68: Rules Aren't Real 📐
Dispensing with the status quo is the key to escaping mediocrity.
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67: Not all that glitters 🪩
In one morning I came across three stories that made me think twice about the ‘metaverse’. It’s not some abstract future dystopia—it’s already here. Many of us already inhabit mini-metaverses full of personalised algorithms, and few of us are ready to take off the headset. The first...
66: Win the small hill ⛷
Sometimes in order to win the game you're optimising for, you must lose the ones you've been told were important.
65: What you want for dinner 🍽
How often do you revisit ideas you believe to be common sense? When thinking of possible ways we could develop our thinking or improve our lives we naturally gravitate to new ideas instead of investigating existing patterns. When you start thinking from first principles, a lot of things you might...
64: Constraints and consistency 🎲
People become great by being creative within the boundaries and persisting when others might quit.
63: Nobody cares 📵
Sometimes you will be out in the field, pushing the limits of expectation, on the verge of changing the world, and not a single soul will care. The masses often sleepwalk through innovation. You can only make great things if you’re willing to be ignored and unafraid of going...
62: The hard thing about hard work ⚒️
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favourite authors. If he writes something I’m going to eat it up. But not immediately. Because Brandon likes to write big beefy books that could double as self-defence weapons or stools for small cats. He writes a LOT. He recently surprised his entire...
61: It Sounds Better Over There 🎋
Whenever words are carried by saltine winds over vast expanses of water, they somehow gain the magical property of resonating clearer in our minds. This is why we seem to fall head over heels in love with wisdom from faraway lands. It explains our obsession with Ikigai. It’s why...
60: The Sum of our Parts 🧩
No one human knows how to make a pencil from scratch despite it seeming like a fundamentally basic thing - something every child can use. To construct something as simple as a pencil takes mining graphite, cutting wood, shaping metal, and figuring out whatever modern erasers are made out of....
59: Greener Grass
The Sword of Damocles has become synonymous with imminent danger and the threat of sudden calamity - but that’s only half the story, and perhaps the wrong half to focus on. If you’ve never heard of Damocles before, you’re in for a treat! The story of Damocles...
57: The Power of Impostors 👻
What the heck is an impostor anyway? Someone who is not supposed to be there. An impersonator. A copycat. A covert intelligence gatherer. Uninformed. Uninitiated. Uninvited. Maybe that’s you. It’s definitely me—but maybe there’s power in that. The ones who are different I am not supposed...
A Tree in the Woods
If the cameras turn off, do the Kardashians still exist? People are designing their lives and actions around black camera lenses, hoping that an audience will exist on the other side. People stand alone in rooms swinging their arms violently and making faces at the wall, because TikTok promises their...
56: Finding your passion 🔮
People spend their lives chasing passion. We have dreams of what life should be like. What it could be like, once we find the magic that's missing. We all want to get paid to do something we love. And we want to be paid well for it! To...
55: Almost Invisible 👻
We quickly get used to the sound of alarm bells. My smart watch keeps vibrating, every single hour, reminding me to stand up. I turned on the feature because I know sitting for too long is unhealthy. And when I say I know, I KNOW. I know it in my...
54: A glass half full 🥃
Is the glass half empty or half full? Apparently, your answer indicates whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist. I think that’s silly. It’s a question of orientation, not optimism. Are you picking it up or putting it down? What’s your motivation in the scene? Are...
🎙️Techno-optimism and The Anthology of Balaji with Eric Jorgenson
David speaks with Eric Jorgenson, the CEO of Scribe Media. He also has a rolling fund investing in pre-seed and seed-stage tech companies, and is the author of two books: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness; and The Anthology of Balaji. They talked about: 📚 Impact...
🧭 Anchoring Bias: The Weight of First Impressions (Wayfinder #11)
Welcome back to Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Imagine you're at an antique market, and you stumble upon a peculiar-looking vase. The seller, sensing your interest, casually mentions it's from the 18th century and starts the bid at a hefty $500....
🎙️Building, Buying, and Scaling Businesses with Brandon Pindulic
David speaks with Brandon Pindulic, President of Spacebar Ventures, a digital business incubator and investment firm. He also previously founded OpGen Media. They talked about: 💼 Early business ventures and lessons 🎓 Reflections on college and early career 🏢 Building OpGen Media 🤝 Landing big clients and growing the business 🔄 Reflections on selling the...
🎙️Self-deception and decision-making with Robin Hanson
David speaks with Robin Hanson, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and co-author of The Elephant in the Brain. They talked about: 🕵️♂️ The hidden self-deception in our beliefs 🤔 How to improve your thinking 🙈 Hidden desires in social and economic policy 🤵♂️ Experts, elites, and the institution reform 🏢 Stratification...
Counterfactual Thinking: The magic of asking 'what if' (Wayfinder #10)
Welcome back to the tenth issue of Wayfinder, your fortnightly compass for navigating life’s toughest decisions. Have you ever caught yourself thinking, "If only I had taken that job, moved to that city, or even chosen that restaurant, things could have been so different"? That's...
🎙️Upgrade your thinking with Eric Jorgenson
David speaks with Eric Jorgenson, the CEO of Scribe Media. Scribe is the first, biggest, and best professional publisher. He is also an Angel investor and entrepreneur. He launched his rolling fund on AngelList, a rolling fund investing in pre-seed and seed-stage tech companies. He authored the books The Almanack...
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