> There are startups that deliver food to other startups, printing revenue numbers using the same VC’s entire portfolio of companies, therefore sloshing around the exact same dollars in order to get an attractive revenue multiple and exit.
Wow, I hadn't realized that. I looked up the catering company one of my previous employers used and perhaps unsurprisingly they share investors.
A lot of people look at having venture capital as validation, when it is really about how convenient the shares are in a private equity portfolio at that point in time. Some people understand that and are selling placement in a portfolio instead of selling an idea.
Adding to this, there is a specific kind of meditation you could try called metta (aka loving-kindness) where you focus on cultivating benevolence towards yourself and all things. During a session you follow a similar sequence: first focus on cultivating loving-kindness towards yourself (since this is the base from where empathy grows) then you gradually extend it to people you love out to people who you have difficulty with. If mindfulness is an exercise to train your mind to observe itself, metta trains your mind to observe other minds.
Also second Rosenberg's book. It can come across as condescending if applied too heavily but it's a great analysis on language during conflict.
I would add that this can be extremely challenging (and possibly triggering) for people who had traumatic childhoods. In those cases it is best to start with loving compassion towards a beloved pet, for example — something simpler, that is not so emotionally charged.
Either way the metta instruction I’ve encountered has often failed because it failed to emphasize the sensation of emotion. It’s not lying there thinking about how much you love something. It’s thinking of the thing or person you love and trying to locate the specific sensation in your body, and then grow it.
Many people mistake ritual dissociation for meditation, which can be really really harmful.
Repeated tragedies, pain and abuse can make you lose most or even all empathy. Even as an adult.
I have some back now, but nothing like I used to be.
Someone at work was very sad the other day, and I actually felt a little bad for them. First time in several years I felt anything at all. Hopefully get more back.
I bet you will. Try to be kind to yourself as it happens. My experience is that it can be very painful — like when your leg falls asleep and then you suddenly get circulation back, but for emotions — but worth it.
What about the processing in the veggie salami/bologna turns you off? Their meat counterparts are also heavily processed and are known to be carcinogenic.
You answered this question yourself. I am not sure how unhealthy the processig is so I prefer to stick with less processed veggies, I eat fresh as much as I possibly can
Are these conflicting interests? Better bike infrastructure would mean that those who can bike would be off the road, which would mean less congested streets and highways for those who need to drive.
Commuting is also only one occasion you need transportation for. Many local errands (like grocery shopping) could be done on bike and would be cheaper than using your vehicle.
The troubling aspect of it aside, a policy like that would result in a net negative for everyone else. Global industries rely on poverty to guarantee an abundance of low-paid (or not paid at all) workers. In their absence, they'd either need to be replaced by bringing wealthy people into poverty, or we'd have to brace for an economic upheaval as traditional industries are disrupted (which would likely also create poverty).
Does the hardware do anything interesting, or does it only process midi input and provide an interface to mix between generated sounds? From their instructions on creating new sounds, it looks like they're pre-computing the generated sounds: https://github.com/googlecreativelab/open-nsynth-super/tree/...
