Basanth 🔭

Red pill I've swallowed recently: Thinking Cost When I'm thinking about something -- there's trillions of other thoughts I could've had instead. The Human Brain Paradox: 1. Your brain is a supercomputer 2. Your brain can only have 1 thought at a time Every thought has Opportunity Cost. This is why toxic and dramatic people are dangerous. They hijack your supercomputers RAM with 1x thought loops. In the shower. On a walk. Lay in bed. Working out. With your kids. The cortisol thought gets admin access to the supercomputer. 1. This is terrible for your health 2. The biggest cost is the other thoughts you could be having instead When your supercomputer is busy with these nonsense 1x thoughts -- it can't run 10x thoughts like these: • "How long do I have left with my parents?" • "What career would make me happy?" • "Should I get that weird mole checked by a doctor?" • "Do I have a skill set that will be useful 5 years from now?" ----- The thinking cost problem is clear. The solutions are less clear. Some ideas I've found useful: 1. Design Environment The goal should be to design environment and social circles that prevent drama. Negative thought loops are downstream from dramatic people and events. Build firewalls. "Relentlessly prune bullshit" - Paul Graham "The 1st rule of handling conflict is don't hang around with people who are constantly engaging in conflict." - Naval 2. Close Loops When a Waiter is processing an order from a table, they have a super human ability to remember everything. As soon as the order is submitted to the kitchen, they struggle to recall it. This is the importance of closing loops. If drama has got past environmental design, the worst thing I've found is to leave the loop open. You're like the waiter repeating the order back to himself for days. Living life on a cliffhanger. The brain keeps replaying all the potential future outcomes. It's so boring -- and such a waste of critical mental oxygen. Get the order to the kitchen ASAP: Open a doc. Write out all thoughts. Design the strategy maze. Turn on Blitzkrieg mode until the problem is resolved. 3. Judo Throw In Judo, you use the other person's momentum against them. Whenever you catch yourself in a bullshit thought loop, use the momentum against itself. Ask: "What is the 10x thought loop I'm missing out on right now?" The beauty of the Judo Throw is you've turned Shit into Sugar. You use 1x thought loops momentum to create 10x thought loops. Whenever you catch yourself in a 1x thought loop -- you then immediately start pondering: "What is the 10x thought I'm missing out on right now?" ---- TLDR: The first rule of thinking cost is being aware of thinking cost as a concept. The second rule is realising your supercomputer is easy to hack with cortisol thought loops. The third rule is designing firewalls to prevent viruses from getting in. The fourth rule is to action all viruses as soon as they come in. Close the loop. The fifth rule is to use the viruses momentum against itself. When you notice the thought, use it as an alarm clock reminder to open up new 10x tabs.

2024 Goal Setting: The Midwit Meme Guide Thought experiment: If you had to cure your midwit syndrome in 2024, what would you do? The irony: If you're a midwit, most solutions you come up with will be midwit solutions. The 1st rule of curing midwit syndrome: You'll never be the guy on the right. The midwit mistake is to think you're smarter than you are -- and pursue non-obvious complex solutions rather than the obvious simple solutions. The 2nd rule of curing midwit syndrome: Try to become the guy on the left. Find the simple ideas -- and take them seriously. How do you find the simple ideas? The 3rd rule of curing midwit syndrome: Inversion. If you want to become the guy on the left: Write down your goal, write down how you'd assure failure, and avoid that. Example 1: "I want to become happier in 2024" The midwit will start researching complex nootropics to ingest or esoteric gurus on the meaning of life. Instead, how would you ensure you were miserable in 2024? 1. Awful sleep 2. Terrible diet and exercise 3. Do things you hate 4. Surround yourself with terrible people Now you've found the simple ideas the guy on the left will come up with: 1. Good Sleep 2. Great diet and exercise 3. Do things you enjoy 4. Surround yourself with the best people you know. Before you look at any complex solutions, make sure you've maxed out the simple solutions. Example 2: "I want to become a writer in 2024" The midwit will start learning about writers' coffee-drinking routines or researching the perfect keyboard to enhance their word count. Instead, how would you ensure you become a worse writer in 2024? 1. Do not write 2. Write inconsistently 3. Write about things you find boring Now you've found the simple ideas the guy on the left will come up with: 1. Write 2. Write consistently 3. Write about things that excite you Do not move onto any complex solutions until you've maxed out those 3 things. Take the simple idea as seriously as possible. ------ 2024 midwit cure: 1. Admit you'll never be the guy on the right. 2. Try to become the guy on the left. 3. Write down how to ensure failure -- and avoid that before you do anything complex.