Map vs territory | Useful pessimism | Extreme speed reading
Every week we curate 3 ultra-focused ideas to reduce life complexity. On Saturday we share them with you via email.
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The map is not the territory: lessons from the pandemic
Maps are necessary: they allow us to ignore irrelevant details that would make decisions impossible.
But you have to be aware of the order of approximation. It can lead to the wrong conclusions. The map is not the territory: sometimes it simply isn't enough. You need more detailed knowledge about the territory.
The recent pandemic painfully exemplified it.
No one seemed to know well enough how the virus worked. Even after months.
Data about its spread was dramatically incomplete. Testing standards hugely varied across countries. Data reporting also differed.
The map was too imprecise. Politicians and institutions all over the globe didn't deal adequately with this level of uncertainty.
Decisions based on such a map are bound to be incorrect. But we, as individuals and as a society, still have to make our choices.
How do we avoid costly mistakes in similar situations?
First, we need to strive for better maps. This means two things. First we need to improve our measuring tools and get more precise data. Then we need to improve our reporting, to make sense of the data. This way, the map will get closer and closer to the territory.
Then, we need to frequently update our decisions. We can't set them in stone. We have to constantly update the map, frequently reevaluate our decisions and be ready to radically change them, even if they seemed optimal a day ago.
These ideas can't help with the current pandemic anymore. But they can upgrade decisions in our life and career.
Inward optimism, outward pessimism
We are told we could feel good all the time. In fact, we SHOULD feel good all the time. It's a foundation of the self-help industry.
Truth is, life will always throw you curveballs. We live in complex systems, our family, our body, the company we work for. Countless factors are out of our control. We can't foresee how they will interact with each other.
Something will always screw up our plans. This will upset us, enrage us.
So, striving to maximize happiness at all times is an uphill fight. A better objective is to learn to build resilience.
Resilience is the ability to create positive adaptations to negative events.
Mark Manson explains five ways to build more resilience. The most powerful is summed up as "inward optimism, outward pessimism".
You should always confide in your ability to dig out of your problems. This does not mean you wear rose-colored glasses. It means you have faith that, with your perseverance and creativity, you'll overcome your challenges.
This is inward optimism. It allows you to find resources you don't even imagine.
On the other side, you should suppose that everything outside your control will go wrong. Consider the worst-case scenarios and prepare accordingly. If you base your plans on external factors, your house is built on sand.
This is outward pessimism. It prevents you to put your fate in the hands of forces you can't control.
The throw-it-away technique for speed reading
Books condense the experience and knowledge of a lifetime. The best ones teach you, inspire you, stimulate new ways of thinking.
You have to read a lot, explore different fields, consider opposing opinions. This takes too long. I tried many speed reading techniques but couldn't make anyone work for me.
The economist Tyler Cowen goes through 5-10 books a day! He's not retired: how does he pull it off?
Here's the catch: he doesn't read them cover to cover.
First, he skims like a maniac. When you read that much, things start repeating. You don't need to learn the same lesson from 10 different authors.
Then, large parts of non-fiction books are dedicated to stories. They can help you memorize, but often you can skip them and still get the gist.
You can also skip repetitions. Some authors linger on the same concept for too long. With experience, you notice it in advance and save some time.
This "professional skimming" helps a lot. But the technique allowing Tyler Cowen to amass so many books is extreme.
After some time you become good at quickly distinguishing good books from bad books. Professor Cowen says it only takes him 3 chapters to understand if a book deserves his time.
If it doesn't happen, he throws away the book. Yes, literally in the trash!
Whether you give the book away, throw it away, or gently place it on your library, it doesn't matter: you shouldn't feel compelled to finish every book. Be ruthless: stop reading if it doesn't inspire you within the first three chapters.
Thank you for reading this newsletter.
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Until next week,
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