Home - 210ethan

Thoughts, research, knowledge, and experiences in my life.

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Thoughts

Philosophy

Pacing I: Deceleration: Or lack thereof, on bikes and in life
Pacing II: Acceleration: Or lack thereof, on machines and in life
Pacing III: Steady State: Staying consistent in efforts and in life
Discipline I: Momentum: Using small tasks to accelerate discipline
Discipline II: By Force: How to do things that aren't fun or desirable
Discipline III: Ebb and Flow: Motivation fluctuates, but the front line always pushes or holds
Discipline IV: Digging Graves: Make decisions that risk livelihood if not completed
Discipline V: Non-zero-Sum Efforts: Unproductive time removed ≠ productive time gained
Boredom I: Consistency: As an indicator of progress and being on the right track
Boredom II: Preying on the Ignorant: Selling snake oil for a hefty profit
Destruction I: My refuge and its "progress"
Destruction II: Must progress and destruction go hand-in-hand?
Destruction III: Gone, but not forgotten
Destruction IV: The final piece of forest
Moderation is My Enemy and I Will Wage War on It Wherever I Go With Whatever I Have
Culture Comes From the Top: And pours down, whether asked for or not
Intelligence Is Knowledge Is Experience: Experience gives the illusion of intelligence
Agency: Developing agency and the ability to achieve goals
Selling Out: Compromising principles for materials and status
Get Your Focus Right: Seek the important and dismiss the trivial
Ruined: Has trying to get better made me worse?
Seconds Matter: Accumulation is real... and fast
Filtering Through Low Bars: Easy barriers provide valuable information when not passed
Systems to Eschew Eschewing Performance: Competitors must earn statuses
Identity I: Adjectives vs. Nouns: Nouns are specific and adjectives are general
Fear is a Lack of Understanding: Take time to learn before making an assessment
Excuses: Competitors don't bitch, they compensate
Puzzle Learning: An approach to learning new subjects
Fucking Around to Find Out: Unrestrained exploration can be a valuable learning opportunity
Privilege Violations Need Stricter Punishments: Lack of punishment incentivizes violating rules
Why Are Most of My Thoughts Posts Advice-Flavored?: A critical look at the why behind some essays
Nobody Cares: Do things for yourself, not others
Modern Life is War: Ways of life are being attacked and resistance is necessary
Priorities: A hard truth, a feeling of freedom, and a lamentation
Merit-Based Barriers to Entry: Your skill level must be this high to ride
Competition: Benefits, detriments, implementation
Distractions: Definitions, common examples, elimination, prevention
Commitment Issues: The longer a commitment goes unfulfilled, the less likely it is to become fulfilled
Creating and Developing: Fulfillment, balance, suggestions and considerations
Against SEO: SEO isn't necessary if the content is good
Create an Environment of Convenience: Personal convenience makes everything better
Problems with Livestreaming: Personal issues I have with livestreaming and its culture
Empty: Empty words and the cost of betterment
Social Defection: Rules separate us from the animals
Life Philosophies: Running list of life philosophies I abide by

Ideas

AI-Generated Music for Learning: Catchy tunes are easy to remember
Conversation Visualizer: Voice to text to image to reflection
Personal Convenience Drones: Freeing up hands and minds for more important things
Scenic Routes in Map Apps: Taking the longer way for fun
Social Inertia: Present interactions influence all future interactions
The Airline Smell Tax: Passengers must smell not-bad to fly for no extra charge
Beginner's Blindness: Resolution and appreciation are lost when limits are reached
Deprivation for Satisfaction: Depriving myself of various wants/needs to increase satisfaction
Productive Idling: Always have something productive to do during idle times
For LaTeX: Pros and cons of using L^aT_eX vs. Microsoft Word, ideas on how to increase its prevalence
Safer Driving: Rules, data, biases, behaviors
Becoming Famous for Others: Using influence to support causes
Using Movies to Teach: Low-cost integration of valuable lessons into movies
Checking Dunbar: Finding Dunbar's number, variations, increases
Cheating: Why cheating occurs and prevention methods
Making Work More Enjoyable: Philosophy of work and how to make it more fun
Making Driving Enjoyable: Why driving isn't fun and how to lessen that
Time Optimization: Practical ideas for improving use of time
Shortform: Random thoughts

Reflection

Reflections on Sermons: Asking, pondering, and answering difficult questions
Regret: My ongoing relationship with regret and how to reduce its future impact
Drogo's Follies: Giovanni Drogo's mistakes, lessons learned, and suggestions on prevention
Nostalgia I: Seeing Ghosts: Memories conjure up ghosts in distant places
Nostalgia II: Good Ol' Days: Recognition of reality can reduce future heartache
Death I: Loss: Experiences and lessons after my father's sudden and unexpected death
Death II: One Year Fatherless: Reflections one year after my father's death
Death III: Stories: Stories of me and my father
Death IV: Friends: Is losing a friend the same as them dying?
Roommates: Why they're an all-around great idea
Death of the American Shopping Scene: A look at the current state of American shopping culture
In Praise of Libraries: All the good public libraries have to offer
Writing Styles: Some are ugly and fleeting, others aesthetic and timeless
Reflections on MilleniaThinker: Video-by-video thoughts and reviews
6pm in the Subfab: Working long hours and what it means for some
Life in a Bubble: Experiences living in my own societal bubble
COVID I: Experiences and reflections on the infamous pandemic
Mentorship: Suggestions on being a good mentor in a work setting
One-on-Ones: Experiences and suggestions on conducting 1:1 meetings with a partner
Thesis Lessons: Lessons learned while researching and writing an undergraduate thesis
AggieFab Reflections: Thoughts on working at a university laboratory for 2.5 years
Thankful: Running list of reasons I have to be thankful

Research

Information

Where to Live for Happiness: Literature and personal considerations related to housing variables
[Blank]-Free Foods: Healthy or not?
Slowing Time: Notes on and suggestions for making time feel slower
Problems with Modern-Day Science: Predators, perishing, peer review, reproducibility
Financial Independence / Retire Early: Motivation, types, methods, investments, lifestyles
Vacuum: Concepts, technologies, pumps, system design
Ion Implantation: Theory, equipment, process, doping alternatives
Stealing Political Signs: Does it help or hurt the thief's cause?

Experiments

Nootropics: Blinded experiments in an effort to improve
Predicting iPhone vs. Non-iPhone Users: Can you tell if someone is going to mess up the group chat?
Ads and Gas Pumping Rate: Do gas stations intentionally throttle pumping rates to improve profits?
Heat: Chemistry of spice, developing a tolerance to progressively hotter sauces
Self-Testing: Log of tests I run on myself
Strange-Face Illusion: Replicating Caputo's work

Cost-Benefit Analyses

Global Entry Cost-Benefit Analysis: Definitely worth it for flexing, but financially?
Bike Rack Positions Cost-Benefit Analysis: Roof vs. hitch
Is LTC Insurance Worth It?: Insurance, lawyer fees, incident probabilities
Cost of Rideshare Driving: Is it financially-advisable to drive for a ridesharing company?

Knowledge

Repositories

Links: Links I've read
Life Advice: On health, finance, productivity, career, thinking, environment, and others
Quotes: Quotes I like and/or abide by
Comfort Zone Expansion for Social Interactions: Theory and varying difficulties of exercises
Dates: Out-of-the-box options for both committed relationships and casual partners
Penances: Creative punishments for a variety of needs
Home Ownership: Considerations, projects, information, suggestions
Problem Solving: List of problem-solving techniques
Life Improvements: Items and practices that have improved my life
Puzzles: Fun puzzles and brain teasers
Project Euler/LeetCode Solutions: Notes on and solutions to Project Euler and LeetCode problems

Notes

Notes I: Papers, posts, ideas, information
Notes II: Economics, medicine, (geo)politics, technology, science
Notes III: Books, podcasts
Notes IV: Electronics
Notes V: Miscellaneous
Spaced Repetition: Brief overview, information examples and suggestions, memorization practice
Sleep: Effects and Hygiene: Information on sleep's importance and hygiene
Food: Science and Recipes: Information on the science of food and recipes

Reviews

Book Reviews: List of books I've read
- Human Accomplishment by Charles Murray
Film Reviews: Reviews of movies and shows
Restaurant Reviews: Mostly around the Dallas area

Productivity

Productivity: Technology and Practices: Personal systems and practices for improving productivity
Year/Quarter/Week/Day Review: Reviewing my year, quarter, week, and day
Productivity System Testing: Testing and selectively implementing productivity systems
Eliminating Phone Addiction: Using settings, practices, and principles

Training

Personal

Dallas Training Partner Ad: If you're serious about training and in or stopping by the Dallas area
Training Guide (Outdated): Principles I train by
Training Links: Media related to training
Training Journal (Outdated): Current status of and events that happen in my training
Training Notes: Notes on training topics
Race Reports: List of race reports
Everesting I: Base Camp: Climbing 15,000 ft in a single ride on a single hill
Everesting II: Defeat by Darkness: Hubris and underestimation get the best of me
Everesting III: Success by Support: 29,000 ft and 21 hours of riding, resting, and whining

Information

Sleep Deprivation Training for Endurance Athletes: Literature, experiments, solutions
Weight Loss in Just a Few Hard Steps: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels"
Cutting Sugar: Psychology and elimination of sugar, lessons learned, recommendations
Misconceptions: Common exercise misconceptions explained and debunked
Home Gym: Advantages, equipment, purchasing suggestions, setup
Apnea (Breath Holding): History, science, training, personal experiments
Core Training: Myths, programming, thoughts
Supplementary Exercises: Exercises that can be trained alongside compound strength movements

Philosophy

Alone vs. Team: Benefits and detriments of solitary and team-based training
Stop Rewarding Beginner Success: Coaches are mistakenly rewarded for easy achievements
(Un)known Finishes: Training with an unknown, but definite, finish
Mind-Numbing Training: Benefits and detriments of training until the mind is numb
Gear: Why gear usage should be as barebones as possible
Patience: Take it slow, enjoy the process, and reap the benefits when they finally arrive
Keep It Up: Programming for the long haul

Tutorials

Manna: Progressions, techniques, training plan
Wrist and Ankle Strength: For handbalancing, trail running/walking, and tricking
Front Split: Supplemental stretches, oversplits, progressions
One-Arm Elbow Lever: Technique, progressions, combinations, training plan

Experiences

2024

Fredericksburg: Embracing my German heritage through copious amounts of wine and beer

2023

Tulum: Eating, tanning, and swimming in the ancient Mayan city
Riding with Death at 50 mph: His whispers sound like gale force winds
Germany: A whole lotta walkin' and a whole lotta talkin' in Deutschland
New York City II: (Dis)connecting with others in the City That Never Sleeps
Europe: Embracing and disguising my Americanism in four countries
Salt Lake City: Climbing Utah's highest peak with an old friend
Vancouver-Seattle: Mountain biking, hiking, and friending in the Pacific Northwest
Mexico City: Food and history in an arborist's and artist's dream city
New York City I: Four late nights fueled by pizza and alcohol

2022

Chicago: Weekend trip to the Windy City
Bucharest: Exploring and eating like a king in the Paris of the East
Rationality Meetup Organizers Retreat: Cult congregation in California
St. Thomas: Beach chillin', water explorin', and drink drinkin' in the USVI
Santa Fe: Shredding the slopes of the historic city

2021

Floating in Nothing: Experience in a sensory deprivation tank
Mount Shasta: Attempting to climb the Cascades' second highest peak
Philadelphia: Exploring the City of Brotherly Love, cheesesteaks, and early American history
Mount Hood: Attempting to climb Oregon's highest peak

2019

Colorado: A Brothers' Trip: Five-day trip to the Breckenridge area

2018

A Long Drag: Running, walking, and finally crawling the 2018 Bataan Memorial Death March

About

About: Contact info, personal info, website
Now: What I'm currently doing and interested in
Changelog: Changes to this site and my life