Agency
Everything in our world is there because someone decided it needed to exist. We all have things we know need to exist. What stops us from making them exist?
Agency
@visakanv Advanced topics in any domain are alluring for beginners as means to prevent action
Shawn Nirappiltwitter.comI think about this a lot. Maybe I shouldn't ha
My most profound moment in college was when a professor mentioned that we were in school not to learn concepts, but to learn how to think critically. It was a major unblocker for me.
Prior to that moment, I'd been prioritizing getting good grades in my classes. It was the most important thing at the time. The clearest object I had in front of me.
Now
I need to come back to this.
Four ways this ailment [of not doing things] shows up as:
Learning Syndrome - “one more tutorial”
Tool Syndrome - “one more library”
Process Syndrome - “I just need the right framework”
Maintenance Syndrome - “let me take care of this first”
I need a good image to symbolize the Whispering Earring
it’s only going to become more relevant https://t.co/SWNMrqHpev
Convenience can indeed become a burden
Big companies exert low levels of stress. But that stress is often low agency, so you often feel miserable in face of problems.
Startups exert high levels of stress. But that stress is often high agency, so you often feel energized in the face of problems.
Terrence Rohanx.com
To go with the flow is to seek equilibrium.
Excerpt from a remarkable final shareholder letter:
“Staving off death is a thing that you have to work at. Left to itself – and that is what it is when it dies – the body tends to revert to a state of equilibrium with its environment. If you measure some quantity such as the temperature, the acidity, the water content or the electrical potential in a living body, you will typically find that it is markedly different from the corresponding measure in the surroundings. Our bodies, for instance, are usually hotter than our surroundings, and in cold climates they have to work hard to maintain the differential. When we die the work stops, the temperature differential starts to disappear, and we end up the same temperature as our surroundings.”