The Blog of Mo Zhu
Programming, Football Analytics, and Living the Examined Life
Discipline is it’s own joy
I would say that I live a pretty disciplined life. I don’t drink or smoke. I rarely eat poorly. I generally cook my own food. Every morning…I get up at 6 and write in my journal, exercise, meditate, and eat. I’m never awake past ten. I prefer reading to watching TV (made convenient by the fact that I live near the Boston Public Library). ¶ Why do I do this? Friends, family, and colleagues have made fun of me variously for this way of life. I’m no fun. What’s the point of living if you’re going to enjoy it? ¶ To this, I usually reply that discipline is joyful in and of itself.
Mo ZhuFeb 12
Popular Physicists
Consider Donald Trump. His reputation as a tough businessman with a taste for opulence is reinforced by many years of his long-running show…being beamed into the living rooms of Americans. ¶ Yet, we frequently doubt this reputation because of his constant presence on the TV. How, we ask, could he possibly have the time to negotiate complex real estate transactions and manage billion-dollar projects while running a TV show, a beauty pageant, and generally promoting himself? ¶ So if that’s the case with Donald Trump, what about Neil deGrasse Tyson?Mo ZhuDec 22, 2015
How would you make a trillion dollars?
Frequently, I engage myself in thought experiments. My favorite one to ponder for the last few years has been this one:How would you make a trillion dollars? ¶ This is an interesting question because this is about one order of magnitude larger than what anyone human has managed to do. Bill Gates has about $80 billion dollars. ¶ In order for you to answer this question, you would need to make or do something of value that is 10 times greater than what Bill Gates did. ¶ Furthermore, you can’t do this in any conventional already-existing way.Mo ZhuDec 19, 2015
The Dictionary of the Modern World
Vol. I ¶ College. The process by which many American youths are subject to binge drinking, bad food, social isolation, tyrannical…Vol. I ¶ College. The process by which many American youths are subject to binge drinking, bad food, social isolation, tyrannical overlords, groupthink, and crushing debt so as to prepare them for the real world. ¶ Partisanship. When your favored policies fail to pass. ¶ President. A job which begins with a night of mind-blowing sex followed by four years of disappointing everyone. It’s kinda worth it though.Mo ZhuDec 19, 2015
