Boots theory
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"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
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This quote, an excerpt from Terry Pratchett's novel "Men at Arms", is the Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness. The theory is a satirical take on the idea that it is more expensive to be poor than to be rich, and it still holds to this day.
Another way of interpreting the story is "false economy." We are exposed to hundreds of ads every day to buy this, buy that, leading to a culture of consumerism. The difficult aspect is not simply acquiring the funds to purchase the better product, but rather deciding if it holds significant value for you.
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——
"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."
——
This quote, an excerpt from Terry Pratchett's novel "Men at Arms", is the Captain Samuel Vimes "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness. The theory is a satirical take on the idea that it is more expensive to be poor than to be rich, and it still holds to this day.
Another way of interpreting the story is "false economy." We are exposed to hundreds of ads every day to buy this, buy that, leading to a culture of consumerism. The difficult aspect is not simply acquiring the funds to purchase the better product, but rather deciding if it holds significant value for you.
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On Time Etiquette
I came across an interesting quote the other day.
"The most surprising thing is that you wouldn’t let anyone steal your property, but you consistently let people steal your time, which is infinitely more valuable." - Seneca
By now we have already established that we should stop being a yes-man and treat time as a finite resource. But what about other people's time?
A couple of weeks ago, I scheduled a networking meeting with someone. They didn't show up to the meeting and later texted saying they didn't see my messages. I shrugged it off and rescheduled the meeting for another day. But they failed to show up again. As someone who learned the importance of time the hard way, this comes as disrespectful both professionally and personally. As per Seneca's quote, I let that person steal my time. There is no way, according to the laws of physics, I am getting back that time now.
Looking back on this experience, I want to emphasize that it's important to constantly reflect and respect other people's time.
Next time you are a little late to a meeting, keep in mind you cost them 900 seconds they will never get back.
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I came across an interesting quote the other day.
"The most surprising thing is that you wouldn’t let anyone steal your property, but you consistently let people steal your time, which is infinitely more valuable." - Seneca
By now we have already established that we should stop being a yes-man and treat time as a finite resource. But what about other people's time?
A couple of weeks ago, I scheduled a networking meeting with someone. They didn't show up to the meeting and later texted saying they didn't see my messages. I shrugged it off and rescheduled the meeting for another day. But they failed to show up again. As someone who learned the importance of time the hard way, this comes as disrespectful both professionally and personally. As per Seneca's quote, I let that person steal my time. There is no way, according to the laws of physics, I am getting back that time now.
Looking back on this experience, I want to emphasize that it's important to constantly reflect and respect other people's time.
Next time you are a little late to a meeting, keep in mind you cost them 900 seconds they will never get back.
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Sometimes it's important to take a moment and reflect on your life. Rise of social media made us robots who overconsume digital content on a constant basis that, in turn, put a constraint on our ability to contemplate about things around us.
If you are having lunch right now, put your phone down and think about how you spent the past week.
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If you are having lunch right now, put your phone down and think about how you spent the past week.
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Sleep is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. Never believe someone who says otherwise. People who say they are substituting sleep for work to be more productive are either lying or have a rare medical condition or they actually are and will bear its dire consequences in the future. I will do a more in-depth post about sleep in the near future.
If you want to take back your life, start with your sleep.
- Arianna Huffington
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If you want to take back your life, start with your sleep.
- Arianna Huffington
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On Friendships
As you grow older, the ratio of your time spent with your friends and parents will increase. Thus, it becomes important to take some time and evaluate your friendships as that will build one of the foundations of your future relationships.
I believe college is the most important place to form meaningful relationships early in your life. You never know, you might find your co-founder, significant other, or your best friend in college.
That's why try meeting new people everyday and watch out for people who share the same passion and value with you. You don't have to be in college for this.
When you do find people who are interesting, find ways to help them and don’t ask for anything in return.
But beware of people who always try to take advantage of you and cross them out from your life. They usually don't bring any value to the table and waste your time and energy like parasites.
All that being said, If you encountered a severe difficulty or problem in your day today, who are your friends you would contact? Contact them right now.
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As you grow older, the ratio of your time spent with your friends and parents will increase. Thus, it becomes important to take some time and evaluate your friendships as that will build one of the foundations of your future relationships.
I believe college is the most important place to form meaningful relationships early in your life. You never know, you might find your co-founder, significant other, or your best friend in college.
That's why try meeting new people everyday and watch out for people who share the same passion and value with you. You don't have to be in college for this.
When you do find people who are interesting, find ways to help them and don’t ask for anything in return.
But beware of people who always try to take advantage of you and cross them out from your life. They usually don't bring any value to the table and waste your time and energy like parasites.
All that being said, If you encountered a severe difficulty or problem in your day today, who are your friends you would contact? Contact them right now.
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In a world full of AI generated communication, you stand out by crafting personalized messages.
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Learn how to ask questions from LLMs (i.e. ChatGPT) the right way with prompt engineering: https://www.promptingguide.ai/
www.promptingguide.ai
Prompt Engineering Guide | Prompt Engineering Guide
A Comprehensive Overview of Prompt Engineering
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“Besides, it is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit. But you cannot see that, if you are careless; for it will not come of its own accord.”
- Socrates
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- Socrates
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On Reading Books
Reading books should be a part of your daily routine. Whether it's a novel or a course book, you should allocate time every day to peruse a few pages.
But it's important to not get in the trap of reading endless self-help/self-development books. You can only optimize your habits/day so much that at one point, marginal utility you get from that genre of books becomes minuscule. Instead, read memoirs, fiction, non-fiction, romance, academic, the list goes on. These books will improve your focus and critical thinking far better than any self-help books out there. They will also broaden your knowledge in a range of topics so you will be able to strike up a conversation with anyone you are interested.
As for myself, I just finished the semester, and started reading the Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I intend to read as many books as I can in the summer, and I suggest you do the same. Good luck random earth citizen.
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Reading books should be a part of your daily routine. Whether it's a novel or a course book, you should allocate time every day to peruse a few pages.
But it's important to not get in the trap of reading endless self-help/self-development books. You can only optimize your habits/day so much that at one point, marginal utility you get from that genre of books becomes minuscule. Instead, read memoirs, fiction, non-fiction, romance, academic, the list goes on. These books will improve your focus and critical thinking far better than any self-help books out there. They will also broaden your knowledge in a range of topics so you will be able to strike up a conversation with anyone you are interested.
As for myself, I just finished the semester, and started reading the Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I intend to read as many books as I can in the summer, and I suggest you do the same. Good luck random earth citizen.
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Sometimes you have to remind yourself of the causes you are fighting for.
https://open.spotify.com/track/10nyNJ6zNy2YVYLrcwLccB?si=73a3391b21f34071
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https://open.spotify.com/track/10nyNJ6zNy2YVYLrcwLccB?si=73a3391b21f34071
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If you are not seeing gains in the gym, you are not eating/sleeping right. You could be doing Cbum's split routine, but no matter how much you try, you won't see results with a poor diet and 5 hours of sleep.
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