brain-dump that's rarely reread or edited or even updated
There are quite a few stages of brain and behavioral development in a human being, a few of the ones that I remember, vaguely, are these -
Anyways, the state (20 - 25, sometimes till 30) is an interesting stage, as at this stage the PFC part of the brain starts developing, which is responsible for Executive functions of the brain
Why are these years such crucial years? After this period, it becomes extremely hard to change the behavior, though not impossible, just 10X hard (not a real measure).
Ultimately, your PFCs neural pathways are extremely important, they control your perceptions, biases, reactions, emotions, they control the potential of what you could become.
Human beings are riddled with biases, we have individual biases, then we have group biases; biases themselves are neither good, nor bad; but, knowing when we are getting influenced by which one of our biases is extremely important if you want to live an uncomplicated life (with a probability between 1 and 0).
Whatever you think you know, about something that you have not developed from scratch, or thought about deeply, your knowledge would always be limited. Things change fast, what you know might not be relevant anymore. Always test your biases about knowing something.
Those who have an answer to every question have the right answer to none. If you are standing up for something or rejecting something, your knowledge about a topic should be very deep. Always know what’s known-know, known-unknown, unknown-unknown.
A human being is the most curious species, among all the other primates. From being the weaklings of the animal kingdom to now controlling the environment, we had to develop a big brain, that can imagine and create tools, we can communicate facts and more importantly imagined stories. PFC in humans is disproportionately larger than in other primates. Don’t hold back your curiosity.
Because we have the propensity to imagine and communicate stories and larger than life facts, just to hold the attention of our listeners, always recheck the told facts, don’t get fooled by some preconceived notions and interesting stories
When you read about two topics you don’t just get two thoughts, one for each topic, rather, you get three ideas, one about each and one about topics merged. Imagine this for n-topics. Imagine this for n-closely-related topics, and you build your circle of competence. Imagine this of n-totally-unrelated topics, and you spark your curiosity instinct.
Let’s just acknowledge, we are lazy, everyone is, you are not special, biologically (or might be you are, but that’s not the point). Whatever information intake, our brain compresses it to the extreme, in your subconscious and long term storage; not just the brain, but our muscles as well, store the experiences (muscle memory has been proven). This is to make sure that while performing a task, you are utilizing the least amount of memory, all the actions are triggered subconsciously. “Practice makes a man perfect”, is true, scientifically.
This is the negative side of the point described above, we don’t want to double think about something, that’s why our idea is the best idea. That’s why it’s good to have brainstorming sessions.
We have a tendency to ignore the information that goes against our belief system.
The complex systems evolve from simple systems. Complex ideas evolve from simple ideas. Complex organisms evolve from simple ones. You get the idea. Thinking from the first-principles helps you decode the complex ideas, compounding lets you build complex ideas.
In a group, you do what the group does, however wrong or right the action might be. Mobs would kill innocents, burn busses, don’t raise questions, don’t rock the boat, don’t stand up to leave the meeting before anyone else (even when there is a fire in the room).
“How you do anything is how you do everything” – Buddha (or someone)
- Invest in building your knowledge base
- Read, Listen, Watch to people who are building something, who have invested their life in creating something
- Go deeper into the topics you like
- Go wider into the topics that you feel are cool
- Go deeper into the topics that revolve around your field/ work
- Invest in building good habits
- No work is unimportant (work != job)
- Don’t cut corners
- Know when you don’t know something
- Don’t hold yourself back, be bold, be brave
- Keep your biases in check and you curiosity unleashed
- Unsubscribe from the notion of - “I am this and I can do just this”
- Subscribe to everything
- Eventually, you would know what interests you and why
- Invest in building good health
- Sleep well
- Eat good
- Exercise some
“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”, Marcus Aurelius
You are getting paid for your skills, you are a one-man company in yourself
“There is no secret ingredient”, Kung Fu Panda (Po)
| Do, search and read about the behavioral and neurobiological development phases; I might have skipped a phase or two | Question everything |
| “Evolution” in simpler terms, is taking things forward by making new mistakes | Build your own mental models |
| Sleep deprivation can become a challenge to the degree of masculinity and immunity | Build better habits https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10178862-with-a-genuine-lack-of-malice-i-proceed-to-inform |
| https://news.stonybrook.edu/newsroom/study-shows-low-carb-diet-may-prevent-reverse-age-related-effects-within-the-brain/ | - Explore random topics |
| Some study has shown that we have the capacity to make around 4 decisions per day, after that our brain goes into autopilot | Know the physical constraints and work around them |
“Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behavior, not because they won or lost.”, Nassim Nicholas Taleb