I read books in a way that makes them all heavy. Every single sentence is examined for a potentially life changing insight or nugget of information. It borders on insane, and makes reading way more difficult than it has to be. But it’s an investment. Because most stuff, when I come at it with the right mindset, actually can be life-changing. This is the style I apply to everything I consume (except podcasts for some reason) – maximal extraction....
In the physical realm, if one is traveling at speed X in a specific direction, and the direction is immediately changed to a perpendicular direction, instant death occurs even at low velocity. That’s how much a change in direction means. If the new direction were 180 degrees opposite from the original direction, the threshold gets lower. In the mental realm, we’re constantly changing directions, and the less related a new direction is, the more jarring it feels....
There’s usually not perfect alignment between what’s right, and what’s easy. They’re usually far from opposite though! Taking a little time to figure out the best compromise between right and easy can pay extreme dividends as they compound over the years. And right isn’t the same as perfect, either.
Knowing the rules of the game seems like an indisputable prerequisite for winning. We’re used to systems with rules. The rules govern behaviour and limit potential outcomes to a manageable level. Systems with rules are easy. Systems with known rules are extremely easy. Most of life has no rules, and of the parts that do, most of the rules are unknown. Finding a rule that most people don’t know is a huge competitive advantage, and there’s a presumably infinite space to explore to find the rules....
The Silk Roads – A new History Of The World Peter Frankopan Epic outline of how the world was shaped into what it is today in terms of the global trade and political landscapes that have shifted since the beginning of recorded civilisation. The book starts with the creation of the original silk road, and speeds through history, gradually decelerating and spending more time on recent events – a solid half of the book is dedicated to events after WW1....