Fabian Schonholz’s Blog

2008 has been a hard year for me. Not hard in the sense of bad, but hard in the sense of long, with comings and goings, hardships and uncertainties, a number of disappointments and many changes. And through all the year’s developments, my wife and kids have been there for me. I am one lucky guy.

The year started well enough with the new job. Zumbox is live so I can discuss it openly. Zumbox is an alternative to the traditional postal service. The best way to explain it is in the following manner: “95%+ of the mail you receive in your mailbox starts life electronically; why print it”. There are a number of efficiencies that are gained by using Zumbox; one of them is the environmental impact. Now, I do not mean to sound too eco-friendly, so I will present the environmental impact from a cost savings point of view: No printing saves not only trees, but money. And postage is a fraction of what the postal service is. To make matters even more attractive, there is no need to have a bunch of warehouses for mail sorting and staging, etc.

We spent the whole year building the product; starting with product definitions, graphic design, technology strategy, software architecture, modules design, systems architecture and design, implementation, so on and so forth. It was not always easy, especially during design changes, but we pulled through and we have an incredible product. The first version of the product was launched on 08/08/2008. It was a private beta from which we learned a great deal. The second and current version was launched on December 10th. And … you ain’t seen nothing yet!!! We have a bunch of product enhancements and features in the pipeline.. We are now on our beta period. Being part of Zumbox is very exciting. We are changing the world. Or a least a part of it. We also have an incredible team.

On July 15th we moved from Torrance to Thousand Oaks. We had been living in the South Bay for the last 12 years. I liked it a lot. I had built a good set of friends and my wife’s family, all of it, lives there as well. Family gatherings were easy. Not only friends  and family where close by, but business associates as well. I was finally rebuilding my consulting practice. Taking the job in Westlake Village meant at least a one and a half hour commute each way. It killed not only my emerging consulting business but time with my kids and wife. Not to say that part of getting the job was predicated on moving. So we moved.

Finding a suitable house was not easy. I must have seen over one hundred different properties. Some of them too crappy. Some of them too expensive, etc. And from the subset I selected, my wife had to choose one. We finally set on a nice property in Wildwood. A nice double cul-de-sac with an awesome back yard and good neighbors. We decided to rent and the renting process was too painful. I am not going to go into details, but let’s just say, it was not a pleasant experience. The actual moving was not so bad. We took a few weeks to pack and then, all in one day, we moved.

Now … the house in Torrance needed to be rented. My wife wanted to sell, but with the financial markets the way they were, selling was not a good idea. Not only that, I wanted to have an income property anyway.  The house needed to be fixed before it was rented; and a job that was supposed to take a week and a few thousand dollars ended up taking over a month and several thousands of dollars. In the process I lost two prospective renters that would have paid well. I guess it was not meant to be. It took us a while to rent the house but we finally did to a very nice couple. All the while until it was rented, we were paying rent and the mortgage. So … the house was finally rented.

There were a series of similar experiences through the rest of the year. I really do not want to go into them. They all, so far, ended well and we are the better for it; but each experience took a little bit out of me. And each taken little bit, I have not gotten back yet. I guess what does not kill you makes you stronger.

On the people side of things, I was disappointed by a few people that I held in high esteem and regard. People that shared most of my values or so I thought. It makes me truly sad. I think about how I felt about these people and the energy I invested in building a friendship and how that was wasted. It is not that I was expecting something in return. My expectations are more about longevity and familiarity. I am sure they are as disappointed in me as I am in them. Still, it does not change how I feel… life goes on.

Not all was doom and gloom … There are a few experiences that transpired this year that are very good …

I had stayed in touch with an ex-boss of mine. We fished together, got drunk together, and went to Mexico together and always had a good time. We always discussed that we needed to work together again. Finally the opportunity arose and I was able to hire him. Pat is not the easiest guy in the world, but he is an awesome person and I am glad he is my right hand. He had a hard time this year as well and I did the best I could to support him and stand by him. Hopefully it helped.

I reconnected with Ron. When Pat and I worked together, Ron reported to Pat and I reported to Ron. Ron and I had also a grand time back then. When I moved to Thousand Oaks, I moved only couple of miles from Ron and of course, we resume our friendship. Ron and Georgia are great; and both my wife and I feel very lucky to count them as our friends. Now … I did not know Ron is a musician. When I was a kid I spent 3 years at a music conservatory. And throughout my life I have been on-again-off-again involved in music. From very involved to not whatsoever. When Ron and I reconnected, he reintroduced me to music and ever since I have spent a great deal of time playing and studying guitar. I focused for a while on blues; now, I have also added classical. Music has always filled my heart with joy. This time is no exception. I am even somewhat teaching my children. I have to thank Ron and Georgia for it. Now … the draw back of my music obsession is that I have spent no time with photography or writing. But … it is still a creative outlet for me and that works.

Kort and Debbie … well … I really enjoy them. We became friends through our daughters.  Our connection is also music. They are great people so I feel that the connection through music is an excuse to hang out and a common point. If that connection did not exist, I still would feel the same way.

The move to Thousand Oaks has not been bad; as a matter of fact, it has been very good. It has changed a great deal of our behavior and daily activities. My wife loves it. We have cultivated great friendships. My workmates are good and intelligent. My boss - Bob - is also very intelligent and we enjoy some good discussions. My kids are flourishing and both are in the school’s honor roll. Not only that, they are really much happier than they were before.

But for as good as the move was, we now do not spend as much time with Dan and Sheryl. I miss them. Both have helped us in ways that I can not begin to thank them or replay them. And not just this last year … ever since we met them. I wish we could see them more often and spend time with them.

On a completely different note .. I do not want to forget to mention Guido. Last, but not least. I am not a faithful person. I do not blindly believe in anybody or anything, except for my wife and Guido. Beyond him being my business partner, he is my FRIEND.

So, in closing … during this year I have experienced a good share of hardship and uncertainties. Financially, it was also a hard year but I began to recover towards the end of the year. And needless to say, the economic downturn did not help. But it was also a year filled with good experiences as well. A year of reconnecting with all friends and fulfilling certain wills. A year of meeting new folks that enrich us daily. A year of hard work with some big wins.

Happy New Year to you all. May 2009 bring only good things.

Fabian E. Schonholz

For a while now, I have been concerned with Ethics and Morality. What they mean,  how they relate to each other, how humanity interprets and implements them, whether they extend beyond humanity and planet Earth, the history of Ethics and Morality and how they have evolved through time. Ethics and Morality did not start with Greece and the classic period, but for all accounts, at least as far as I know, the concepts were formalized then.

I have spent a few weeks now reading definitions. In the original version of this post, I had included a few of them. But then the post became too technical and about definitions rather than discussion and intellectual investigation. Moreover, I encountered contradicting definitions from different sources. I am enclosing a summary of the encountered definitions since they provides a frame of reference for the rest of the post:

• In one set of definitions Ethics was defined as the study of Morality, while Morality as the study of Ethics.

• A second set defined Ethics as the study of Morality and Morality as “the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior”.

• A third definition defines Ethics as the study of “what is good and what is bad and how it applies to behavior” and Morality as the study of Ethics.

Now you see the problem. The first definitions create a circular reference. It defines one in terms of the other and provides no scope as to what the true nature of these words really is. The second and the third are in direct conflict with each other. One defines Ethics in terms of what the other defines Morality.

My concern with these concepts goes beyond definitions, meanings and interpretations. I often argue that humans as a specie has yet to develop intellectually. We lack vision and imagination to truly incorporate time expanses of trillions of years and distances of billions of light years. And along those limitations, we lack the capacity to understand the true nature of the universe. Moreover, we have developed this limitation in the tongues we speak and write.

I try to think outside the box. I try, with some level of success, to think beyond the intellectual limitations inherent to humanity. Not because I am more intelligent, but because at least I recognize the limitations are there and I attempt to break through them. At the risk of sounding conceited and arrogant, if Einstein did it, so can I. In trying to break through the limitations I often try to organize concepts in hierarchies. Proof of my limitation is that I have started to think in trillions of years and billions of light years, while time and space are infinite; and no matter how I reconstruct my hierarchies, I can not visualize and internalize this infinity. But slowly, I am getting there.

Ethics and Morality are part of this thinking outside the box and organization. Just as Mathematics (I will argue the universality of Mathematics in a separate post) and mathematical concepts are true here on Earth, as in the Moon, Alpha-Centauri or 100’s light years away in any direction, other constructs and concepts must be as well. So, if the concept of  1 + 1 = 2 here on Earth or 10 Billion light years away holds, so does the concept of Good and Bad. However, before we can define this concept we need a framework.

Looking back at the summary of definitions above, I subscribe to the second one:

“… defined Ethics as the study of Morality and Morality as ‘the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior’”

This definition provides a workable framework for the way I see Ethics and Morality. Ethics is an abstract concept while Morality deals with specifics. In other words, Ethics is a theory, a collection of ideas and concepts that describe esoterically a state of being, while Morality is the implementation of the theory. There is no weight in Ethics. There is no judgement in Ethics. There is no bias in Ethics, just the description of how to build a system of moral values, whatever these values may be. On the other hand, Morality is all about weight, judgement and bias. Morality is the implementation of an ethical system.

The table below is provided as an example of other conceptual and implementation associations in the hopes that it will clarify the argument above:

From the definition and table above I have established that Ethics is a theoretical construct while Morality is its individual implementations. Thus, what follows is that there is more than one morality, which indeed there are.
If we want to think of Morality as a complete concept, whether or not as an implementation of Ethics, we need to think of it as a collection of individual moralities. These moralities, in the majority of cases, are based on religious or cultural basis. We can consider a Christian Morality, which in itself could be considered a collection of individual moralities following the different Christian splinters (Roman Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, Church of England, etc.) Similarly, a Jewish Morality may follow an alike pattern and be a collection or moralities in the same form as Christian Morality. So on and so forth. (But, outside of religious based moralities, what other moralities can we find? We will come back to this later.)

These moralities all deal with specific behaviors. In the case of Judaism, in particular within the orthodox communities, there are 613 Mitzvoth (commandments) that must be followed and observed. A portion of these are regarding good: “You Shall”, and a portion regarding not good:”You Shall Not”. These commandments are the basis for a behavior and the compendium of moral codes. Yes, I am equating commandments to behaviors, but that is exactly what a commandment is: a discrete behavior. A commandment is a quantifiable action and the collection of quantifiable actions represents a behavior(s). I will assume that Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, etc., follow a similar pattern of commandments and behaviors. Furthermore, while I do equate commandments or compendiums of moral codes to behaviors, I am not equating religion and dogma with morality. This distinction is important.

Does Ethics deal with good and bad? Or Good and Evil? This is an important question. In my opinion no it does not. However, when discussing Ethics we normally fall into discussion of good and bad, Good or Evil. Why is that? Because our inability to maintain a level of abstraction. Based on the above definition: “ … Ethics as the study of Morality …” we can clearly see another reason why we fall into identifying Ethics with good and bad, Good and Evil, it seems implicit in the definition since Morality is defined as the study of good and bad “behaviors”. What seems implicit, it may not be.

Athenians and Spartans shared the same logical bases and by at large the same code of Ethics. But their moralities had points of difference. While Sparta condoned euthanasia, Athens repelled it. The moralities of the two city-states where based on the same set of religious beliefs, the same set of logics, same philosophical backgrounds and bases of governments. However, Spartans, based on their needs supported the systematic disposal of undesirable genetics traits by killing new-borns that did not measure up. Today, we would consider this practice evil. But that would be our morality speaking and not Ethics.

To summarize

• Ethics is the theory of actions and behaviors that can lead to good and bad, Good and Evil. However, it does not label any of the identified actions and good or bad, Good or Evil. It also deals with the concept of good and bad, Good and Evil but does not create an association between actions and these concepts.

• Morality creates associations between actions and behaviors and good and bad, Good and Evil. These associations are normally built in the context of religious dogma and culture.

• Ethics is universal. Since it does not deal with associations, the concepts can be transposed to any part of the Universe without loosing validity.

The exceptions that prove the rule

There are two questions that I will not answer, but are pertinent to the topic in this post:

1. When we talk about business and the concepts of good and bad, we discuss them in the context of Business Ethics. However, isn’t this the case of a mislabeled morality?
2. Is “truth” (not THE TRUTH) part of Ethics or Morality?

Message from Fabian Schonholz:

Hello all. I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and photo galleries I have posted on this blog. A few weeks ago I decided to separate my blog into two sites:

1. This site (http://www.fabianschonholz.com) where I will keep on hosting my blog posts focusing on phylosophy and business writtings.
2. A photo blog site (http://www.schonphotos.com) where I will not only host my photo galleries, but provide links to those interested in buying copies of my photos.

Part of my decision has come as I am trying to develop my photography business and not wanting to use this site for that. I rather keep things separate as I will be developing an online marketing strategy around the photo site that hopefully will bring the level of revenues I would like.

Part of my decision has come as a means to provide more focus to both sites. On one hand it was easy to have all in one place. On the other, however, if you like my writings why should you deal with my photos? And if you like my photos, why should you deal with my writings? If you like both, well … I am so sorry, but you will have to go to two separate sites.

In the end, I think that the separation is more for me and the way I like to do things.

Again, I hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy my photos in the new site; and I hope you all keep on reading my posts and comment, specially if you bring a challenge.

Fabian Schonholz.

For the nerds like me out there … classic newsgroup post. Very cool.

Click here for post

“Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.”

Sometimes I wonder …

Klaus Holzapfel of the Movie Bakery is running an online charity for Christmas based on videos they put together. It is easy to participate: Just go to their site (http://www.moviebakeryinaction.com) and watch the videos. You can also sponsor a video. He is donating the proceedings to a few of the children charities.

Enjoy!!

I could not resist sharing this compilation video. It is TOO funny.

Was Hitler ever a good boy? I mean, when he was an infant, was he proportionally as evil as he was as an adult?. I am sure that there is information available describing the early days, when he was a young and loving lad; information about his childhood and how he tortured that poor little dog that he loved so much …. But I am not going to go into it at all. It is not my intention to defend Hitler, so if this post sounds as though I am defending him, please, not to worry, I really really really am not.

On Halloween my family and I went to see a musical called Wicked. First of all I have to say that I despise musicals, very much like I am annoyed going to Disneyland or going to a carnival. But I enjoy my family having fun. I see these things that I do not like … no … that I can not tolerate, through their eyes, the enjoyment of my children and happiness of my wife, and in that, I find the way to at least, sit through a play or enjoy couple of days dealing with long lines to get on a ride for 5 minutes.

Wicked is the behind-the-scenes story of the Wizard of Oz. It starts with the Good Witch telling everybody that the Wicked Witch of the West is really dead. She is reminded that they were roommates and friends in high school or the university and the story develops from there. In the original story, the witch from the west is evil and full of hate. But was she? Or was just the way she was portrayed? In the musical, she is shown to be good and kind and intelligent and a very good and gifted student; she is also shown to have some deep personal issues related to how her family treated her. But in essence, she was a nice lady.

Events happened; she gets a bad rap; and she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. But at the end, it is a love story and she is wicked, but in other ways than evil.

There were some parts of the play that I enjoyed. The scenography was awesome. Some of the music was good. And some of the dialog was funny, specially the references to the Wizard of Oz. As I was fighting boredom - in between watching my kids eyes growing bigger and bigger - the question occurred to me: “Was Hitler Ever A Good Boy?” Here you have a young lady that was portrayed to be evil but in reality, it was a government conspiracy. Maybe the same happened to Hitler …. Not!! I can not think that somebody like that could have ever been good.

If you look at history, there are a great many cases where personalities are portrayed in different lights. Are those lights accurate? Are we getting the real representation of who these people were? There is always some obscure evidence regarding these historical figures that present them in a different context than popular belief. And as time goes through, and new “historians” inspect the available “evidence”, they come up with complete different theories and justifications.

In the end, in many cases, we will never really know.

Cool animation.

Public school curriculum is a joke - no child left behind, easy to say when you are not moving forward at all. The other day I went to my kids’ back to school event. I have to say that what I heard was a joke and I was not laughing.

Before I continue, I have to say the following, otherwise I would be totally not fair: Dr. Newman, the principal at my kids’ school, is a great guy and capable professional. He really tries hard and goes beyond the call of duty for the kids. What differentiates him from the rest is his availability to parents and willingness to listen. I have had the chance to talk to him a few times. Not too many, but enough. He cares for the kids. He wants them to succeed. He wants to push them and propel them forward. He really wants them to learn and excel. My kids have special needs, especially my son Jared. They need more than most kids from an academic point of view and that is recognized and to the best of Dr. Newman’s wiggle room, caters to them. In addition to Dr. Newman, his staff also goes the extra mile. Or at least that has been our experience with the classroom and resource teachers assigned to our kids. So, this is a big “THANK YOU” to them as well. Both, my wife and I recognize what you do.

But back to “Back To School” night ….

One of the topics in the curriculum is “birth stones” where the kids will learn all about their birth stones. WHAT?? Is that geology? Sounds more like astrology to me. Next, we will be teaching them that the earth is flat and only approximately 6000 years old? I just find it appalling. If the purpose of studying birth stones is to make it fun, then I am all for it, but based on what I heard … there was no substance to the whole thing. The rest of the curriculum did not sound much better. In my opinion, and I am not an educator but just a parent, the kids are being robbed of their education. We pay our taxes but our kids are not getting our taxes worth in education. It is infuriating.

As a side note regarding certain topics: Should kids be taught about Creationism? Yes. I think they should, along side evolution. They should be taught comparative thinking and given choices. Creationism, and to be VERY CLEAR I do not believe in it, is what many people believe as truth. And in spite to all the evidences to the contrary - evidences in favor of science including evolution - it is a possibility that can not be discarded in teaching children how to balance facts and decide what works for them and what does not. Children are smarter than we are, and believe me, they will not get confused if the information is presented in a non-emotional manner.

We were thinking about putting our kids in private school. We looked around where we live and besides the snooty kids and the price tag, the education is not much better than public school. In that case, I rather keep my kids in the public school they go to now, where not only they will get better socialization skills, but I know that the teachers really do their best. And in spite of our disappointment, I rather have my kids with teachers that care for them even when their efforts may come short.

Let’s talk about the teachers. Unfortunately they get the short end of the deal. My wife taught for a while at South Central Los Angeles. As a first time teachers, fresh out of school, with no experience, no road under her feet, no real tools at her disposal, she was sent to teach at the war zone. Can you believe that she had to pay for her classroom supplies? For her own photocopies of materials to distribute to her kids? Well, the Bank of Fabian paid for them. Unbelievable. I can understand that as you progress in your career and you get seniority you should get rewarded with easier assignments than South Central, but to send first time teachers and to boot make them pay for their own supplies just makes no sense.

How would I manage the situation? Simple … first, of course, give them the supplies they need; not in excess but in a way where they become responsible for those supplies. Second, I would place the first time teachers not in the cozy neighborhoods, but in middle class, not too problematic areas where they can be exposed to a wide range of behaviors but not too out of the ordinary. Once they have been there for 3 or 4 years, then send them to places like Watts or South Central Los Angeles. They would be better prepared to deal with the sad realities of those areas. After a few years, then send them to the upper class areas where they can now bring their WAR YEARS experience and make good use of their knowledge.

As predicted, she did not last long, just as some of her colleagues did not last either. She became physically sick and emotionally drained. She had students that only ate what the school would feed them. Or had a close family member - dad, mom, brother, etc. - either dead or in jail for a felony offense. Some of them, their parents worked 4 jobs and lived with 6 other families all in the same apartment or the garage they were renting with no toilet. Again, as predicted, she only lasted two years. Teachers MUST be prepared to deal with those realities. And it is the job and responsibility of the government to prepare them.

We often look at counties in Africa or the Middle East - Iraq and Afghanistan. We see what those war ravaged places have done to their children and we weep. We decide to contribute to charity for those countries, for those children. We feel guilty that our kids have it so good, in spite of our being upset at the school curriculum, and we give money. But why look so far? Go no further than South Central or Watts. Go no further. Here in the United States we have WAR RAVAGED LANDS, with children that are just as shell shocked as the kids in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kids that experience drive by shootings every night. I helped fund a PowerPoint class through an online charity organization. Do I feel better for doing that? Yes; absolutely. Do I think I am a hero? Not one little bit. I am far from it because it was a very small contribution and a one time thing (even though I have contributed several one times I still do not feel I have done enough.)

There is a movie called Idiocracy, with Luke Wilson, that I watched a few weeks ago on TV. It is about two strangers participating on a cryogenic experiment that is supposed to last for one year, but lasts for several thousand. When they finally wake up, a few thousand years later, they find out that earth population has become dumb and can barely deal with basic technological obstacles, like cultivation. The movie is funny and in jest, but given what I have seen from our education, and not just in the US, it has become a sort of prediction.