Top Universities Suck

Most people blindly only consider top universities for education. However, top universities does not mean a top education. One has to wonder the premium of prestige is it really worth it? The economic utility of a top university tends to be a lot lower compared to the overarching aspects of work experience. 

• Top universities come at a higher cost with huge student debt.
• There is significant intensity for competition. Usually this competition is from students with traditional backgrounds that are unwilling to challenge the status quo. It can lead to stress and burnout.
• Too much focus on prestige means the quality of education and individual student needs suffers significantly. 
• Limited personal attention makes it difficult to cater to the potentials of students.
• They may not be the best for everyone especially with the style of learning, interests, and career goals.
• There tends to be more focus on theory rather than practice. Grades become the emphasis of a narrowmind with limited opportunity for creativity and independent thinking.
• They may lead to a clique environment on university campus and false sense of self-worth, likely an increase in bullying culture.
• Top universities statistically also have higher incidents of rape, abuse, discrimination, and prejudices.
• The ROI from attending a top university may never materialize for you in the real-world especially if you take on a course that has limited opportunities.
• By focusing on academic performance one loses the entrepreneurial mindset.
• The university may also not be the best in teaching and research for your chosen course.
• Limited opportunities for apprenticeships and work experience.
• Law of diminishing returns: after a point, the additional benefits of attending a top university may not justify the additional cost.
• Prestige premium: going to a top university initially offers a slight advantage, but this diminishes over time.
• Overtime, it matters most what you do with the degree, what you learned from the course, not where you got it from.

Outsourcing is Expensive

Outsourcing is counterproductive and more expensive than building an in-house team. It is a less cost-effective solution. It is not just expensive, but also risky.

• Recruitment and onboarding becomes more complex
• Increase in infrastructure costs
• Complex employee benefits
• Lots of hidden overhead costs
• Less control on quality and service
• Less control on hiring needs
• Less control on tech talent
• Less control on security
• Things get lost through loopholes
• Projects become larger, dispersed, and inefficient
• Lots of red tape
• Everything adds up as a cost
• More bugs and less time for design and testing
• Faster time-to-market does not always mean better
• Scalability is questionable
• Access to questionable and mediocre specialized expertise
• Complex projects become more complex with increased costs
• Long-term partnerships lead to more vendor lock in and more ongoing costs of maintenance
• IP concerns on who owns what within the project
• Complex governance and compliance
• Difficult to manage standardization efforts
• Often leads to degradation in quality and service
• Increased corporate politics
• Loss of ownership and responsibility
• When things go wrong, they really go wrong, and often
• More effort to keep things as is rather than improve
• It is not in the best interest of the outsourcing third-party to produce a product that is free of bugs, continued maintenance means a long-term partnership
• Too many specialized jobs, many unnecessary, leads to less efficient and less productive employees
• Reduced job satisfaction, reduced quality of product, loss of ethics, loss of integrity, loss of culture
• Increased employee turnover
• More projects get canned
• Difficult to manage projects
• Increase in failure and chance of things going wrong
• Increased dependency on outsourcing third-party, internal frustration, and friction
• Outsourced employees don't care about your company or your product
• More potential for communication issues
• Language barriers
• Potential for time zone differences
• Potential for cultural differences
• Potential for misalignment
• Increased concern for data privacy and intellectual property
• Outsourcing third-party may not share, understand, or even care for your company vision
• Difficult to monitor on work and progress
• Outsourcing is more of a scam rather than a business solution
• Increased costs in transition for the transfer of knowledge and processes
• Potential for hidden fees and unexpected expenses
• Reduced and limited innovation opportunities which are often stifled by the outsourcing third-party
• Difficult to get new funding on projects
• Too many weak links within the corporate environment
• Difficult to control what the outsourcing third-party is sharing with other clients about your project who may be your key competitors, potential for leakage in trade secrets even with a non-disclosure and/or non-compete agreement

Failure of Western Economics

Western economics has experienced a lot of success over the years through technological advancements, globalization, and innovation. But, it has also faced challenges through credit crisis, natural disasters, pandemics, and other issues. Most western economies over the years have experienced higher living standards and reduced sense of poverty. Capitalism has provided a shift in focus towards the incentivized growth and success of the individual. However, this has also provided higher levels of inequality, environmental damage, stagnant wages, rising debt levels, and financial instability. Focus towards GDP growth has led to unsustainable practices and neglect of both the social and environmental well-being. It has also increased the gap in wealth and power in concentrations towards a few. This has been seen as a major flaw in many western economies. Although, western economic models are complex, increasingly they are showing failure in economic sustainability with a bleak future outlook. Politicians continue to display policy interests towards a wealthy few and neglect towards the greater population which has dire consequences. In many respects, western economies are showing a very heavy burden on the taxpayer with rising cost of living while also displaying irresponsibility for the outpouring of funds for financing foreign wars that have very negative global economic implications. The heightened sense of uncertainty has led to significant stagnation across the western economic frontiers.

Drawbacks of Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been gaining in popularity as of late. However, it has fundamental downsides that means diversification with minimizaton of risk is key. The below highlight some common drawbacks of Bitcoin investing.

• Extreme Volatility - Bitcoin is highly volatile with rapid fluctuations in market sentiment.
• Regulatory Uncertainty - Bitcoin has an uncertain trajectory with significant impact on value from regulatory changes that are still evolving.
• Security Risks - Bitcoin wallets and exchanges are targets for hackers. If you lose access to wallet or it is compromised you could lose your investment.
• Lack of Intrinsic Value - There is no intrinsic value. It is difficult to measure the asset value of Bitcoin in real terms. The value is derived from demand and speculation.
• Energy Consumption - Bitcoin is a drain to the environment with a growing energy footprint.
• Limited Acceptance - Bitcoin is not widely accepted form of payment and has limited use cases.
• Psychological Risks - Bitcoin is emotionally draining due to high price fluctuations.
• Tax Implications - Bitcoin investing comes with complex tax implications that vary by jurisdiction which means understanding your tax obligation can be tricky. 

AI Consciousness

• Consciousness for AI
• Artificial Consciousness and Human-Robot Interaction
• Do Machines Really Understand Meaning
• Consciousness in AI
• AI Consciousness is Inevitable
• A Case for AI Consciousness
• Is artificial consciousness achievable?
• Artificial consciousness
• AI Consciousness and Public Perceptions
• Conscious AI
• If consciousness is dynamically relevant, artificial intelligence isn't conscious

City and Management Simulation Games

• SimCity 4
• Cities: Skylines
• Anno 1800
• Tropico Series
• Ostriv
• TheoTown
• Surviving Mars
• Prison Architect
• Theme Park

First-Person Shooter Games

Modern Classics:

• Doom Eternal
• Halo: Infinite
• Titanfall 2
• Half-Life: Alyx

Competitive Shooters:

• Counter-Strike Global Offensive
• Valorant
• Overwatch 2
• Apex Legends

Others:

• Call of Duty
• Battlefield 2042
• Crysis
• Hunt: Showdown
• Deep Rock Galactic

War Simulation Games

Grand Strategy:

• Hearts of Iron IV
• Europa Universalis IV
• Crusader Kings III

Real-Time Strategy:

• Company of Heroes 2
• Men of War: Assault Squad 2
• Steel Division 2
• Command & Conquer

Tactical/Squad:

• Arma 3
• Squad
• Hell Let Loose

Historical:

• Total War: Warhammer III
• Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
• Age of Empires IV

Others:

• War Thunder
• World of Tanks
• XCom2