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The British philosopher Nick Bostrom mentioned that he believes that there’s a roughly 1/3 chance of each of the following mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive hypotheses to be true: (1) all civilizations perish before reaching a point of being able to construct hyper-real simulations, (2) all simulation-capable civilizations establish strongly enforced bans against hyper-real simulations, orContinue reading “Simulation and Solipsism”

Honesty is a must. Beyond honesty, I want to see at least 2 out of the following 3: intelligence/coachability, enthusiasm/initiative, and organization/planning.

Often, things have to get worse before they get better.

You must always know the odds, but you must never rely on the odds. In early 2012 when I was applying to faculty jobs, I got 5 interviews from top universities (3 from MIT, 1 from Harvard, 1 from Stanford). Because I knew how many other candidates were being interviewed at each department, I quicklyContinue reading “TotD”

Charisma = Purpose * Eloquence

A saint is not an ingenue who has never been exposed to challenging decisions; rather, virtue is built and strengthened through repeated battles between long-term purpose and short-term gain. Special is the man who, knowing the full risks of doing so, continues to gaze into the abyss because it must be done.

Opportunities are like hammers; they temper the strong but break the weak.

Experience is valuable, and an experienced team leader can generate a delta of millions of dollars and multiple years vs. an inexperienced one. However, realize that experience is measured in experiences and not in years. A VP of R&D who led the development of 2 robust products in 3 years is at least as valuableContinue reading “Experience”

One of my favorite essays while I was growing up is “A Brief Version of Time” by Alan Lightman, reproduced below in italic: Suppose that people live forever. Strangely, the population of each city splits in two: the Laters and the Nows.The Laters reason that there is no hurry to begin their classes at theContinue reading “The Unburdened Now”

The friendship between princely men is like a mountain stream: clean, clear, fluid, continuous, and long-lasting. The friendship between small men is like molasses: sweet, opaque, viscous, sticky, and sputtering.