Running on Empty by Peter G. Peterson was written in 2004. It is a book on public policy by chairman of the Blackstone group. It is a good test to read such books on public policy many years later. The problems that Peterson warns about include the consequences of unfunded commitments in Social Security and … Read more
The comedian Tim Minchin said, in a somber graduation speech, “opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. But unlike assholes, they should be constantly and meticulously examined.” There is a certain amount of conceit necessary in life. If you are too humble, too self-aware, then you will play it too safe. But the opposite is … Read more
Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk by Peter Bernstein is a book about man’s constant battle against the forces of fate. This is a fight that has existed for millennia, and in each epoch, influenced by the dominant ideology of the time, we have dealt with risk differently. Bernstein outlines the evolution of … Read more
Risk Aversion Think of your wealth as a pile of bricks with large bricks as the foundation and with smaller bricks the higher you go. A brick that is removed from the top will be larger than the next brick you can add to the pile. The pain from losing a brick is greater than … Read more
Fibonacci Most people have heard of the Fibonacci series, but it is not only a source of amusement. If you divide any of the Fibonacci numbers by the next higher number, you will find that after 3, the answer is always 0.625. After 89, the answer is always 0.618. And if you divide any number … Read more
Gambling Human beings have always been infatuated with gambling because it puts us head-to-head against the fates, with no holds barred. Should you refrain from acting in the hope that time will shift the probabilities in your favor? Hamlet complained that too much hesitation under uncertainty is bad, because overdeliberation will ruin spontaneity, but once … Read more
Marc Andreessen Marc Andreessen is a legendary figure in Silicon Valley, he co-created the famous Mosaic browser, and co-founded Netscape, and Loudcloud. He is now managing the venture capital firm Andreessen Horrowitz, which has become one of the most dominant tech investors on the planet. Don’t Fetishize Failure These days, people call failure a ‘pivot’, … Read more
The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation is based on the teachings of S. N. Goenka’s, who’s teaching emphasized that the Buddha’s path to liberation is universal and scientific. He was an influential teacher and played a key role in establishing non-commercial Vipassana meditation centers globally. Vipassana is about gaining intellectual insight about yourself. In recognizing … Read more
News A great danger in the time we live in is that we are fed too much information. Quantity is a problem because the overload of data makes it more difficult for us to organize our knowledge, this has the effect of confusing us, and not giving us clarity. Data is available and abundant, and … Read more
This book by Tolstoy is a list of 365 thoughts to meditate on, with supporting quotes from great teachers, such as Seneca, Buddha, and Jesus. Each page has a handful of quotes around a theme. I found some of these ideas to be helpful and original, others too familiar, and others not very helpful. There … Read more