November 2023: Async, Coworking, French 79
What I Did This Month
For PostHog, wrote a newsletter on how we work asynchronously, tutorials on Astro and Remix, some docs, and a bunch of “alternatives” pieces.
Added a bunch of new translators to Iliad Translations. Finished reading the Stanley Lombardo translation.
Met a bunch of cool people. Focused more on studying Spanish. Had KBBQ and did an escape room for the first time. Went to the dentist (lol), French 79, Spacca, and Yellow Dog.
Thoughts
You can just buy a textbook, read and study it, and you’ll know more about that subject than 99% of people. If you are concerned about not knowing something, read a textbook and see how you feel. ChatGPT can help. Partially inspired by how Greg Brockman became a machine learning practitioner (Elon did this for rockets too).
Remind yourself that you will cross bridges when you get to them. There is little point in worrying about bridges you can't get to. Don’t end your journey because of some hypothetical situation.
Every futuristic photo is filled with tons of skyscrapers, but is building them something we are improving at? We can coordinate better and build better, but can we build faster and more efficiently? Where are the prefabbed skyscrapers?
One of the most important ways to get a lot done is getting started quickly. Avoid procrastination and just start. Ship an MVP or write a draft and iterate.
The Iliad feels modern because the characters have complex relationships with each other, their enemies, and the gods. Each has backstories and good reasons for why they act the way they do.
Advice on evaluating art from Tyler Cowen: Ask which ones you would steal. Go to auction houses and ask if they're worth it. Think of art as a puzzle: it requires context, history, psychology, and theology to understand; figuring it out makes you smarter.
People become more risk-averse as they get more senior because they deal with smarter people more able to argue against something. It requires more energy to convince someone, which means it happens less.
A lot of people treat startups like extracurricular activities rather than being serious about them and treating them like business. It is an extension of the obsession with extracurriculars in high school and college. Part of the index mindset.
Recommendations
AI alignment has complex, theoretical reasons for their worry about the end of the world, but no real numbers on why.
Is society all under various levels of hypnosis? How do we break free?
This post on planning for unplanned work is basically the perfect blog post. Well-written, practical, and has great graphics and structure.
Two new entries for one of my favourite genres, people give a lot of random life advice: 100 Tips for a Better Life and Thirty Observations at Thirty.
Hundred Rabbits writes some of the most interesting posts about computing. They care a lot about sustainability and maintenance of software and hardware, which is much different than most of the rest of the tech world.
The podcast Signals and Threads by Jane Street about ultra-optimized computing is always interesting.
Sarah C. M. Paine has a deep knowledge of history of the US military and its rivals. Also some great meta points about understanding other areas’ history and its importance.
Nick Bare with his marathon coach about creating the conditions for success. Fun fact: Olympic marathons are often on 5+ year running programs.
63% of direct labor time on mega-construction projects is spent waiting for materials and equipment. Microsoft made more revenue from gaming than LinkedIn. You can do everything in Excel.
90% of the millionaire lifestyle is already available to you. Caring is a source of alpha. The best health advice might be get more sun and eat more beef. Simple formula for doing things. Personally writing app invites. Does meditation allow you to sleep less? Try talking to ChatGPT.
Dupont chart room. IRL Skyrim shelf. Powerful skateboarding.
Upcoming
Visiting SF (just got back).
Spending time with family and friends. Writing, coworking, practicing Spanish, reading, and coding.