the Losev problem
Born in 1903, Oleg Vladimirovich Losev invented LEDs decades before everybody else (in the 1920s). “Unknown and uncelebrated, this should’ve been the beginning of the photonic telecommunications revolution.” But nobody cared. He was a lonely, broke self-taught nerd with no co-authors. He wrote to Einstein but didn’t get a reply. He died of starvation at […]
Mint 100 Erasmuses
I’m shocked at how recently I learned about Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (1466-1536), who according to Wikipedia is considered one of the greatest scholars of the northern Renaissance. He corresponded with literally hundreds of people in the 1500s. He was born out of wedlock in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Both of his parents died in a plague. He […]
how to DM your heroes
How to DM your heroes when they follow you 1. specific proof-of-work: “I’ve been a fan of your work and writing since the livejournal days” 2. share something specific about yourself, their influence on you: “your work shaped the way I now do X” 3. ask easy-to-answer specific question. I would try to have a […]
encourage your friends to ship their ideas
(original thread) friendly subtweet: sometimes when someone has an idea to do something, the best thing you can do is not to suggest ways to expand and broaden the idea into something more complex than they can handle, but to cheerfully tell them to just fucken do the thing they said they wanted. (If I […]
seek excellent peers
Whenever people ask things like “your best advice in 3-4 words” etc, I always go with “seek excellent peers”. Because when you surround yourself with good people, they have a positive effect on everything else in your life. Some people find this directive too vague. “How?” Well the first thing is to evaluate what you […]
👑 you are already the monarch of your life
— 1. talismans — A talisman is simply an object that is meaningful to you. Wedding rings are the most widely appreciated talismans. (One of the most haunting images from the Holocaust – which I won’t post here, but you can look it up – is a big pile of wedding rings taken from victims […]
🗿 don’t pedestalize people
I use the term Pedestalization to describe the act of putting someone on a pedestal. Hero worship is pedestalization. Some people also pedestalize their friends or partners in a way that makes it impossible for them to see or acknowledge their flaws. Pedestalization is the inverse of demonization. Both acts are dehumanizing. If you intend […]
➡️ pay it forward
When I was a broke teenager, my older friends often insisted on paying for drinks or meals. I used to feel a potent mix of gratitude and shame at this. I deeply appreciated the help, but I often also felt embarrassed, like I was a helpless “charity case”. A few years later, I got a […]
💬 practice good reply game
There is an art to replying and commenting, and probably like 60-70% of people I’ve seen on the internet fail at it. The important thing is not to speak your mind, but to “support” the OP. You can support them by disagreeing well & you can “mis-support” them by agreeing stupidly. Every “utterance” (status, tweet, […]
👋🏾 everyone loves to make a great introduction
I think the big secret of social life is that everybody loves to make a great introduction. If you can become someone that people love to introduce to to other people, you’re “in the green” socially. Everybody loves to introduce a great hire, romantic partner, friend, co-founder. Talking about this can seem narcissistic (narcissists ruin […]