Life

Outcomes = hard work x talent x luck

(Excerpt from Taylor Pearson’s Interesting Times 3 Jul 2020) Let’s say you have the opportunity to play a very attractive game. You flip a coin. If you get heads, you get six times your wager back. If you get tails,...

July 8, 2020| Luck Read More

Planck’s Principle: Science progresses one funeral at a time

(Extracted from Scientific Autobiography by Max Planck) A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new...

April 21, 2020| Ego, Resistance Read More

A mistake is made if you had legit confidence about something but you fail to act big

(Extracted from University of Berkshire Hathaway by Daniel Pecaut and Corey Wrenn) Munger observed that the most extreme mistakes in Berkshire’s history show up as opportunity costs. … In his younger...

March 20, 2020| Circle of Competence, Investing, Kelly Criterion, Life Read More

Ovarian lottery’s role in success is often under-attributed

(Extracted from University of Berkshire Hathaway by Daniel Pecaut and Corey Wrenn) Buffett launched into an intriguing thought problem he called “the ovarian lottery.” You are to be born in 24 hours. You...

March 19, 2020| Luck Read More

Why are there more Indians than other Asian races as American companies’ CEOs?

(Extracted from The Economist 29 Feb 2020 edition) Some 11% of associates at American law firms are Asian, but only 3% of partners are. In technology Asians makeup over 30% of the workers but less than 15% of bosses. In...

March 7, 2020| Machiavellian, World Read More

Why the lottery makes people happy

(Excerpt from Motherfucking Monday by Mark Manson 2 Mar 2020) A new academic study published last week looked at why the lottery makes people happy, despite the fact they’re essentially setting their money...

March 3, 2020| Life, Self-serving Bias Read More

Hard work is not a panacea

(Excerpt from The Star Principle by Richard Koch) … nearly all successful entrepreneurs stress the importance of hard work. But so do 95 per cent or more of all executives, successful or unsuccessful,...

February 18, 2020| Life Read More

Is It Better to Overestimate or Underestimate Yourself?

(Excerpt from Motherfucking Monday on 20 Jan 20 by Mark Manson) We all have a tendency to overestimate ourselves and our abilities and this often causes a lot of unnecessary pain. A huge part of self-awareness is the...

January 23, 2020| Ego, Life, Yin Yang Read More

Circular vs linear time

(Extracted from Flights by Olga Tokarczuk) Once we’re on the bus, she sets out her theory of time. She says that sedentary peoples, farmers, prefer the pleasures of circular time, in which every object and event must...

January 16, 2020| Life Read More

Smart people come up with more bullshit stories

(Excerot from Mark Manson’s Motherfucker Monday 13 Jan 2020) The smarter you are, the easier it is to come up with bullshit to avoid what makes you uncomfortable. Over the years, I’ve noticed the smartest people...

January 16, 2020| Ego, Overconfidence Bias Read More

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