Looking back over the past months, there is one commonality running through most of my non-mindfulness-focused newsletters and that is that I have a lot of quotes from Tyler Cowen.
Hi David. I am currently on a Tyler deep-dive myself. It's how I found your article. Thanks for writing it and best of luck on your polymath adventure.
Wonderful piece, thank you! However, I don't think I understand what you mean with point 2 "To truly get the most out of new experiences, develop enough “context” so that you can enjoy each area and get the benefits" - Can you expand on this a little bit?
Hi Fritz - Tyler wrote more about it at the link below but the basic point is that if you want to learn something new, there is some basic amount of context you'll need to develop in order to get most of the benefits of this new area. So for example, if you are learning or traveling to a new country (let's suppose), the more "context" you develop/learn (e.g., language, cuisine, history, culture) the more you'll get out of it. Hope that helps. More here: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/02/context-is-that-which-is-scarce-2.html
Thank you so much for sharing great insights, David!
As an international founder, I really resonated with this article!
Here's a list of my highlights that I really resonated with from this article and my notes:
>> To make the most of human culture & knowledge, you have to force yourself to expand the areas you experience. Within each you should build context, diversify your mediums of consumption, amplify with friends/mentors, and the make best use of the time available
>> The world is rich and full of wonder. Always keep exploring and pushing your curiosity into new areas.
>> “… I think people typically learn things really well through either mentors or small groups of peers trying to do the same thing. So you may or may not have time for that. But if you can do it, it’s the best way.”
✍️ Note: 💯 % agree!
>> I’ve tried to find mentors for just about everything. Sometimes the relationship lasts only a week or a month, other times for years. Aside from providing teaching and advice, the mentor, like the small group, helps make an issue or idea more vivid: A living, breathing exemplar of success stands before you. The mentor makes a discipline feel more real and the prospect of success more realistic.
>> From Tyler: “When you write out ideas, you realize the imperfections in your own thinking. [Be] open to critical feedback. And just never stop writing. And even, if you have the time, write out views you don’t agree with. Try to steel man them. Just do that very often and very regularly.”
Normally I'd find it quite remarkable to see someone who had so much in common with me (law school, multiple careers, love of travel, reading, trying new exotic things and novelty more generally) but given we're connected through Tyler, it all seems expected :)
Fantastic distillation of Tyler's philosophy. Thank you for this David 🙏
Excellent piece, and Tyler Cowen is indeed an inspiration. I'm really glad you wrote this piece to help relay that inspiration to others.
Hi David. I am currently on a Tyler deep-dive myself. It's how I found your article. Thanks for writing it and best of luck on your polymath adventure.
Wonderful piece, thank you! However, I don't think I understand what you mean with point 2 "To truly get the most out of new experiences, develop enough “context” so that you can enjoy each area and get the benefits" - Can you expand on this a little bit?
Hi Fritz - Tyler wrote more about it at the link below but the basic point is that if you want to learn something new, there is some basic amount of context you'll need to develop in order to get most of the benefits of this new area. So for example, if you are learning or traveling to a new country (let's suppose), the more "context" you develop/learn (e.g., language, cuisine, history, culture) the more you'll get out of it. Hope that helps. More here: https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/02/context-is-that-which-is-scarce-2.html
Nice write up (also 👀 Equator Coffee)
Thank you for writing this - it was great!
Thank you so much for sharing great insights, David!
As an international founder, I really resonated with this article!
Here's a list of my highlights that I really resonated with from this article and my notes:
>> To make the most of human culture & knowledge, you have to force yourself to expand the areas you experience. Within each you should build context, diversify your mediums of consumption, amplify with friends/mentors, and the make best use of the time available
>> The world is rich and full of wonder. Always keep exploring and pushing your curiosity into new areas.
>> “… I think people typically learn things really well through either mentors or small groups of peers trying to do the same thing. So you may or may not have time for that. But if you can do it, it’s the best way.”
✍️ Note: 💯 % agree!
>> I’ve tried to find mentors for just about everything. Sometimes the relationship lasts only a week or a month, other times for years. Aside from providing teaching and advice, the mentor, like the small group, helps make an issue or idea more vivid: A living, breathing exemplar of success stands before you. The mentor makes a discipline feel more real and the prospect of success more realistic.
>> From Tyler: “When you write out ideas, you realize the imperfections in your own thinking. [Be] open to critical feedback. And just never stop writing. And even, if you have the time, write out views you don’t agree with. Try to steel man them. Just do that very often and very regularly.”
Thank you so much, again!
For further notes: https://glasp.co/#/kazuki/?p=m0vuZSDD8RRUGF2IjOM9
Really good read. Happy learning!
Memo to myself: https://share.glasp.co/kei/?p=quEgOVVwd3nLhChWRHFb
Thank you for sharing this David. I agree with everything you wrote, which I guess is unsurprising considering I wrote this: https://danfrank.ca/my-favourite-tyler-cowen-posts-and-ideas/
Normally I'd find it quite remarkable to see someone who had so much in common with me (law school, multiple careers, love of travel, reading, trying new exotic things and novelty more generally) but given we're connected through Tyler, it all seems expected :)
These are great! Thanks for sharing and I’m glad to meet you!!!