Published inNonTrivial·3 days agoThe Structure of IntuitionRecognizing the Cost of Precision — For a high-level talk on this topic check out the NonTrivial Podcast. Mathematics as Rigor Our worldviews are largely based on how we think things work. Our experiences settle into ideas, and we use those ideas to make decisions. Our perceptions don’t exist merely as isolated concepts, rather we fashion them into narratives…Intuition13 min readIntuition13 min read
Published inNonTrivial·May 11Let Nature Choose Your DeadlinesHow Focusing on Structure Beats Focusing on Time — For the podcast episode on this topic check out the NonTrivial Podcast. Life and Deadlines Life presents us with a host of challenges for which we must find solutions. Finding solutions is less about ideas and more about discovering ways to build physical things that produce useful outputs. We might be constructing a…Complexity19 min readComplexity19 min read
Published inNonTrivial·Mar 28Thinking Before EatingDeveloping a More Rigorous Heuristic — Check out the NonTrivial Podcast to listen to a high-level discussion on this topic. Contents Quality and Decision Making Challenges in Defining Quality A More Robust Definition (intuition) A Mathematical Treatment Making Decisions Quality and Decision Making Quality is important in our lives. We want to consume and create quality things. On the consumption side…Problem Solving20 min readProblem Solving20 min read
Oct 12, 2022Shifting UpHow Victors Let Nature Coordinate the Win — You can also listen to the podcast version of this piece on NonTrivial. We define a thing’s value by its characteristics; what it does and doesn’t do. But a thing cannot adequately be defined outside its environment. There are countless dependencies that make a thing, a thing. We need to…Success17 min readSuccess17 min read
Sep 25, 2022Dodging Economic RealityHow Today’s Economists Conveniently Misunderstand our World — You can also listen to the podcast version of this piece on NonTrivial. Economists are known for attempting to treat economics like a genuine science. But upon closer inspection it becomes obvious that their methods are quite outdated. …Complexity39 min readComplexity39 min read
Jul 2, 2022Technology is HumanityThe Cost, Beauty and Inevitability of the Human-Technology Identity — Original photo by Rachel McDermott For the podcast version of this article see the NonTrivial episode here. The usual way of thinking about technology is as an extension of life. Technology extends our eyes, our ears, our muscles. If we pick up a smartphone we can see and hear family…Technology22 min readTechnology22 min read
Jan 18, 2022Foreseeable CatastropheWeWork and The Growth-Survivability Threshold — In this article I talk about systems that reach out into their environment for new resources, but are unable to backfill their growth with sustainability. This is a common pattern throughout many fields of science, but is perhaps less recognized in other areas, such as business. I will show how…Business27 min readBusiness27 min read
Oct 3, 2021If You Want a Clean House, Invite People OverTo become good at anything, start at the end. — Photo by Christopher Ott Listen on the NonTrivial Podcast👇Science16 min readScience16 min read
Sep 7, 2021The Best Preparation is No PreparationWhy Solving Problems in the Moment Leads to Superior Competence — Listen on the NonTrivial Podcast👇Science23 min readScience23 min read
Aug 16, 2021If You Want to Learn, Ignore the DetailsWhy High-Level Thinking is Superior to Detailed Reasoning — Listen on the NonTrivial Podcast👇Life16 min readLife16 min read
