Do hard things. Getting taken advantage of. Your work can be practice. Calmness, ELI5 version. Letting go of the past. Ignorant comments. There's more than one way to use AI.
The fates guide the person who accepts them and hinders the person who resists them
— Cleanthes
Running a little late this week. Got my flu shot on Tuesday, which had me feeling very, very tired Wednesday and into Thursday. The same happened three weeks ago with my Covid shot. All back to normal now, and protected, yay! Next time I might plan ahead for some downtime, though. Better news: As of yesterday, I’m once again CPR and first aid certified, a requirement for me to deploy for my volunteer role at WASART. Saturday is my usual “finish 7 Takeaways” day, hence … this week it’s a last-minute, Sunday-morning-after-coffee thing.
I hope your week is going well.
Take care,
1. “We used to embrace ‘doing hard things'”
The Frictionless Life – Tom Greene – (Wit & Wisdom)
It’s a conundrum.
Today we still admire other people doing hard things. We just don’t necessarily want to do the hard things ourselves. We still like things that are hard to get, but we’ve become extraordinarily good at finding short cuts…and avoiding friction. Modern life removed the friction between wanting something and getting it.
And yet what Greene skirts around is that many, if not most, of the advances in technology and life in general are the result of someone looking for a shortcut. “There must be an easier way” is a common precursor to progress. We sometimes only half-joke that software engineers are fundamentally lazy. Rather than solve the same problem over and over, they (*cough*, we) create a tool that solves it once, and for everyone.
Nonetheless, the conundrum that Greene addresses is simply that we need friction to grow. We need to actually work hard to develop innovative solutions in everything from software to propagation of the species and everything in between. That currently seems to be falling by the wayside as life is becoming too(?) easy.
Perhaps developing discipline, problem-solving, and logical thinking was more important than we thought.
Do this: Do hard things.
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2. “The problem is that you’re a nice person”
How To Stop Getting Taken Advantage Of: 6 Secrets From Game Theory – Eric Barker – (Barking Up the Wrong Tree)
No, this isn’t about how to become a non-nice person. These are strategies that anyone can use to become a more successful negotiator without needing to become an a*shole.
They’re all interesting and useful, but the one that spoke to me the most is this:
Make your preferred outcome what happens unless someone steps in and suggests a change.
In other words, make your agreements opt-out. “We’ll do this; let me know if that doesn’t work for you.”
I used this technique heavily back in the day, not so much as an agreement strategy (though of course it works well for that), but to surface objections earlier in the process. Last-minute objections were some of the most costly. It also saved time by cleanly bypassing those issues that people weren’t concerned about.
Do this: Learn to negotiate; it’s a skill that applies to everything from the Cold War (an example in the essay) to who pays the dinner check.
3. “Knowing what to learn is just as important as how to learn it.”
Reach the Top 1% of Your Field (Deliberate Practice) – Scott H. Young – (Blog)
In a critique of some of Anders Ericsson’s work on deliberate practice, Young says, in effect, “there’s more to it than just practice”.
One thing he points out is that not all endeavors lend themselves to what we might consider “practice”.
This suggests that the right way to practice in your field isn’t to divorce practice from performance, rather it’s to try to augment real-world performance so it functions more like practice. Choose projects that will stretch your abilities, and apply constraints so that more learning occurs.
I’d be more succinct: Your work can be practice if you approach it with that intention.
I was somewhat disappointed that he didn’t address the “10,000 hours” issue. Many people read that and miss the “deliberate” part of the equation. Just doing something for 10,000 hours is close to meaningless. On the other hand, if those 10,000 hours are spent taking focused, deliberate steps to improve, that’s something else entirely.
Do this: Practice. Deliberately.
4. “How can I remain calm when I see so many bad things in the world?”
Thich Nhat Hanh’s Answers to Children’s Deepest Questions – Thich Nhat Hanh – (Lion’s Roar)
It’s almost an ELI5 of some basic philosophical issues. As a result, they become very accessible to all.
Even though it was written over a decade ago, the takeaway above seems to apply more than ever today.
If we look closely, we can notice that people who are cruel have a lot of suffering inside. When we see this, we can be compassionate, and help the situation by creating peace, even if what is happening around us is not very peaceful.
…
When we have the energy of compassion, we can do a lot of things to help people suffer less.
Note: I’m not saying it’s easy. Even Thich Nhat Hanh admits to getting angry, after all. But it is something that’s in our control.
The other questions and answers highlighted in the essay are also interesting and thought-provoking.
Do this: To the extent that you can, try to have compassion.
5. “Most folks just can’t let go of the past.”
Acquiescence – Steve Makofsky – (Makoism — dispatches from an explorer mindset)
Makofsky comes at this from a business and leadership perspective, but it applies to life in general. We get stuck in doing things the way they’ve always been done simply because that’s the way they’ve always been done.
The problem isn’t that the old way exists. It’s that questioning it takes effort, so the default quietly wins.
It reminds me of the pot roast story. We often keep doing things that make no practical sense without question. Perhaps once they had a reason, but now, not so much.
Do this: Question a few things.
6. “I had hobbled myself because I believed an ignorant comment by some random dude.”
There’s Only One Thing I Can Control, but I Forgot What It Was – Gary Buzzard – (Enjoy the Moment)
Buzzard found himself dealing with writer’s block and traced it to his reaction to someone’s mean-spirited comment on his work. Once he realized that the only thing he had control over was his reaction, the block evaporated, and he was back at it.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to avoid letting the comments of others stop me from publishing, but as an online publisher, I can completely identify with what Buzzard was feeling. People are basically good and kind, in general. But “in general” is not 100 percent, and that minority loves to make itself heard, often in the most obnoxious way possible.
It’s impossible to control the president, a country, the weather, the past, rain, snowstorms, the temperature, traffic jams, war, algorithms, mean people, bad cooking, illness, and old age.
But you can control how you react to them.
I’ll just add to that list: YouTube commenters. Oh my.
Do this: Don’t let the sh*theads get you down.
7. “PEOPLE are rotting their brains by using AI to cheat.”
The Weaselly Synecdoche at the Center of AI Backlash – Jay Dixit – (Socratic AI)
The subhead: “AI Isn’t Rotting Our Brains. We Are.”
This is one of the best essays I’ve seen on anti-AI overreaction. The naysayers seem to feel that any use of AI automatically disqualifies the user from serious consideration.
They’ve failed to grasp what should be an obvious distinction: there are good and bad ways to use a tool, and there’s a difference between using AI to replace creative work and using it to support humans in doing creative work.
Yes, it’s an obvious distinction that many, for reasons unknown, choose to overlook. The shame is that people are choosing to use AI to write for them and passing it off as their own. That doesn’t mean that’s the only thing that AI can be used for.
Do this: If you’re anti-AI, please open your mind a little and read the essay. It’s quite interesting.
Random links
Other things I found interesting this week.
- Feeling Future Shock? Read These. – via Card Catalog
What I’m reading now
- Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit – Brené Brown
- Swamp Shoot – Jana Deleon
- The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel (audio)
My Reading List – everything I’ve read since 2021.
My Sources Page – the common sources I scan/read regularly.
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