After all of it — the thinking, the building, the arguing with machines and humans alike — I keep returning to one question. I've debated myself and turned myself inside out over it. Yes, I want a comfortable home, a decent car to get around, good food to fuel my body, exercise that feels like play, a body that ages slowly if at all, and not least a healthy social life. All those things are selfish to a degree but necessary to sustain me at my best.
Billy Joel told us once that "we didn't start the fire," so we have to stop acting as if we ignited it. It's easy to be furious. We might live through challenging times and peace seems far from reach. Some people have never known peace. I have lived close enough to feel it — and what it does to your understanding of the world is irreversible.
I refuse to feel hopeless. I refuse to succumb to the idea that politics can steer our lives into the abyss. Everyone has the right to exist within the bounds of their own freedom. You ought to think and live freely without infringing on other people's right to do the same. This is difficult, and I'm not naive to that degree that I ignore challenges. What I refuse, is to believe that I can do nothing. I might not have a voice, it might not matter today, and I might be another fella in a room writing this alone; nonetheless, my optimism will not die.
There is a better way to right the world. I'm myself not a saint or absent of flaws, yet I know that being a little bit better than I was surely benefits humanity as a whole. My desire to build systems has never faded and has instead allowed me to create a mental model of the world that, while flawed, allowed me to be open and free to debate, accept, and reject ideas from far outside my bubble.
As an avid information spunge who remembers core lessons from books I read, podcasts I listened to, and debates I have had, my conclusion has finally settled. I've researched, debated, and compiled documents I believe will benefit us in a new age post our current high-tempered, low-optimism society. Good times always follow bad ones. I intend to be ready when they do. All I simply hope is that you find my effort useful, and if you don't, I welcome your debate and am ready to lose arguments.
— Daniel