#43 / Seneca's Death Practice

Hello, my friend! 👋

Reading “Breakfast with Seneca” last week, it mentioned we should practice contemplating death, especially the possibility of losing those close to us. This practice, it suggests, fills life with gratitude. Perhaps coincidentally, I played the first chapter of “Assassin’s Creed Origins” over the weekend, where the protagonist’s son dies unexpectedly. Then, watching the Oscar-nominated short film “The After”, the story revolves around a man whose wife and daughter also died unexpectedly, leaving him to face his grief alone. As a father, I can hardly imagine the emotional toll if my seven-year-old daughter were to leave us. In his famous Stanford University speech, Steve Jobs spoke about how living as if each day were our last clarifies issues and choices. I often reflect in this way, too. But the exercise of imagining the departure of a loved one is something I’m not yet prepared for.

Here are a few things I’d like to share with you today 🙂

• What’s the impact of Sora on us?

• Reflecting on Positive Feedback

• HR is your ally

• Discriminating against women, worth or better now?

• God of War: Lessons in Fatherhood

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What’s the impact of Sora on us?

OpenAI’s video engine, Sora, can now create hyper-realistic videos. What’s the impact on us?

Well, the most direct impact, especially for film production, is that content is becoming easier to create. This could make narrative content much more engaging. Getting B-roll footage becomes a breeze. On the downside, this might also lead to an influx of low-quality, clickbaity content on social media platforms designed to draw in views or manipulate emotions.

Indirectly, I think this signals that AI could potentially disrupt every industry. Last year, I still believed that creative fields like design or even coding wouldn’t be affected much. But now, I’m not so optimistic. When AI gets a grip on simulating all aspects of our world, including architectural design, packaging, and software, these areas are likely to feel the impact, too.

So, how do we deal with it? In the short term, I believe individuals need to enhance their ability to connect dots – that is, to capture and present the relationships between things. For artists, this connectness is indispensable, and for knowledge workers, it’s a skill that might help us fend off AI for a bit longer.

But one thing’s for sure: whether it’s manual or intellectual work, no field is entirely safe from AI anymore.

Reflecting on Positive Feedback

I recently found myself discussing the topic of positive feedback during a gathering at my home. Over the years, I’ve developed a positive feedback system to boost my English expression, communication, and integration into the local culture. It all started a few years back when I landed my first job in New Zealand and realized my accent, pronunciation, and English communication were far from what the tech field required.

This realization was initially disheartening, but I discovered that I could still make significant improvements even in my late thirties with a well-designed plan. For example, my first job in New Zealand wasn’t purely technical, so I needed to check if the tech field’s perception of me matched my self-perception. Apart from participating in tech forums to engage and speak with others, I pondered expressing myself through presentations.

Opportunities are always there if you have a clear goal. My first speaking engagement was at a local design boot camp for their graduates. Though it was a small audience of six or seven, the positive feedback I received built my confidence. That led to local meetups and forums, and eventually, I spoke at company events after joining Xero, culminating in my participation as a speaker at the UX New Zealand forum last year.

The entire journey was fueled by positive feedback. Each presentation brought acknowledgement and valuable insights and observations, forming a rich dataset that helped me improve my expression, communication, and interaction.

HR is your ally

Talking about landing a design job, a big player in this game is the HR folks. Sometimes, we kinda see HR as the gatekeeper, standing between us and the job. But hey, let’s flip that idea on its head and see them as allies instead.

Here’s a fun way to look at it - picture the HR person like they’re straight out of a Hong Kong Kung Fu movie. They’re your first opponent. You “battle” them by going through an initial screening, showing off what you’ve got - your skills, experience, and all that jazz. And if you “fight” well, guess what? They switch sides and become your ally. You’re now on the same team, and they actually want you to land the job. It’s a win for them too.

So, let’s shift our thinking. HR folks aren’t the enemy; they’re your teammate from the get-go.

Discriminating against women, worth or better now?

In “Microtrends,” there’s an intriguing fact: since 2000, most professions centred around writing in the US, such as journalism and law, have been dominated by women. This trend has significantly influenced the topics covered in the news and legal industries, with a notable increase in issues concerning abortion, domestic violence, and women’s employment. It’s thought-provoking to consider that while the exposure of news discriminating against women seems dire, it actually signals improvement. These issues are gaining attention because more women are broadening their perspectives, highlighting concerns that were always there but previously overlooked.

God of War: Lessons in Fatherhood

Let’s talk about something a bit more personal today – my journey with Kratos in God of War 4. As a dad in my 40s, I’ve learned that life’s problems can’t always be solved with a simple ‘smash’. This game made me see Kratos in a new light, struggling with fatherhood just like I am, teaching me about patience, understanding, and the importance of guiding with care.

Have a great one, and see you soon!

**Bear Academy Newsletter@2023**

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Bear Academy Newsletter

Non-crap tips and thoughts on design, product and technology ✨

🐻 Bear Who?

Hi there 👋, I’m Bear, a seasoned Product Designer with 15 years of overall design experience and six years in product design, transforming the user experiences for millions 📝

As an Apple Award-Winning Podcast Host at BearTalk and a Design Mentor at Springboard and CareerFoundry, I apply my self-taught design skills and science background to solve complicated problems and mentor budding designers 😃

In my downtime, you’ll find me reading, drawing, podcasting, and making videos about everything from tech to design and productivity 👨‍🎨

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