Monthly Archives: May 2005

Ontology is Overrated

Posted inWeb/Tech1 Comment on Ontology is Overrated

The role of categories in life has always been slightly interesting to me. At Comcate v1.0 of the software had one hierarchy – a citizen had to choose Potholes OR Trees OR Police. Then we moved to categories and subcategories. Now, many moons and versions later, we are still grappling with the best way to treat categorization of cases. In blogging, I categorize each post in one category (Web/Tech, Entrepreneurship, Current Affairs, Books, etc) but it’s always felt a little weak to me. In the past few months I discussed how “tags” and categories in the technical sense don’t really reflect how humans think with my friend Tim Taylor. I also electronically discussed mutual scratching-of-head over the interface/process of Del.icio.us with Seth Levine.

Clay Shirky has a must-read essay up on why ontology is overrated and the history and future of categories, links, and tags. Basically he says the Yahoo Directory ways of categorization are dead and that a world if binaries is over. He also brings up a provocative philosophical question: does the world make sense or do we make sense of the world?

Link: Shirky: Ontology is Overrated — Categories, Links, and Tags.

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High School Prom

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There is nothing more quintessentially high school than the prom. It is a super-commercialized affair with girls spending hundreds of dollars on cosmetics, clothes, etc. The cynic in me wants to say it’s all part of that “cheap shit” that is high school social life. But the other side of me finds it all hilarious – the jousting, the social climbing, the drama, and the never ending text messages about the latest gossip. It’s pretty funny. (What’s not so funny is that racially segregated proms still exist in Georgia.)

At 6:30 PM I met up with 13 other friends, in my rented tuxedo, and had dinner at a house where endless pictures were taken (in the era of digital photography, if you can take 1 why not 100?). Then the 14-person limo pulled up and we cruised around San Fran for an hour before arriving at the Century Club, the site of the prom. An hour or two at the prom – the main goal, as I understand it, is to just “be seen” – and then in the limo again.

Arrive at the after party, wash down a Balance bar with a few college sodas, yada yada yada and I taxi it home at 3 AM. I haven’t been up that late in years. Needless to say, dragging my ass out of bed today to get to the gym – and fighting my way through all the Bay to Breakers runners (a quintessential San Francisco event) – was pretty tough.

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Feeling Sorry for Myself

Posted inSchool / Education1 Comment on Feeling Sorry for Myself

It was Wednesday night, I was driving home from Los Altos after a night of sitting in with a local angel investment group watching three entrepreneurs pitch their wares and meeting the group’s members. As the clock struck 10 pm, I was flying up 280 in my family’s new Ford Escape Hybrid SUV (first new car since ’84!) and suddenly a wave of stress passed through me. I had a major test the next day and I was thinking to myself, “Wasn’t I supposed to put my business endeavors to the side for a bit as I try to step it up academically?” Worst of all, I felt sorry for myself.

Then I remembered. It’s immoral to be unhappy. I just had an awesome dinner with super-smart and successful people and learned a lot. I’m blessed with amazing opportunities and support. I go to one of the best high schools around. So, using the digital radio tuner (trust me – this is a step up from before) I turned the volume on high, rolled down the windows, and gased to 80 mph. As luck would have it, first Gavin DeGraw came on with “I Don’t Wanna Be” whose lyrics go:

I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately
All I have to do is think of me and I have peace of mind
I’m tired of looking ’round rooms wondering what I gotta do
Or who I’m supposed to be
I don’t want to be anything other than me

And then Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway”:

I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly
I’ll do what it takes til’ I touch the sky
I’ll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won’t forget all the ones that I love
I’ll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway

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Book Review: Ayn Rand, For the New Intellectual

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Several months ago I had a nice email back-and-forth with two folks who I really respect about the merits of Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism. It all started when I got a trackback ping from somebody who said that I was a bit “subjectivist” and, not knowing what that meant, the learning process began. One guy was telling me, “She’s an idiotic theoretician who believes self-interest should come above all us.” The other guy was telling me, “Her thinking has emerged into a legit philosophy over the last 30 years and her novels are extraordinary.”

At some point I want to tackle her most famous novels – Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead – but for now I just read For the New Intellectual, a book by Rand that breaks down the philosophies presented in her famous novels. (I also read Shermer’s Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time which contained a thorough debunking of Rand the person.)

My key lesson learned is this: there is a big difference between being a fan of her novels and being a fan of her philosophy. I get the sense that her novels have strong characters, a compelling plot, etc. But you can like her novels and not embrace the philosophy. There are many things, in my early research, that I find quite appealing. Its emphasis on knowledge/intellectualism – one of core values – is awesome. Its emphasis on not feeling guilty when acting in self-interest I also can sympathize with. My chief complaint, though, is how it seems to operate on extremes. If you are selfless or the least bit philanthropic then by default you put aside all self-interest and pleasure in the name of others. There IS a grey area, but this doesn’t seem to be sufficiently promoted in the philosophy.

My exploration continues….

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The Current Harper's Index

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Nothing beats the line-by-line fun facts and stats of Harper’s Magazine. On the stationary bike today I caught up on the latest Index and found these gems:

  • Percentage of Philippine couples who “do not know how pregnancy happens” according to the country’s health minister: 30
  • Average self-esteem of a US teenager, as measured by sociologists on a scale of 0 to 10: 7.6
  • Average self-esteem of a Baghdad teenager: 7.9
  • Number of female US soldiers disciplined this year for mud-wrestling at an Iraqi prison camp: 2
  • Year that Boise, Idaho banned full nudity in public unless it had some “serious artistic merit”: 2001
  • Number of nights each week that a Boise strip club now distributes sketch pads and pencils: 2
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