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Some posts people seem to like:

• Life, School, and the 80:20 Rule: School compresses the ups and downs of life into nice linear sequences. It gives the illusion of progress. But real learning is nonlinear.
• GPA 2.0: Why overemphasis on grades make both students and employers optimise for the wrong things, and how to fix this.
• The Small Council Question: How binge-watching Game of Thrones helped me work out what I want to do when I grow up.
• Minimum Viable Novelty: In uncertain times we crave order, and in the lockdown we have to impose it upon ourselves. Our routines need minimum viable novelty so we don’t go insane.
• Coronavirus: A story and two perspectives: In which I recover from coronavirus, am furloughed from work, and cautiously endorse public shaming.
• Organising Genius: Some principles for organising small teams with big impact.
• Benford’s Law Basics: In which I finally understand Benford’s Law.

My writing, loosely characterised:

On education and learning:

• GPA 2.0: Why overemphasis on grades make both students and employers optimise for the wrong things, and how to fix this.
• Life, School, and the 80:20 Rule: School compresses the ups and downs of life into nice linear sequences. It gives the illusion of progress. But real learning is nonlinear.
• Reflections on Rejections: My 2019 post-undergrad CV of failures. Some lessons learned from trying lots of things without first thinking about what I really want to do.

On models in different parts of life:

• Wait Attentively: Why waiting for groups of friends is like an infinite series.
• The Value of Friendship: Did you know a lifelong friend is worth more than a new Rolls Royce?
• Efficient Markets in Love and Work: Entrepreneurs and people who suck at Tinder have at least one thing in common — they are both undervalued by the markets they participate in.

On self-improvement:

• The Small Council Question: How binge-watching Game of Thrones helped me work out what I want to do when I grow up.
• Minimum Viable Novelty: In these strange and uncertain times, we all want order to our days. And thanks to the lockdown, we have more power than ever over our routines. These routines need minimum viable novelty, so we can control our days, while holding onto the will to live.
• Balancing Productivity: Why I’m more like Mike Wazowski than Sully. To be productive you need to step into discomfort, and balance passive and active behaviours.
• Digesting Uncertainty: When faced with an uncertain environment we can do one of three things: reduce, accept, or digest.
• Drills: Every skill can be drilled.

On organisation, strategy and economics:

More than the rest of my work, this writing relies on the insights of others.

• The economics of OnlyFans: OnlyFans is a billion-dollar company, but most creators lose money. Why?
• Organising Genius: Some principles for organising small teams with big impact.
• Thinking Blue: Blue Ocean strategy requires organisational innovation.
• Ideas from Josh Wolfe: Disparate ideas on life and investing from the founder of Lux Capital.
• Biotech’s Engine Room: Contract development and manufacturing organisations are the billion-dollar, life-saving companies you’ve never heard of.

On maths and science:

• Benford’s Law Basics: In which I finally understand Benford’s Law.
• Why does maths work?: A summary of Hamming’s The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics
• David Krakauer on Jim Rutt: Notes from DK on JR. Complexity, causality, uncertainty, intelligence, and stupidity.

Annual Reviews:

• One Year of Thinking in Public: A note to myself after one year of writing and thinking in public.
• This Blog is an Experiment: The genesis of xsrus.

If you have any comments on my reading, writing, or suggestions, please contact me.