My Perception Bias

There’s no absolute truth, only perception of reality. It’s influenced by various factors, even in physics and nature. For instance, colors are interpreted as wavelengths. Our perception of events or people can be based on information or speculation. For example, we may judge someone as good based on hearsay or bad based on dirty shoes. Perception is never completely unbiased, but relying on information over speculation makes it more credible and valuable.

We live in a global information era, where most internet users are aware of common topics. I’ll share my stances on these topics to promote informed perception over speculation. I’ll list them chronologically based on when I formed strong opinions, and update when new topic arise. Remember, it’s just my perception, which may differ from others. Let’s begin.

Bitcoin

The only solution to global economic problems we face as a society today. While it may be difficult to understand and have flaws, it’s the single solution to the shortcomings of the current economy in existence. Bitcoin is inevitable, and the only difference is when humanity will start benefiting from it and who will be the first to do so. It could happen in 1 or 100 years from now.

Climate Change

It’s real, but it’s unclear how much is influenced by humanity or global events. Voices of those predicting imminent climate change apocalypse have faded over time. Some even before I was born. So it doesn’t feel urgent to me. Working on climate change shouldn’t limit human prosperity through laws or quotas. As an engineer, I believe human activity should be efficient while considering affordability and quality. Recycling is necessary, but the degree and voluntary/mandatory ratio can vary.

Covid

It’s real, and it’s horrible how many people have died from it. Healthcare systems were caught off-guard, resulting in delays in adaptation. While initial lockdowns were justified due to the unknown nature of the virus, prolonged ones have proven to be more harmful than good. Vaccines, in general, are among the best inventions of humanity, but mandating them for COVID is excessive. Masks and QR-codes seem unnecessary, as humanity has faced deadlier diseases in the past without such measures. It’s interesting how there’s less focus on checking for diseases like tuberculosis compared to COVID. It’s also puzzling how a simple cough in a grocery store can now make people scared, considering humanity has faced far worse diseases in the past.

Genders

It’s fine to live life as one wants. People should be respectful to others regardless of conditions such as race or gender. Personally, I find it insulting to be referred to as «they» since my name and photo should suffice for identification. It’s also strange for me to use «they» in writing as my native language has more explicit gender usage (e.g., a dog is HE and a car is SHE). Although I lack personal experience and there is limited information on the internet, I assume intersex individuals, who may have physical anomalies, face challenges due to the complexities of gender and LGBTQ+ movements.

Ukraine

rusia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Hatred towards Ukrainians from rusians goes far back in history. It’s clear that since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, rusians didn’t understand and still considered Ukraine as their colony. While I’m not a geopolitical expert, and I don’t know if this war was planned since 1994 with the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, or since 1997 with the division of the Black Fleet and leasing of military bases to rusians in Crimea. However, its clear now the hybrid war started as early as 2004 with opposition to the Orange Revolution (which I experienced myself), and continued in 2010 with the Kharkiv Pact. By the time the actual physical invasion occurred in 2014, first in Crimea and then in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the war was already ongoing, though not yet in the military phase. Understanding this historical context is crucial to grasp the main point: rusians have always seen Ukrainians as a secondary subdivision and have never accepted our independence. So, it’s not pootin’s war, it’s rusia’s war. Even though Ukraine has its share of problems like corruption and internal issues that every country faces, this war is completely unjustified, imperialistic and genocidal. It’s impossible to not take sides in this war. You either support Ukraine’s right to self-defense and existence, or you support an imperial dictatorship’s use of force in the 21st century. There are those who don’t care about this war (thats totally fine), say, in remote regions like the Arctic, Alaska, Africa, Greenland, or elsewhere. It’s a different topic to discuss «why should they care and how it affects them.»

AI

There’s a lot of hype today around AI, AGI, LLM, ChatGPT, etc. I find these technologies fun, interesting, and promising. However, their marketing and those who want to monetize them often lack substance in their words. There are 19th-century science fiction books describing AI, studies from the mid-20th century on LLM, and technologies that have been improving our lives for a long time already. Term AI was introduced in 1955. AGI was coined in 1997. Today, the definition of Artificial Intelligence is unclear, but some people think that since AI exists now (apparently, after ChatGPT release), most professions will be obsolete in a few years, and singularity is near. I think that’s not realistic, but these technologies are exciting and worth further research.