Author: Mark

Posted on

First Anniversary

One year of marriage has sped by. We unintentionally packed it full of travel, hosting visitors, and yet another road trip back to Minnesota. We spent time with friends, watched plenty of movies, found good restaurants, and made excellent meals. Throughout it all was a comfort, security, and joint responsibility of finally being married and working through what that means to us.

Continue reading “First Anniversary”
Posted on

Exploring Effective Altruism

I recently came across William MacAskill and his books Doing Good Better and What We Owe the Future.1I actually came across Future first and had it on my reading list, then came across Doing once I was ready for a new book. The former details a template for a model of approaching the world called effective altruism, while the other looks at an adjacent set of ideas called longtermism. While I’m still working through the second book, I’ve become quite interested in the concepts laid out in each and thought it was worth sharing.

In short, the idea behind effective altruism is that if we want to do good things for the world in which we live, it’s best if we focus our efforts on making the largest possible impact. MacAskill argues that this requires a tough look at the relative improvement one can make in the lives of others. Five dollars has a much higher impact on a farmer in rural Africa than it does on people poorly off in the United States.

From this basic tenet, MacAskill addresses just about every question and caveat that popped into my head2 Some highlights include determining whether it’s best to spend your career earning as much money as possible so you can give away as much as possible, or finding a career that is directly impactful on society. while reading Doing Good Better. It’s a difficult idea to take to its final conclusion, yet the depth of thought that goes into the provided framework is clear and insightful. There are value judgements galore, and socioeconomic estimates that, to a certain extent, you simply must accept if you’re going to get anywhere. But they are all explained, and the focus on transparency and a scientific approach to altruism was extremely innovative and inspiring.

I don’t think it’s necessary to commit to the book. Just check out https://www.effectivealtruism.org to get the basics; if it appeals to you there might still not be a need for the book. But I do recommending taking a few minutes to read through what they present and let the ideas simmer. There’s something refreshing about this practical approach to making the world a better place.

  • 1
    I actually came across Future first and had it on my reading list, then came across Doing once I was ready for a new book.
  • 2
    Some highlights include determining whether it’s best to spend your career earning as much money as possible so you can give away as much as possible, or finding a career that is directly impactful on society.
Posted on

Donnie Barrels

I fulfilled an adult dream of getting season tickets to the San Francisco Giants in 2021. I became familiar with this new team and their players, and something about Donovan Solano—Donnie Barrels to his friends—rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t know if it was how he carried himself at second base, or his inconsistent hitting on a team that won 107 games, but I was pretty down on him all year.

After spending 2022 with the Cincinnati Reds, he signed with the Twins in February this year. I wasn’t bullish on this acquisition, but with the season nearing its end I’m all in on Donnie. He’s playing a good-enough first base and seems like he’s always the one with clutch hits. However, I didn’t want to rely on the eye test. I have the tools to determine whether my baseball opinions are correct.

Continue reading “Donnie Barrels”
Posted on

Playdate by Panic

Sixteen months after placing my order, I was delighted to see my Playdate arrive this past week. While I haven’t spent much time with it, everyone I’ve shown it to has been absolutely charmed by it’s fun design. Who doesn’t like spinning a crank as part of a game?

It’s a novelty that likely won’t see be used as often as I wish I had the time for, but I am happy to have a small diversion available with a growing set of games. The design is fun and fresh, with a whimsy that perfectly fits my aesthetic. It makes you smile when you see it, and I can see having fun with it on trips when I want to do something other than read. It’s not for everyone—it’s expensive for what it is on paper—but I recommend checking it out if you have the means.

Posted on

Spreadsheets and Queries

When I first learned about the QUERY function in Google Sheets, I was brought back to the surprisingly large amount of discourse I’ve read regarding spreadsheets and databases, the best of which is contained in Matt Parker’s book Humble Pi. In short, the backbone of spreadsheet software is not designed to let it perform like a database. But because spreadsheets are more explicable, visual, and interactive, businesses and researchers and all other sorts of folk force them into that bucket.

Meta-research has since come out that shows the profound number of accounting and data-reporting errors that proliferate due to the use of spreadsheets as databases. Some of this comes from data type interpretation—what if your gene name is interpreted as a date or currency?—and others come from inherent limitations to how data can be stored and related to each other.

All this well-meaning discussion has tried to guide certain disciplines to take greater care in how they process, store, and access their data. It’s a noble cause, but the humble QUERY function even gets me—someone who perhaps knows better—to forego robust solutions in favor of convenience. So it goes with technology.