We now know that memories are not fixed or frozen, like Proust’s jars of preserves in a larder, but are transformed, disassembled, reassembled, and recategorized with every act of recollection.
Memories are often our own creations. If our memories are fallible, then our beliefs are shaped by them as well. My tendency is to value rationality and believe that there is one true version of events, or one realized history, but it is often difficult, if not impossible, to arrive at that truth.
If there is no easy way to separate memory from truth, and if our beliefs are often wrong or shaped by our external environment, then the truth may sometimes be impossible to determine. In those cases, we might as well adopt interpretations that improve our lives and make the world a better place.
Here’s Maria Popova summarizing Oliver Sacks’s view and pondering whether the fallibility of memory may be essential to creativity.
Excerpts:
We, as human beings, are landed with memory systems that have fallibilities, frailties, and imperfections — but also great flexibility and creativity. Confusion over sources or indifference to them can be a paradoxical strength: if we could tag the sources of all our knowledge, we would be overwhelmed with often irrelevant information.
Indifference to source allows us to assimilate what we read, what we are told, what others say and think and write and paint, as intensely and richly as if they were primary experiences. It allows us to see and hear with other eyes and ears, to enter into other minds, to assimilate the art and science and religion of the whole culture, to enter into and contribute to the common mind, the general commonwealth of knowledge. This sort of sharing and participation, this communion, would not be possible if all our knowledge, our memories, were tagged and identified, seen as private, exclusively ours. Memory is dialogic and arises not only from direct experience but from the intercourse of many minds.
Eleanor wrote an article about her gym membership experience in China. Regardless of the field, I also prefer coaches who are skilled practitioners themselves, maintain high standards, and remain passionate about their craft. External standards, such as those set by employers, may ensure competence, but intrinsic motivation is what sustains excellence.
Competition governs almost every aspect of Chinese life. From the notoriously gruelling university entrance exams to industrial price wars, success depends on standing out from a vast pool of hardworking rivals…
Oxygym’s standards for staff are exacting. They are assessed according to nine criteria, each stricter than the last…Male and female trainers are expected to maintain body fat below 15 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, while passing physical tests befitting Navy Seals. Male trainers must deadlift twice their body weight, run 2.7km in 12 minutes and complete 15 unassisted pull-ups. For women trainers, the requirements include deadlifting one and a half times their body weight and 24 consecutive push-ups. While trainers are permitted to exercise on the gym floor, they are discouraged from visibly sweating while doing so.
When I ask Will what a trainer’s personal fitness level has to do with their teaching ability, he appears surprised by the question. “Even if a trainer is very experienced, if they are fat and don’t take care of their appearance, clients won’t want lessons with them,” he says. “The coach should represent an aspiration. They should embody what the student hopes to become.” If a trainer fails to meet those standards, there is a long queue of applicants waiting to take their place.
The manga Blue Box ended after five years. This coming of age story may be simple, but I enjoyed it. The characters are likeable, each with their own distinct personalities, dreams, and struggles. As someone whose favourite sports are basketball and badminton, the series resonated with me even more. Here’s a video about the anime (with spoilers).
Alternating between the sauna, ice bath, and hot bath has become one of my weekly routines. Before it became trendy and common, I used to do it occasionally when I travelled. Nowadays, there are many options available. When I found a place near where I live a few years ago, I thought it was one of my best discoveries.
I like the idea of doing something uncomfortable. My body tends to tolerate heat well, but not cold. In the past, when I travelled to London or Japan during winter or a place with strong aircon, I needed more layers and jackets. Nowadays, I can tolerate both heat and cold well, which makes life easier.
It also helps me sleep better, but its effect on training recovery is marginal. I avoid ice baths after strength workouts and do them on aerobic days.
Once a week seems optimal for me, factoring in time, cost, and value. I like having a midweek recovery day. The time in the sauna and baths gives me a chance to relax, reflect, and focus on my breath. Once in a while, I also get to socialize with interesting people. In that sense, the routine is not only about recovery. It is also a weekly practice in discomfort, stillness, and reflection.
This year, the school allowed parents to watch the primary inter-school basketball competition for the first time. According to his teacher, Link kept asking whether I had arrived because he was worried I wouldn’t make it in time. I think he had been looking forward to competing in front of his dad. Likewise, I was glad to watch him play.
Link scored 14 points and helped lead his team to a 20–2 victory. He has good individual skills for his age. His playing style reminds me of Rukawa from Slam Dunk, relying heavily on isolation plays. To reach the next level, he’ll need to bring out the best in his teammates, improve his basketball IQ, and better manage his emotions.
The primary school rims were lower than standard ones. After the games, I casually jumped up and hung on one with both hands. Some of Link’s teammates saw it, causing a small ruckus as the boys took turns trying to touch the backboard. Later that day, Link told me I had become popular among the boys because of it.
I usually don’t care much about how others perceive me and prefer to judge myself by my own standards. Still, it felt good to be seen as cool by my son’s peers. I suppose we all want to be someone our loved ones can be proud of.
I should cherish this period while he still looks up to me. In a few years, he’ll probably surpass me in basketball, be less impressed by what I know, and perhaps even find me old-fashioned or embarrassing. Until then, I’m grateful to have a place in this chapter of his life.
Fast Baroque music seems to be one of my weaknesses. I tend to tense up and play unevenly, and I find it difficult to strike a good balance between getting into the flow and playing freely while still minimizing mistakes.
First recording attempt:
Coo-coo, coo-coo, ooh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh…What goes on in my mind as I start making mistakes.
A version with less mistakes after another week of practice and better sleep, but perhaps also less expressive as I try to avoid mistakes:
Nabeel on what makes art great: 1) Great art is not predictable or obvious, it is surprising. 2) Great art contains multiple overlapping layers of echoes. 3) Great art contains more meaning than can be paraphrased.
Here’s a Jackson Dahl podcast with Tyler and Nabeel.
Excerpts:
In good human works, every detail feels carefully chosen.
Great artworks are hard to compress (i.e. have high information content); slop is easy to compress.
We barely see everyday objects because we are so used to them (low novel information again), but great art can make you see these objects afresh, the way a child might.
This strangeness is essential for the effect of great art, because we like to make sense of things, and if we make sense of things too easily they are not interesting to us; great works of art are therefore necessarily somewhat difficult to grasp the meaning of, their meanings are multiple and constantly shifting, and they require a pleasant kind of effort to make sense of.
Great literary works are full of these hidden patterns, which silently create a kind of electric charge of coherence across the text as you are reading, and which contribute to the feeling that we are reading something intentionally knit together as an aesthetic whole.
…not only do you have to surprise readers in interesting and precise ways, but you also have to make sure that multiple patterns cohere across the entire work and are not simply local and uncorrelated.
There’s a feeling of limitless depth that is unique to the really great works: it feels like you can always find more patterns, more coherence, more beauty on rereading. Or that more readings will give you a deeper understanding, but never a perfect or complete one.
Another facet of depth is mystery. Good art is always a bit under-explained. It allows you to speculate. Characters may have multiple motives.
Most people who enjoy making art should not try to make it their full time job. When you turn an avocation (hobby) into a vocation (job) you have to do new things you do not enjoy…Even the work itself can become a burden because you now have to make it. Amateurs can wait for inspiration; professionals must create every day.
You can look at art through an aesthetic lens (how does it look?), a technical lens (how is it made?), an emotional lens (how does it make you feel?), an interpretive lens (what does it mean?), and a political lens (what does it say about our world?).
There are a set of things that excite you artistically, and there are a set of things that the public enjoys, and you are looking for something in the intersection of those two sets. You can make work that is commercially successful while still staying true to your artistic interests.
Just make art that excites you, and make enough of it that you eventually make work that resonates with people.
Art is absolutely an expression of yourself. But your art is not you. Try not to entangle your ego with your art.
I have heard this approach referred to as “shots on goal” — the more shots you take, the more likely you are to succeed. If you are too scared to show your work to anyone or too defensive about the feedback you receive, you will have fewer shots on goal and thus less chance of making a living as an artist.
I received a free acrylic painting session after dining at an art-themed restaurant. The restaurant has an art room that provides canvases, paints, and brushes, but unfortunately, it does not offer instruction.
This was my first time trying acrylic painting. I did some quick research to get a sense of how best to proceed. Partly due to time constraints, and partly my lack of patience, the result was not as good as I had envisioned. But it was a good experience. It captures my first attempt at acrylic painting and the many hours I have spent with my boy on the basketball court.
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