A fun romp of a science fiction adventure story with some ... raw contemporaneous frisson (vis-à-vis 2020 election and COVID-adjacent plot points). PeA fun romp of a science fiction adventure story with some ... raw contemporaneous frisson (vis-à-vis 2020 election and COVID-adjacent plot points). Perfect reading for a vacation -- or if you're like me and like to do 2-3 chapters during a session on the elliptical.
ALSO: I've never had an Author's Note/Acknowledgments make me tear up before but goddammit this one did....more
It was fine. I guess I was expecting something more focused or specific. "Monitoring" is pretty broad, and this does a fly-over of the many different It was fine. I guess I was expecting something more focused or specific. "Monitoring" is pretty broad, and this does a fly-over of the many different kinds, with (spoiler!) practical-if-general suggestions on strategies and specific tools. I guess I was hoping for a deeper dive on something within the monitoring/alerting domain ... but I'll be damned if I could tell you what would have made me feel more satisfied here.
If you're new to the domain of monitoring/alerting, this is probably a great way to get bootstrapped though. YMMV...more
Interesting dive into the cognitive factors that go into learning a programming language or a code base, as well as how those same factors affect the Interesting dive into the cognitive factors that go into learning a programming language or a code base, as well as how those same factors affect the acts of designing and implementing software. I would say that I learned a few things, but for me it was mostly illustrating or giving names to ways that I’ve been working (albeit intuitively) for years. There’s also a sigh of relief there: “Oh it’s fine to feel overwhelmed sometimes — this stuff is HARD!”...more
[1] Went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars here... Settling on 3 because it seems unlikely that I'll re-read In lieu of a review, some loose notes…
[1] Went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars here... Settling on 3 because it seems unlikely that I'll re-read it, but it was fun and thought-provoking throughout.
[2] There were multiple parts of the book where it started to feel almost Gibsonian ... but I didn't take notes as I went, and I'm having trouble remembering exactly where/when/why. IIRC it was mostly in the places where the narration started to go into all the political ramifications of the story's main action.
[3] It decidedly fits under the umbrella of "climate fiction" ... though has a more optimistic tone than some of the other novels I've read.
[4] I have a friend who described it as "fun but [...] predictable libertarian climate politics" and/but/so… I understand what he means, but my read on it was a little more ambiguous than that. I don't know that the text fully condones that libertarian bent, although it certainly doesn't come off as condemning it either. I think it rightly recognizes that the politics around this stuff are extremely complicated ... and I think a novel that romps the way that this one does is certainly an interesting way to explore some of those complexities.
WHEREIN Julia Galef compares the idea of a Soldier Mindset (one that is defensive, uses directionally-motivated reasoning, and roughly equivalent to aWHEREIN Julia Galef compares the idea of a Soldier Mindset (one that is defensive, uses directionally-motivated reasoning, and roughly equivalent to a fixed mindset) vs. the titular Scout Mindset (one that asks questions, seeks to understand and update, and is roughly equivalent to a growth mindset). She lays out strategies for how to become aware of when you fall into a Soldier Mindset, and how to coach yourself into a Scout Mindset for those situations — as well as the cognitive biases and other human tendencies that make it “easy” (or comforting) to lean into the Soldier Mindset. The four strongest points she makes about the so-called Scout Mindset seem to be:
1. Get yourself accustomed to feeling rewarded by making smart bets rather than simply winning (i.o.w., “Yeah, I lost this time, but with the information I had, I would have made the same choice.”)
2. Stay curious! And approach the world oriented toward accuracy — when you get new information update your position — which does not mean that you were wrong, just that you have better data now.
3. “Get a little bit Buddhist” (that’s me editorializing) — if you can minimize identity when it comes to your beliefs, then you’re less apt to be defensive (Soldier Mindset) and more apt to update (Scout Mindset).
4. Acknowledge the role of emotion in all of this — it is folly to attempt changing minds from a position of “pure reason”; for starters, that implicitly assumes that your own emotions aren’t coloring what’s rational vs. not, and it dismisses the idea that your “opponent” may similarly believe that reason is on their side. (See #2.)
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