turning 25, some lessons I've learned, and thoughts on the future
I turned 25 today, it's a... weird feeling.
25 to me is an age where I'm not able to use 'young & hungry' to my advantage anymore. there's less reason for someone to take a chance on you for your potential the older that you get. I have 18-year-olds poking fun at me for being 'unc' status now, and I have to actually stretch & warm up before any sports.
but on the other hand, I'm just getting better year over year. the 24-year-old me wouldn't be able to beat current me at anything - I'm smarter, stronger, more athletic, more capable of deep work, have better relationships, and have an extra year of learning & life experiences to back me up. today, I'm the worst I'll ever be in all aspects of life, if I make it so.
aging seems fun? it's scary seeing that number go up, but looking past that, it's an interesting thought experiment to just wonder where I'll be if I don't die, keep compounding, and learn how to use new technology.
we're living in the most exciting time of human history - our rate of technological change is unprecedented. almost every human that came before us would have been lucky to see a single new invention or piece of technology in their entire lives. hundreds of years would go by with humans using the same tools, languages, and societal structures without much improvement. we're now speed running AGI, landing rockets, and are finally building commercial brain-machine interfaces. we weren't built to see this much progress in a single life time - but I'm so glad I'm alive to be a part of it.
this is going to be a huge decade for me. I'm going to do the most important work of my life and make an impact on the world & improve the lives of my fellow humans. I'm going to get married & have children. I'm going to reach that 'potential' that I know I have.
summer is officially over. it's time to work.
the rest of this post is unfiltered thoughts & rambling.
what do I want out of my life?
to seek the truth, have a long health-span, build something meaningful & impactful with the smartest people, and to build a healthy family.
some thoughts on the future
- a single button click is getting more and more powerful.
- in the 2000s, you could download a song from the web
- in the 2010s, you could get fresh food delivered instantly
- in the 2020s, you can build entire applications
- in the 2030s, you'll be able to get your robot to do anything you want
- no energy is renewable, the sun will eventually die out. the creation of explanatory knowledge is what will keep the human race alive & prosperous.
- free markets will become increasingly important
- freedom of choice leads to different choices. different choices lead to different outcomes. different outcomes lead to inequality. free markets are innate to humans
- if resistance training could be turned into a pill, it would be the most effective pill ever created
- blockchain has yet to take off.
- focus & attention to detail are increasing in value.
- the cost of writing code is going to zero
- microeconomics, philosophy, stats, and taste are going to become increasingly more important. becoming an operational killer might be more impactful than being a cracked engineer.
- the quantified self is underrated. purchasing an apple watch now is like buying life insurance, you'll be able to show your (AI) doctor in 20 years over a terabyte of your own data.
- the way that a computer is used is changing faster than most people think. if you aren't trying your hardest to keep up, you'll be left behind. the gap between the person that embraces this change vs. the person that's too scared to cough up $20 for a subscription will be massive
- data engineering is going to be the most important field in software
- "death has gone from a certainty, to a maybe"
some things I learned
- reading is still one of the highest leverage activities. one hour of reading can change the trajectory of your life
- "If it doesn't keep you awake, you don't want it badly enough"
- it's important to not only have input, but you must also measure output. operating in an open-loop system is a quick way to go nowhere in life. closed-loop is the way to go to actually get shit done
- the negative effects of being around low energy people will far outweigh the positive effects of high energy people
- cash is a valid investment strategy
- speaking to smart people is a cheat code. one conversation with a smart & high-energy person changed how I carried myself
- nullius in verba - ie. take no ones word, seek the truth yourself
my favourite reads this year
some of these were re reads.
books
- The Beginning of Infinity, David Deutsch
- The Anthology of Balaji, Eric Jorgensen
- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
- The Story of Civilization, Ariel & Will Durant
- Economic Policy, Ludwig Von Mises
- please read this if you haven't already. it's 124 pages.
- Designing Data Intensive Applications, Martin Kleppman
- Outlive, Peter Attia
- Are your lights on? Gerald Weinberg
- Batman Comics
blogs / internet
- The Log: What every software engineer should know about real-time data's unifying abstraction
- mandatory read for anyone that writes code and/or interacts with a database
- How the Internet Works
- it's 2024. if you still don't know how the internet works, read this.
- What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?
- chatGPT came out ~2 years ago. not many people know how it works yet
- The Bitcoin Whitepaper
- You and Your Research
lastly, where I've been for the last few months
- enjoying summer, hanging out with friends, playing lots of basketball, pickleball, and getting a ton of steps
- I'm on an 885 day 'move streak' on my Apple Watch at the time of this writing
- reading
- recently, I've been captivated by David Deutsch, Balaji, and Ludwig Von Mises
- travelling - I went to NY, Miami, San Francisco, Hawaii, and Europe (Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland)
- working
- built a few mini side projects for me to track my deep work sessions, increase my typing speed, and some more I'm working on now.
- spending time with family & gf