nicoverse

步入40歲，已經兩天。到現在還時不知道應該有什麼特別的感覺。這是第二年，在Playa del Carmen過生日。去年的生日前幾週，剛經歷頻死經驗”)。在那之後，經歷了好多事情：

• 合法離婚
• 開始並完成Jungian Coaching訓練
• 爸確診胰臟癌
• 去了內觀冥想
• 連續回台灣兩次
• 莫名其妙的骨頭發炎、化膿
• 成為美國公民

39歲經歷好多事情，一年之內有如此多的大起大落，但內心卻非常平靜，平靜到幾乎沒有注意到原來自己經歷這麼多事情。健康狀況出了好多非平常性的問題，但同時，其他生命歷程都在帶領我走向深入的自我探索、找到平靜。以前寫網誌有好多內容想寫，現在真的想不太出來有什麼可以寫。連寫到這邊都覺得這樣的文字量已經好多，沒有更多「心聲」想要寫了。平靜就是這個感覺嗎？

關於大部分對於催眠的印象：

1. 催眠師會叫你睡覺，在你睡覺的時候問你一些你平常不敢面對的問題

2. 你可以看到前世的記憶

3. 催眠師可以控制你做出你不想做的事

ENFJ

Below are the four mental processes, from the most prominent (dominant) to the least (inferior) for ENFJ personality type:

• Dominant process – Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
• Auxiliary process – Introverted Intuition (Ni)
• Third – Sensing —> Third processes are least impactful, hence I’ll skip them in most of my writings.
• Inferior process – Introverted Thinking

Navigating the Optimal State: The Role of Fe and Ni in Decision-Making

Dominant Function – Extraverted Feeling (Fe)

In my optimal state, Extraverted Feeling (Fe) is my primary instinct. This function plays a critical role in my decision-making process, allowing me to synthesize and respond to the information I absorb. With Fe, I naturally gravitate towards understanding and aligning with the harmony and preferences of the group, often setting aside my personal preferences.

Auxiliary Function – Introverted Intuition (Ni)

Following Fe, my secondary function is Introverted Intuition (Ni). After receiving information, predominantly through the emotional and feeling states of others, I process and organize these inputs internally. I strive to construct a mental model rooted in the values, thoughts, and feelings of those around me. This internal orientation means I'm more inclined to keep these insights to myself, sharing less openly.

The Interplay and Misinterpretation of Fe and Ni

When Fe and Ni work in tandem, it creates a unique dynamic. To outsiders, it might seem as though I lack distinct personal values, opinions, or preferences. This combination also leads me to prioritize others’ needs over my own, often overlooking my own feelings and desires. This self-neglect can lead to internal stress, particularly when my own needs remain unseen or unmet. I yearn for my needs to be acknowledged or, ideally, to align with others' preferences.

Shift to Introverted Thinking (Ti) Under Stress

In situations of extreme stress or isolation, my focus shifts to Introverted Thinking (Ti). This function, being the least developed in line with my natural preferences, usually remains dormant. However, in a prolonged environment where intrapersonal harmony is essential, I may overemphasize Ti, leading others to perceive me as excessively logical and analytical. This shift can result in harsh self-criticism and doubts about my competence.

Adaptation in Prolonged Stress: The ENFJ-ENTJ Shift

An additional point to note is that in prolonged stress or challenging lifestyles, an ENFJ might exaggerate the Thinking function (Ti), externally manifesting it more prominently. This response can cause an ENFJ to appear as an ENTJ, serving as a protective mechanism. It becomes easier to navigate the world without the constant need to maintain organizational harmony; thus, the focus of feeling shifts inward (towards Fi).

Comparative Analysis of ENFJ and ENTJ Under Stress

ENFJ's typical mental processes are primarily Fe, followed by Ni, and finally Ti. Under extreme and prolonged stress, this order appears to shift to Te (Extraverted Thinking), Ni, and Fi, mirroring the cognitive functions of an ENTJ. This phenomenon explains why ENFJs may behave and act like ENTJs in stressful environments or when engaged in tasks that contradict their natural strengths for extended periods. The balancing of inward and outward energy through this process switch allows an ENFJ to function in an ENTJ mode for a long duration without immediate awareness of the underlying shift.

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The Intriguing Case of Introverted Types in Crisis: The INFP Example

A fascinating aspect of introverted personality types is their tendency to “extravert” their fourth function under stress. This phenomenon often leads to misunderstandings, as introverts may be perceived as extroverts due to their increased vocalization of their fourth function.

Normal Functioning of INFP

Typically, an INFP operates with the following cognitive functions: 1) Fi (Introverted Feeling), 2) Ne (Extraverted Intuition), and 4) Te (Extraverted Thinking). This functional stack guides their decision-making and interaction with the world.

INFP Under Stress: Mimicking ENTJ

However, when INFPs are in the grip of stress, their functional order appears to shift dramatically. They start to manifest behaviors akin to an ENTJ, which is a stark contrast to their natural state. The functional order in this stressed state presents as 1) Te (Extraverted Thinking), 2) Ne (Extraverted Intuition), and 1) Fi (Introverted Feeling). At first glance, this may resemble the ENTJ's functional stack (Te, Ni, Fi).

In this state, both the dominant and auxiliary functions of the INFP are oriented outwardly, exaggerating the extraverted expression. As a result, INFPs may become highly critical, assertive, and vocal about their values and thoughts, sometimes to the point of appearing argumentative. They may start imposing structure and prioritizing their own needs, often neglecting the feelings of others or the group's harmony. This behavior is a marked departure from their usual empathetic and harmonious nature.

The Unsustainability of the Crisis Mode

This outward push of energy, while a protective response to crisis, is inherently unsustainable for the INFP. The overemphasis on extraverted functions creates an imbalance, as it diverges significantly from their natural inclination towards introverted feeling and intuition. Consequently, INFPs cannot maintain this mode for an extended period.

Eventually, the necessity to return to their natural state becomes paramount. The INFP will revert back to their characteristic function stack of Fi, Ne, and Te, aligning once again with their inherent preference for introspection, empathy, and harmonious interactions.

I’d assume many people who join the Crypto revolution are inspired by the same mission: to provide a chance for everyone, I mean, everyone from the planet earth, to to join the global economy system.

I visited India back in 2017 January. I found myself standing in the middle of the Indian banknote demonetization and had no where to get cash. Locals told me that it is very hard to get cash, and everyone must use an payment app (like PayPal, Venmo or WeChat Pay) that links to ones bank account. I survived through credit card and the aiding from some local friends to exchange cash for me. Then I asked my friends: how about people in the slum? How could they create a bank account? (Most people in the slum do not have a residential registration and they cannot have a bank account). My local friends simply said, “they cannot. They could only exchange through black market brokers or they just can’t get money.”

I was shocked. Thought it is the fact that I known for a while that many people around the world does not have an identity card or residential registration, but it never occurs to me on what it will impact on their lives. And the fact that they will never be able to be part of the economic system and trade freely struck me.

Later, when I started to join one of the cryptocurrency exchange and devote my time fully on crypto, researching and following different technology to create a decentralized identity verification process that does not require government data become my passion. WorldCoin’s mission on Proof-of-Personhood stood out so much and I was one of their biggest fan for a while.

Let’s take a step back to understand what is IrisHash and why WorldCoin is promoting this solution.

Why do we need an identity card or passport? Because we cannot just trust each other’s word of saying “I am Nico, daughter of Helen from Taipei. My family is from the east mountain over the rainy sea.” to identity and verify a person’s identity. Any identity card or passport is a certificate issued by governments whom we seen as a trustworthy authority. Usually, each identity certificate will require other form of information or document, for example, a birth certificate, a resident registry that is tied to an address, or other government documentation that can be trusted to say you are who you are.

Let’s go back to the slum situation in India. People in slum do not have birth certificate (because many of them were born in the slum) from the hospital, nor an address to prove their residency (because there’s no address in most slum). India governments have been using more clever process to overcome this challenge, but with the most reason effort, only less than 20% of people in slum could receive an identity card. Without ID, they cannot open an bank account and join the rest of the ecosystem in the society. We need to have a way for anyone who can claim to be themselves and prove they are a unique human being, not the other person. The Biometric data, like DNA.

Each individual has unique irises, even twin cannot have the same iris. Similar to finger print, it can be scanned and compared easily without invasive process, like taking your blood or hair for DNA. Irises are also less likely to be altered due to damages like finger prints, therefore it is a robust information to use for verifying individuals.

Now, let’s move to how WorldCoin generate the Irishash. WorldCoin’s solution is very sophisticated and really value user’s privacy (reference 1). In general, they put in a huge effort to create a mathematical model to allow the scan of each iris will only generate one hash, but it is impossible to reverse the hash information to reconstruct the iris image due to data distortion. Additionally, they design and manufactured a sophisticated iris scan device — The Orb — to ensure the iris image uses to generate the Irishash is detail enough to feed into their model.

I might think too negative on humanity and how data can be used in abusive way. Coming from the content moderation scene, I believe when people are given an anonymous opportunity, some would tend to behave in the most malicious manner. I believe strongly that if Irishash is the most promising solution, then we are putting ourselves in the danger zone of either people are hurting other peoples in the poorer financial status to gain access to more fake identities, or some governments or entities will try to reverse engineer on the information store on IrisHash and really get a full 360 degree monitor to people. The ironic part is that these are the people and the kind of tyrannic structure that everyone works in this blockchain revolution want to over thrown.

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Privacy at Worldcoin: A Technical Deep Dive – Part I. (2023, February 10). WorldCoin Org. https://worldcoin.org/blog/developers/privacy-deep-dive

When it comes to mental safety on the internet versus the freedom of speech, Content Moderation is the target right in the middle. Elon Musk hates it. Most people working in social media likes it. Recently, some people formerly hired by OpenAI came out to tell the public on how many awful content they reviewed to make sure the AI model is and will only learn from the safe contents.

As a person who worked shortly in this field (but very heavily involved in every aspect — from the making of the policy, operationalize it, and make sure every moderator’s mental safety and calibration, etc.), I have to say that we will never be able to get rid of the manual process of content moderation. Here are some reasons:

1. People are AWFUL: let’s be honest. We all know it’s true. We are awful and we all want to make the nasty and gross content when people are not looking. Think of all the creative things people are putting on Telegram — from the horrible Telegram group “Nth Room”, to the latest betting bot to bet who cum first? We are naturally keen on the obscene content. As sad as it sounds, we will always need some sorts of reviewing mechanism to exist, to offer the safety of the viewer. I understand some content are the freedom of speech, but we should also think for the psychological safety for some people who prefer not to damage their eyes and also the psychological development for the next generation, eh?

2. AI or LLM model is not perfect and only human mind is controllable (or have lesser scale of the damage): Think of Skynet. Then think of Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun or Hitler. You know my point now. When it’s a human tyrannic, the impact of the scale and the influence is always less sporadic and takes time to gradually evolve to the point to scare the world. However, when it comes to the evolution or change in technology, it will be exponential and rapid — so fast that it will be cascading to the world before we even aware of the change. Think of the adoption rate on ChatGPT. If we accidentally fed the wrong information to the LLM, they would quickly evolve to something that we could hardly recognize nor control. Before we know, they will either decide that caucasian men should dominate all women and do whatever they want to us, or decide human is a thread and launch a full missile attack to all major cities.

3. Human and our perception itself is a constant evolving project: just over one hundred years ago, women are bound to be at home and no career. Now, we find female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies. Human and culture in itself is a constant evolving organism. It is impossible to toss it to an LLM or AI model and expect they can just move along our ever-changing human mind. The best way is still to let human to decide what human wants; and only human and dictate what we want to include in the next cultural movement.

In conclusion, as much as I hate to disagree with Elon Musk (well, I also disagree with X but what do I know?), I have to say that Content Moderation will exist and the safety for human mind, lays on the hand of human.

Claire versus Nico

Nico

Nico的院子沒有圍牆，每個人都可以闖進來，拼的是看誰有種扎營、住下來，自己爭取成為園丁。成為園丁的人都會緊張兮兮的趕跑外來者，因為每個人都可以自己跑進來，搞的園丁變得緊張兮兮。

Claire

Claire的院子有兩道牆。第一道是正常的後院圍籬，有個garden gate，人可以進來但不是每個人都可以進來。困難的事，第二道牆是沒有橋可以過的護城河。有些勇敢的人會跳到河裡要游過來，但其實河水很深，只有靠高塔公主丟下來的梯子才有辦法上岸。Claire有時候遠遠看到勇敢渡河的勇士，會以為他是王子，就把麻繩編的梯子丟下來；有時候勇士爬上來的時候，Claire才會看清楚王子是青蛙，所以直接把麻繩梯剪斷。每一次剪斷麻繩梯，Claire都要重新花時間把梯子編好，才有辦法再讓下一個勇士爬上來。