I found this thread on Twitter and after saving it and going back to it multiple times I decided to make it into a blog post. Here are 20 ideas from Sahil Bloom.
20 ideas I can’t stop thinking about:
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) April 23, 2022
To learn anything:
Step 1: Identify a topic
Step 2: Try to explain it to a 5-year-old
Step 3: Study to fill in knowledge gaps
Step 4: Organize, convey, and review True genius is the ability to simplify, not complicate. Simple is beautiful.
Most of us need fewer friends and more intellectual sparring partners. Friends are easy to come by. Intellectual sparring partners are harder to find. They will call you on your BS, question your assumptions, and push you to think deeply.
Experiencing regular periods of boredom is a competitive advantage. Your most creative moments come during bouts of boredom. In the shower, on a walk, at a dinner by yourself. You’re bored, your mind wanders, and creative insight strikes. Boredom creates alpha.
Black Lines = paths closed
Green Lines = paths open
We spend too much time focusing on what might have been (black) and not enough time focusing on what may be (green). Never underestimate the density of opportunity that lies ahead. (h/t @waitbutwhy)
Much of what we call “luck” is the macro result of 1,000s of micro actions. Your habits put you in a position where luck is more likely to strike. If you want to create more luck, increase your luck surface area. Open up the aperture to let more luck in.
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Fearing the cobras in India, the British offered bounties for cobra heads. So locals bred cobras to turn in their heads. A policy designed to reduce the cobra population had the opposite effect.
Where is everybody?! The basic logic is as follows:
So why haven’t we encountered any alien life? Are we alone?
Time is our most precious asset. When you’re young, you are a “time billionaire”—rich with time. Too many people fail to realize the value of this asset until it is gone. Treat time as your ultimate currency—it’s all you have and you can never get it back.
Humans have a tendency to quickly return to a baseline level of happiness after positive or negative events. We believe that “more” will make us happier. It won’t. We get there, feel a moment of happiness, and reset to thinking about the next “more” ahead.
As the locksmith improves at his craft, the customers become increasingly upset by the lower time input required to deliver a fixed output. The results are the same, but the perception of value has changed. The locksmith is penalized for proficiency!
Employees in hierarchies are steadily promoted for competence—until they reach a level where they’re incompetent. People are promoted up to the level of peak *incompetence*. Devised as satire, it may explain a lot about senior management at large orgs…
Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Work longer, get less done. When you establish fixed hours, you find unproductive ways to fill it. If your goal is to do inspired, creative work, work like a lion instead: Sprint. Eat. Rest. Repeat.
The early recipients of new money entering an economy will benefit more significantly than those it trickles down to. In other words, the “flow path” of the new money matters. New money creates distributional effects based on where it enters the system.
The energy required to refute bullshit is much larger than the energy required to produce it. This is why BS spreads so easily—especially on social media. It’s also why we need to make a deliberate effort to fight back against it.
It’s the best time in history to be a builder—the 2020s are a golden age. Things in your favor:
The time is now.
Humans tend to: (1) Attribute someone else’s actions to their character—and not to their situation or context. (2) Attribute our actions to our situation and context—and not to our character. We cut ourselves a break, but hold others accountable.
You have to put in more effort to make something appear effortless. Effortless, elegant performances are often the result of a large volume of effortful, gritty practice. Small things become big things. Simple is not simple.
Imagine a rock is thrown into a lake. The splash is the first-order effect. The ripples are the second-order effects. The world is filled with first-order thinkers—it’s easy. Dig deeper. Always ask “and then what?”—consider the layers of consequences.
You’ve incorrectly been told that free time is bad. The reality: Free time is a call option on future interesting opportunities. When you have free time, you have the headspace to pursue exciting opportunities. Free time creates non-linear outcomes.
Have you noticed that the most argumentative people rarely persuade anyone? The most persuasive people don’t argue—they observe, listen, and ask questions. Argue less, persuade more. Persuasion is an art that requires a paintbrush, not a sledgehammer.
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