Sometimes

• I do not know
• Knowledge is never 100% - things will eventually change
• "Know" what you "do not know"
• Sometimes
• Because situations and circumstances will sometimes differ

Sometimes you do not know - so expect uncertainly and be prepared

Capacity to Learn from and to Accept Reality

What is your Capacity to Learn from and to Accept Reality (CLAR)? Try rating it from one to ten (one (lowest) to ten (highest)). I believe this is the most important parameter in how effective you are in making decisions. It could also be a gauge on how trustworthy you are. I shall call this your CLAR score. More on this later.

Important Note 

"Acceptance" is like saying, "Yes, I agree that this is how it is".
This then enables you say, "Now I know how it is - I can now create a realistic plan on how I want things to be"

Links to articles which interest me

Progress

Reading is good for you

"Reading 50 books a year is something you can actually accomplish."

Changing times - the past seems very distant

https://t.co/zYnfWBFn8B

“In broaching the possibility of being, in some way, against self-criticism, we have to imagine a world in which celebration is less suspect than criticism.”

https://t.co/XnRhqRWtzP

"Faced with two competing hypotheses, we are likely to choose the most complex one. That’s usually the option with the most assumptions and regressions. As a result, when we need to solve a problem, we may ignore simple solutions — thinking “that will never work” — and instead favor complex ones."

https://www.wired.com/2017/01/how-i-got-my-attention-back/#.q0xsk5b5f

"TECHNOLOGY IS COMMANDING OUR ATTENTION IN INFINITE, INSURMOUNTABLE LOOPS. A COUNTRY TRIP OFF-GRID HELPED ME ESCAPE."

Survival guide in the populist age - part 1

1. Do not waste time - be direct.
2. Know what you are good at. Or Ask yourself "what job would I do for nothing?" Study and practice that field everyday. At least 1 hour

3. Always let someone know where you are or where you are going. A better alternative is to travel with someone you trust 

4. Be very critical and objective of what you read on the Web and social media

5. Read more books and try using some what you have read

6. Seek evidence.

7. Try to speak to strangers

8. Join a Team and know your role in that team

9. Understand yourself and your strategy.

10. Understand that 80% of the worlds population is Anti-black. 90% is Anti-black African. Self-hatred is also prevalent. Stay vigilant. 

Interesting articles

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170925-the-surprising-tricks-to-help-you-focus-at-work

https://freedom.to/

Productivity vs distraction (follow the money)

I saw a very interesting info graphic here. Showing how vc funds are distributed across industries (2014 - 2015).  Now, assuming that education increases productivity while social media and advertising decreases productivity via multiple distractions we can predict that productivity trends are mostly downwards - worldwide.

Note that this hugely unscientific prediction does not take into account overlap ( communicating with experts on social media ). Plus you could argue that the massive investment in business and financial technology should have a positive productivity impact. But I would argue that these are tool improvements and the skills required to make the best use of those tools may not be transferable. The 'worldwide' part points back to the title.  Developers usually  follow the money.

Final note, hope to be proved wrong on this prediction

Gut vs rules

Currently reading Thinking , Fast and Slow which is shaping up to be one of the best non-fictional books I have read in a long time. The chapter relating to intuition vs. formula was particularly interesting, here are some exerts

"Several studies have shown that human decision makers are inferior to a predictive formula  even when they are given the score suggested by the formula!.."

"to maximize  predictive accuracy, final decisions should be left to formulas, especially in low-validity environments.."