Posts tagged "culture":

Email as social media

It is apparent to everyone that social media is distinctly a different experience today from how it initially developed. It has become a form of mindless consumption instead of a social space where one interacts with other genuine individuals. The concept of content, once merely used on Madison avenue, has become so ingrained in the social media environment that those who would otherwise call themselves entertainers, artists, or journalists have now come to regard their field as mere content creation, as producing things merely meant to get you hooked so that you will look at more advertisements. This has been accelerated due to LLM’s ability to quickly create things that are “good enough” to look at, read, or otherwise consume. Consumption has become the only reason to interact with social media. But alternatives are not only necessary, they are already here.

学中文

This is part of a series of posts written during or shortly after my visits to the mainland of the People’s Republic of China in the summer of 2025.

A Phenomenology of the PRC

This is part of a series of posts written during or shortly after my visits to the mainland of the People’s Republic of China in the summer of 2025.

Divided Empire

The video game Victoria 3 is a historical, and often times ahistorial, 4X grand strategy video game by Swedish developer Paradox Interactive. It is meant to depict the period of world history from 1836 to 1936, including events such as the middle and late industrial revolution, American civil war, the scramble for Africa, the first world war, among numerous others. Emerging from the Napoleonic wars as one of the great European powers of the age was the Austrian empire. In reality, the history of the Habsburg monarchy was very tumultuous during the period portrayed. In Victoria 3 however, the Austrian monarchy often remains stable and even when it undergoes significant economic and social reforms when controlled by the player, the empire often exits the fires of nationalism comparatively unscathed. This essay intends to describe the limitations of the model in Victoria 3, as well to recommend changes that might better represent the unique history of the dual monarchy.