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Moral Capital: The Case for Marketplace Virtue
"There is no ethical consumption under capitalism." This quick, cynical soundbite circulates online as a moral shrug. If there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, why should I bother trying to make more ethical choices? Behind the meme lies an anti-capitalist moralism. From this perspective, capitalism loses
Re-Personalization: AI and the Classical Revival of Modern Education
The Big Idea: As AI reshapes the way we learn and work, it also challenges the foundations of modern education. This essay explores how two ancient forms of learning—classical tutoring and apprenticeship—offer promising blueprints for an AI-native world. By analyzing the bifurcation of future jobs into relational generalists
From Metal to Myth: Why Modern Money Is Built on Trust
The ability to think in abstractions is among humanity's most distinctive traits, and there is no abstraction, no collective fiction more universal than money. At the dawn of civilization, a numbered piece of paper had no practical use. You can neither eat it nor plant it, and it
Singaporean Exceptionalism: The Power and Precarity of a Modern City-State
On May 12, 1797, the Doge of Venice, Ludovico Manin, abdicated. The Great Council, the primary legislative body, voted overwhelmingly to dissolve the Most Serene Republic. Two days later, Napoleon marched in with his troops and raised the French tricolor over the Piazza San Marco. After 1,100 years, Venice,
Two and a Half Years Later: A Reflection on My Part-Time Master’s
Why Singapore’s Adult Literacy Is Falling Despite High Global Rankings
Singapore's literacy challenge is often overlooked, being neither a pressing economic concern nor a matter of fundamental rights. Given our national focus on pragmatism, these issues of literacy can seem peripheral. Singapore consistently ranks among the world’s best — with one of the highest GDPs per capita, exceptional
Connecting the Dots: The Various Considerations of Graph Visualization
In information visualization, each visualization technique has a different niche. Line charts show the relationship between two variables, and bar charts provide a way to compare values associated with different categories. However, none of these tools convey the relationship between different entities, and that is where graph visualization comes in.
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea: An Exploration of Purpose and Masculinity
This post contains major spoilers for The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea by Yukio Mishima. That being said, the plot is simple and secondary to the themes and symbols. Continue at your own discretion. What does it mean to strive for glory, for greatness? What passions lie
Some Books I've Read in 2024
The Compromise of the Skeptic: An Analysis of The Black Swan
One of the most mind-bending books I've been reading is The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I had decided to start reading it due to its iconic stature in 21st-century non-fiction; it seems as if every other book references some aspect
Death by Summary
Most people I know had a reading era in their childhood. Borrowing books from the library and engaging in discussions surrounding popular series is a fond memory I have of my childhood. It's hard for me to forget receiving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on release day
Essays
A New Epistemology: Humanity in the Age of AI
I've recently finished reading The Age of AI, by Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, and Daniel Huttenlocker. While it was a mixed bag on the whole, there were some new insights I had gleaned from the book, and I can't help but appreciate a book that at
Essays
Towards a New Techno-Optimism
Civilization is an iconic video game series created by Sid Meier where you take control of one of the great civilizations across history and manage its growth from a Bronze-Age agricultural settlement to a vast nuke-wielding, internet-surfing empire. As can be guessed from the description, a large part of the
Essays
Irreplaceable: Unraveling the Subtleties of AI, Art, and AI Art
I'm wouldn't consider myself an artistic person, and my appreciation for art is differentiated from the common denominator in only my taste of music, which is dominated by Metal and other alternative genres. Regardless, I've been thinking a lot about the arts lately, especially
Essays
The Provisions of Worldview
I first read 12 Rules For Life in 2017, and I've recently finished a re-read of it, in 2024. I re-read it to know whether it holds up to this day, and whether there is anything new I can glean from the long-winded, spiritually charged writing so indicative
Tech
Earliest Eligible Virtual Deadline First: How the Linux Kernel Schedules Jobs
In my graduate class on Operating Systems, we learnt about the ins and outs of the Linux kernel, or at least we did so as much we could over thirteen weeks of lectures. OS isn't really isn't my strong suit, but elegant solutions to complex problems
Life
A Search for Consistent Ratings
As each day brings new experiences, each of them are placed along a personal hierarchy of value through little additional effort of our own. A good book you have read, a bad meal you have eaten, a nice show you have watched, and a completely mediocre carpet you have stepped
Life
A Reflection on 2023 (and some book recommendations)
It's always amusing to me how the boundary as to when a year starts and ends is so arbitrary, and merely serves as a socially agreed upon time to mark a revolution around the sun, or alternatively (and equivalently), a full cycle of seasons. The blurring of boundaries
Life
Becoming a Consumer Again: My Data Privacy Journey
My previous post is about the importance of privacy, and especially digital privacy, and why everyone should care about it, regardless of what they do online. This post is a continuation of the previous one, and I'll be focusing on practical considerations and other nuances surrounding digital privacy.
Essays
Becoming a Consumer Again: Why Should You Care About Data Privacy?
In my previous post on the ethical concerns surrounding AI, I referenced the fact that the rise of social media has caused us to lose ownership of our data. As the wisdom goes, if the product is free, then you're the real product. Companies such as Meta and
Essays
Why Artificial Intelligence Keeps Me Up at Night
Back when I started my programming journey, AI was what I had the most superficial interest in just because it seemed cool and primed for innovation. Over time, as I became more and more exposed to different facets of computer science and engineering, I realized that AI was indeed very
Life
How to Study Well: An Introspective Look
Several of my friends have asked me this simple question: "How do you study?" It's an incredibly difficult question to answer, and my fallback is to proffer some generic advice such as "find out what works for you and just keep doing it". This
Tech
Provably Fair: Splitting Taxi Fares
Consider this. The night's getting late and the metro lines are quiet. Everyone's still having a good time, but you live far away and you need to get back as soon as you can. You glance at your friend, who you know is in the same