ChambersFam

The Ocean is wired to be addictive. Variable schedule rewards , first studied by B.F. Skinner in the 1950s, are a well documented phenomena that triggers strong compulsive behavior. This topic has grown in popularity with the growth of addictive mobile games and social networks. You keep checking your instagram post to see if it's gotten another like, because it's a "variable schedule reward". For surfers or other ocean sports enthusiasts, the ocean exhibits the same reward system at both a macro and micro level. On the macro-scale, changing weather, random swells, and wind conditions, all contribute to the variability of ocean conditions. Each day, your brain begs you to "just check the forecast" or "drive past that surf spot" just to check if the conditions are right. On the micro-scale, once you're in the water, with every wave that rolls in there's anticipation that the next one will be the big one. The variability of the waves keeps yo...

I recently read a blog post by someone whose opinion I generally value. It's ironic then, that my first official blog post is a rebuttal of theirs . The niche advice I've heard in the past is "Anything between you and the ground is worth investing in". This applies to shoes, office chairs, a mattress and pillow, even tires for your car. The idea is that this will improve your quality of life, since gravity impacts us constantly. In Luke's blog, he takes it a step further. Don't just invest in gravity abatement, invest in interfaces. His final argument is this: we spend large portions of our lives interacting with interfaces. Some of the easiest, most cost-effective quality-of-life wins might come from just reflecting on the interfaces you are currently using heavily, and asking if they can be improved. Here, I offer an alternative mode of thinking. I propose the idea of divesting in interfaces. I posit that interfaces, if invested in, lead to fragility. Ever s...