Meditations
Nov 29 // Does the ideal job exist?
Absolutely. But what makes work ideal depends on the individual.
Today, my job is fast-paced, demanding, and intellectually stimulating. I love it. But it certainly isn't for everyone.
In a previous job, I had amazing benefits, a welcoming workplace culture, and a fantastic and experienced management team. I hated it.
I knew how good I had it, but the work wasn't appealing to me. I was bored all the time and felt like I was stuck in a dead-end job. The company was great, but the job wasn't for me.
What may be ideal to some is hell to others.
Nov 12 // The recursive universe
If the simulation hypothesis is correct, the universe must be inherently recursive. Civilizations must form, evolve, and progress over time by building new technologies until eventually, they begin to create simulations of their own.
Nov 12 // A theory of humanity
updated: nov 21
There are 5 qualities that distinguish us from all other life on Earth:
- intelligence
- sociality
- qualia
- self-actualization
- opposable thumbs
We evolve until we are one day smart enough to realize the benefits of organizing in groups, tribes, and communities. We then discover that we need other people to provide us with things using the skills or resources we don’t have. This helps us realize trade is important and that we work better together.
After we evolve enough to read, write, do math and science, the species becomes what we now refer to as consciously aware.
Eventually, conscious awareness of the individual and their place in society leads to the capacity for self-actualization [the realization that society is better when the collective is doing well] and we begin to form socially altruistic aspirations.
This shift has been occurring over the past few centuries but consciousness evolution must not be evenly distributed, because there are still plenty of selfish assholes out there.
Oct 14 // Thoughts on the r/anti-work movement
I think this is part of a much bigger narrative forming. While I don’t disagree with the sentiment of the movement, I believe we will see a huge shift in these kinds of jobs over the next 5-10 years (or more).
Automation will likely replace many of them because it’s cheaper, more efficient, and machines don’t need breaks or have emotions. Whether or not you think it’s a good thing, big corporations have huge incentives to do this.
What I believe will happen next is a revolutionary shift in how we define work. We will see more independent creators monetize themselves on various platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and we will see people shift to alternative ways of making an income. Namely, play-to-earn games will become a source of income to displace job loss from automation. This is further stimulated by the emergence of crypto-based platforms which allow the conversion of digital assets to fiat currency. There are already people doing this (e.g., Axie Infinity) and I believe it is going to get much bigger.
As long as Friedman capitalism remains the prominent executive mental model, all the majority of corporations will care about is turning a profit. These organizations won’t change unless their hand is forced by regulatory bodies (which currently seems doubtful). That means people will find other ways of making money and the above two possibilities currently seem to me like to most likely alternatives.
May 14 // Why humans suck at saving
The Netflix show “Explained” has a new series out on money. They featured an MIT researcher working on the psychology of retirement.
His research found that we don’t see our future selves as ourselves, but as someone else entirely. This may be why we have such a hard time saving for the future because the only self that matters to us is the present self, even if we know we should be thinking about our futures too.
What’s more interesting is that they were able to increase people’s savings behaviors by showing them older versions of themselves using AR technology like Face App’s Oldify.
There’s a lot of interesting work that can be done here.
2019
Jan 12 // The paradox of introspection
Tasha Eurich, explains the concept of self-awareness quite well.
She refers to introspection as the examination of the causes of our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors–and that this is commonly thought to improve self-awareness. However, she finds that people who introspect more are often less self-aware.
She suggests that this happens because most people don't introspect correctly. They ask themselves why they think, feel, or do certain things when we simply do not have access to the unconscious part of the mind that has the answer they're searching for. As a result, there is a tendency to invent answers that feel true but rarely are.
She goes on to explain that the real question we should be asking ourselves when introspecting is what.
"'What' questions help us stay objective, future-focused, and empowered to act on our new insights."