PKafka.com

I’m going to forget philosophy for a bit and post this video of my frickin cute dog: 

 -pk 

I have had this blog for about a year now and have written a little bit about a lot. I recently looked over all of my posts and decided that my blog was not accomplishing its primary objective.

When I initially started my blog, the purpose was to better expose myself to the world; to introduce and communicate my interests and discoveries to my readers. However after diving deeper into studies of myself, I have started to realize that the purpose of anything I do is to assist in maximizing my potential as a person.

With that in mind, I not only asked myself whether my blog, itself, has developed; but also tried to figure out whether it has helped me, as a person, develop.

After about a year of operation, I can honestly say that this blog might contain a good amount of posts but it hardly portrays an accurate picture about how I think and who I actually am. This blog has been a wash, it has neither assisted others, nor myself, in figuring out who I am and how I think.

With this blog I have talked about two components of my life that don’t really distinguish me from any other person - the places i’ve been and the things i’ve seen.  Although covering those topics might assist my readers in finding a good restaurant or discovering a new artist - sharing those superficial experiences haven’t helped me, or my blog for that matter, at all.

I’ve started reading a lot more blogs, a lot of them very popular, and the trend I tend to notice is that a good blog introduces things most everyone knows or notices but doesn’t care to write about - ie, trends and such - a great blog shares a unique analysis of those things.

I think that with my past few posts I have started to move in the direction that I want to predominately write in; I want to share my ideas, not just my experiences. Numerous people have had the same experiences as me - but I’m sure that only a few, if even any, have had my exact reaction to those experiences.

So, in an effort to make my product stand out in a market that is overcrowded with mediocre bloggers I am going to start giving you, my random readers, what no other blog can give you - my take on things.

My blog might still contain a post about a place or thing, but be sure that those posts will also contain my ideas on them as well.

From here on out out, I am no longer simply trying to develop a blog, but am also trying to develop my ideas as well.

-pk

I recently got back into the idea of investing in stocks. I initially developed this interest last summer and after about a year of having a portfolio, I, like most people, can say I made some good decisions and some bad ones.

However,  regardless of my genuine interest in the market, my true nature as a philosophy major, not economics, has taken over and pushed me to think think about why I really invest and what the best investment really is.

The obvious reason people invest is to make money, and in all honesty, my objective is no different. However, I have some problems with simply investing to invest; in using your money just to make money.

Some say google or apple are good stocks; honestly I think the most valuable investment is an investment in yourself.  People should stop trying to raise the stock of companies and try harder to raise their own stock.

Through investing, I am not only trying to grow my small amount of savings, but am also trying to grow as a person. The purpose of my meager investments are not to simply earn dividends or make the annual 7% return, the purpose of my activity in the market is so that I can grow my own stock. It is so that I can know more about more things.

Through investing I am learning a lot about how the financial aspects of the world work. I am learning about companies, industries and even human psychology. They say that greed and fear drive the stock market - after investing just a small amount, I can see why. I constantly find myself eager to buy into a seemingly great opportunity to make some quick money but then hold back because of fear.

All in all, I am learning not only about the market, but also about myself. I think investing in the stock market is a great thing. So far it has been fun and educational (have not lost much money either) but I don’t think it should be the last place a person’s money goes.

As I said above, I think it is important for people to invest in themselves. Instead of putting all their savings in the market, people should spend some of it on travel and other forms of self improvement. I honestly think that investing in oneself, will in the end, pay the highest dividends. Whether it is buying books, joining a gym, traveling, etc. , the investments that develop self and not just wealth are the most meaningful.

 -pk

Architecture is constantly experienced but rarely considered. People are often exposed to live, work and other spaces but rarely think about why a space was designed the way it stands. As such, architects face a dilemma – they must create buildings that are recognized but, that at the same time, allow people to either live or work without ever actually thinking about the space. Architects need to create places that work well in a mindless but memorable way.

-pk

I love life and always have, however it was not til the other day, as I enjoyed an amazing meal and conversation with my good friend Dickie Lee, that I realized exactly what I love about it.

Our lives are subject to the constraints of time, as such, people can live an entire life without actually doing anything; time runs even when people don’t. In western culture, it seems that people try to make their passage through time more interesting by adding material objects into the mix. They seem to think that things will maximize their experience in life and through time. I can see the appeal of this belief, but am inclined to disagree.

As I sat with Dickie on a temperate night eating great food I realized that experiences, not things, are what make life lovable. Doing things, not having them, is what really matters.

At that moment, Dickie and I defined what an experience actually is: An experience often contains three components - people, atmosphere and activity. We agreed that the perfect experience is one where the people you are surrounded by, the atmosphere you are in and the activity you are partaking in are mixed in the perfect proportions. We also decided that the company is the most important of the three but that it takes at least a heavy positive dose of two of those things to make for a memorable experience.

However after thinking about that last statement, I am beginning to disagree with myself. It is impossible to quantify aspects of an experience. For example, an awesome experience could be hiking by yourself. Although potentially great, that experience did not include anyone but yourself - it was simply heavy doses of atmosphere and activity . At the same time, being stuck in an elevator with the right person or people can be conducive to a memorable experience as well.

So what makes something worthwhile? The way I see it is that there is a 0-100 scale, 100 being the best possible experience and 0 being the worst. Atmosphere , activity and company all have a maximum number of points that they can contribute to the scale. As of now I don’t know which component can contribute the most, they might be equal. But I do know that at every point in time I am going to try and either maximize my company, surroundings and activities or all of them.

I am  currently sitting alone in my room. However writing this post has been a nice experience because first, the ambiance of my room is great, so my atmosphere has high points and second I am thinking, writing and listening to music, so my activity points are high as well. What I am lacking in company I am making up for in surroundings and actions.

The point of this post is to let people know that from now on I will be maximizing as many of those three components as possible. To my friends - if I invite you over, take it as a compliment - I think that you will help maximize my ‘company’ points. From now on I will no longer be moderate in where I go, what I do and who I spend time with. Moderation is good in some cases, but not those.

Opposing beliefs welcome. bring ‘em on.

-pk

Just checked the stats for my blog - fascinating - I have not written a post for about six months but have had more visitors than ever in the past few weeks; might be an insight into how the Internet actually works. I think impressions can easily increase at an exponential rate, even without new content, if the old stuff is good - guess mine might be at least decent.

Anyway, I have not contributed for a while because I have been busy with school and tennis. When our n is over here at Northwestern (early May) I’ll be back it.

I assume my posts will be nice and fresh, come back then.

-pk

Some of you might have noticed… most of you probably have not, I added a link on my homepage to what I call the_list. At first glance, the compilation of words and names might seem a bit random and quite confusing, but if you take a step back and carefully click on certain places, people or things, you will realize that my_list is actually quite accessible and maybe even a bit helpful.

But that isn’t the point! As much as I like the idea of being a maven that introduces people to new places and things, the_list was created with love, not purpose.

Everyone and thing on that list is something or someone I truly love. Whether it is a person, restaurant, artist or color the only pre-requisite being on the_list presents is that I respect and love the place, person or thing.

All in all, I would say that the list is a compilation of the things I consider to contain character. I like to think that I am maturing and with my maturity comes realizations. I have recently realized that the people, places and things that I truly enjoy exhibit character. As such, every place on the_list will be a perfect example (in my mind) of what it means for a noun (person, place, thing) to contain character.

As of now, most of the links lead to Google searches, however, I will be updating the_list, as needed, and new links to interesting pages will become prevalent as well.

-pk

Nothing gets me fired up like a conversation with a passionate person. And when I find someone who loves good food and unique eating experiences, I am sure to enjoy whatever information they pass my way. Enter ChowHound.

ChowHound.com is an online food forum where you can search an archive of  culinary questions specific to city, flavor, vibe, etc… that have been answered by people who love good food as much as I do.

The website has served as my trusty guide many times and I’m sure that as cultured readers of PKafka.com, the immense collection of restaurants and the ability to tell a group of passionate foodies where you are and what you want and to get a lot of comprehensive answers makes ChowHound a great resource for anyone looking to expand their culinary horizons.

Happy Hunting.

-pk

(Above - Supernova 1997ff’s Cosmic Neighborhood, taken from hubblesite.org)

Every human, at some point, wonders “does intelligent life, besides us, exist?” Even though the actual concept of foreign life forms existing is, in and of itself, fascinating, I have found myself thinking about a philosophical problem that relates to the topic.

As a philosophy major, when I consider whether intelligent life forms, besides us, exist, I often find myself considering the philosophical implications of a discovery (or lack of) of this sort. Through some recent thought, here is one of my newest theories, it relates to other intelligent life forms and the question of whether “freewill exists”:

The way I look at it, if we are the only earth and the only intelligent beings in the entire universe then freewill does exist - whatever caused us (humans) to exist was not part of long chain of causes and effects, which would make our creation a random occurrence. Therefore, since the first step in making life on Earth occurred randomly and therefore freely, everything that followed also occurs randomly, and with rationality in a random world, humans can have some sort of freewill.

To discuss the other side of this argument I must address this - as far as we know, there are only two things that are infinite - space and time; we also know that anything that exists within the scope of those things is finite. So, if Earth is not a random occurance, it has the potential of being replicated an infinite number of times. For example, if any finite object in an infinite scope is ever reproduced, that entity will be reproduced an infinite number of times.

On the other hand, if we were to discover life like us, freewill would not exist. The discovery of other intelligent life forms would show that Earth, and the life on it, is not a random occurrence. If the chemical reactions that caused earth did not happen randomly then they were simply part of a large chain of chemical causes and effects. So if the first step in creating Earth was part of this long cause/effect chain, then the life on Earth is also subject to the causes that the universe subjects upon us and therefore has no control of the effects. Making each of our actions simply a reaction, which would make the world deterministic and freewill nothing more than a pondered concept.

Sorry if this is not totally clear, it is a complex thought that I am having trouble explaining. I know I have, on average, twenty readers a day - comment and let me know what you think.

Whenever I am in NYC, it seems the city is either plagued (or blessed) with construction. Although the end result often adds aesthetic appeal, the work in progress is quite an eyesore.

Carolina Cisneros, Carlos Gomez de Llarena and Mateo Pinto, three Venzualen designers have devised a solution to the visual pollution that the constant development of NYC currently causes - The Fulton Fence. It is located at Fulton Street and Broadway; and will be on display until the construction down there clears up (spring of 2008).

My guess is that if you miss this initial “exibit” there will be many more to see. I think this trend will saturate New York and eventually spill over into other cities that have a need for it.

-pk