the clock is ticking.
I currently live in Seattle, which sits in a county where 73.9% of voters chose Clinton. My former city of San Francisco leaned even more blue at 85.3%. My Facebook news feed has been full of shock and disappointment since election night. I’ve been sitting on this draft for weeks as I tried to find the right words. How could this happen? I don’t personally think this means we are regressing, racist or sexist. I think those are easy answers. Scapegoats. I fully believe some portion of the population is and always has represented those viewpoints and this election, particularly, gave voice to certain elements that have been quiet on a national scale lately. Those aren’t the reason though and putting the blame on them diminishes our chances of moving forward in a productive manner. The reason this happened is that democracy is working as intended. Over the past year I’ve
My competitive nature manifests itself in various ways – healthy and worrisome – but one of the most important to me has been deep friendships I’ve created alongside strong competitive rivalries. The best rivalries are the ones where the scales tip back and forth. If it is clear who the better participant is, there is no soil for a rivalry to grow. Fertile ground requires head to head competition, close victories and a tide that turns. To have a rivalry, each side needs material to craft their own story of victory and enough doubt to undermine that of the other. It sometimes amazes me that Chris continues to make an argument for being a better runner than I am. Across a wide range of the most popular running race, I have a faster personal record – 1500, 5k, Marathon. Time and time again I’ve crushed him on the battle field – the
Over one human lifetime, Sixty five thousand kWh of energy directed. Thirty seconds in New York City, Sixty five thousand kWh consumed. For three hours, I ran the five boroughs, Powered by the city’s cheers. As though I lived three hundred lives.
A few months ago I gave a presentation on minimalism as part of my company’s ‘Hearsay Talks’ series. I wanted to share the general themes here in written format. My apology for minimalism is this: It is not about less of something. It is about more of something else. You give up things so that you have more room for something else. We each only have 168 hours in the week – our lives are finite. If we want more of one thing, the only way to make that possible is by having less of something else. From 2012-2014 I lived in a 400 sq/ft studio apartment with my growing family. Because of the time and money we were saving, we were able to spend much more time pursuing outdoor activities we love – including some of my challenges. That was our way of having less of something (housing space) in order to have
Most of what determines our success or failure is determined before we set a goal. How well we’ve defined our success criteria, how motivated we are and how focused we are. The hard work lies in the body, and we will certainly course correct along the way, but when we look back, it will be obvious where failure rooted its seeds. If we have taken the correct steps in planning, our only work is to maintain the health of our focus and motivation.
This weekend I head to New York to run the New York City Marathon. This will be my third marathon of the year and fourth time running 26.2. I realize though that the feat I accomplished is much different than the one most people think of when they hear the word ‘marathon’. The New York Marathon will have nearly fifty thousand finishers. For most of them, the race is a grueling test of their will lasting 4-6 or sometimes up to 8 hours . For many, the goal is just to finish – and doing so is a great accomplishment. That is a very different event than the races I have participated in. Though it was the same distance, it wasn’t the same type of test. It didn’t require the same type of grit. The race I ran lasted 2:42 minutes. I say this not to brag, but to set context
To create something new, you must be willing to give up what you currently hold. To obtain it, you must die to the status quo. You must bask in the glory of discomfort. You must embrace a path with no map. Where you feel comfort, you must press on until you tremble at the view of a completely blank canvas. This is the fourth time since joining Hearsay that I’ve defined myself. Sought to find the optimal way to add value to the company in manner that was possible for my skill set, appropriate for my life state and aligned with my motivations. It is not lost on me that in the same time (nearly six years) the company has redefined itself nearly as many times, we’re on our third name & our second product evolution. To make a living dealing in ambiguity, one must become comfortable with uncertainty and all of the side affects that
This year I challenged myself to break 2:37 in the marathon. In order to hit that time I would need to get into the best shape of my life. But things have changed in my life from when I raced in college and my training plan would have to take that into account. Here are details about the training philosophy I used to race my first marathon. Update: Ultimately it resulted in a time of 2:42:23 – you can read my race report from the Jack & Jill Marathon as well as my race report from the New York City Marathon later that year. Background – My Historic Training Plan Before I get into the plan, here is some background on me as a runner. I ran for my school team’s in high school & college – eventually making varsity at each. I was a good local-level competitive runner, but never state
Should we work? The answer to this question for most of our human history has been obvious. Survival required it. But slowly, the life of leisure has become possible for a greater number of people. The problem with possibilities is that they always create the dilemma of choice. The Rise of the Life of Leisure Up until 500 years ago, only a rare few (I need to find estimates) among the estimated 107 billion humans that have lived, had the an economic option of not working to survive. Even then, I suspect, most of those people were in a social position that required it. The leader of a people group might have enough wealth to avoid working, but what would happen to the group, or them, if they stopped leading? In the past few hundred years, the concept of a life of leisure has become increasingly feasible for some individuals. Technological innovation has allowed us