Emilie Kormienko

We agree to many requests not because we want to do them, but because we don't want to be seen as rude, arrogant, or unhelpful. Often, you have to consider saying no to someone you will interact with again in the future—your co-worker, your spouse, your family and friends.

If someone you know, like, and trust believes a radical idea, you are more likely to give it merit, weight, or consideration. You already agree with them in most areas of life. Maybe you should change your mind on this one too. But if someone wildly different than you proposes the same radical idea, well, it's easy to dismiss them as a crackpot.

“Tokenomics” has become a popular term in the last few years to describe the math and incentives governing crypto assets. It includes everything about the mechanics of how the asset works, as well as the psychological or behavioral forces that could affect its value long term.

Founders typically experience the market problem themselves, hence why they come up with a solution. Therefore, if founders can find people like themselves from their own circles, that’s a good starting point. From there, let Metcalfe’s Law of networking effects take it forward. But this can be slow.  My favourite way is to combine that initial... See more

Minimizing friction is merely one means to a great user experience. The goal of any design is not to minimize friction, it’s to help the user achieve some end. Reducing friction is often consistent with that end, but not always.

Amazingly, most teachers receive little or no professional training in the science of learning. My feeling is that we should urgently change this state of affairs, because we now possess considerable scientific knowledge about the brain’s learning algorithms and the pedagogies that are the most efficient.

The 80/20 Rule states that, in any particular domain, a small number of things account for the majority of the results. For example, 80 percent of the land in Italy is owned by 20 percent of the people. Or, 75 percent of NBA championships are won by 20 percent of the teams. The numbers don't have to add up to 100. The point is that the majority of... See more

Put more directly, The Pattern is partly about the systems we live in, partly about our innate drive to fit in, compete, and seek status, and partly about wanting to feel secure in increasingly complex, chaotic world.