Mental Pivot #49: Is It Enough?
Epictetus and Vonnegut on having enough, helpful rules for productive conversations, and the status games we all play.
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
— Epictetus
There’s a wonderful poem by Kurt Vonnegut that touches on the interrelated questions of personal satisfaction and material wealth.
The piece was a tribute to Vonnegut’s friend and fellow author, Joseph Heller (Catch-22), who passed away in 1999. It was published in the May 16, 2005 issue of The New Yorker.
True story, Word of Honor:
Joseph Heller, an important and funny writer
now dead,
and I were at a party given by a billionaire
on Shelter Island.
I said, “Joe, how does it make you feel
to know that our host only yesterday
may have made more money
than your novel ‘Catch-22’
has earned in its entire history?”
And Joe said, “I’ve got something he can never have.”
And I said, “What on earth could that be Joe?”
And Joe said, “The knowledge that I’ve got enough.”
Not bad! Rest in peace!
It’s something to chew on when you catch yourself trying to keep up with the Joneses or the never-ending cycle of FOMO.
Now onto this week's recommendations…
Thinking Tools:
12 Rules for Discourse: Simon Berens offers concrete tips for having more productive conversations (and arguments) with others.
Are You Playing to Play, or Playing to Win?: Cedric Chin considers the ways we blindly hamstring ourselves with self-imposed rules and assumptions and how it prevents us from succeeding.
How James Clear Is Writing His Next Book: A master class on how Clear (Atomic Habits) organizes his thoughts and systematically develops them into a book.
Things Unlearned: The latest entry in Jamie Brandon’s ongoing series, “Reflections on a Decade of Coding,” catalogs several mistaken beliefs the author once held. Even for non-programmers, it’s an illuminating exercise in personal reflection and intellectual humility.
Articles:
How Does Progress Happen?: Vox’s Kelsey Piper chats with Jason Crawford (Roots of Progress) on the subject of “progress studies” and the goal of figuring out how to prescriptively push forward human progress.
Monomania Is Illiberal and Stupefying: Jonathan Haidt (The Righteous Mind) mulls the problem of monomania, defined as “an exaggerated and unhealthy obsession with one thing,” and its impact on the present-day cultural discourse. It’s an admonition against academic censorship, ideological orthodoxies, and a reminder that our beliefs should be challenged.
On Unbeatable Video Games: Interesting piece that looks at hobbies that might be considered trivial by others but that give the participant meaning, especially in the drive to become the best at something, even if it’s as niche as Doom speedrunning or long-distance dry casting. One telling quote from the author: “I just want to feel like I’m brushing up against some human limit, stretching some corner of what we can do out a little further, even if it’s in an objectively dumb way.”
Put on the Diamonds: Notes on Humiliation: Vivian Gornick’s meditation on humiliation in her life, history, and literature, as well as the ways it’s used to exercise power over others and the long-standing scars it leaves on its recipients.
The Skyluck Journals: “In 1979, the Skyluck [cargo ship] carried 2,700 refugees fleeing Vietnam into the Hong Kong harbour, where they were forced to remain on board for more than four months. Andrew Nguyen and his family were among them. Forty years later, his mother's journals reveal their story.” If you prefer an audio version, The Doc Project has a 55-minute episode featuring the same story.
The Status Games We All Play: Podcast interview with author and guest Will Storr, who recently published The Status Game: On Social Position and How We Use It. As social creatures, we all engage in status games—situations where we jockey for the admiration, respect, and prestige from our peers. Modern technology (social media and smartphones) have effectively super-charged status seeking.
Odds & Ends:
The Decision Lab Compendium is a helpful reference for a wide range of mental models and thinking concepts from various disciplines (e.g., psychology, economics, technology). You’ll find in-depth articles along with a well-documented bibliography for topics like externalities, deep learning, case-based reasoning, and more.
Long Term Trends is a compendium of interactive financial charts and market indicators, including a 100-year chart showing the performance of gold vs. silver, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the S&P 500. There are categories for stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, and even crypto.
I Tried 30 Mustards This Summer is Jason Diamond’s homage to a 1975 James Beard Esquire article professing his love for the condiment. Diamond reevaluates many of the mustard brands reviewed by Beard, along with some new products. As a fan of mustard in all its glorious varieties, I thoroughly appreciated this piece.
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