Can humans handle abundance?
25 May, 2024
We live in the most prosperous times our species has ever experienced. The world today is beyond the fantasies of heaven for our ancestors. AGI promises a more abundant future ahead.
The optimist in me is excited: The access to superintelligence at your fingertips, The elimination of redundant work and so much more time. But there is a certain fear too.
The human brain is a machine wired for scarcity living in an age of abundance. The world around us has changed, but our brains are still the same. We still have the instincts of the hunter-gatherers, the ones optimised for the earth of a million years ago. Modern abundance has brought alongside it an overload of calories, stimulation and information — perhaps a little too much to handle for a caveman.
Humans are purpose driven. Our purposes are problem driven. It is almost like we are wired to be in a state of perpetual problem-solving. Imagine if there is no work to do. I fear abundance would only give us more room to create grander problems out of thin air. Kierkegaard put it well: as we make the world easier, what becomes lacking is lack itself.
I still believe we must accelerate technology. Any other alternative is certain death of civilisation. But we must also be prepared as a society, to handle the abundance that awaits us.
Stop caring, start sucking
7 June, 2024
You cannot care in the beginning. Your first tweet, article, cold email, product, idea — all of them will suck. Your first day at the gym will suck. Your first time asking someone out will suck. People who are the best at what they do were not born with the talent, they were just fine with sucking until they got better. They did not care for what others thought. They did not care for instant results.
Inaction holds more people back than incompetence ever could. The first step towards getting better is to get out of your head. It is to not be so smart that you start doubting yourself. Being a little delusional perhaps. If you want to build something, go build it. Go suck at first, it will teach you a lot of things. Learning that comes at the cost of embarrassing yourself is far better than what you achieve sitting on the couch and caring too much.
Software is not dead
2 June, 2024
Learning Computer Science is not just memorising syntax but developing a programmer’s approach. To be able to break problems down into simple tasks and understand the flow of logic. The future might not need simple website developers, but the ones solving complex developmental challenges will benefit from a computer science education.
Software development is not just about solving problem but also identifying them. Nothing conditions your brain better at being a great optimiser than actually writing code and solving problems over and over again. With LLMs, you’ll be able to act quickly but you’ll still need to be good at knowing where to act. It is like handing a carpenter the most advance nail gun in the world and all he has to do is know where to use it. That is where his real skill lies, something that came with practice and study.
Is software dead? Far from it. Will software change? More than you can imagine.
LLMs will make the good developers more valuable and the bad one almost redundant. They’ll help us solve problems at a remarkable scale and speed. But there is still need for people to find the next problem. Learning computer science is still the most beautiful experience of my life.
Distractions are a scam
24 May, 2024
This was a thought inspired by Dan Koe. No one is truly distracted. Most people define distractions as a secondary pursuit, something that is not what you should be doing, but you are doing. This is not true. In fact, I believe that the human brain is incapable of ever doing something that is not a primary goal.
Procrastination and Distractions do not exist because you choose to do things you should not, instead they exist because what you should be doing does not have absolute importance. You scroll social media when you should be working because you do not value your work as much as the stimulation from social media, at least in that time frame.
An empty mind is indeed a devil’s workshop. Focus, again is not the absence of distractions but absolute importance for one goal. When no other biological or social urge can supersede what you want to achieve.
Cal Newport did a study on this once, where he asked participants to quit social media for 30 days. Those who just focused on avoiding Instagram or Twitter eventually ended up failing the challenge. Those who focused on finding alternatives like reading a book or hanging out with friends finished the challenge.
The key to be focused is not to eliminate distractions, but to pick a purpose that is so important to you that being distracted is impossible.
On Rationality, or the lack thereof
23 May, 2024
Humans believe they are rational animals. They believe they act out of judgment and analysis. This is not true. Each of us is comprised of a rational and irrational self. The earlier believes it is in control and the latter ensures that this delusion continues. Our actions, at their core, are dictated by emotions and insecurities. It is rare for us to abandon the reptilian [instinctive] part of our mind.
This dichotomy is more fascinating when I observe groups. For every Greek school of philosophy that led the advent of scientific inquiry, there was the medieval church spreading superstition and ignorance. For every Newton and Galileo there was a Hitler and Stalin. This cycle continues and masses sway from their rational to irrational self.
Evolution does not want you to be rational because it does not care for individual excellence. Rational behaviour does not serve the interest of the species. Hubris, Jealousy, Self-centredness, Conformity… all are aimed at making you a better cog in the system that we call evolution.
But ever so often, we have outliers. People who choose to embrace their rational self — they do not care for their reptilian mind’s desires. I believe the freedom from your irrational self is the most noble human achievement, a form of absolute self-mastery few are able to achieve. But those few define the course of our world.
Opinion Bubbles
26 May, 2024
It is important to surround yourself with people who think like you, have similar ambitions or work in the same industry. It is even more important to ensure that these are not the only people you surround yourself with. I think this idea takes root in my core belief that comfort is the root of all things wrong.
It is easy for you to get stuck in an opinion bubble today. The videos you watch are curated for you. The tweets you read are curated for you. To the point were most people choose to be around people who agree with them. Silicon Valley is a prime example of this. It is a massive bubble of techno-optimist, hyper-ambitious, wannabe dropout billionaires. The Web3 space a few years back was also an example of such a bubble based purely on conformist notions (I know because I was a part of it too).
I ensure I surround myself with people who disagree with me. Who may not want to do the same things in life. I think it adds more context. None of my friends have entrepreneurial ambitions. Most of them do not want to spend their life in the Bay Area. But that is fine, because I need a refuge from the bubble I put myself in to impartially analyse if what I am doing is really worth doing. The discomfort of people not agreeing with you is a reality check most people need to truly understand if what they are working on is worth it.
There is nothing better than being a contrarian who turns out to be right, and there is nothing more foolish than being a contrarian who turns out to be wrong. The earlier is visionary, the latter is blind.
Why write online
27 May, 2024
I was born in a small town in India. The kind where it was hard to cross paths with a programmer or engineer. I am grateful that I got a chance to leave the town and live in various cities my entire life. I could now interact with people from different walks of life. If I had stayed in that town — I would not have learned to code. And I would’ve definitely not gotten into Stanford.
Environment is crucial in the modern world. You cannot build great things without being surrounded by great people. This is why I chose to write online. The internet does not care where you are on this planet. It gives you a chance to connect with others across the world. Writing online is my chance at finding my tribe. Finding the people who share my drive and ambition for technology.
This is the first of the many pieces of writing I’ll be sharing online. I know people will not care in the beginning. I might get zero views. All of that is fine. I just wanna write…