Field Notes
Mini documentaries in text: observations on communication, language, football culture, AI, systems and life in Mexico.
The Best Systems Disappear
You never notice the systems that work. You only feel the ones that do not. Invisibility is the highest compliment a system can earn.
OXXO Is Not a Convenience Store. It’s Mexico’s Operating System.
I arrived thinking OXXO sold water and aspirin. I left seeing it as infrastructure: the physical layer Mexico’s digital economy quietly runs on, and a near-perfect lesson in how modernization actually happens.
The Genius of “Ahorita”
Ahorita means now, soon, later, or never, and somehow everyone knows exactly which. It is not vague. It is a different theory of time.
The Literal Translation of "No Mames" Is the Least True Thing About It
Some phrases aren’t words, they’re compressed culture. Translate the words and you lose everything that made them matter.
What Football Chants Reveal About Humans
Tens of thousands of strangers, no rehearsal, perfect sync. Chants are the purest communication system we have, and nobody designed them.
Why AI Still Doesn’t Understand Emotion
Models can name an emotion flawlessly and still completely miss it. Recognition isn’t understanding, and the difference is everything.
Living in Mexico Changed My View of Communication
I moved for the language. I stayed because it rewired how I think about clarity, warmth, and what a conversation is actually for.
The Problem With Literal Translation
Literal translation is the most confident way to be completely wrong. It preserves the words and quietly deletes the meaning.
Beginner Energy
The most valuable state I know is being visibly, cheerfully bad at something in public. Beginner energy is a superpower we’re taught to hide.
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Observations on communication, language, culture, AI and systems. The same thinking behind everything here, sent when there’s something worth saying. No growth hacks. No noise.
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