Tangential Tuesdays #25
Hard Books, Habits, Status as a service, Public transport, Money out of Nowhere
Hi 👋. I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter. I’m taking next week off for the newsletter. I’ll be off the grid, visiting Zion and Bryce Canyon 😃.
👑 Status as a service [*Highly recommend*]
This is a long article. Set aside ~30 min to read it and you will not regret it. Probably the best thing I have read all year.
“Fashion, video games, religion, and society itself are some of the original Status as a Service businesses.”
On Facebook:
“You don't leave a party with your classmates to go back to one your parents are throwing just because your dad brings in a keg and offer to play beer pong.”
My favorite takeaway:
Everyone is playing a status game. If you think you're not engaging in status games, you're probably just playing a different game than the ones you're observing.
📕 How to digest books above your level
Reading Wealth of Nations has been way harder than I anticipated. This article by Ryan Holiday was super useful.
Big picture takeaways:
If you’re reading to learn, don’t be afraid to skip to the ending.
Read One Book from Every Bibliography
Read what other smart people got from the book, and see if you agree.
You can read the article here.
📱 How Internet Marketplaces Unlock Economic Wealth
A discussion of how internet marketplaces create value using Adam Smith’s framework in Wealth of Nations.
The core reason that Internet marketplaces are so powerful is because in connecting economic traders that would otherwise not be connected, they unlock economic wealth that otherwise would not exist. In other words, they literally create “money out of nowhere.”
Marketplaces create value by accelerating division of labour. Uber drivers don’t have to worry about how they will get their next ride. Pros on Thumbtack don’t have to worry about marketing to find their next job.
Adam' Smith’s ideas are very relevant > 200 years later.
🚋 Historical Muni Wait Times
🙏 James Clear: Building Better Habits
I’ve been obsessed with everything from David Perell lately. Very few people my age (I think he’s 25) are putting out quality of content as consistently as David is.
In this podcast, he talks with the author of Atomic Habits.
Find ways to enjoy the day to day. Humans are bad at focusing on future rewards, so it has to be fun in the short-term.
Start small. Instead of going straight to 15 minutes of meditation, start with 1 minute every day.
Pre mature optimization has killed many a habit. You don’t have to have the perfect meditation habit or work out routine. Start by showing up.
Personal
-Tracked my habits for most of February. Goal for March: build a meditation habit.
-Started reading The Sun Does Shine. Fascinating story of an innocent man on death row.
-40 % of the way through Wealth of nations. It’s a hard read… but that’s part of the joy of reading it.
-Life is good. It’s crazy to think it’s coming up on almost a year out of college. For those of you still in school, don’t let anyone convince you that “College is the best years of your life”
Thanks for reading! See you in two weeks ❤️
Taylor