Hello everyone,
I present a sort of Russian doll for you today — a Time Capsule about time.
Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
✏️ On Time
Time flies — this expression, albeit overused and devoid of any impact, only becomes more true.
There are many such platitudes about time — time is money (Benjamin Franklin); time waits for no one (Folklore); time is the wisest counselor of all (Pericles). But what is it about time that gives it such value?
You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul.
Arnold Bennett
Time is the greatest currency because it is the great equalizer. No matter the man — bum or billionaire — we are all allotted the same quantity, and can only spend it in the now. And it is impossible to go into debt — what has not been given cannot be squandered. When one realizes just how scarce and fragile time is, it begins to take on its natural golden lustre; and how to spend it becomes a matter of extreme importance.
Time flies as you get older because you become less conscious of it. You wake up and are immediately busying yourself with the matters of the day. Removed from nature’s natural timekeeping, time becomes a quantifiable variable and not a reality to be experienced. There in lies the paradox of time — in order to fully reap its rewards, you must give up any efforts of optimization and feel every moment. The flow of full immersion in the human experience — whether it be staring at the sky, writing a short story, or playing with your child — is the only way to maximize the value of this invaluable currency.
We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is.
Arnold Bennett
I hope to build a life where I can trade money for time, and not the other way around.
alterius non sit qui suus esse potest
Let no man belong to another that can belong to himself
💡 Food for Thought
Nothing worse than a hypocrite with an eloquent tongue.
🔗 Sunday Best
Probability is a Thought Experiment
Bruno de Finetti famously wrote “probability does not exist”.
This was his provocative entree to his theory of subjective probability and Bayesian statistics. When I unwittingly joined the Bayesian cult by going to Duke for grad school, I made it my business to try and figure out what he meant by that gnomic statement. And here is my re-interpretation: probability is a thought experiment.
AI is Creating a Generation of Illiterate Programmers
A recent post by an experienced coder (who uses AI) that recently went viral on the inter-webs, garnering over 1.25 million views in one week.
I reckon we will hear more stories like this in the coming years as the consequences of mass, unquestioned AI adoption become manifest.
We’re not becoming 10x developers with AI.
We’re becoming 10x dependent on AI. There’s a difference.
Every time we let AI solve a problem we could’ve solved ourselves, we’re trading long-term understanding for short-term productivity. We’re optimizing for today’s commit at the cost of tomorrow’s ability.
Mozart - Piano Concerto 23 K488 Adagio
A very nice piece.
Am I the only one who remembers this commercial?
Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.
—Gustave Flaubert
I hope found this newsletter to be time well spent.
See you next week!
AT