Welcome to Wednesday.
Knowledge
Science + Engineering: To do science and engineering is an art. Like all arts, it’s about blending a style of thinking with a set of skills. In The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn, Richard Hamming explores how to cultivate a builder’s mindset and harness the tools needed to do so (h/t James Baird for the quotes):
Start with first principles: the atomic units of understanding in a particular area, like the laws of physics.
One test is they have lasted a long time. Another test is from the fundamentals all the rest of the field can be derived by using the standard methods of the field.
Study people who are masters at applying first principles. You can’t learn style from a textbook — it needs to be crafted and emulated from prior examples.
Style cannot be taught in the normal manner.
Audit your knowledge in your area of study and focus on what you know to be right based on your reality. Use that specific knowledge as a tool.
Rethink everything you ever learned on the subject, question every successful doctrine from the past, and finally decide for yourself its future applicability.
Keep building even when it’s no longer fun.
The conditions you want are seldom the best ones for you—the interaction with harsh reality tends to push you into significant discoveries which otherwise you would never have thought about while doing pure research in a vacuum of your private interest.
Wisdom
Value Outcomes: We live in an outcome-driven world with input-driven decision frameworks. It hurts to spend $10,000 (input) in exchange for a service, regardless of the promised outcome. Due to the inherent uncertainty in business and life, we can never be 100% confident that the $10,000 will be “worth it.” Maybe there’s a better deal out there. How can we know? The key is to become comfortable with uncomfortable inputs. $10,000 seems like nothing if it returns $20,000. As a buyer of services, it’s critical to understand the provider’s skills and what return they can provide, not just how much time they can give you and at what price. It’s often higher than you think. As a seller of services, it’s critical to value not just your time, but also the outcomes you create. In the words of Jack Butcher:
Charge for the outcome, not the input.
Inspiration
Be Present: Today, take your inspiration from the space around you. Maybe it’s a glass paperweight acquired on your last trip to Italy that sparks reveries about the rolling vineyards of Tuscany. Maybe it’s the poster in your Zoom background that you’ve never fully taken the chance to admire. Maybe you take 10 minutes and pull a book off the bookshelf, reminding yourself of the comforting and inspiring scent of aged paper. Try it.
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Notes
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