Action Figure Daniel

Blog

  • “Transformer” by Nick Lane

    • The body is chocked full of machines that transform hundreds of times a second
    • Biological processes are circular: add more and get more
    • There is no difference between chemical and biological processes, but we still do not know why one is alive and the other is not
    • The KERB cycle is a cataclysm, not a furnace
    • Respiration evolved long before photosynthesis
    • “Energy flows; Matter cycles”
    • Free radicals do not cause aging but aging causes more free radicals
    • Identical twins are not actually identical because mitochondrial genes are different

  • “Scarcity” by Eldar Sharif

    • Scarcity is having less than you feel you need
    • Subjective expansion of time is when we process more information than usual
    • Lonely people do better at reading the emotions of others
    • Being poor, literally lowers the application of intelligence
    • We do not think about trade-offs if there is slack in our budget
    • Abundance makes it difficult to understand alternatives
    • Poor people lifted out of poverty may not immediately fall back but often do if there is still not slack in their system
    • Design programs with failures in mind
    • Firefighting leads to dropping important, not-urgent items
    • More time does not equal more bandwidth
    • Driving hands-free is almost as dangerous as driving on the phone
    • Avoid trade-off thinking
    • Scarcity often starts with abundance

  • “Risk” by General Stanley McChrystal and Anna Butrico

    • We are too fixated on finding single causes
    • “10 key dimensions” that are in our control
      • Communication
      • Narrative
      • Structure
      • Technology
      • Diversity
      • Bias
      • Action
      • Timing
      • Adaptability
      • Leadership
    • Being bullet-proof is not the point
    • Risk is a calculation between likelihood of incident and intensity of consequences
    • “What gets us into trouble are the things we ‘know for sure’ that just aren’t so”
    • Make sure your narrative lines up with your values and has details
    • Structure informs power
    • Technology should aid decisions, not make it
    • “A man trampled to death by an elephant is a man who is deaf and blind.”
    • When stuff fails, include diversity in your corrective action
    • Groupthink suppresses opinions in favor of cohesion
    • Diversity is often about asking good questions
    • Include your biases in your plans
    • Biases will always be there, so plan accordingly
    • We often choose to stay where we are because it is more comfortable
    • Periodically confirm your actions are still appropriate
    • There is both a right moment and correct speed
    • Sometimes an extra pit stop can make us more efficient
    • “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”
    • If you have a strategy, make sure to use it
    • 4 ways to manage
      • Detect
      • Assess
      • Respond
      • Learn
    • Knowing what your “normal” is, is important to know what is not

  • “Twilight of the Elite” by Christopher Hayes

    • We get elites wrong, because we assume we should be ruled and we just need to find the right people to rule us
    • Meritocracy skews our notions of elitism
    • “We rule not ‘by the people’ but ‘by the cleverest people’.”
    • Unequal outcomes subvert mobility
    • Bad money pushes out good money
      • (Players on steroids push out those who do not)
    • “Inside jokes” and alternative language is a sign of misdeeds
    • “We cannot have a Just society that applies the principle of accountability to the powerless and the principle of forgiveness to the powerful. This is the America in which we currently reside.”
    • We affiliate with a political party to offload policy decision burdens
    • “Bipartisan” is a way to say, “everyone agrees with this”
    • We are just in proximity, but being close can blind us
    • “We are not in the mess in the world today because of too many [information] leaks.”
    • Change through the Media is easier when there are fewer of them
    • Technology has expanded the reach of the Elite… If everyone can download the top soprano [singer], why would you listen to the second best
    • “Freedom of the press is for those who own one”
    • Slave labor stunted the growth of the South (there is no need to innovate if you have free labor)
    • Elite distribution is growing
    • Focusing on merit hides the power of the network; a hidden network makes the elites feel they deserved what they have.
    • Protective egotism is when we pump ourselves up as a self-defense
    • Smarts are the new measure of merit
    • Smarts are not enough, we need wisdom and empathy
    • Feedback is critical to successful systems
    • “You ignore the people in the lower decks at your own peril.”
    • We need to worry about equality in opportunity, including equality to access
      • (It is not just that everyone should be able to take the test, everyone should have access to the same prep tools)

  • “Conspiracy” by Ryan Holiday

    • “No one transgresses me with impunity.”
    • Fights break out, conspiracies stew
    • Only princes can afford to send out an army
    • The weaker party has to be secret
    • Conspiracies must have more than one person
    • Conspirators transition from ‘fighting for evil’ to ‘fighting for others, with or without their permission’
    • “Choose your enemies wisely because you will become just like them.”
    • (You cannot be both unconquerable and the underdog)
    • “Anyone who is threatened and is forced necessarily to suffer or act is a very dangerous man to the prince.”
    • We mistake a clear view for a short distance
    • (Be right about the things that others are not even aware of.)
    • Secrets are not forever; you need to be able to live with them coming out
    • “Culture trumps strategy any day”
    • “Never interrupt an event as making a mistake.”
    • Trials are the performance of all that practice
    • Argue law to the judge, argue fact to the jury
    • “You should not only leave a line of retreat for your enemies, you should pave it.”