3 Sep 2019
Shrysr is more interested in optimising his hypothetical workflow efficiency than actually working. His missed deadline prompts Diana Coman to note the importance of keeping a margin of error when allotting time for projects. Moreover, there’s only time for things one *makes* the time for. Heroic all-at-the-last-minute efforts are best avoided. [Note to self: stop leaving stuff to the last minute; specifically allocate blocks of time for tasks; play comes AFTER work!]
According to Diana, the silently-give-up mode of failure is never an option; failure being defined not so much by the problems/deficiencies one faces; rather as not confronting the problems/giving up/inaction. Rather than worrying about his inadequacies, Diana encourages Shrysr to concentrate on doing the best job he can. When he does fail, he ought to address/review the failure; make changes to ensure there’s no repeat.
Diana diagnoses Shrysr’s trilemma as being a case of acting towards purposes rather than from causes. [I don’t yet fully grok this distinction, despite having read the alluded-to Trilema piece several times. My current understanding is the difference lies in that whereas causes are concrete, existent/established in the past/present – and therefore finite; purposes are teleological, unrealised, future-tense – thus infinite. Only the former set is a manageable, not to mention sane, basis for action.] Thus, his focus on getting to his three goals, rather than working from where he currently finds himself, is misplaced.
On the topic of savings, Diana notes that BTC is the only way to save; the various fiats certainly won’t help – competing as they are as to which can inflate fastest.
4 Sep 2019
Shrysr’s servile experience ‘dancing’ for bad bosses leads Diana to point out the crucial importance of serving the right master – the tricky part is figuring out who’s worth following.
Shrysr regrets leaving his old job, since his lifestyle was far better. Diana thinks it a classic example of ‘too much money too soon’ – not so much an issue of absolute wealth; rather, he wasn’t able to properly evaluate the value of what he had. [I’m reminded of poker players/shitcoin enthusiasts who went on a hotstreak, increased their expenses tenfold, then promptly went broke.]
Diana notes the importance of listening to people with track records of knowing what they’re talking about.
A discussion on student/mentor reciprocity has Diana bring up the idea of students being ‘fertile soil’: doing what their mentor says as payback for their investment. Distilled down to a single word, *submission* is the key to learning. She proceeds in breaking down the manner in which students demonstrate their receptivity:
1. Opening up fully; being unreservedly vulnerable towards their mentor
2. Going deep with regard to new/surprising/unexpected ideas
3. Doing what they’re told (really; wholeheartedly; sincerely)
Of course, the above is predicated on submitting to the right *people* – orcs make for bad mentors!
5 Sep 2019
A discussion on needs and wants has Diana suggest Shrysr figure out what he wants by working backward from a particular solution – in his case, his self-reported need to make 100K/year. She suggests that his root desire is probably something like self-sufficiency, as opposed to the money per se; adding that identifying these deeper wants – as close to the root as possible – takes time. [I need to do this – perhaps starting with what I don’t want, and going from there.]
Within a discussion on salt mines vs TMSR work, Diana links to a #trilema log thread in which Mircea Popescu explains that one is less a man to the extent that he works for idiots/on non-Republican stuff (after all, one is what one does). [I need to stop wasting time on idiotic shit; devote full attention to stuff here. Say, 40hrs/week to start…]
Furthering the discussion on Shrysr’s alleged salary requirements, Diana urges him to consider the tradeoffs/opportunity costs: a 100k/year saltmine might leave no time/energy for TMSR work.[Likewise, if I go back to looking at cards and hoping they’re good, I’ll have much less time/energy for stuff here!]
Diana points out the dangers of conflating pleasurable with correct; wants with needs: it takes a long time to align them!
Diana encourages Shrysr, when he discovers himself to have erred, to take the time to examine and change his faulty thought process, so as not to repeat the mistake [Do I even have a thought process for this? Where’ve I been repeating mistakes? In continuing to do the bare minimum work required of me; not prioritising/loving work over inane leisure etc.]. She adds a great-grandmotherly post-thrashing commentary: whilst the first mistake is unfortunate; the second is asking for it, the third is pure idiocy.
Talk of inclement Canadian commutes has Diana explain that toughness is a quality of the man, not the environment he’s in. Moreover, it’s increased by facing his fears. [What scares me? Diana ‘abandoning’ me – perversely, the fear hasn’t driven me to work harder; just stifled the work that I have done (‘aaaah I need to churn this out last minute or it’s all over!’ Never mind that *I’m* the one doing the abandoning – of work, deadlines, dedication to my mentor. As per yesterday’s log, I’ve hardly been the most fertile soil.]
PS:
Parsing Shrysr’s bloviation is hard going. Signal:noise is absurdly low. Makes my head ache. His writing is uncanny: it makes just enough sense to convince there’s something being said, whilst simultaneously being as confounding/confusing/frustrating as possible to extract any meaning. His output is mostly interesting only insofar as it prompts/colours Diana’s feedback. Despite all this, he’s really quite likeable – maybe because he comes off so earnest, energetic, alive. For all the noise, there’s at least the impression of (frantic) activity. Diana has the patience of a saint (and not just with Shrysr!)
I’ve made an effort to primarily note things that are interesting/useful/relevant *to me* – whilst secondarily recording things I think are important for others (these are MY summaries, after all). I’ve bracketed my thoughts/comments after the stuff summarised. As always, writing it down – rather than keeping it all in my head – helps me think deeper, clearer, better.