Illustration of a bird flying.

Jose Carlos’ Notes

  • Prioritize Flow

    There are days where going to work feels like a drudgery. I never understood why being physically present is more important than getting things done. The pandemic proved that norm inherited from the Industrial Revolution wrong. I wish, however, that the changes in the norms of work would not limit to space (where you work), but also in time (when you work). Flow does not care about your 9-5 schedule.

    Today is one of those days. I felt drained this morning. I did not want to go to work. Part of it is, I think, to avoid interacting with people that drain energy, which then has an effect on long-term well-being, which then impacts performance and ability to help others. So, I decided to take the morning off. Not to rest or do nothing, but to do house chores instead. I know, it is not a break, but it is something. I know the guilt will make me work over the weekend to catch up. And that should be normalized. What matters more is the value you create, not the hours you are in the office.


    And we haven’t elaborated on the value of doing nothing. Creative ideas emerge from boredom. Sometimes doing nothing is the most productive thing you can do.

  • The brutality of swimming

    Swimming is brutal. Who in their right mind would spend a crisp spring evening in an enclosed pool full of competitive swimmers impatient on your slower pace after a terrible day at work, only to feel the urgency to hit the bed so you can make it it to the 6am morning run?

    No matter how fast you try, the reward is futility. You feel you will never catch with your teammates. The shame of being moved to a slower lane looms over your head. You struggle to breathe. Your muscles get flooded with lactic acid. All you want is three seconds of rest between sets.

    There is no “bright side”. Competitive swimming is rough, as with any other sport. The circumstances never improve. If anything, you learn to sit with the pain. You embrace the humility that comes with hanging around people faster than you.

    A lot of it is strategy: you learn to save energy to achieve a constant pace. A lot of it is technique: the rotation of your palms entering the water changes as you switch from a moderate pace to a sprint. A lot of it is wisdom: the less effort you put in your kick, the faster you will go.

    Most importantly, swimming builds resilience. You break yourself down again and again so you can improve. Perhaps this is among the kindest things you can do to yourself: to believe you can improve through a disciplined and rigorous training that leads to a better life. Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.

  • The pleasure of throwing rocks

    Benjamin Franklin once noted not to “throw stones at your neighbors, if your own windows are glass.”

    The impulse to point out other’s mistakes is not a hallmark of the pre-frontal cortex. It assumes one is resting on a pedestal. It provides temporary comfort to the insecure spirit. Finding flaws in others tastes similar to seeking revenge. It is human nature. But it is not honorable.

    Even in highly evolved societies humans constantly throw rocks at each other, if only more subtle and concealed. I see it in my field (architectural conservation and history): the restoration treatment I do is “better” than the work of previous conservators. Historians are not exempt: revisionist history proving previous minds wrong fuels much of new research. For that matter, this impulse moves the gears of peer-review.

    While not honorable, we humans figured out how to harness these impulses for the betterment of society. The system of checks and balances in any institution is rests on the primal, individual motivation to keep others in check. Competing individuals trying to prove each other wrong. An impulse that oils the engine of progress. And so the net effect is honorable.

  • The Russification of discourse

    Yesterday I had a long conversation with a close relative. Among many things came up my recommendation of 60 Minutes, the American CBS news show. The mistrust expressed towards my vouching of the show’s neutrality and journalistic integrity put me off. Media bias is a real thing, but to treat all outlets as equally biased is erroneous.
    I think this is symptomatic of a larger atmosphere of distrust towards institutions and moral principles. Values like journalistic integrity, the pursuit of truth, and the betterment of society are dismissed as naïve –to say the least. We know better. The real game in town is raw power. I’m afraid we now breathe the same air as in Moscow.

  • Winning hearts

    It’s been documented that facts don’t change people’s minds. The mental habit of seeking to pressure-test or challenge one’s own views for the sake of truth-seeking is increasingly scarce. To change positions in the face of new evidence is now indicative of a weak moral backbone.

    I posit the opposite is true. John Maynard Keynes said it best: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

    It appears to me that the Socratic dialogue is also broken. One-on-one conversations about politics rarely persuade —especially today when the internet can feed you with evidence that supports any position you want. I think the best one can aim is to:

    1. Let the other person see that you are a human being with human concerns
    2. Not hope for much and move on

    Regardless of our own convictions and principles, intellectual humility and curiosity are principles worth upholding. To be the change you want to see in others.

  • Flash Bob

    Last Saturday I participated in my first Flash Bob in Central Park, a queer spin-off of a more traditional flash mob. We practiced under the Naumburg Bandshell, a 1920s neoclassical coffered half dome that serves as an amphitheater. We spent the first few hours of practice dissolving the shame and self-consciousness that gets in the way of believing in your own delusion —necessary for formulating immaculate vibes. Confidence and joy behind the eyes enlivens the dancer from robotic choreography. It is what makes a flash bob infectious. And we all need a bit of that contagious energy these days.

  • The courage to be disliked

    I often wonder where would I be had I leaned more on the confidence that comes with less introspection. Too much therapy has the risk of undermining the belief in oneself and make questioning of oneself a habit of the mind. The habit of interrogating one’s own motives all the time then brings about timidness, insecurity and ultimate paralysis. To be bold, to exude confidence, to have a dose of bravado, requires to be a bit delusional about oneself.

    It is a lesson to learn and relearn to have the courage to care less about others. To take action. To build. To create. To experiment. To fail. To try again. To fail again. To try again. To overcome.

  • La Cuarta Década

    Hoy comienza la cuarta década. Tengo unas ganas enormes de hacer cambios en la trayectoria en la que me encuentro. Veo mi futuro por el cañón de una escopeta. Bendito el retorno de Saturno. Es tiempo de escuchar mi voz interior, de no desperdiciar esa tolerancia al riesgo que trae la juventud. Es tiempo de pausar y reflexionar. Quizâs viajar por un rato, o cambiar de carrera, moverme a otro continente, iniciar nuevos proyectos, aprender una nueva lengua, hacer nuevos amigos, o descubrir nuevas pasiones. El reloj se acelera y me reuso vivir una vida de potencial desperdiciado. Le temo a la mediocridad. Le temo a la complacencia aprendida. Le temo a la blandeza de la aceptación. Me reuso a la conformidad que trae la paz interna y equanimidad.

    Si el objetivo de esta existencia es de encontrar paz rumbo a la santidad y liberación del mundo terrenal —qué aburrido. La iluminación espiritual apaga la flama de la pasión. Hay mucha riqueza en la realidad por descubrir y compartir.

    Cualquier novela o historia requiere de personajes imperfectos con personalidades defectuosas para hacerla interesante.

    Una vida sin (drama) no vale la pena vivirla. Por alguna razón Sócrates, el sabio de los sabios, eligió ser el tabano social de Atenas.

    Bienvenido sea la abundancia, drama, e intriga.

  • Alexis de Tocqueville

    The French essayist Alexis de Tocqueville titled his 1835 book “Democracy in America”, not “American Democracy.” I think he was doing something interesting here. As if he knew that democracy is rare and precious, not exceptional or inevitable, much less inherent to a nation or city-state. Boy he has been proven right.

  • Absorption spectrums

    Wouldn’t it be nice to have an interactive tool that allows you to play with visible absorption spectrum curves and see how the geometry and distribution of single or multiple curves affect the resulting color? Can the same color be produced from different combinations of curves?

    Something similar should be applied for particle size distribution curves, where you see the effect on the distribution of particles in a virtual two-dimensional cross section.

    Someone needs to code and implement this. It would help enliven the inanimate textbook graphs .