Beliefs

Software

• Documentation is necessarily a lossy abstraction on the actual code. Keep it focused.

  If docs were as strict as your code, we would call it a compile target. Your docs are another abstraction in a new language. This is not an easy task. Do not treat it like one.

• Read the source code more often. It's usually better than the docs.

  Documentation is yet another abstraction on top of the actual abstraction the code exists for. This is a hard thing to balance. Documentation is difficult. It can get out of date and lack proper guidance or pedagogical philosophy.

  The code is the source of truth and commonly not much more difficult to read than documentation.

• Command palettes are great. Use them more often.

  The command palette is one of the greatest UI inventions of the modern age. Using the keyboard is noticeably faster than the mouse for most people.

  This also solves the common UX question of "where do I put this?"

• LLMs are very good for format translations. We should use them more for this.

  Natural input -> JSON output describing a command or AST is a good use case.

  Most things that we used to use complicated linguistics analysis for can be done with an LLM these days.

• As the industry gets better at automating tech jobs, it will become more important to focus on the fundamentals of computer science and project management.

  The same people who lost their jobs to SquareSpace will lose their jobs again to Wordpress and then Flow if you refuse to learn the fundamentals of the abstractions you make use of.

  If a system requires very little in terms of active brain power or dexterity, it's probably a good target for automation.

• The first step towards making a good version of the thing is actually making the thing.

  You're probably wrong about a lot of your tech stack, but this is clearest in retrospect, not before you've made the thing. Just make the thing. Fix it later.

• Use the closest approximate tool to complete the task you need.

  If it doesn't cover every edge case, making an extension is easier than recreating it.

Life

• There is no optimal state of being, only better states of doing.

  People seem to imagine there is a collective amount of assets in both life experiences and wealth that will finally make them happy.

  Counter intuitively, it's a hedonic treadmill. Your baselines will adjust and these states of being will mean nothing very quickly. It's instead how you live your life that matters.

  Assets like money can open avenues of doing. It is not that they are useless. Having enough money can open up a career as a carnival barker in a dense city, for example. It is simply that assets in themselves will not do much for you.

• Choose people over work, but try to avoid having to make that choice at all.

  Your coworkers can fundamentally change many dynamics of the job itself. A good job can turn sour and a bad job can become fulfilling.

  Optimally find a job with good people. If you have to make a choice, side with people.

• Most things aren't fair. Don't expect them to be. Learn to live with this.

  I'm not telling you to suck it up, just to expect this.

  Unless you plan on starting a movement, learn to play the game.

• The world works based on incentive structures. Get good at recognizing this and you'll do well.

  You'll sound like a psychopath sometimes, but asking "what is in this person's best interest" is a great way to avoid getting taken advantage of.

  If a bank provides 2 types of accounts, there is a trade-off on both ends. Does this person get a commission? Are our incentives aligned? What do they want out of this?

  Asking

• Money buys freedom. Other things also buy freedom. Sometimes a job removes your freedom. This rarely a good trade-off.

  Assets are only worth as much as what they give to you.

  Money buys freedom, not happiness. It's possible you're sad because you are less free. If happiness is a goal of yours, then taking a job which limits your freedom even more is a bad deal.

  Sometimes you can gain freedom through other means. Moving locations, losing friends, changing commitments, removing social media, etc.

• Things get easier if you're charismatic. Charisma is an amalgam of personality and looks. Neither of these are static; they can be worked on.

  You can dress better. Get into skin-care. Work out. Fix your posture. Find a good hair style. It's rare that you can't improve your looks considerably through any of these means.

  Getting a better personality usually just means expanding your interests and improving your EQ. You can do this by taking on new hobbies and meeting new people.

  The sum total of these things is charisma. It's achievable.

• Most things are skills not talents. You can get quite good at anything if you put enough time into it.

  You can learn how to sing, how to draw, how to play the guitar, how to write a novel, how to cook, how to lead, etc.

  Some people, through a mix of genetics and environment, already have a leg-up. It does not make matching them impossible, however. Through enough time and effort, you can likely catch up.

  Ever wondered by children are often so "talented" at what they spend their time on? It's because they have all the time in the world to focus on this one thing. They simply put more time into it.

  You'll have less time as an adult, but you can still choose to learn.

• Try to make sure your focus on productivity is not just theater. Optimizing your calendar and note taking are less important than doing the work.

  No, this new journal is not going to finally "unlock" your productivity. It can be fun to get into these trends, but make sure you're focusing on actually being productive.

• Most people are not significantly dumber or smarter than you. It's all about education.

  People look at intelligence as another static attribute. Realistically, it's about getting the proper tools to solve problems.

  If you never learned algebra, calculating percentages will be difficult. If you never learned how to cook, you might not know the difference between baking and broiling. It's just exposure to information and tools.

  Often, very smart people will appear that way because they had a lot of help from a young age.

• The bar is lower than you think, it's just a little to the left of where you're looking.

  This is why things get much easier with a mentor of some kind. The actual required effort for many tasks is considerably lower than it looks, but it must be specifically applied.

  As an example, you can work very hard at your job and still get fired if the kind of work you're spending time on does not align with your boss's targets.

  Taking a step back and trying to find the actual path to your goals can be good at lowering overall work.

• Learn to enjoy cooking. It's an easy hobby that pays dividends both financially and socially.

  You can save on money, explore new cultures, and provide for other people.

  People enjoy talking about the cuisines of their hometown. Asking about cooking techniques shows respect and, if you enjoy cooking, would be something you're legitimately interested in.

• Create an environment where the easy thing is the right thing.

  Your willpower will give out eventually. It will not be strengthened with difficult choices.

• It’s useful to get comfortable being uncomfortable

  People don't like being uncomfortable, so that's where all the money is.

  It also gives you some very useful life-skills in tackling novel problems.

• Physical stress is easier than psychological stress. Both are useful in moderation and detrimental in the extremes.

  Physically taxing jobs can definitely hurt you psychologically, so don't ignore how much a job might make you work. Just remember that the body adapts. Your perspective on hard labor is probably culturally influenced.

  In a job where you do good work that you are proud of, you will find yourself wanting to work more at times.

• Get a job that lets you build career skills.

  You spend a lot of time at work. It would be really helpful if you can combine career education with your day job.

  This is not always possible, but there are many jobs that fit this bill. Always try to find out how this current job is building skills for your next job. You will climb the ladder much quicker this way.

• You’re probably not getting much dumber, but I’ll bet you’re losing both patience and time.

  I thought I was getting dumber, but I just lost the patience to deal with hard tasks. This is getting more common with dopamine hits like social media.

  You can take this back by making yourself bored to the point that the difficult task is now the most interesting thing.

• In discussions and teaching, assume no familiarity, but high intelligence. You will definitely flip these 2.

  XCKD 2501 is a good reference.

  You very well may overwhelm someone, but it is more likely that you are mistakenly assuming familiarity with some fundamental concepts.

• Wisdom comes from experience, not time.

  It's easy to confuse time and experience. If someone feels more knowledgeable than you in a certain area, it's likely they have more experience.

  The difference is whether this can be counted as "experience" is if it is intentional. Are you actually learning and challenging yourself? Are you encountering novel concepts?

  You can work "in software" for 10 years and not do much outside of Wordpress plugin development.

• If you live by a philosophy, your regrets are limited to the philosophy itself, not the micro choices you make.

  The upside is living with fewer regrets. The downside if pointing to massive regrets regarding the foundation of your life philosophy.

  As an example, living by "trust, but verify"

• Win arguments by never taking a specific position

  I'm not sure if you should follow this one, but it's a good tactic. The first person to take a hard position on something loses. You'll often find smart people to take less strong positions on subjects in general.