Updating Priors
In the world of statistical inference, a “prior” refers to the beliefs we have about a particular value before we have all the data. In practice, this means that if we’ve done all the calculations required to ship a batch…
Curated Inputs
I spend a significant amount of time each day parsing information. This informs my work, but it also informs my thinking. It requires a decent amount of time and energy, but I consider that time and energy to be an…
Tiny Investments
I feel and function much better when I have access to a giant drinking vessel. My current mega-chalice is a 30-ounce, stainless-steel, double-walled travel mug that I bought for about $15 late last-year, and though it’s laughably big compared to…
The Wait
Traversing the space between one location and another can be exciting, but it can also be agonizingly boring. Much of the superficial excitement we get from such a journey is anticipatory rather than experiential: we’re looking forward to what’s coming,…
Uncertainty
The unknown is uncomfortable, but exploring the unknown is fundamental to the human experience. We invent lenses that allow us to perceive incredibly small things, and develop other lenses that allow us to look out at the macro vastness of…
Returning to Why
Many of us, at some point in our lives, have reason to pause, take stock, and ask ourselves why we’re doing what we’re doing, and why we’re doing it the way we doing it. This can lead to sudden pivots,…
Background Issues
Human beings are drawn to the unusual and sensational. It’s baked into how we process the world: something that seems to have changed, and which is new and dramatic in some way, will almost always capture our attention and concern…
Habit, Ritual, Performance
The word “ritual” is derived from the word “rite,” which refers to a religious ceremony of some kind. Which makes sense, if you consider that a ritual is typically a somewhat dogmatic undertaking: it’s the precise, step-by-step process of making…
Specification Gaming
Within the world of software development, the term “specification gaming” refers to a behavior that literally fulfills the requirements of a task without achieving the underlying intended purpose. In practice, this might mean that a piece of software is told…
Obvious
What’s obvious to me isn’t necessarily obvious to you, and the same is true in reverse. After four years of design school and over a decade working as a design professional, the kerning of typography—especially very bad kerning—stands out to me…