#ideas
If a Timeline Is Long, It's Wrong
A note on Musk's maniacal urgency from *The Book of Elon*. Five rules, one underlying claim, and the reason it isn't an aesthetic preference.
Calibrated People Don't Build Things
A note in defense of delusional optimism. The pessimist's chart is correct only on the assumption that you stop at the first hard thing.
True First Principles
The cheap version produces a posture. The real version produces a number.
The Delulu Network School
I can't move to Johor right now, so I'm building the room at home. A note on manufactured proximity, manifesting, and being slightly delulu on purpose.
The Boring NZT
People have been chasing the pill from Limitless for fifteen years. The closest real thing costs ten cents and is sitting on a supermarket shelf.
Most First-Principles Thinking Isn't
The phrase has gotten cheap. A note on why, and what the harder version actually costs.
What You Can't First-Principle
A note on the quiet boundary of the optimizer mindset, and the part of life it isn't built for.
Before You Optimize, Delete
A Tesla story from The Book of Elon, and the part of Elon's Algorithm I keep underrating.
The Man at 35
I had goals to the third decimal place and no why. Here's the why. It's the man I refuse to wake up as.
The Entropy of Missing Out
Skipping a habit doesn't cost you a day. It costs you the order in the system. A note on why "never miss twice" works.
Hours That Don't Compound
A note on M.J. DeMarco's distinction between monomorphic and polymorphic pay, and the test it gave me for what's actually worth working on.
What AI Can't Give You
In the age of AI, the moat is what the model can't give you. Information it never saw, and judgment you've practiced until it's faster than a prompt.