Daniel Bourke

Life and Living

Are you full of shit?

Two concepts worthwhile remembering are Cunningham’s Law and the Dunning-Kruger effect. Cunningham’s Law states, “The best way to get the answer on the internet is not to post a question, it’s to post the wrong answer.” And the Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people

Stories

What would the jellyfish think?

“Does she think I’m fat?” “What’s he doing?” “I can’t believe he said that.” “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” “He’s not doing that is he?” “Why aren’t I getting the attention they are?” And more things like this. There’s a

Learning

Knowing how vs. Knowing what

Traditional education teaches what. It’s obsessed with definitions, facts, processes, principles, the right way of doing things. Apprenticeship style education teaches how. The first thing you learn is there’s many ways to do the same thing. I failed my first two years of university because I was lazy.

Learning

Knowledge of absence

The best knowledge is knowledge of absence. What doesn’t work. However, knowing what doesn’t work comes with no rewards. For everything that is known to work, there are 100 things which don’t (made up number, ratio likely higher). The thing is, knowing what doesn’t work is

Travel

Alone but not lonely

In 2016, I went to Japan alone for 3 weeks. I flew into Tokyo with only a couple of nights accommodation booked. As I walked around, looking at different things, I let my thoughts wonder as much my feet. Every few nights I’d book into a new place. The

Poems

Let the animal out

Where’s it been? Hidden away Someone told you so Don’t do that Don’t do this You can’t You can’t do that It’s not all their fault You listened. Thought they were right. Held onto what they said. An early death comes to those who

Life and Living

You have to go deep inside yourself

The search of fulfilment, the search of meaning, the search of worth. It doesn’t come in anything you show can show someone else. It doesn’t end with some amount of numbers on a page. It’s generated from within. And it’s available right now. But be careful.

Getting Started

Talent not required

It’s easy to palm it off on natural ability. “He’s a natural... that’s why he can do it.” “She’s so talented, I could never do that.” But where did they start? Does a piano player get born with the ability to play piano? Does a programmer

Questions

The one-on-one with yourself

It’s getting close to the end of the year. There are 19 days left in this decade. If you work somewhere, one-on-one end of year reviews might start between you and your manager, you and your boss. But when was the last time you had one with yourself? Sat

Creating

The project needs to drive you forward

In the beginning, your energy will drive you forward. You’ll start a new project with excitement, the quick wins will make you want to keep going. After a while, when your energy runs lows, the project itself will have to bring you forward. Discipline works, will power works, you

Poems

One last walk

From walking along the desks at school Everyone looking on There’s a dog in the classroom What’s a dog doing here? Soon enough everyone starts to enjoy it Good dogs do their own thing Play, walk, eat, sleep, shit Simple Conan was a good dog Black and fluffy

Stories

A good tired

It’s getting warmer. Getting up early is getting easier. The sun is up, you can walk out the front, feel it on your chest, feel the energy. I love the heat. I love this time of year. People say how hot it is, I tell them how much I

Life and Living

When it doesn’t go your way

You've got a choice. Accept it, learn from it, reflect on it, use it as fuel for the next one, be thankful for the opportunity, tell yourself this is a chance to improve. Or... Blame someone, "They shouldn't have done that!", blame something, tell

Stories

What if it was right there?

When I was little I used to wonder where people would go when they died. I learned about souls. Learned about heaven. It sounded like a great place. I looked at the clouds above and tried to jump and touch them. My Dads friend asked what I was doing. I

Life and Living

Via Negativa

I sent a message to my friends, a photo of my shoe rack. Who wants free shoes? A few responded. Enough to get rid of half of them. The rest can go to charity. Same with the other things I have sitting around, an old watch, a few devices. One

Projects

Release Frequently and Update or Hold Back & Wait?

An internal debate I’ve been having with myself. If you’re working on a longer-term project, should you release frequently and update as required, have the market drive development. Or should you hold it back, wait until there’s a finished version and put it out in one go.

Life and Living

The laughing skull

Have you ever noticed, when you look at a human skull, it appears to be smiling, even on the border of laughing. It’s a reminder. That’s where we’ll all end up. I like to call it the laughing skull. Laughing at ourselves for taking it all so

Stories

Worst advice: Stay in your lane

His bike had a Hulk doll on the front. It was connected to a big spring so it dangled a little. “Looks good,” someone said. “Yeah, there’s still a creak in the back wheel but it’s coming along.” He took off his helmet and sat down. “How long

Relationships

Everyone knows a gutsy woman

It might be your Mum. It might be your sister. It might be the lady who runs the local community markets every month. It might be your daughter. It might be your partner. It may be the girl raising money for a harsh disease. Or the nurse who takes care

Creating

Your first 100

If you’ve never created anything, you might be trapped in a mental prison. In year 8, my art teacher told me my drawing was bad. So I stopped drawing. In year 12, my English teacher said my writing was too repetitive and didn’t have enough structure. So I

Stories

“Barcodes made my life easier”

Overheard a story of a lady who had worked at a supermarket since 1967 (50+ years!). And the most helpful change in that time was the introduction of barcodes. When people were asked what their favourite things about her were one woman responded, “She’s disgusting,” then she kept going,

Books

Use ego as a tool

Ego usually gets a bad wrap. It’s the thing that gets in the way when you think you’re right but you’re not. It’s the thing which holds you back from making things and putting them out in the world. “But mine’s not good enough.” It’

Business

Copy others until you figure out your own style

“They said to go out on my own,” he said, “but I told them I have no idea what I’m doing.” He kept going. “So then they said, don’t worry, just copy us until you figure it out, we’ll help you out if you need,” he looked

Life and Living

I've never been so excited

Imagine growing up watching a television show and then getting to meet your favourite character. You get there and they realise how excited you are. They know what you're thinking. They say, "you've been waiting for this haven't you?". You say, "

Learning

A cheaper alternative to college

Dear younger self, here's how you could've saved $31,897 in college debt.