Economics of Human Energy

Thoughts about how money and human energy relate

We are always telling stories, whether we realize it or not. We might as well get good at it. Good stories win people over. They provoke and inspire and inflame the human spirit. It’s a tremendous source of power.

visakan veerasamy • a matryoshka of possibilities

Stories → Power

Work is a waste of my time. The things that I’m best at, that I get the most benefit from, and see the most big-picture results from, don’t feel like work.

Nicholas Goodey • Resistance and Embracing Your Nature

“Work” is wasting energy, because energy goes down. But the truly valuable things make energy go up.

“AI will lift the ceiling, leading to more creative outputs made possible by more powerful tools; it will also lower the floor, making it easier for anyone to design and collaborate.”

Our Centaur Future - A RADAR Report

When the gap between the ceiling and flow increases, the way to prevent unrest is by adding more steps between. It’s important to see clearly how to level up to the ceiling, and not only enable people who have the ability to make the leap between the existing steps. More people being able to do something shouldn’t threaten the existence of anyone currently doing the thing.

I was unwilling to be trapped by something that looked successful on the outside, but felt like shit on the inside.

All That Remains

Alignment matters the most

Where we invest our time also has a Return on Energy (ROE).

Return on Energy

It's hard to sit there complaining about paying money if you can see it costs $300 get the accountant to file that thing we need, and that the person you enjoy talking to gets paid this much. Seeing it all transparently is quite powerful.

Divya Siddarth • Building Capacity for Exit to Community

Money spent that goes to people you like makes it easier to spend money

"There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way." - Thich Nhat Hahn

Happiness makes things easier

In early 2021, while most founders were chasing quick exits, I was laying the foundation for something more sustainable. The digital fingerprints are clear in my content DNA—establishing values and identity wasn't just personal branding. It was memetic groundwork.

The Time Architect: From Building in Public to Bending Time

What’s your content DNA look like?

Despite my tendency to procrastinate, I’ve gotten (mostly) good at not being late for things because I spend a lot of my energy trying to not let other people down.

TRUSTWORTHY TRUST

How much energy is lost for the sake of trying to maintain some level of “adulting”?