Kevin Kelly's "103 Bits of Advice I Wish I Had Known"

Kevin Kelly is an old-school geek of the highest order. He's the founding Executive Editor at Wired, former editor of the Whole Earth Catalogue, and co-founder of the legendary WELL virtual online community.

In celebration of his 70th birthdate, Kelly posted "103 Bits of Advice I Wish I Had Known" on his The Technium blog. Here are thirteen maxims that particularly resonate with me:

• "Whenever there is an argument between two sides, find the third side."

• "Efficiency is highly overrated; Goofing off is highly underrated. Regularly scheduled sabbaths, sabbaticals, vacations, breaks, aimless walks and time off are essential for top performance of any kind. The best work ethic requires a good rest ethic."

• "The biggest lie we tell ourselves is 'I don't need to write this down because I will remember it.'"

• "Your growth as a conscious being is measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations you are willing to have."

• "Ask anyone you admire: Their lucky breaks happened on a detour from their main goal. So embrace detours. Life is not a straight line for anyone."

• "Half the skill of being educated is learning what you can ignore."

• "A great way to understand yourself is to seriously reflect on everything you find irritating in others."

• "What you do on your bad days matters more than what you do on your good days."

• "Make stuff that is good for people to have."

• "90% of everything is crap. If you think you don't like opera, romance novels, TikTok, country music, vegan food, NFTs, keep trying to see if you can find the 10% that is not crap."

• "A wise man said, "Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates. At the first gate, ask yourself, 'Is it true?' At the second gate ask, 'Is it necessary?' At the third gate ask, 'Is it kind?'"

• "The only productive way to answer 'what should I do now?' is to first tackle the question of 'who should I become?'"

• "It's thrilling to be extremely polite to rude strangers."

And I'll add my own bit of advice: When someone has been on this whole earth for seventy years, they just might have picked up some wisdom. While some of his little proverbs lean into being a bit trite, his list is worth a read-through.

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

Emmy-award-winning director Robert B. Weide started work on a documentary chronicling the life and stories of author Kurt Vonnegut in 1988. Some 32 years later, Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time will be released next month on November 19, 2021.

Through the many years of making the documentary, Weide developed a close friendship with the late author. Filming as the opportunity presented during the three decades, Vonnegut spoke of life, laughter, depression, and friendship — the karass we build through impermanent lives with those we care most about.

The Truth is Out There...

Sorry Fox Mulder and, before him, Richard Dreyfuss’s character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It is okay to believe, but to know requires more than belief. The Truth May Be Out There, I’m waiting for the proof out there to come in here before I try to Pen Pal with someone from Alpha Centauri.

The other popular phrase from the old X-Files television show was I want to Believe. Wanting to believe in something that sometimes blinds people from the lack of proof. It is okay to want to believe something. It is okay to believe something. Just understand the difference between belief and truth. A troubling number of people get those two things confused and then get upset with those that do not confuse the two.

Saturday Mornings...

Saturday mornings are my favorite time of the week.  The idea of two days stretching out before me that, most of the time, I can do whatever I want whenever I want.  Sure, there are probably chores and errands that need to be done, but I can often decide how and when to do them.  Occasionally, I’ll have a family obligation or a visit to or from friends that might be a cement pillar in my open-road schedule.  Otherwise, on Saturday mornings, my future, at least for two days, is mine to author.  An undiscovered country of possibilities.

However, by Saturday afternoon, I start thinking that soon the weekend will be half over, and I have accomplished nowhere close to what I wanted to.  I begin mentally prioritizing my to-dos.  I shift items to the top that might be quicker to accomplish instead of the most important.  This way, I can slice through them Ginsu-quick with a cross-out line on my list.  And thereby, restore my self-delusion that I’ve been a productive member of the human race.

As Saturday evening rolls around, I’m more disillusioned with my accomplishments and questioning the meaning of life and every choice I’ve made that has led me to such a sloucher of a day.  I probably drown my sorrows in soft pop culture or, more traditionally, hard booze.  Don’t try to be a tough guy in these situations; you need to manage the pain.  By bedtime, I’ve resolved to make such productivity strikes tomorrow that will bring David Allen and Tony Robbins to genuflect, weeping, before me.  I fall asleep to comforting rumbles of coming thunderous dreams of conquering the world.  Or, at least, my to-do list for the weekend.

Cut to Sunday morning.  I sleep in.  When I finally get up, it is with the realization that the weekend is almost over.  Not that it is a little over half-over, but that it is almost over.  I’m a glass more than half empty kind of guy when it comes to weekends, I guess.  So now I’m staring down the real possibility that I’ve got another wasted weekend on my hands, and the next opportunity for redemption will not come until another five long days have passed. 

Still, by Sunday, I start to persevere in the face of my self-styled apocalyptic doom.  I’m prioritizing things by what absolutely needs to get done to keep the inertia of life stumbling and weaving forward.  I might even get into the zone that makes my rushed flailing into a precision, all pistons firing, surgical-strike, eat-your-heart-out-Fred-Astaire poetic dance allow me to get ahead of things.

Sunday evening, I’m proud of what I’m getting done.  Perhaps even arrogance sets in.  Then I think about what I could do with one more day -- what I could have done if I’d gotten in gear yesterday and not bumbled about most of the weekend.  The thought breaks my stride, sends me to my knees, and leaves me stone-faced at a finish line too far away to cross.  I might have gotten some things done, but the weekend is coming to a close and my to-do, hardly weakened by my attacks, mocks me like a schoolyard bully.  It’s now bedtime, and I’m resolved to my fate.  I’m mostly numb to the verdict and accept my sentence.  For wanton disregard of productive time during the weekend, I’m sentenced to five days where my time is not my own. 

It’s probably for the best. 

I apparently can’t be trusted to manage my own time wisely.

2011 RSA Hack

As non-disclosure agreements expire, new details emerge on the infamous 2011 RSA Hack, which threatened the future of a security cornerstone. From Andy Greenberg at Wired:

https://www.wired.com/story/the-full-story-of-the-stunning-rsa-hack-can-finally-be-told/

The piece lays out an interesting tale of success and failure when faced with the consequences of a catastrophic security intrusion.