Ilana Ettinger

We have instinctual responses to help us choose the objects that meet our most basic needs—when we’re hungry, we seek food; when we’re cold, we want warmth. But there is an entire universe of desires for which we have no instinctual basis for choosing one object or another. For these objects of desire, Girard saw that the most important factor in

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For instance: in our society, there seems a general rule that, the more obviously one’s work benefits other people, the less one is likely to be paid for it. Again, an objective measure is hard to find, but one easy way to get a sense is to ask: what would happen were this entire class of people to simply disappear? Say what you like about nurses,... See more

Two centuries ago, 84% of Americans worked on (mainly) our own farms in order to feed ourselves (decentralized, inefficient). By a century ago, we worked for a boss in big factories (centralized, more efficient), and today, while many people still work inside of big companies, more and more of us are working for ourselves or in creative jobs while

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Hell is a collection of individuals who are spending the bulk of their time working on a task they don’t like and are not especially good at.

Knowledge work is less structured, more spontaneous, and harder to teach. “Our knowledge,” says Glaeser, “builds on things that we learn from people around us.“ Being close to other knowledge workers makes it easier for us to learn new things and develop new ideas. As such, knowledge work is best done in cities.

Peter Thiel has said that the best startups are like a cult that believes in something true.