This Week I Learned #53
““Go to bed smarter than when you woke up””
2019-06-03
Podcast interview with Khe Hy of Radreads and Ted Seides on Capital Allocators. Buffet famously said: "Markets can remain irrational longer than you can be solvent." Khe had a good one for entrepreneurs: "People will think you're crazy longer than your emotions will stay solvent". It seems like the a truth that I'll have to embrace but tying it to the words of Buffet makes it ever more a word of gospel for me. Another takeaway was on the creation of an environment that forced you to live that life you intended to in retirement. How Khe would get a WeWork membership even when making no income and how he still is in the red but is living a higher quality of life. It's been an interview that I could relate with so very well and it also got me rethinking about updating my own environment. https://capitalallocatorspodcast.com/2019/06/02/khehy/
2019-06-04
The power of words as primers. Reading about a number of experiments showcased in Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational. i) Participants who were exposed to rude words were more likely to interrupt a conversation faster than those who were exposed to patient and kind words by 2x the time. ii) Participants who were exposed to words relating to the elderly ended up walking slower compared to those who weren't. Whether it be words on a website or primers in a conversation, we can influence how people behave with different words.
2019-06-05
Learnings from Thomas Tull of Tulco's interview with Shane Parrish of Farnam Street. Tull is the founder of Tulco, which is an operating company that invests and owns businesses in a concentrated manner. This was right up my alley in terms of learning about the process Tull took to build and operate the company. Also, he is the co-founder of Legendary productions. The company that brought to life famous films like the Dark Knight series. Tull's Irish background was the reason for the company's Celtic logo I always see in films. Tull went from operating a laundromat business, to venture capital to making movies and now building technology companies. A thrill of an interview. Questions Tull asks himself: i) Ask yourself: are you having fun? Did you spend the day doing what you wanted to? Are excited about what you are doing every day? Are you still intellectually curious? ii) Am I living towards the things that I truly believe in? Not the things I told other people about but the things I truly believe in. https://fs.blog/thomas-tull/
2019-06-06
"The tragedy of the commons" is a psychologist/economist principle on: "when we use a common resource at a rate that is slower than the rate at which it replenishes, all is well. However, if a few individuals get greedy and use more than their share, the system of consumption becomes unsustainable, and in the long term, everybody loses."; salmon fishing is one where if fisherman thought about the collective good of all then they would only fish a small amount for there to be enough for everyone. Unfortunately, a few 'defectors' give into their short term needs and overfish to gain an advantage and this reduces the resource supply for the collective group. This is why salmon fishermen are now constrained by law to a limited number every year. From Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.
2019-06-07
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
2019-06-08
"A completely predictable future is the past. You've already had it." - Alan Watts. I am still a novice in the works of Alan Watts but I've been tuning into his lectures from time to time for some words of wisdom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOZqGUCrje8&t=418s
2019-06-09
"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises." - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. Though I rarely read fiction, there are amazing pieces of literature that stick with you and this is one particular book that fits that mold.