Beliefs

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Here are some things that I believe about how to live, in no particular order.

Enthusiasm matters
Doing great work requires motivation. It's easier to be motivated when you like something. Things become more enjoyable when you get good at them.

Self examination is important
It's possible to critically assess your own thought patterns. This lets you improve how you think.

Fast feedback loops are important because the faster feedback comes in, the faster you can adjust your approach, and the fewer/less grave mistakes you'll make.

Wisdom comes from having a had a wide variety of different experiences, not simply from getting older. Moving countries, changing occupations, pursuing side-projects, studying across fields/domains and lots of curiosity are all green flags for a person being wise.

Self discipline is delayed gratification
Delaying gratification is a form of self love. You must care enough for your future self to sacrifice your present self. Delayed gratification can be an end almost in itself.

The Good Life is for now
On the other hand, putting things off is a trap; we might never get to them. Nevertheless, you can be content in a surprising number of circumstances. You get to decide what the good life looks like. Pay attention to what matters. There are several ways to train your attention. Meditation is a good one.

Develop a unique bundle of skills and excel at them
A bundle of unique skills defines your niche. A small enough niche has no competition, so you're always a winner.

Competitions require negative feedback loops
Winners experience positive feedback and are more likely to win again. For the losers, it's often pretty rough. Competitions need countervailing negative feedback loops to run indefinitely. Otherwise power accumulates among the successful. This feedback should be structural in nature, and not based off of one-off interventions.

Compound returns isn't just for money
Compound returns work on relationships, skills, knowledge, etc. For example, it's easier to learn something if you already know related things. Invest early, and often! Most investments will make modest returns, some will give huge ones.

We should focus on what we can control
The only things we can truly control are our thoughts and actions. We can't even control what happens to our bodies. For example, we can get sick. Focus on what you can control, avoid worrying about what you can't.

An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind
Our minds can only model the world. Models are necessarily incomplete.
We should resist being satisfied with our conclusions. We can watch, study, learn, and be ready to irreverently throw out ideas when they're wrong.

Everything is a system
The direct cause of a problem is sometimes misleading. Look for the underlying systemic issues and their downstream effects. Challenges and responses > problems and solutions. Think synergistically across domains when responding to challenges.

The world is in a state of metacrisis
Metacrisis is the idea that humanity faces a set of overlapping and interlinked crises. These crises are often driven by related mechanisms. These are things like the growth imperative, geopolitical competition, resource depletion, etc. These things also risk becoming hypernormalised. Navigating through the metacrisis is a defining challenge of my generation. Nihilism is bad.

We should aim for significant things
We only get one life. It's better to use it on significant things, rather than to "muddle through". You can still enjoy something, even if you ultimately fail. You get to define what is significant. Develop your moral ambition! If you're stuck, aim for 'sacred' over 'utility'. Success is mostly about perspiration and luck. Luck favours the prepared mind.

Developing moral ambition is good for you and for others
You can have a fun life by being selfish. To be truly content, you need to participate in the society in which you live. It feels good to work on something larger than yourself. Don't underestimate your capacity to contribute to the world!

I broadly adhere to a virtue ethic.

Market Socialism is the most promising political economic system
Markets are vital to figuring out what society needs. But free market capitalism leads to exploitation, dispossession, and wealth accumulation. Market socialism aims to have competitive markets with minimal (or dispersed) private ownership.

We should strive to be more vegan. It doesn't have to be a binary yes/no thing. It's great for our earth, for all sorts of animals, and possibly for you too.

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Inspired by Nat Friedman, Salvatore Sanfilippo, Anson Yu, Devon Zuegel and others.