Christopher Columbus reached the Americas in 1492. He traded colourful beads and small mirrors. In return he got gold. Both the indigenous people and the Spaniards thought of each other as fools.
Value does not arise out of usage or cash flow or how something is classified or even its history. Value arises out of perception. Its all a narrative. It always has been.
People thinking crypto is useless is a narrative. People thinking money will always lose value due to inflation is a narrative. Both are true based on your point of perception.
You've got to do less but do better. Thinking that you need to do more is the culprit.
Marie Kondo teaches how to declutter your home by using joy as measurement. You've got to do the same thing to declutter first. Make a list of everything you do. And then measure them on 3 points:
1. Does it give you joy?
2. Does it earn you compliments?
3. Does it captivate you and keep you interested?
If the answer is no for any of the 3 questions, cut it out. (Question 2 should only be used for money making activities.)
There is a point to gossip (which is what most news is.) Gossip connects people. Helps with bonding. When two music lovers meet, they don't each talk about their fav musician. Because that would quickly make the conversation competitive. So instead, they talk about the most famous current musician.
Don't disconnect yourself so much that it makes interaction with others difficult. Find one or two good sources of headlines. And don't go deeper than the headlines or the first paragraph. 2 minutes a day is enough news.
I think it's very easy to make assumptions and it's good to have heuristics to make life easier. But it's not wise to double down on them.
(You're half wrong again. I dont think stoicism that Ryan Holiday talks about is the greatest philosophy. I have read a couple of his books but dont subscribe to him. Anyways I would love to buy you a copy of his work if you want to read and judge for yourself.)
I've not played Factorio but love your argument. Very thought provoking.
What happens if something in the middle breaks and you don't have a buffer? What happens if there is no iron shortage but the steel furnace blows up? Aren't buffers important in such situations?
This hits me with nostalgia. I had made the first buy me a beer / coffee plugin for the wordpress ecosystem back in 2007. People consistently were earning more from donations than from adsense through the plugin.
The idea wasn't originally mine. Paul Myers on the warriorforum used to have "buy me a beer" in his signature. I just ported it to wordpress. Its amazing to see you guys doing well.
While I agree with the thesis, a contradictory point comes to mind.
We just don't know a lot about how cognitive resources are utilized. Long distance runners know this. Athletes know this. The whole concept of "second wind". Where they find the strength to better their game using way less resources -- after they have been tired. Some type of cognitive resource depletion gives people even more energy and motivation.
While I agree that things should be made simpler and we shouldn't over-gamify things, I don't think we should make decisions with the cake / fruits question in mind. That just provides a framework to dumb things down. We will never enable the users to hit their second wind if they never get tasks that make them crave cakes.
I guess my point is: simplicity is good. Simplicity to the point of dumbness is not.
Don't start with an idea. Start with a problem. Call a friend and ask him what problems he face. See if you think you can solve any of them. If not, call another friend. Don't create a product and then try and sell it. Find demand first.
Your thought is correct: factory made diamonds will just create a new diamond category. We have seen this before in the pearl industry with the advent of "cultural" pearls. Cultural pearls have not reduced the prices of natural pearls one bit.