foursquare & other fixes

Have been holding off on getting on foursquare for a long time, but was lured in by the ‘up in the air’ badge in the end *tsk tsk*. And guess what, I have been having thumb urges to checkin everywhere I go ever since.

People like rewards, no matter how small or insignificant or virtual they are. That’s what shiny stickers from grade school are for. That’s what ‘leveling up’ tunes in Mario are for. That’s what the badges and points are for. More the better if you have what others can’t get easily — like the ‘up in the air’ badge. 😛

Checking in is like a caffeine fix for me now, have to go to places to get fixed. I think I need to have a mini-reward system setup, where I “check-in” with my personal goals everyday. Start with simple things: getting up early, going to bed on time, exercise, drink 8 glasses of water, make little efforts that are beneficial to getting a job. Get into a groove, a schedule, a habit of sitting down doing work instead of wandering around. Small but lasting changes. Get one cog moving at a time.

Today, Joseph (my boss) said he hopes Chelsea will grow up and be strong one day. I’m just like Chelsea on so many levels, I wish to grow up and be strong too. I think I have so much potential, but just can’t get over procrastination to make things happen.

人生的那些囚徒困境

在飞机上看The Selfish Gene,这个章节很过瘾,憋着回来记笔记,结果还花了半小时破解家里的路由器,终于连上了。贪得无厌的中国电信。

言归正传。

囚徒困境里面,要指望两个囚犯自发合作是不可能的,毕竟这是一锤子买卖,要是对方的觉悟太低,那一辈子就搭进去了。在自然界其实天天上演着囚徒困境,而且是连续发生的,那就有意思得多。

假设在循环的囚徒困境中有这么三种不同策略。一种是老好人,无论如何都选择合作。第二种是聪明的好人,首先选择的是合作,但是如果对方​没有投桃报李,那接下来也转为对抗策略。第三种是一路对抗的野蛮人,永远选择对抗。

最终可能达到稳定状态的是2和3。很显然,因为1是很脆弱的,只要有一个3出现,就会把它蚕食干净。如果它跟一群2在一起,二者也就没有区别。那么,也就剩下2和3的对决。

如果是在一大堆2中出现一小撮3,这一小撮3能在最初获得一些利益,但是很快就会被2记仇并围攻。3的内部是互相争斗的,2之间却是彼此合作的。由于囚徒困境不是一个零和游戏,也就是说,2之间的合作能够从外界带给他们共同收益(双方都减刑,共同获益),而3之间的争斗导致他们共同受到损失,所以这一小撮3会很快灭绝。

如果是在一大堆3中出现一小撮2,情况就相反了,因为这一小撮3之间互相合作,让他们在生存竞争中共同成长(当然,3和2的数量不能太悬殊,否则这样的合作收益就太小了),逐渐取代3而成为主流。

所以,好人其实是会获胜的。

把以上两种情况放到自然界当中会比较tricky,因为如果在一堆自私鬼当中​出现了少数好人,而这一小撮好人非常分散,那么他们之间就无法形成合作。幸运的是,具有相同基因的个体通常是会聚居在一起的(通过遗传),例如一个族群,这样他们​就能够实现有效的合作,从而生存下来,将互利的基因散播开来。

回到囚徒困境。双方出现合作的前提是他们都认为这个囚徒困境是不断重复上演的。因为如果有任何迹象表明将会有尽头,那么:

  • 如果一方知道这个尽头什么时候会出现,理性的说,它一定会在最后一轮选择对抗来赚一笔;
  • 如果一方不知道具体结束的时间,它也会担心对方已经知道,因为那意味着对方会在某个时候开始对抗;
  • 如果在第n轮有一方开始对抗,那么在第n-1轮也没有合作的必要了,以此类推,只要任何一方察觉即将有尽头,那么合作也就结束了。
写完鸟。

 

General Assembly

So much energy. So much vibe.
Just sitting here, I feel like I’m in the middle of the next big thing.

This is New York, the Big Apple.
This is the innovation hub.
This is where we should be.

The centre of it all.

— 1:40pm, @GA / 902 Broadway, NYC