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1. Introduction

Inspired by Anita Posch’s (2022) essay, Opposing the Corruptible Fiat System, Bitcoin Enforces Universal Human Rights, I argue that compared to the contemporary financial systems and their fiat money, with Bitcoin, one gains greater financial freedom and rights, assuming one is in control of the private keys. As such, Bitcoin, as a piece of open-source technology, promotes and enables human rights better than contemporary fiat money, euros, yens, and such.

Following the framework suggested by Mathiesen (2014), I analyse how Bitcoin and human rights relate to each other. In specific, I look at

1. what compelling interest does Bitcoin protect for each right,
2. how does a given right support other rights,
3. what new opportunities does Bitcoin create for satisfying this right,
4. what new threats does Bitcoin pose to this right, and
5. what institutional arrangements might need to be changed or put in place to respect, protect, and fulfil this right in the context of Bitcoin.

Thus, the essay is structured as follows. First, I introduce the basics of human rights and Bitcoin. The introductions cover what human rights are, how Bitcoin works and what are its fundamentally determined characteristics, as marked italicised. Second, I analyse Bitcoin’s potential in promoting one to realise the given human right – 1, 2, 12, 13, 17, 19, and 20 – in comparison to fiat. Third, I sum the analysis section and discuss policy. Finally, I conclude the paper arguing that to the extent where sufficient and necessary conditions apply, Bitcoin currently promotes all the aforementioned human rights except the right to privacy (12).

In specific, if one possesses the private keys, Bitcoin can potentially foster freedom and equality, economic freedom in particular. However, there is a lack of statistical evidence to determine the full extent of Bitcoin's ability to promote economic freedom. Additionally, further investigation is needed to identify the necessary conditions for using Bitcoin effectively to reap its benefits (refer to the 'Bitcoin Empowerment Paradox' in section 2.1). Moreover, Bitcoin can promote freedom from discrimination by providing inclusive access to its network, freedom of expression via censorship-resistant transactions, and the right to possess property through its confiscation-resistance. Furthermore, Bitcoin facilitates people's freedom of movement and assembly, as long as transactions remain technically private.

1.1 Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), or human rights, emerged after the atrocities of the Second World War (United Nations, 1948). As a foundation for protecting human rights and dignity, UDHR has been a milestone in the history of humanity, and has inspired many national and international laws and policies. UDHR describes such human rights as the right to life, liberty, and security of person; the right to education, work, and social security; and the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. It also includes principles such as non-discrimination, equality before the law, and the prohibition of torture and slavery (United Nations, 1948). Importantly, many if not all of the Articles are dependent on one another. For example, freedom of expression cannot be exercised properly without the freedom of movement and association. Inevitably, human rights are things that every person deserves, indeed, just because they are human.

1.2 Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a digital currency where transactions occur peer-to-peer, without a bank or other intermediaries (Nakamoto, 2008). Hence Bitcoin transactions are borderless and do not interest nation-state borders and jurisdictions. Over 15 thousand computers worldwide, or nodes, operate on the network, making it decentralised, much like the Internet today (Bitnodes, 2023). Participants in the Bitcoin ecosystem include regular users, miners, Bitcoin services, exchanges, additional protocols such as the Lightning Network, and developers. Anyone can participate in the network without registration, identification, or special permission, and running one's own node can ensure accurate financial information (Rosenbaum, 2019). As such, Bitcoin is open, public, borderless, neutral and censorship-resistant (Antonopolous, 2017).

What follows is an example of what happens when Aino sends one satoshi, the smallest unit of bitcoin, to Antti. First, she initiates a transaction by providing the amount, Antti's bitcoin address (3QzYvaRFY6bakFBW4YBRrzmwzTnfZcaA6E), and a digital signature made with her private key. Private key is analogous to a password. It is a randomly generated string of numbers and letters, though the user typically generates a 12 or 24-word dictionary password that encodes the same information. Losing or forgetting the private key means losing access to bitcoin indefinitely.

Next, her wallet application then sends the transaction to one or more nodes in the Bitcoin network, which verifies its validity by checking if the bitcoin Aino spends exists and if her digital signature is valid. If the transaction passes these checks, the node relays it to its peers in the network, and the transaction travels through the network with each node verifying it.

Following this, the nodes update their local copies of the ledger, commonly known as the blockchain, with Aino's transaction, which records all past and new transactions. To coordinate the transaction order, a miner node broadcasts a message called a block that states the order in which transactions should be added to the ledger. The miner is rewarded with newly mined bitcoin and transaction fees paid by included transactions (Rosenbaum, 2019).

There are many rules that the nodes in the Bitcoin network enforce. As Andreas Antonopolous said, there are “rules without rulers”. For example, of one of the rules is that only 21 million bitcoin will ever be created. This scarcity underpins the value of bitcoin and ensures that bitcoin cannot be endlessly created like fiat money.

Finally, Aino and Antti need a Bitcoin wallet to interact with the network. The wallets manage their private keys used to create digital signatures and generate bitcoin addresses. Aino created her digital signature with one of her private keys, and Antti needs to use his private key to spend the received bitcoins at his bitcoin address. Once the nodes in the network update their ledger copies, Antti's wallet is notified when the transaction is added to the ledger and he has received the one satoshi (Rosenbaum, 2019).

2. Analysis

The analysis is structured as follows. I describe the given human rights article chiefly, and present Posch’s arguments and evidence, and rebutting them where necessary. Finally, I argue why Bitcoin does or does not promote the said human right.

2.1 The Right to Freedom and Equality

Article 1 states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

According to Posch, a) financial illiteracy, b) poverty, c) financial repression (i.e., inflation, monetary colonialism), and d) corruption cause unequal and undignified conditions for people in countries where money does not function. I agree that a) financial illiteracy and b) poverty creates conditions in which people can botch money. Then, she continues, with a laissez-faire approach to economics, that Bitcoin fixes c) inflation and d) corruption. I will now examine those arguments.

Regarding her first assertion, I agree with a linguistic caveat. That is, Bitcoin does not fix inflation that plagues existing monetary systems per se, though it presents an alternative that does not need fixing. This is but a linguistic difference that I wish to make.

Technically, Bitcoin is inflationary but it is swiftly approaching a disinflationary plateau. Whereas bitcoin is scarce, there is an infinite supply of fiat money that government officials can print arbitrarily. As such, bitcoin is free from inflation. However, bitcoin’s fluctuating prices, as determined by market supply and demand, creates a situation where inflation does not affect the price as much as speculation. Nevertheless, countries plagued by high inflation pale in comparison to bitcoin volatility. Although, that volatility can still be too much for people in the emerging economies who are increasingly starting to prefer stablecoins instead of Bitcoin for saving and transacting (Chainalysis, 2022a).

Notwithstanding the upcoming Bitcoin upgrades that make the public ledger less public, I argue that Bitcoin does not “fix” corruption, because it is a complex social and political issue rather than a problem in fiat money per se. Corruptive manifestations in finance include bribery, diversion of public funds, tax fraud, illicit financial flows, money-laundering, insider trading, ponzi schemes, and market manipulation. Most if not all of these have already happened within the Bitcoin economy as well as the broader cryptoasset economy (Chainalysis, 2020b, 2023). Instead, solving corruption requires promoting transparency, accountability, and ethical behaviour in public and private sectors, and enhancing the rule of law.

Assuming one has the ownership of private keys, I argue that Bitcoin enables absolute control of one’s money, promoting economic freedom. Economic freedom is one’s ability to engage in economic activity with minimal interference from the government or other external forces. However, there is no empirical evidence that asserts Bitcoin significantly increases economic freedom for some groups, on average, compared to other groups.

Notwithstanding, one could argue that Bitcoin can in principle promote economic freedom, under sufficient and necessary conditions. People born in low-income, economically repressed, emerging economies would benefit the most from Bitcoin. Albeit, those same people endure electricity blackouts, unreliable internet connectivity, lack of education, technological know-how and mobile devices. Thus, at the same time, they are the most vulnerable group, and the use of Bitcoin could backfire. People can forget or lose private keys, send bitcoin to a wrong address, get scammed, or leave bitcoin in custodial services that get hacked. As such, when certain conditions are sufficient and necessary, people are more likely to benefit from Bitcoin. What those conditions are in specific, I do not know.

However, where conditions are more favourable, Bitcoin may not be desperately needed, for example in Finland where financial systems function properly. This presents a paradox that I call ‘the Bitcoin Empowerment Paradox’: Those who would benefit from and desperately need Bitcoin the most, are also the most vulnerable to using Bitcoin, and thus ones who may not be able to use it; And vice versa, those who do not benefit from and desperately need Bitcoin, are ones who are not vulnerable, and thus can use it. Using an analogy inspired by an article from Bak, Sriyai and Meserve (2018), digital technology (Bitcoin) can serve as a solution to state repression (financial repression and censorship), but only in countries that are either already relatively free or highly integrated into global markets (necessary and sufficient conditions).

2.2 Freedom from Discrimination

Article 2 states that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Posch claims that Venezuela setting foreign exchange controls, Zimbabwe limiting online transactions, and Indian government demonetising 500 and 1000-rupee notes constitutes financial oppression.

However, this is not financial oppression but financial repression, as per definition. Notwithstanding the incorrect terminology, these examples of financial repression are not related to Article 2, because financial repression in these examples is not discriminating in nature. Venezuela set foreign exchange controls to all; Zimbabwe imposed transaction limits to everyone; and India demonetised rupee notes, affecting the majority. Thus, it is “just” financial repression. Were it to be differential treatment of status in rights in these examples, it would be related to Article 2.

Still, together with Posch, I argue that Bitcoin’s inclusive access to the network promotes freedom from discrimination. Notwithstanding the irrelevant examples, there are relevant ones. The Anti-Corruption Foundation and Wikileaks were forced to find another method to fund their causes because of differing political opinions; People whose nationality is that of a sanctioned country may face significant barriers in opening a bank account abroad (anecdotal evidence); Undocumented people who cannot access banking; And Posch cites evidence that unequal property rights and bank ownership are biassed in sex, favouring men, especially in the global South (Development Research Group, 2021; World Bank Group 2019).

However, Bitcoin does not solve the underlying complex factors that lead to unequal treatment based on a given status, but it provides an alternative financial system where discrimination does not exist. It can be a step toward equality, especially toward inclusive access for money, but alas one step.

EDIT. 3th May, 2023. Discrimination can also occur at the protocol-level, when one transacts with another. That is, because bitcoin is not private enough, its transactions history can label future users. Then, their transaction can be discriminated based on, usually, political opinion, but also on other status. This is directly linked to the Right to Privacy.

2.3 The Right to Privacy

Article 12 states that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy.

Posch argues that the anticipated central bank digital currencies may turn out draconian and Orwellian if privacy is not taken more seriously than it is taken today with the surveillance from information technology corporations – and if I may add – intelligence alliances. Posch argues that while bitcoin is not sufficiently private, bitcoin nonetheless provides more degree of privacy than banks, promoting the right to privacy.

Privacy is important because without privacy, states and corporations can monitor people. This can create homogeneous, obedient, and shallow people. This can hinder or even undo societal advancements. Surveillance creates individuals that have no room for personal discovery or to question societal conventions. Living in constant apprehension leaves no room for true freedom (see Cohen, 2013; Rogaway, 2015).

But I disagree that bitcoin promotes the right to privacy. Currently bitcoin transactions are surveilled by authorities. Indeed, Bitcoin privacy by default is atrocious, undermining bitcoin fungibility. Less fungibility implies less utility because services can deny withdrawals and deposits, and censorship (Back, 2016; Seth, 2021). As such, I argue that Bitcoin does not promote the right to privacy.

However, there are cryptoassets that are better than Bitcoin at promoting the right to privacy. These privacy-oriented cryptoassets, such as Monero and Zcash, offer an option for people to realise their right to privacy. In addition, privacy solutions to Bitcoin are coming, such as the Lightning Network and the Taproot upgrade. This is what Posch mentions as well. This means that Bitcoin's privacy can be better in the future because Bitcoin programmable.

2.4 The Right to Move Freely

Article 13 states that everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state and the right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country.

Posch emphasises that while people may be free to move, they are not always free to move their wealth with them. She cites a case of a Ukrainian fleeing the war with bitcoin. Certainly, in such a situation bitcoin may save one’s wealth, and by extension, one’s life. Bitcoin can be a useful tool for preserving wealth when migrating, especially in situations where traditional financial institutions are not available or trustworthy.

However, one case of an individual is not enough evidence to warrant the assertion. What may be asserted without evidence, may be dismissed without evidence (Hitchens's razor). Then again, the right to move freely is interdependent with the right for peaceful assembly, for which Posch and I find evidence that bitcoin can promote (see section 2.7).

2.5 The Right to Own Property

Article 17 states that everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

Posch takes a familial approach, arguing that women can own bitcoin discreetly, reducing the risks of their funds being confiscated by family members. Be that as it may, bitcoin does not amend such gender inequal family conditions. Bitcoin would be a niche solution in such a specific situation.

To my knowledge, there is no empirical evidence that the ownership of bitcoin has protected one from confiscation and property rights violations. Governments can use preventive repression, such as financial censorship and mass surveillance, more easily than reactive repression where government officials go threatening every citizen to turn over their private keys (Dragu & Lupu, 2021). Even in countries where Bitcoin has been banned, there have been no reports of the aforementioned reactive repression.

Still, in principle, without the private key, Bitcoin is harder to confiscate compared to traditional money and assets, promoting property rights. One can remember the 12-word password (private key), write it down on a paper and easily hide it, or use a hardware wallet, which requires a PIN code that cannot be brute-forced.

2.6 Freedom of Expression

Article 19 states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Posch mentions loose examples where funding opposition groups and protests with bitcoin could have been useful. In fact, there are nonviolent campaigns, businesses, and non-profit organisations that have received bitcoin, sometimes when other means of donating have failed (Figure 1). For them, bitcoin has turned out to be useful.

Yet, the important question remains how useful Bitcoin has de facto been to opposition groups and protestors. There is no evidence that bitcoin donations have significantly affected the momentum and survival of opposition groups, such as the La Lucha, Canadian Convoy Protest, and the Hong Kong 2019-2020 protests. Nonetheless, the most prominent and pertinent case is perhaps Wikileaks whom the U.S. silenced in an attempt to block whistleblower documents from being published. As a result, Wikileaks was the first organisation to accept bitcoin in 2011, and since then holds over 4,000 bitcoin.

Together with Posch, I argue that Bitcoin enables censorship-resistant transactions, and the free flow of financial information, promoting freedom of expression financially. Money is a form of speech that expresses value. When financial transactions are censored, it hinders or blocks one’s activities and ultimately silences them. Notably, Bitcoin has been explicitly banned in 9 states and implicitly banned in 42 states (Law Library of Congress, 2021). Because of the bans, states are effectively censoring people’s ability to potentially express themselves with bitcoin.

Figure 1. Nonviolent campaigns/movements, and organisations that have received bitcoin.

Country	Advocacy	Creation year	Nonviolent campaign
Nigeria	EndSARS; Feminist Coalition	2020	Yes
Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice	2010	Yes
Canada	Canadian Convoy Protest	2022	Yes
Congo	La Lucha	2011	Yes
Catalonia	Catalonia Referendum	2017	Yes
U.S.A.	Occupy Wall Street	2011	Yes
U.S.A.	Wikileaks	2006	NA
Belarus	Belarus Solidarity Foundation	2020	NA
Russia	Meduza	2014	NA
Russia	Anti-Corruption Foundation	2016	NA
Hong Kong	Hong Kong Freedom Press	2015	NA

2.7 The Right to Peaceful Assembly

Article 20 states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and no one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Posch refers to a Nigerian nonviolent protest named End SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad), whose demonstrations were supported by the Feminist Coalition. In 2020, their bank accounts were suddenly closed, and as a result, they started to accept bitcoin donations. Their donations went on to provide food, drinks and other needed support to the demonstrators (Posch, 2020).

Posch argues that freedom of association is closely linked to freedom of speech. That is, if financial surveillance prevents people from expressing their political views while associating with others who share their beliefs, then they are effectively deprived of political power. In addition, to exercise the right to peaceful assembly, one may need to move freely to meet with others in a public place. This could involve travelling from home or workplace to the assembly, such as protest or demonstration. If freedom of movement is restricted by measures like curfews or roadblocks, it can limit individuals from exercising their right to peaceful assembly.

Arguably, bitcoin as a censorship-resistant money can provide basic necessities during a protest, indirectly promoting peaceful assembly. For example, Canada blocked traditional crowdfund methods from funding the Convoy Protest. Consequently, they started to accept bitcoin donations, which Canada then deemed illegal, citing terrorism and money-laundering (Government of Canada, 2022). Finally, money enables access to public transport and ensures accommodation for those who live far from the assembly location or who may have disabilities. For example, for a fear of surveillance, citizens in Hong Kong did not use their metro cards, but instead bought their tickets from cash-only ticketing machines (Hui, 2019).

Both examples also demonstrate why privacy is important as one can be flagged as “aiding terrorists” or “doing money-laundering”, and surveilled for which one spends money. For more information, why privacy is fundamental to human liberties and especially the right to privacy, see Cohen (2013) and Rogaway (2015).

3. Discussion

The internet as a tool is deeply connected to the human rights just as Bitcoin. The internet provides unprecedented opportunities for the realisation of human rights. Just as Bitcoin enables people realise their human rights through financial means.

The Internet Rights and Principles Coalition (IRPC, 2014) argues that human rights should transcend to the digital realm. Reason being that the internet is becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. Therefore, it is critical that all actors, public and private, respect and protect human rights on the internet. Then, steps must be taken to ensure that the internet operates and evolves in ways that fully respect human rights (see also La Rue and Ehrenkrona 2010, as cited in Ziccardi, 2013, p. 127).

IRPC (2014) argued about the relation of the internet and human rights. Specifically, about universality and equality; rights and social justice; accessibility; expression and association; privacy; life, liberty and security; diversity; network equality; standards and regulation; and governance.

This is similar to what Posch and I have argued here. Certainly, if as nascent technology as the internet is considered a human right today, then surely Bitcoin is as well. Given that Bitcoin is built on top of the internet, then surely only by extension it is also a human right.

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As far as the rights and freedoms relate to money that would affect the ability to exercise the rights and freedoms properly, the analysis shows that Bitcoin promotes equality and dignity, freedom from discrimination, property ownership, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and movement. However, Bitcoin does not promote privacy as it is depressed by fungibility concerns.

Still, there is no evidence that bitcoin has significantly increased economic freedom in emerging economies; that bitcoin donations have significantly affected opposition groups’ progress; and that governments have tried to confiscate bitcoin but failed. Thus, more research is required to properly understand exactly to what extent bitcoin can promote human rights.

In general, technology can both support human rights and facilitate repression. States and non-state actors can impede human rights through surveillance and censorship, widen the digital divide, and create new forms of discrimination. In contrast, technology can also give people access to information, protect human rights activists, and advance economic and social rights.

Many still argue that bitcoin is a tool only for illicit financiers. In fact, a terrorist organisation Yaqub Foundations and North Korean hackers have funded their activities for harmful ends using bitcoin with additional anonymity tools. Still, in 2022, the transaction volume of illicit finance was at an extremely low 0.24% of total cryptoasset volume (Chainalysis, 2022b, 2023). Frankly, there will always be those who use technology for harmful ends, undermining human rights. The question is if governments should ban a particular technology from the majority if an extremely small minority uses it for harmful ends.

Using bitcoin for illicit activities can ultimately harm innocent individuals, and undermine human rights. However, more freedom equals more responsibility. That is, the more freedom we have, the more responsibility we also have to use that freedom wisely. While freedom can be liberating, it also comes with the burden of making responsible choices and taking accountability for the consequences of those choices. Arguably, there are more people who use the internet for good than bad, and there are more people who benefited from strong encryption and privacy, than not. Let us not let fear dictate our behaviour.

Notwithstanding, this does not mean that policy and regulation should be shied away from; on the contrary, it means that the right questions and right focus should be applied. For example, policymakers in North America and Europe are currently focusing on the ‘definition of Bitcoin’. This is wrong. They should focus on ‘How to avoid illicit finance’, regardless of whether people use bitcoin or dollars. Illicit finance occurred long before Bitcoin came into picture.

Policymakers must be cautious not to build a society without crime and safe from terrorist threats at the expense of personal freedom, leading to a authoritairan, Orwellian government (Goold, 2010). Policy-wise, overemphasising the link between cryptoassets and crime does not help in the effective distribution of law enforcement resources and fails to acknowledge the vast majority of legitimate crypto transactions. Overstating risks and disregarding benefits will not result in sensible policies (Schulp et al., 2023).

3.1 Future Research Suggestions

EDIT. 3th May, 2023. The Value-Neutrality Thesis asserts that technology is not inherently morally or politically good or bad, but merely a tool (Miller, 2021). For instance, Bitcoin can be used for harmful purposes, like financing illegal activities, or for beneficial ones, such as providing financial access to the unbanked population, or for nonviolent resistance to counter financial censorship, among other beenficial uses.

Many modern philosophers of technology disagree with this thesis, and it is unclear whether discussions about values in technology are simply rhetorical or have substantial empirical support with real-world consequences.

Miller demonstrates how values can be detected empirically in technology. These value-related discussions are important because the enduring nature of technological artifacts like Bitcoin leads to long-term effects that outlast their creators. Thus, this presents an avenue for future research: what kind long-term effects and values endure as Bitcoin evolves?

4. Conclusion

Assuming one holds the private keys, Bitcoin has the potential to promote freedom and equality, namely economic freedom (See also Ajiboye et al. (2019), Brito (2019), and Rueckert (2019)). However, but statistical evidence is needed to understand exactly to what extent it can promote economic freedom. In addition, more research has to be carried out to find out what are the necessary and sufficient conditions under which one can and cannot utilise bitcoin to realise its benefits (see ‘Bitcoin Empowerment Paradox in section 2.1). Furthermore, Bitcoin promotes freedom from discrimination by having inclusive access to the network, freedom of expression through censorship-resistant transactions, and the right to own property through its confiscation-resistance, and bitcoin helps people to realise their freedom of movement and assembly, to the extent transactions are kept technically private.

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Man sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

This comment by the 14th Dalai Lama inspired me in my search for a career after I read it for the first time at age 20. It was the time when I had to make the big career decisions and choose what to do after upper secondary school (lukio).

However, I think career development begins much sooner. Through socialization, our family and relatives ask us what we want to do when we grow up. Our upbringing plants the seeds of possibilities and impossibilities; the beliefs that we can or cannot be whatever we want to be.

I remember wanting to be a formula driver at age 6, astronaut and astrophysicist at age 13, visual effects artist and film editor at age 17, and psychologist and therapist at age 21. Now at age 25, I want to be a teacher and educator and work in politics. It appears that already at a young age we are reminded to think about our future career—questions about career concerns all ages. Thus, the ten lessons I tell you are applicable to anyone at any stage of their career.

While studying psychology, along the way I found new interests. Cognitive sciences, neuroscience, social sciences, and more. I had the opportunity to take a course in Perspective in Career Planning in Leiden University. Others thought the course a waste of time or weren't too excited about it altogether, but I liked it. Though I did not like it as if it was the best thing ever. I just think some articles had valuable lessons that I am now going to share with you and give stories from my own life.

Contents:

1. understand how luck works🍀
2. generate lucky events on which you can capitalize
3. embrace uncertainty
4. use rational and intuitive decision-making styles
5. good enough is the key to happiness
6. be aware of your (dis)advantages
7. believe in yourself you can do it
8. know that your personality matters
9. be aware of your outcome expectations
10. and be resilient

---

1. understand how luck works🍀

We weave a narrative to explain everything in terms of our own doing. But in fact favourable chance events, or in other words luck, for example economic situations, unexpected information, and unexpected personal events all account for your career development [4]. Sometimes chance can play a bigger role than you anticipated, so don't be guilty if your career benefited from chance. See also Veritasium’s video Is Success Luck or Hard Work?.

People think it has to be either skill or luck that explains success, but the truth is you need both. ― Veritasium

I was accepted to Leiden University in 2018 but I didn’t have a house to live in. I applied through university relatively late and therefore they did not offer me a room in the given price range. I traveled to the Netherlands in search of a room but no luck. Then two weeks before the start of the studies I called the university and they told me to call again after two days. I called and they offered me a room. I was lucky but I did not wait for luck like Gladstone Gander, instead I generated these three events (applying, traveling, calling) and the third time was the charm.

2. generate lucky events on which you can capitalize

Beneficial chance events, lucky coincidences, and happy accidents are events that come about through, for example, taking classes directly or remotely, getting to know and interacting with new people, and surfing the internet [4]. These events can lead you to places paramount to your career growth.

And as you network, don’t just make contacts, make friends. I recently found this Guide to Twitter where Tasshin mentions how Twitter is one of the best places to make new friends. See also Codus Operandi's piece about Luck Surface Area.

It turns out that Twitter is a wonderful place for finding friends. ― Tasshin

I've made good friends who could have helped me in different things, such as recommend me as research assistant, work in a start-up, or get an internship. I did not capitalize on these chance events because they were not in my interest at that moment. But it goes to show that having friends will lead you to new ideas and opportunities. Ask yourself, would you hire a stranger or a friend?

3. embrace uncertainty

Uncertainty is anxiety-inducing. Anxiety is normal when planning the future but it is possible to overcome it. And truth to be told, uncertainty is present despite having a seemingly stable career [4]. You can never know what out of the blue may happen next, as evidenced by the pandemic. And because the future and individual human behavior are impossible to predict, we should therefore humbly accept uncertainty.

My anxiety decreased the more diligently and earlier I prepared and worked toward a goal. I curiously explored possible Master’s studies during my second year of psychology studies. And as the time to apply was near, I found all the possible Master’s studies that I was interested in, ranked them according to my felt preference, “gut feeling”, and then applied accordingly. I wasn't anxious about the results during the application phase anymore because I had done my work toward finding what I was interested in, and also wrote good enough motivation letters.

4. use rational and intuitive decision-making styles

There are five decision-making styles [2,5]:

• logical and structured approach (rational style)
• reliance on feelings and impressions (intuitive style)
• reliance on the support of others (dependent style)
• postponing or avoiding making decisions (avoidant style)
• impulsive decision making (spontaneous style)

Dependent, avoidant, and spontaneous styles are all manifestations of nonproductive indecision. In contrast, people who combine both rational and intuitive decision-making styles are in the best place to make the best productive decisions.

It works as follows. First gather as much necessary information as possible, and then let unconscious thought processes carry out their task; that is, don't consciously mull and work on it. After a seemingly inactive period, you will get vague feelings, “gut feelings” rather than explicit thoughts about the direction you are going to follow. For more, see The Theory of Unconscious Thought.

Contrary to popular belief, decisions about simple issues can be better tackled by conscious thought, whereas decisions about complex matters can be better approached with unconscious thought. ― A. Dijksterhuis & L. Nordgren

I have used this method everywhere since I first learned about unconscious thought processes at age 20. I read a book called The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy. The book, and namely unconscious thought processes, helped me to choose to study psychology out of all other possible career paths.

I recount the feeling very strongly. Before I fell asleep, I asked myself the question 'what should I study' a dozen times. When I woke up, I had forgotten about it and went on about my morning. As I was about to make a sandwich, I remember vividly how my mind emanated the words and prompted a cocksure feeling that inspired me to study either law or psychology. (Sounds schizophrenic I know!)

5. good enough is the key to happiness

Having too many or too few options can make you less happy [5]. It is a U-shaped relationship: having limited options is the best, the goldilock zone. Too few options suck, while too many options lead to paradox of choice, which can lead to regret because people want to maximize their options. In other words, the feeling that you could've had or done better because you knew there was or was going to be a better alternative. It all makes sense in hindsight, right?

The key to happiness is to limit desires, and then be happy about the mundane things that you get for free.

I could've applied to a dozen different Master's programmes across Europe. But I limited my options by applying to Finnish programmes that had interesting courses.

In the end I planned to apply to five Master's programmes. Whilst writing a motivation letter I decided not to pursue neuroscience. I was rejected from two programmes, and then finally accepted to the peace programme. Consequently, I decided not pursue clinical psychology because the peace programme was good enough.

6. be aware of your (dis)advantages

People are born to a time, place and parents that they did not choose, with varied weaknesses and strengths that their upbringing and genetics dictate. So described, there exists real limitations, personal and contextual factors that potentially limit what you can and cannot do [4]. Limitations notwithstanding, focus on the positive, the advantages that you can use in your favor.

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. ― The Last Lecture

I was born in a welfare country and to a family that is not nuts. And I think this is possibly one of the greatest eras in human history to live in. A dozen potential human extinction events in the future and present negative news in the media notwithstanding, humans around the globe, on average, are doing much better now than they ever were in the past. (Then again, humans are doing well, but what about other animals and environment?)

(For more, read Factfulness by Hans Rosling and Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know by Ronald Bailey and Marian Tupy.)

Finally, in the past five years through healthy interpersonal comparison and meditative self-reflection, I have begun to understand my personal strengths and weaknesses that I am not going to elaborate and list further.

7. believe in yourself you can do it

Self-efficacy simply refers to your belief that you can do it. It is extremely important in career development as it is strongly and inversely correlated to career indecision [1]. The more you believe in yourself that you can do it, the better you are at making the decision. Check out the 4 Ways To Improve And Increase Self-Efficacy by Positive Psychology.

[Luke:] I can't believe it. [Yoda:] That's why you fail.

Before applying to entrance exams in psychology in Turku, I had high self-efficacy. After the results I was disappointed to hear that I wasn’t accepted. My belief in my own abilities hit rock bottom. I didn't fix it by trying again because I was afraid of failure. Instead I decided to apply abroad. Studying psychology abroad certainly rebuilt my self-efficacy. I actually had enough confidence to apply to Turku again, but by then I had set my mind to other options.

8. know that your personality matters

The Big Five personality test can predict important life outcomes. High conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness, and low neuroticism are shown to be related to successful career development [1]. Get to know yourself better through these free tests:

• http://www.personal.psu.edu/~j5j/IPIP/
• https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test
• http://www.personalitytest.org.uk/
• https://www.sapa-project.org/ (very long)
• https://similarminds.com/bigfive.html

When I was 20 I did the Meyer-Briggs personality test. It inspired me, and motivated me to study psychology. I later learned that it wasn't a scientifically proven test. Whatever, because it helped me to understand myself better. Notwithstanding, I now recommend Big-5 personality tests given it is a more scientifically rigorous and more accurate picture of your personality. Then again, you can take the MBTI test to find career inspiration while knowing that it does not reflect your personality.

9. be aware of your outcome expectations

Outcome expectations can take the shape of social, material, and self-evaluative forms. Is it good for my family? Is it good for us financially? Is it good for me? What will happen if I try?

These questions can dictate your behavior [1]. If you think that the outcome is going to be bad, you have already given into pessimism and defeatism that feeds further surrender and inaction. In contrast, if you remain positive and optimistic, there is a larger probability that the outcome is going to be favorable.

While the quote below by Lao Tzu is a slippery slope, psychological science tells us that outcome expectations (thoughts) can influence our actions significantly. I don't know if they can influence your “destiny”.

Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny. ― Lao Tzu

Going to the Netherlands meant leaving family and friends behind, spending money on tuition, and studying psychology that would not promise me the title of psychologist. Alternatively, it also meant new friends and experiences, investing in myself namely education, and opening new opportunities in career development.

10. and be resilient

Given that adverse unexpected events can happen anytime during your career development, it is extremely important to be resilient. To bounce back from adversity, you have to be nimble, protean, and resilient. Career resilience naturally increases as you age and gain experience through the process of persisting, adapting, and flourishing despite challenges, changes, and disruptions over time [3].

Next, notice which personal and contextual factors you can improve to increase career resilience, but also which factors may hinder or block your career growth.

Personal factors:

• individual's characteristics (The Big-5, internal locus of control, self-efficacy, self-esteem)
• skills (technical competence, time management, interpersonal and communication skills)
• attitudes (optimism/pessimism)
• behavior and habits (physical exercise, self-care, help-seeking, learning about the organization's culture, professional development)
• career history (prior experience)

Contextual factors:

• supportive workplace (supervisory support, peer support, psycho-social mentoring, career mentoring, supportive organizational policies)
• job characteristics (autonomy, feedback)
• supportive family (spouse/partner support, emotionality of partner)

Together personal and contextual factors form a bidirectional relationship affecting each other. These two then together affect career resilience that impacts your career satisfaction, intentions to change careers, and subjective career success.

In the summer of 2021, I was cutting grass in several districts and motor roads. Then the company hired another person to cut grass. It didn’t take long until I realized that there wasn’t enough work for everybody. (It was a hot and dry summer that burnt the grass.) I made the uncertain, short-term decision to change jobs, and one week later I got a call to work on excavation.

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I end this post with my second favourite quote that I live by:

“If you don't know where you want to go, then it doesn't matter which path you take.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

References

[1]. Lent, R. W. & Brown, S. D. (2013). Social Cognitive Model of Career Self-Management: Toward a Unifying View of Adaptive Career Behavior Across the Life Span. Journal of counseling psychology, 60(4), 557-568. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033446

[2]. Lipshits-Braziler, Y., Gati, I. & Tatar, M. (2015). Strategies for coping with career indecision: Concurrent and predictive validity. Journal of vocational behavior, 91, 170-179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.10.004

[3]. Mishra, P. & McDonald, K. (2017). Career Resilience: An Integrated Review of the Empirical Literature. Human Resource Development Review, 16(3), 207-234. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484317719622

[4]. Mitchell, K. E., Al Levin, S. & Krumboltz, J. D. (1999). Planned Happenstance: Constructing Unexpected Career Opportunities. Journal of counseling and development, 77(2), 115-124. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1999.tb02431.x

[5]. van Vianen, A. E. M., De Pater, I. E. & Preenen, P. T. Y. (2009). Adaptable Careers: Maximizing Less and Exploring More. The Career development quarterly, 57(4), 298-309. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2009.tb00115.x

#essay #psychology #experiences

Over the past four years, I have been reluctant to write, but I have had the desire. I pay fifty euros every year to eliminate the technical obstacles. Now I face challenges in blogging, and it is not the creative writer's block or procrastination.

The challenges I face now is little traffic, post length, attention economy, privacy, and value and originality. The challenges are likely all interrelated, which means that they impact one another in meaningful ways. Therefore, solving one challenge may solve the others too.

1. little traffic

I see statistics about how many people read my posts. The reason for low numbers lie mainly in an unspecified topic, and my lack of advertising and networking, and inconsistent publishing.

1.1. vague topic

I haven't made up my mind as to what I should write about after three and half years. I don't know why somebody would read my blog if it is something “simple” like how Bitcoin works. There are countless other blogs that write about it and maybe even better than I ever could. (See WORDS Bitcoin Journal)

This brings to my main point: I am not an expert in anything but my own life. This is the reason my blog over time has grown into a journal and a story of my “exciting” student life. And there is only so much I can write about my adventures. I realize I should write about something niche that I enjoy putting my free time into, if I wanted to increase view counts.

1.2. lack of sharing

I don't advertise and share my blog, because I don't have a specific, niche topic that a certain audience would return to read. I don't know who to advertise my blog to except my family, friends, and colleagues. Mainly because it is indeed about my life. As a result, I get little visitors.

If I had a niche topic, that would open the possibility for me and others to share it to like-minded, interested people. My life is honestly not that interesting.

1.3. inconsistent publishing

I don' publish consistently and so people don't return unless I notify them through other channels. I don't publish consistently because I don't know what I should write about. I can't write about my life all the time, and I don't have a topic outside of myself that I know what to write about consistently.

Focus on writing freq over anything else. Schedule it. Don’t worry about building an immediate audience. Focus on the intrinsic. @andrewchen

2. post length

I sometimes want to write short pieces, like 300-word articles, but I have the feeling that it is too short. In contrast, long 2000-word articles are too long and people don't have the time to read them.

For SEO don't write short articles (>2000 words). @ferrucc

3. attention economy

Given the addicting social media, competing against attention economy is not that great. Why would people read my blog when they can get their good-feeling neurotransmitters off TikTok? Perhaps my audience then is not them. Because if it were, I am using the wrong medium to reach them.

No one has time to read your article, write the first lines like they're a TLDR. @ferrucc

Am I even competing in first place given that I have no agenda that I am pushing, neither am I trying to win something, or clickbaiting in the hopes of increased ad revenue?

4. privacy

What can I share? How much can I share? Can my words be used against me out of context? What are the negative consequences of my blog posts? These questions are in my head and I don't know the answers.

What may be the most universal answer for all bloggers is to not write profanity or humbug, do their research, share only what they feel comfortable with, and know that their digital footprint will last there for decades if not forever.

5. value and originality

This is perhaps the biggest reason as to why I am reluctant to write. I think that whatever I write is just a rehash and therefore not original. What is the value in a paraphrased copy? Then again if I truly wanted to write something original that would mean researching a topic for months and then write a piece about it. I don't have time for that either.

Why would people read my stuff? Because they find my work clear, organized, persuasive, and valuable. But if it is just a rehash, why would it be valuable? Because for me it may be unoriginal and already known, but for others it may be the first time they've heard of it. Therefore, whatever little thing I post, it can be of value to someone.

There’s always room for high-quality thoughts/opinions. Venn diagram of people w/ knowledge and those we can communicate is tiny. @andrewchen

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Given the five challenges I've encountered—lack of niche topic and sharing, article length, attention economy, privacy, and value and originality—the central one is definitely the niche topic.

I think that when I find what I am excited to write about, everything else will come after. I will share more aggressively because I know there is value and originality in my writing. Privacy is not an issue anymore given that it is not about me anymore. Competition becomes easier when I establish myself as an expert of some topic. And as a result of an exciting topic, post length will naturally find itself long.

Writing has made me a better thinker and researcher. I expand on my reasons why. @gregorygundersen

Here are some helpful resources and inspiring blogs that I sometimes read that I've found over the four years of blogging.

resources

1. https://andrewchen.com/professional-blogging/
2. https://robertheaton.com/2018/12/06/a-blogging-style-guide/
3. https://idiallo.com/blog/im-bored-what-do-i-do
4. http://gregorygundersen.com/blog/2020/01/12/why-research-blog/
5. https://ferrucc.io/posts/starting-a-blog/
6. http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/how-to-write-in-plain-english.html
7. https://www.preetamnath.com/blog/why-you-should-write
8. https://buomsoo-kim.github.io/learning/2020/03/30/Craft-of-writing-effectively.md/
9. https://mae.ufl.edu/designlab/Online%20Resources_files/Technical%20Writing%202.pdf
10. William Zinsser – On Writing Well
11. William Strunk – The Elements of style

blogs

1. http://paulgraham.com/index.html
2. https://matt.might.net/articles/
3. https://eiko-fried.com/
4. https://www.gwern.net/index
5. https://blog.ncase.me/archive/
6. https://zenhabits.net/
7. https://www.benkuhn.net/
8. https://danluu.com/
9. https://dynomight.net/

Have you noticed that consistent, right behavior is required to provide something of value. Routinely investing, exercising, painting, composing, and whatever, and if you keep doing it consistently—regularly and every day—you become a master at it and reap the maximum gains. This hold true for consistent lazy behavior too that is a path to becoming the very best procrastinator. I would know.

So described, consistency/constancy implies regularly occurring phenomena that repeats itself. Human behavior notwithstanding, I can also see consistency in far more exciting and less mundane things. For example, mathematics is the most reliably consistent phenomenon there is. One plus one is three. It is absolutely exact. The end. I think that is astonishingly beautiful.

Computer code without bugs is consistent and has predictable outcomes. For example, depending on the difficulty height and change, Bitcoin pushes constantly out new blocks approximately every ten minutes, as per its code.

fractal

Even as complex as nature is seemingly consistent as evidenced by chaos—constistent feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, fractals, and self-organization.

In addition to the fractal illustration above, fractals are also tree branches spreading out sporadically in the sky, waves splashing violently on a rock and dispersing quietly, and thick smoke dissolving in thin particles in the air. In chaos lies certain familiar consistency.

Relatedly, cycle of birth and death that is shared across the living and non-living organisms, is beautifully constant across time and place.

Moreover, my consciousness—the quality or state of being aware especially of something within myself—is continuously and consistently built out of stimuli that my basic human senses pick from internal and external world. Then my brain decodes and encodes the stimuli and creates consciousness. To be conscious and alive is one of the most underrated reason to be grateful for.

Consistency in art, like symmetry, is pleasant to look at. Then again abstract art can be chaotic just like nature. Chaotic parts in abstract art are in agreement with each other, thus harmony emerges as a whole.

Art is also films, and therefore films that violate continuity are not consistent across the plot anymore. For example, the multitude of plot holes in last few seasons of Game of Thrones TV series lost its continuity.

Continuity is also broken in music when the rhythm breaks and becomes inconsistent. That is why you hear similar-sounding music decade over decade because people are afraid to break cliché, old patterns because, after all, they work.

Mental impairments like depression show abnormal neural activity as evidenced by brain studies. It is not consistent with an ordinarily-functioning brain activity. Though can any brain activity really be inconsistent, given that the brain adapts to situations that demand such activity to survive however maladaptive it is?

So described, human behavior, mathematics, nature, consciousness, art and design, musical rhythm, films, and mental impairments all show consistency. I think it is everywhere we look.

But logic of some women are not always consistent, however. Then again, if she is chaotic then it has consistent elements, as evidenced by chaos theory. (Sorry for the blatantly bland and cliché gender stereotype of women which is obviously not true.)

#essay

I spit upon it because it makes me allergic. I dislike it strongly from the bottom of my heart and curse it to all eternity. I absolutely detest and hate it, the abomination that it is. What is it? Keep on reading.

Inspired by my friend, I realized it is more fascinating to hear when mundane things are disliked than liked. Even more so if the language is more extreme. For example, I absolutely love sports and chocolate but the reasons for it are boringly predictable. Both alleviate stress, replenish energy, and improve cognition and/or mood. We know this, and if not, we have at least heard of this. (And if you haven’t heard of it, now you have.) Frankly, I don't care if you like chocolate or sports. The odds are that you do like chocolate, though less so about sports.

In contrast, when I hear that somebody hates exercise or chocolate, I am flabbergasted and conflicted, which consequently piques my interest and I want to know more. After all, exercising and chocolate are perceived as a good thing by almost everyone, so naturally it makes me wonder why somebody would not like them. Even more so if the other person's words do not express healthy preference or disapproval but passionate hate and regret.

Drawing myself and another person on a Venn diagram visualizes and compares our agreements and disagreements. And I am certain that people share more than they think, which is exactly the reason why I think it is more fascinating to look at where we differ than what we share. The larger a specific dislike gap between us is, the more motivated I am to find out why. Especially if the dislike deviates not only from me but also of the general population, the status quo, and the average.

Mind you that perceiving only differences, whatever tangible or intangible they are, and forming opinions of them can absolutely become harmful. It can become harmful if debates about different opinions lead to me categorising the other person as “one of those people”.

Therefore, I emphasize that we humans are much, much more similar than we are dissimilar. And so the practice of talking about differences is fine as long as we remember our similarities and as long as the outcome does no harm. Otherwise a slippery slope to stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination can happen. I am not concerned about people who use a wide range of verbs and adjectives. I am concerned about those who only use the hate word, because it indicates that the person is not flexible enough to think about his or her attitudes and actions.

If you like and love something: nice. I like and love a myriad of things. Notwithstanding the importance of common hobbies, likes and whatnot between two like-minded people, it is like I said: of themselves, the commonalities are sometimes not as interesting compared to the differences. Heated debates and strong opinions are interesting is all I am saying.

So described, strong opinions and their expression through stern, colorful language is fun and extremely compelling but only up to a point. And I do not know where the point of acceptable threshold lies, except that it cannot verbally harm anyone. So yeah, that said, fuck Tinder.

#essay

I live in Vaasa, Finland now. I have a group of friends from Canada, the U.S, and Belgium. Or was it France? That guy never made up his mind about his national identity. The Canadian lass has Scottish ancestry and knows how to make super delicious white bread. And the guy from the States actually has a Finnish passport, which means that upon arriving to Finland, the military asked him to join conscription. Ironic that he went to study peace but instead was given a rifle.

What an odd bunch of people we are. Anyway, after the turn of the year, a young woman from Turkey, a middle-aged Irish guy from Finland, and a young Finn-Swede(?) guy move to Vaasa. I think we are going to need more chairs and cutlery if we are going to keep hosting our weekly dinners. Also card games are going to get interesting with more players.

So I mostly spend my daily life behind a laptop screen, lifting dumbbells, in ice-cold sea, and with friends. I have also spent time chatting and calling with a girl I met last spring who is now studying abroad. But we did not want the same things, so it was in our best interest to put distance to our relationship. That was honestly the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Love can be ecstatic and agonizing at times.

Sad. Anyway, what are my thoughts on the courses and the programme as a whole so far? If my experiences of Leiden University and its bachelor programme can be assumed comparable enough, then I would say that the PEACE programme is somewhat blah. For one, all the courses lack—perhaps because of online format—meaningful social interaction like highly needed networking, sharing knowledge, and understanding worldviews of different nationalities and lived experiences. Or, the fault may lie in lack of pedagogical education for some educators as one of my friends reasoned.

Online format sucks now more than it did in my bachelor studies. Back then it was super great but now I am tired. Given that the online sessions are lectures and debates, it is important to speak up. But people do not initiate and participate in discussion online as much as I would wish (me included), interrupting feels super inorganic compared to face-to-face, and don't get me started about technical difficulties.

Continuing with my complaints, the programme has only one quantitative research course, which was one of the worst “statistics” courses I have ever taken. The course is a huge flop.

Lastly, from the three canceled courses for next semester, one would have been an absolute must course called Negotiation and mediation: Essential strategies and skill. Currently there is one identical course in Tampere for one month but its schedule conflicts with other courses I am taking. Perhaps next academic year is better.

Shortcomings notwithstanding, there is a lot of good in this programme too. Indeed, I have become aware of things that I would never have realized otherwise and I have learned quite a bit too. I think? I forget a lot too.

So far I have taken the following courses from the best to the absolute worst: Introduction to Peace and Conflict Research, Humanism and Peace Work, Power of Nonviolence, Psychology of Evil, Gender Equality, and Test Construction.

To synthesize all six courses respectively in one sentence, I would say that the most striking things I've learned is that killing a fellow human being face-to-face apparently does not come natural to a soldier without conditioning as evidenced by war case studies and clinical psychology; the real threat of several existential threats notwithstanding, when looking through the lens of humanism and data we are de facto progressing toward a better future; using asymmetric warfare, namely nonviolent methods are the best way for normal people to use against those who use violence like dictators; and moral disengagement is the biggest reason why normal people do evil things. I did not learn anything from Gender Equality, Media and Peace and Test Construction. Rubbish, absolute waste of time.

Next semester is going to be interesting. After Christmas I will spend time with a dude between 6 and 14 years old as part of a volunteering program by the Mannerheim league for child welfare. That ought to be interesting. I hope to find a suitable Master's thesis topic though I am currently gravitating toward Bitcoin as a nonviolent movement and method. I want to meditate daily again. I want to learn Estonian. I want to find a relevant internship in Finland or elsewhere. I want to keep learning guitar and sing songs.

In the sauna where I go twice a week with my Belgian-French friend, I was called a person who has its future ahead. She asked if I know where I want to be in the future. I don't know was and will be my answer. Predicting human behavior and predicting the future is an equation with myriad variables that is impossible to calculate. This applies even to my very own behavior. Every year is so unpredictably scary and anxiety-inducing yet predictably beautiful and exciting.

However, that does not mean I am aimlessly wandering or that I have no dreams. (Then again if I do not know which way to go, does it then matter what path I take?) I am where I need to be and doing things that I like. Besides, building a career is always a neverending exploration and self-discovery, so there is no specific end that I am after. Fundamentally people have a strong need to belong. In that sense, my dream is to find a group of people that do meaningful things especially toward people's wellbeing and flourishing—for example peace building. My French-Belgian friend said that my dream was awfully close to Nazis. Nein!

autumn colors

replot bridge #university #finland #peace