David ex Machina

via  stablediffusionweb.com The Water Scale A more meaningful way to describe life. How often do you get asked How’s it going? Or, how are you doing? 99% of the time the answer is “good” - a one-dimensional answer that’s so common, it’s almost meaningless. In fact, if you say “OK”, it’s often followed up by “Is something wrong?” So the expected response, “good”, is a formality to confirm the status quo, and move on.  I hereby propose an alternative “water scale" for describing your state in life. It stems from the familiar expression, “sink or swim”, conveying not just a fixed status, but also your trajectory and state of mind. Let's see how it works by answering "How are you doing?" for a few scenarios. "Sinking" implies you're currently struggling, overwhelmed by responsibilities, and unable to keep up (think chronic stress at work, financial hardship, or relationship conflicts). You are being pulled underwater. "Swimming" invokes the opposi...

Buying an electric vehicle today seems like a no brainer, it’s good for the environment and it will save you money on gas. And that last point seems like a given, gas is expensive, especially these days, and electricity costs cents on the dollar, essentially free - how can you argue with that?!  But a few things are missing from that equation, the efficiency of an EV to yield mileage, for one, and the fact that energy prices can move quite a bit. So I decided to run the numbers myself, and see how much more economical EVs can be, and the answer was a bit of a surprise. TL;DR Don’t buy an EV just yet. I made a simple “electric or gas” calculator you can use to find out for yourself. Caveat: I’m strictly looking at the economical (variable) cost of “fueling” a vehicle. This calculation excludes considerations for emissions, environmental impact, tax rebates, maintenance cost, insurance costs, the current price premiums above msrp, and opportunity time cost of charging vs. filling t...

via Goodera Environment Theory - The theory that the environment constrains your behavior and significantly affects your psyche, and these effects generally outweigh your will power over time*. Where environment is defined broadly, as any input to your mind and body that is external from your own person. Let’s look at a few examples: People You are the average of the five closest people you interact with . Chances are if all your friends were talking about Bitcoin in 2009, you’d probably be a millionaire many times over by now. But if most of your friends did drugs, you’re more likely to be an addict.  This affects people in corporations too. How else could the same person who did cocaine and pulled 100 hour weeks at Goldman Sachs be a vegan, meditation retreat employee at Apple? Though controversial, the Stanford Prison Experiment shows how normal people can exhibit sadistic tendencies when adhering to perceived roles of authority. Information Numerous reports show how doomscrol...

https://xkcd.com/552/ Correlation is  often confused for causation . You learn this in mathematics and statistics, and most people think it’s obvious, and then forget about it. Of course the color of my socks did not affect my grade on a math test. If it’s so obvious, can it apply to real life? Turns out, it does. And the weird thing is that oftentimes the correlation is in the exact opposite direction of the true causation. Let’s see some examples (going from more to less obvious): Fact: LeBron James wears these shoes and is g.o.a.t. at basketball. Correlation: If I wear those shoes I will be good at basketball. Causation: LeBron James has his own shoes because he is good at basketball. Fact: Selena Gomez is on Instagram and is famous Correlation: If I get an Instagram account I will be famous Causation: You have to do something that warrants fame in order to get fans. Fact: Many successful people are on Twitter and tweet great ideas and learnings all day. Correlation: I need to...

via  Pixy YC has the slogan “ make something people want ,” a seemingly obvious statement that is as powerful as it is simple. Though it is insufficient to build generation defining products. Take a summer blockbuster movie, this is a product that most people will want, it is built to entertain the masses, and you will be entertained! But you will not come out a changed mind. Servant-style product development also feels uncreative. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very valuable skill to ascertain what people want versus what they say, and many incredible products are built this way (thank you Coke Coffee ). But it takes away some of the fun when boiled down to “tell me what you want me to make for you.” It takes perseverance. To go a little deeper, products that “make something people will want” tend to be more disruptive. People did not know they wanted to ride in cars with strangers to get around town, or sleep in a stranger’s home for relaxation. Someone imagined it, and now people...

Builder's Hierarchy Pyramid Note: Every additional layer has a higher degree of difficulty The Builder’s Hierarchy of Fulfillment ...or how to fully actualize a thing. Think You consume information. You read and learn to formulate a hypothesis for a novel idea. It may be nothing, a flash in the pan, or something bigger, a spark of genius. Everyone always has ideas running through their head, but this one sticks with you. Talk   You’ve convinced yourself the idea has merit and is worthy of sharing with others. Can it pass social muster and make sense to the peers you respect? This is a big step, after all, most people keep ideas to themselves. Talking through an idea can be exhilarating, especially in a circle of trust, where one can flow with the discussion, provide context where necessary, fill in the gaps, and take in feedback to make the idea better. Write Now to the hard part, writing it down. Most people don’t make it this far because they get deterred by the “doubters” and it...

Crowd waiting in line outside of White House for New Year reception. Most people hear the word, patience, and think of a boring personality trait, a social virtue that demonstrates calm, rational thinking. A desirable self-control mechanism: the ability to forego short-term pain (or gain) for larger, longer-term gains. But it comes with the cliche, “patience is a virtue”, so much so, that the value of patience has been obscured. Many folks assume patience only benefits others and not themselves (i.e. politely waiting in line), when in fact you stand the most to benefit from being patient. Patience is correlated with success. “Good things come to those who wait”, a related cliche proven by the now-infamous marshmallow experiment, paints patience in a passive tone. Sit around, hold still, and you’ll get more marshmallows. But patience is an active trait. It underpins almost all of today’s success stories. Look back 10 years and pick any asset class whether it’s investing in the stock ...

Election 2020 Finale Having freshly watched the 2020 election unfold, with the build up, the stress and drama, a lengthy vote count, a sore loser, and ultimately the result, I couldn’t help but reflect how strange of an event it is to experience. It’s like you’re at a movie premiere, but someone is interrupting you every five minutes to tell you their opinion and how the movie is going to end. Can we please just watch the movie and see what happens?! That “someone” is the media covering the U.S. election. But no analysis, extended media coverage, or punditry will change the outcome. The script has been written, the scenes already filmed; all written and directed by the citizens of the United States, as their ballots have already been cast. The producers ( Biden and Trump ) are also in the theater with you, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help produce the movie they want. Biden watches patiently for the end result, whereas Trump is making a scene, threatening to stop t...