Things I'd like to blog about (part III)

Part 1 (with explanation)
Part 2

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Warren Buffet's advice: choose knowledge that is cumulative/compounding, not something like a programming language that will be obsolete in another couple of years. I think this is an extremely important idea and it can be used for determining if you are being productive by asking "are the returns to what I'm doing compounding?"

The search for truth represents a longing, not a destination. Not only are events often a roll of the dice, often the dice are rolled where you cannot find them.

Why is it that people care more about where they are going than where they have been? Why do we prefer our lives go from bad to good rather than vice versa?

I prefer people who, like me, are doubtful of their own beliefs, but I recognize that people who seem uncertain are at a disadvantage in the job market. I think a solution is not to recklessly feign certitude but to be certain of what you don't know, and to assign probabilities to your beliefs.

I want the purpose of health care to be to extend my life, not to prevent my death. This is a subtle but enormous difference. If everyone felt this way, our health care and budget problems would be solved. Related: The idea that a human can be healthy is an abstraction.

Living like you are going to die tomorrow: Probably not a good strategy for all life decisions because you will ignore long-term goals, but I think it is wise to live like you are going to die tomorrow for a certain subset of things like treatment of others, interest in the world, and expression of gratitude.

Will musicians, like chess players, eventually be defeated by a musical version of "Deep Blue"? One of my most absurd beliefs is that creativity can and eventually will be effectively mechanized.

Small efforts make a big difference. This is one of the most important principles for entrepreneurs to follow -- e.g., minimizing the number of clicks users need to make. But it can also be used for self-improvement purposes -- e.g., if you are dieting, place the food you are trying to avoid in a less convenient area.

Wikipedia has a fascinating page on the meaning of life and how it has been defined by so many religious and philosophical perspectives. In the end the question comes down to what should we be doing with ourselves? As I see it, one broad strategy is to eat, drink, and be merry. This is hedonism and it is the things you have a high chance of accomplishing. The other broad strategy is to aim for accomplishment. But aiming for accomplishment means a greater chance of failure. A third strategy is to get the right mixture of hedonism and accomplishment. But how do we find the right mixture?