Current web security best-practices call for the use of two-factor authentication. This authentication mechanism forces the owner of an account to provide two pieces of information to prove identity. This information is usually a password and a random code sent to the user’s device. Two-factor authentication is one of the easiest ways to improve account security. However, its security relies on the random code being being – well – random....

The promise of technology is that it can help augment ourselves. And we might think it does. However, knowledge is still packaged in linear formats. Books. Websites. Podcasts. Linear sequences of single ideas. The learning materials we have today are more comprehensive and multimedia than they used to be. But we can’t really build a second brain with linear knowledge. Knowledge is a web. A network of connected ideas. Very similar to the structure of the human brain, ideas connect and build upon one another....

I spend a lot of time reading, learning, listening to podcasts, and just trying to accumulate knowledge in general. But I haven’t really been focused on output for a long time. That’s not necessarily bad. Learning compounds. Cross-pollination of ideas and subjects. The journey is more important than the destination. Mental models and decision making. That kind of thinking has led me to spend a good chunk of my time growing my own knowledge....

There’s a set of loud people on the internet who stake their authority on the claim that they only report the facts. Their brand is affiliated with logic and rationality. They claim not to spin things. You can trust them because they promise to tell you the truth. They say they don’t play the narrative game. However, I don’t think this type of reporting is physically possible for anyone. The universe has an infinite supply of facts....

I engaged in a little thought experiment this week. Assemble a list of 5 books that best signal your domains of interest. I usually dislike “top 5” type lists, and I’m going to stop recommending books to people. But I thought it would be fun to come up with a set of books that function as personal shibboleths. For those who don’t know, “shibboleth” was a phrase that Jews used in the Bible to immediately identify themselves as being part of the group....

I listen to a lot of Tyler Cowen’s podcasts. One thing I’ve noticed is that he is incredibly well-read (maybe the most well-read person in the world). You would think someone who’s consumed such a high volume of material would jump at the chance to recommend books to others. However, whenever he’s presented with the question of what his latest book recommendations are, he defers. He hesitates to give book recommendations to people....

Citizenship in a Republic was a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910. Roosevelt was no longer president at the time and addressed a crowd in Paris at the Sorbonne, part of one of the first universities in the world. Most are familiar with a passage in the speech known by its catchy line, the ‘Man in the Arena’. You’ll find the ‘man in the arena’ portion short and readily understandable....

There are many different models to understand communication. You can take the time to research the existing models if you want. But I’ve always found them lacking in accessibility. They are too academic, and it’s hard to apply them in daily life. The way I think about communication has evolved over time, but the current framework I use most is something I’ve dubbed the “quantum model of communication”. The standard model of communication has four parts: sender, receiver, message, and noise....

Some outcomes “feel” more successful than others. The underdog beating the favorite. Meeting a tight deadline despite multiple obstacles. Getting a good grade on a test that most people struggled with. In my personal life there are a set of accomplishments I look back on with pride, even though they were relatively minor. While there is a separate set that I feel ambivalent about despite them being considered more traditionally successful....

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