Hippopothesis: Money is a virtual idea that allows physical power

Hippopothesis is a series of opinion articles.

I’ve made a little bit of money on the “Diablo III” real money auction house by selling virtual goods for US dollars.

I push some numbers on my numberpad, someone buys the item I have for sale for the numbers, those numbers are transplanted to Paypal and then to my bank account. Recently I used those numbers to buy a french press on Amazon.com; I took the numbers that were sent to me, sent them to Amazon because I wanted a physical object, and received a french press through the mail.

It was magic, I typed in numbers and an object arrived a few days later with no physical exchange or difficult work involved.

This sparked an understanding; dollars are pieces of paper, gold and silver are shiny rocks from the ground, and the medium of exchange called money is an idea that people assert power to.

It shapes the way most people live, but it’s just an idea and only has strength if you believe in it.

Hippopothesis: Human interaction is a game

Hippopothesis is a series of opinion articles.

Anytime you interact with a someone, you’re playing a game. You create a balance between friendliness and interest, when the balance moves too far in a certain direction that person gets an impression of you that sticks in their mind; it’s a personal interaction game.

Swap to the workplace and it’s the same game with a larger area and different priorities as you’re balancing both superiors and co-workers. You want to keep friendliness and interest high for your superiors because you want them to like and possibly promote you. You also want friendliness high with your co-workers because you see them everyday, but interest isn’t a such big thaaaaaaang.

Facebook and Twitter are larger forms of a game. Lots of people are on them, so there’s a pressure to be broad about your interactions; interest takes priority because you want to be somebody, your level of friendliness is based on the persona you’re trying to create.

I don’t like playing the game. Personal interaction is fun but once you’re interacting with more than a few people you have to become a mutated version of yourself in order to pander to the population.

…I liked Mario better, you pushed (A) and the guy jumped.

Morning Coffee

This morning I had eggs and coffee with Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld.

Seinfeld has started a web series staring him and other comedians talk over coffee. The first episode has Seinfeld chatting with “Seinfeld” co-creator Larry David, it’s exactly what you think it is. Buddies having intriguing conversations about little observations. It’s bright and filling, like watching the sun come up while eating breakfast at your window.

It’s a lovely treat, make sure you watch it while eating breakfast to get the greasy spoon effect: http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/larry-david-larry-eats-a-pancake/

FUTURE!

“What was it like before computers?” I try to remember sometimes.

You could simulate this; go on a vacation, a camping trip, or a country where there’s little technological development. But doing so won’t actually create a reality where you forget about iPhones, you won’t forget about what that loud white dragon in the air is.

I get excited by every technological innovation, Google’s Project Glass for example;

I picked up an iPhone for the first time last Thursday, I didn’t understand the magical lights that my fingers were hammering like a neanderthal.

Every generation that comes is going to have extraordinary technological milestones so often they’re going to become common place. That’s such a fascinating privilege.

Swearing

What I think about swearing fuckin’ changed recently.

I’m doing a team project in my Cross-Cultural Journalism class, the project is on the terms; slut, bitch, and skank being used by young girls as terms of endearment for one another. Through the research we’ve done, I’ve come to the conclusion that using derogatory terms in both a fun, playful way and as terms of endearment; they are not destructive.

That’s not to say they’re never hurtful, or demeaning. Only that if you use them in a nice way, that you’re not hurting the person who you’re using the term with.

It’s also not to say that people won’t be offended, they will. People are offended by everything; there’s not an interesting thing you can say without someone being offended somewhere. This doesn’t mean they’re right. 

Words change over time, and become weaker with continued use. When I was little, damn had such strength as a swear word, but it’s much weaker now.

If you take in consideration what words do, think about what you say, and obviously aren’t trying to be hurtful or offensive; you should say what you want.

Choices and Meaning

Your choices affect those around you.

Of course they do, you know that already. I knew it, before I thought about what that meant, I knew it.

I knew it because I didn’t think about it, I didn’t think about my mind forming an opinion based on my values, producing words from my throat, being heard by another, whom then develops an opinion built upon my words

This opinion they now have, it becomes an idea; positive, negative, it will change their behavior.

The way you thought just changed the way a person acts, and thinks.

Your choices affect those around you.

I learned this from a videogame called Mass Effect 2.

You play Commander Shepard, a captain of a star ship. In each Mass Effect there’s an imminent threat and you must build a team around the universe to help you stop the threat.

You can shoot or kill people, but often the best course of action is to talk your way out of a situation, or convince others to help you. The choices are often complex, they make you think about what you’re saying, and the other character will react and makes a choice based on your conversation.

Before playing the game, I’d converse with people and what came out of my mouth wasn’t strongly filtered or focused. I’d say what I thought, and what I said was the first thing that came to mind, what my values were based on.

Putting what I learned into practice, it changed how I think, learning that you can persuade or dissuade with words.

Watch what you say, your words have meaning.

Light

The sun scorches the window shade when 6-7am rolls in.

I stare at the ceiling, trying to grasp Economy, Statistics, how to create a story and other worries. The terrible light remains.

Good thing about light:
-It reflects the world, so we can things with are range of vision.

Bad thing about light:
-Lots people rise when it comes; wandering, socializing, living in it’s strength.

The best hours are the “betweeners”. The transitional hours, 5-9pm, 4-8am.

My thriving hours.

Something about the imminence, “It’s coming! Hurry!” It makes me faster, want to work, and think.

Swirling dark and light, like an ice cream, it’s uncertain, mysterious. I can edit photos, write essays, and think critically in a more productive manner. I’m capable of things I can’t usually accomplish.