Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life

Expiring knowledge catches more attention than it should, for two reasons. One, there’s a lot of it, eager to keep our short attention spans occupied. Two, we chase it down, anxious to squeeze insight out of it before it loses relevance.

The trick in any field—from finance to careers to relationships—is being able to survive the short-run problems so you can stick around long enough to enjoy the long-term growth.

Economist Alex Field wrote that by 1941 the U.S. economy was producing 40 percent more output than it had in 1929, with virtually no increase in the total number of hours worked. Everyone simply became staggeringly more productive.

Who has the right answers but I ignore because they’re not articulate?

Laundromats were also invented in the 1930s after sales of individual washing machines fell; they marketed themselves as washing machine rentals.

“The course of evolution has been to reduce the number of parts and to adapt those which remain more closely with their special uses, either by increase in size or by modifications of their shape and structure,” Williston wrote in 1914. Animals with hundreds of teeth often evolved to have a handful of specialized incisors, canines, and molars. Doze

With a large enough sample, any outrageous thing is apt to happen,” Mosteller said.

would change if my incentives were different?

“I was hoping to remember to stay afraid because that is the best way to stay alive and not make careless mistakes.” It’s good advice and a smart insight that applies to many things.

What events very nearly happened that would have fundamentally changed the world I know if they had occurred?