The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. Isaac Asimov, 1988
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
“Here we show that people systematically default to searching for additive transformations, and consequently overlook subtractive transformations. Across eight experiments, participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes … Defaulting to searches for additive changes may be one reason that people struggle to mitigate overburdened schedules, institutional red tape and damaging effects on the planet.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03380-y Gabrielle Adams, 2021
“Here we show that people systematically default to searching for additive transformations, and consequently overlook subtractive transformations. Across eight experiments, participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes … Defaulting to searches for additive changes may be one reason that people struggle to mitigate overburdened schedules, institutional red tape and damaging effects on the planet.” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03380-y
Goodhart's law states that once a certain indicator of success is made a target of a social or economic policy, it will lose the information content that would qualify it to play such a role. Charles Goodhart, 1975
Goodhart's law states that once a certain indicator of success is made a target of a social or economic policy, it will lose the information content that would qualify it to play such a role.
Living doesn’t cost much, but showing off does. Jeffrey Sachs, 2012
Living doesn’t cost much, but showing off does.
If the box contains a diamond, I desire to believe that the box contains a diamond; If the box does not contain a diamond, I desire to believe that the box does not contain a diamond; Let me not become attached to beliefs I may not want. - Litany of Tarsky Eliezer Yudkowsky,
If the box contains a diamond, I desire to believe that the box contains a diamond; If the box does not contain a diamond, I desire to believe that the box does not contain a diamond; Let me not become attached to beliefs I may not want. - Litany of Tarsky
What is true is already so. Owning up to it doesn't make it worse. Not being open about it doesn't make it go away. And because it's true, it is what is there to be interacted with. Anything untrue isn't there to be lived. People can stand what is true, for they are already enduring it. Eugene Gendlin,
What is true is already so. Owning up to it doesn't make it worse. Not being open about it doesn't make it go away. And because it's true, it is what is there to be interacted with. Anything untrue isn't there to be lived. People can stand what is true, for they are already enduring it.
A few major opportunities, clearly recognizable as such, will usually come to one who continuously searches and waits, with a curious mind, loving diagnosis involving multiple variables. And then all that is required is a willingness to bet heavily when the odds are extremely favorable, using resources available as a result of prudence and patience in the past. Charlie Munger,
A few major opportunities, clearly recognizable as such, will usually come to one who continuously searches and waits, with a curious mind, loving diagnosis involving multiple variables. And then all that is required is a willingness to bet heavily when the odds are extremely favorable, using resources available as a result of prudence and patience in the past.
The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything. Warren Buffett,
The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.
Busyness and exhaustion should be your enemy. If you’re chronically stressed and up late working, you’re doing something wrong. Do less. But do what you do with complete, hard focus. Then when you’re done be done, and go enjoy the rest of your day. Cal Newport,
Busyness and exhaustion should be your enemy. If you’re chronically stressed and up late working, you’re doing something wrong. Do less. But do what you do with complete, hard focus. Then when you’re done be done, and go enjoy the rest of your day.
Being busy is a form of mental laziness. Timothy Ferriss,
Being busy is a form of mental laziness.
The higher the price the more things you need to believe, hence the more diligence you should do to verify those things. Warren Buffett,
The higher the price the more things you need to believe, hence the more diligence you should do to verify those things.
The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. This can undermine the integrity of research, particularly the relationships between variables. The original research at the Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois, on lighting changes and work structure changes such as working hours and break times was originally interpreted by Elton Mayo and others to mean that paying attention to overall worker needs would improve productivity. Later interpretations such as that done by Landsberger suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers' productivity. This interpretation was dubbed "the Hawthorne effect". It is also similar to a phenomenon that is referred to as novelty/disruption effect. Henry Landsberger, 1958
The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. This can undermine the integrity of research, particularly the relationships between variables. The original research at the Hawthorne Works in Cicero, Illinois, on lighting changes and work structure changes such as working hours and break times was originally interpreted by Elton Mayo and others to mean that paying attention to overall worker needs would improve productivity. Later interpretations such as that done by Landsberger suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers' productivity. This interpretation was dubbed "the Hawthorne effect". It is also similar to a phenomenon that is referred to as novelty/disruption effect.
The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, is the phenomenon whereby others' expectations of a target person affect the target person's performance. The effect is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved, or alternately, after the Rosenthal–Jacobson study. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson's study showed that, if teachers were led to expect enhanced performance from children, then the children's performance was enhanced. This study supported the hypothesis that reality can be positively or negatively influenced by the expectations of others, called the observer-expectancy effect. Rosenthal argued that biased expectancies could affect reality and create self-fulfilling prophecies. Robert Rosenthal,
The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, is the phenomenon whereby others' expectations of a target person affect the target person's performance. The effect is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved, or alternately, after the Rosenthal–Jacobson study. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson's study showed that, if teachers were led to expect enhanced performance from children, then the children's performance was enhanced. This study supported the hypothesis that reality can be positively or negatively influenced by the expectations of others, called the observer-expectancy effect. Rosenthal argued that biased expectancies could affect reality and create self-fulfilling prophecies.
You are rich if and only if money you refuse tastes better than money you accept. Nassim Taleb, 2019
You are rich if and only if money you refuse tastes better than money you accept.
There's a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering. Elon Musk,
There's a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.
Being right is the enemy of staying right because it leads you to forget the way the world works. Jason Zweig,
Being right is the enemy of staying right because it leads you to forget the way the world works.
Work for companies that you would invest in, invest in companies where you would work. Unknown .,
Work for companies that you would invest in, invest in companies where you would work.
If you absolutely can't tolerate critics, then don't do anything new or interesting. Jeff Bezos,
If you absolutely can't tolerate critics, then don't do anything new or interesting.
Playing poker in the Army honed my business skills. What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge, back it heavily because you don’t get a big edge often. Opportunity comes, but it doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does. Charlie Munger,
Playing poker in the Army honed my business skills. What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge, back it heavily because you don’t get a big edge often. Opportunity comes, but it doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does.
Everybody with any sense at all knows that some businesses are better than others. What makes it difficult is they sell at higher prices. If all you had to do was figure out which businesses are better than others, even an idiot could make a lot of money. Charlie Munger,
Everybody with any sense at all knows that some businesses are better than others. What makes it difficult is they sell at higher prices. If all you had to do was figure out which businesses are better than others, even an idiot could make a lot of money.
1) All teams will henceforth expose their data and functionality through interfaces, 2) teams must communicate with each other through these interfaces, 3) all interfaces, without exception, must be designed from the ground up to be exposed to developers in the outside world, and 4) anyone who doesn’t do this will be fired. Jeff Bezos, 2002
1) All teams will henceforth expose their data and functionality through interfaces, 2) teams must communicate with each other through these interfaces, 3) all interfaces, without exception, must be designed from the ground up to be exposed to developers in the outside world, and 4) anyone who doesn’t do this will be fired.
The Efficient Markets Hypothesis fails because humans are herd animals, not independent rational actors. Thus the best investors tend to be antisocial and contrarian Naval Ravikant, 2019
The Efficient Markets Hypothesis fails because humans are herd animals, not independent rational actors. Thus the best investors tend to be antisocial and contrarian
We are what we repeatedly do; Excellence, then is not an act but a Habit. Aristotle .,
We are what we repeatedly do; Excellence, then is not an act but a Habit.
I regard it as a criminal waste of time to go through the slow and painful ordeal of ascertaining things for one’s self if these same things have already been ascertained and made available by others. Thomas Edison,
I regard it as a criminal waste of time to go through the slow and painful ordeal of ascertaining things for one’s self if these same things have already been ascertained and made available by others.
We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details. Jeff Bezos, 2011
We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details.
If there is one thing Bayes can teach us to be certain of, however, it is that there is no such thing as absolute certainty of belief. Like a spaceship trying to reach the speed of light, a posterior likelihood can only ever approach 100 percent (or 0 percent). It can never exactly reach it. And so, anytime we say or think, “I’m absolutely 100 percent certain!” — even for something as probable as our globe-shaped Earth — we’re not only being foolish, we’re being factually wrong. By that statement, we’re effectively saying there is no further evidence in the world, no matter how strong, that could change our minds. And that is as ridiculous as claiming, “I know everything about everything that could ever possibly happen in the universe, ever,” because there are always some unknown unknowns we cannot conceive of, no matter how knowledgeable and wise we think we are. Liv Boeree, 2018
If there is one thing Bayes can teach us to be certain of, however, it is that there is no such thing as absolute certainty of belief. Like a spaceship trying to reach the speed of light, a posterior likelihood can only ever approach 100 percent (or 0 percent). It can never exactly reach it. And so, anytime we say or think, “I’m absolutely 100 percent certain!” — even for something as probable as our globe-shaped Earth — we’re not only being foolish, we’re being factually wrong. By that statement, we’re effectively saying there is no further evidence in the world, no matter how strong, that could change our minds. And that is as ridiculous as claiming, “I know everything about everything that could ever possibly happen in the universe, ever,” because there are always some unknown unknowns we cannot conceive of, no matter how knowledgeable and wise we think we are.
50% of the work is done by the square root of the total number of people who participate in the work. (Price's Law) Derek Price,
50% of the work is done by the square root of the total number of people who participate in the work. (Price's Law)
Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more. Lucius Seneca, 0065
Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more.
Jeff [Bezos] does a couple of things better than anyone I’ve ever worked for. He embraces the truth. A lot of people talk about the truth, but they don’t engage their decision-making around the best truth at the time. The second thing is that he is not tethered by conventional thinking. What is amazing to me is that he is bound only by the laws of physics. He can’t change those. Everything else he views as open to discussion. Rick Dalzell,
Jeff [Bezos] does a couple of things better than anyone I’ve ever worked for. He embraces the truth. A lot of people talk about the truth, but they don’t engage their decision-making around the best truth at the time. The second thing is that he is not tethered by conventional thinking. What is amazing to me is that he is bound only by the laws of physics. He can’t change those. Everything else he views as open to discussion.
Enlightenment is the space between your thoughts. Eckhart Tolle,
Enlightenment is the space between your thoughts.
Dogs are the product of a multi-thousand-year evolutionary process designed to produce a creature that wants to be your friend and make you happy, in exchange for food. If you're not taking advantage of this, you're leaving the evolutionary equivalent of money on the table. Peter Suderman, 2018
Dogs are the product of a multi-thousand-year evolutionary process designed to produce a creature that wants to be your friend and make you happy, in exchange for food. If you're not taking advantage of this, you're leaving the evolutionary equivalent of money on the table.
“If you never fail, you’re only trying things that are too easy and playing far below your level.” Or, phrased as a standard Umeshism: “If you can’t remember any time in the last six months when you failed, you aren’t trying to do difficult enough things.” Eliezer Yudkowsky, 2018
“If you never fail, you’re only trying things that are too easy and playing far below your level.” Or, phrased as a standard Umeshism: “If you can’t remember any time in the last six months when you failed, you aren’t trying to do difficult enough things.”
You want to be rich and anonymous, not poor and famous. Naval Ravikant, 2018
You want to be rich and anonymous, not poor and famous.
We prefer to see winners as naturally talented, rather than hard working. Because if it were reversed, what would that imply about us? Naval Ravikant,
We prefer to see winners as naturally talented, rather than hard working. Because if it were reversed, what would that imply about us?
The real problem of humanity ... we have Palaeolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and godlike technology. E.O. Wilson,
The real problem of humanity ... we have Palaeolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and godlike technology.
The reason the stock market is hard to predict is because it is a prediction. Andrew Critch, 2017
The reason the stock market is hard to predict is because it is a prediction.
Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs. It's about deliberately choosing to be different. Michael Porter,
Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs. It's about deliberately choosing to be different.
You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything. John Maxwell,
You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln,
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw,
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
Properly defined, a startup is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future. Peter Thiel,
Properly defined, a startup is the largest group of people you can convince of a plan to build a different future.
When you're finally wealthy, you'll realize that it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place. Naval Ravikant, 2018
When you're finally wealthy, you'll realize that it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place.
It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law (Hofstadter's Law). Douglas Hofstadter, 1979
It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law (Hofstadter's Law).
The classical virtues are all decision-making heuristics to make one optimize for the long term rather than for the short term. Naval Ravikant, 2018
The classical virtues are all decision-making heuristics to make one optimize for the long term rather than for the short term.
Children are accustomed to a continual stream of criticisms and praise, but adults can go weeks without a compliment while enduring criticism both at work and at home. Adults are starved for a kind word. When you understand the power of honest praise (as opposed to bullshitting, flattery, and sucking up), you realize that withholding it borders on immoral. If you see something that impresses you, a decent respect to humanity insists you voice your praise. Scott Adams, 2013
Children are accustomed to a continual stream of criticisms and praise, but adults can go weeks without a compliment while enduring criticism both at work and at home. Adults are starved for a kind word. When you understand the power of honest praise (as opposed to bullshitting, flattery, and sucking up), you realize that withholding it borders on immoral. If you see something that impresses you, a decent respect to humanity insists you voice your praise.
If your view of the world is that people use reason for their important decisions, you are setting yourself up for a life of frustration and confusion. You’ll find yourself continually debating people and never winning except in your own mind. Few things are as destructive and limiting as a worldview that assumes people are mostly rational. Scott Adams, 2013
If your view of the world is that people use reason for their important decisions, you are setting yourself up for a life of frustration and confusion. You’ll find yourself continually debating people and never winning except in your own mind. Few things are as destructive and limiting as a worldview that assumes people are mostly rational.
I don’t want to hear your idea. The idea is the easy part. The difference between a great work and an idea for a great work is all the sweat, time, effort, and agony that go into engaging that idea and turning it into something real. Casey Neistat, 2018
I don’t want to hear your idea. The idea is the easy part. The difference between a great work and an idea for a great work is all the sweat, time, effort, and agony that go into engaging that idea and turning it into something real.
Everyone in this country should learn to program a computer, because it teaches you to think. Steve Jobs, 2015
Everyone in this country should learn to program a computer, because it teaches you to think.
In order to live happily, live hidden. Epicurus A, 0001
In order to live happily, live hidden.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein,
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
When you do as everyone else does, don't be surprised when you get what everyone else gets. Peter Kaufman,
When you do as everyone else does, don't be surprised when you get what everyone else gets.
Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Steve Jobs,
Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. (Hanlon's Razor) Robert Hanlon, 1955
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. (Hanlon's Razor)
Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life. Jerzy Gregorek, 2017
Hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.
If you’re leveraged with capital, code, or people, and own equity, then good decisions have a much larger earning impact than hard work. Naval Ravikant, 2017
If you’re leveraged with capital, code, or people, and own equity, then good decisions have a much larger earning impact than hard work.
Earn with your mind, not with your time. Naval Ravikant, 2017
Earn with your mind, not with your time.
I believe one of the most valuable things you can do to improve your decision making is to think through your principles for making decisions, write them out in both words and computer algorithms, back-test them if possible, and use them on a real-time basis to run in parallel with your brain’s decision making. Ray Dalio, 2017
I believe one of the most valuable things you can do to improve your decision making is to think through your principles for making decisions, write them out in both words and computer algorithms, back-test them if possible, and use them on a real-time basis to run in parallel with your brain’s decision making.
People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things. Steve Jobs,
People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.
It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle — they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments. Alfred Whitehead, 1911
It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle — they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments.
My number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health. It starts with my physical health. Second, it’s my mental health. Third, it’s my spiritual health. Then it’s my family’s health. Then it’s my family’s wellbeing. After that, I can go out and do whatever I need to do with the rest of the world. There’s a series of concentric circles starting out from me. Because my physical health became my number one priority, then I could never say I don’t have time. In the morning, I work out and however long it takes is how long it takes. I do not start my day, and I don’t care if the world is imploding and melting down, it can wait another 30 minutes until I’m done working out. Naval Ravikant, 2017
My number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health. It starts with my physical health. Second, it’s my mental health. Third, it’s my spiritual health. Then it’s my family’s health. Then it’s my family’s wellbeing. After that, I can go out and do whatever I need to do with the rest of the world. There’s a series of concentric circles starting out from me. Because my physical health became my number one priority, then I could never say I don’t have time. In the morning, I work out and however long it takes is how long it takes. I do not start my day, and I don’t care if the world is imploding and melting down, it can wait another 30 minutes until I’m done working out.
The future is here — it’s just not very evenly distributed. William Gibson, 1993
The future is here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.
The most outraged are the most anachronistic and least intelligent members of society. If you think words can hurt you, you are going to live in a world of pain your entire life. Naval Ravikant, 2017
The most outraged are the most anachronistic and least intelligent members of society. If you think words can hurt you, you are going to live in a world of pain your entire life.
When you are distressed by an external thing, it’s not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it. And you can wipe this out at a moment’s notice. Marcus Aurelius, 0150
When you are distressed by an external thing, it’s not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it. And you can wipe this out at a moment’s notice.
Work expands to fill the time allotted to complete it. (Parkison's Law) Cyril Parkinson, 1958
Work expands to fill the time allotted to complete it. (Parkison's Law)
When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir? John Maynard Keynes, 1940
When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?
The offline identity infrastructure, reliant on magic words and numbers freely handed out to strangers, is a dinosaur Naval Ravikant, 2017
The offline identity infrastructure, reliant on magic words and numbers freely handed out to strangers, is a dinosaur
There are no adults. Everyone's making it up as they go along. Figure it out yourself, and do it. Naval Ravikant, 2010
There are no adults. Everyone's making it up as they go along. Figure it out yourself, and do it.
The tools for learning are abundant. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce. Naval Ravikant, 2017
The tools for learning are abundant. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce.
The first countries to go to war with cryptocurrencies are those with capital controls. The two are inherently incompatible. Naval Ravikant, 2017
The first countries to go to war with cryptocurrencies are those with capital controls. The two are inherently incompatible.
Driving is the new handwriting Naval Ravikant, 2015
Driving is the new handwriting
People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can’t fathom. Naval Ravikant,
People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can’t fathom.
A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control. Naval Ravikant,
A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control.
Self Esteem is just the reputation you have with yourself. Naval Ravikant,
Self Esteem is just the reputation you have with yourself.