Chao, your thinking here is so very complex and multi-layered, I'm going to read it again ... but only after letting your ideas "marinate" in my mind for a while. (Translated: a lot of this is above my own personal "cognitive pay grade"; you're one sharp cookie.)
That said, your stock went WAAAAY up when you mentioned that you attended a No Kings rally. Then it went into the stratosphere when you referred to "a war sold on weapons that weren't there." (It reminds me of the time someone hacked into Google one day around 2004. A search of "weapons of mass destruction" led to "404 Not Found." I kid you not.
Anyway, thank you for stretching my mind a bit. I'll revisit this.
Sorry, I don’t think it’s your “cognitive pay grade”, but this is me trying to write something that is still bubbling fuzzily in head incoherently - please let me know which parts are confusing
"Jevons noticed that using less coal to produce more power didn’t reduce coal consumption. It increased it. Efficient coal is cheap coal, and cheap coal finds new uses faster than the efficiency gains shrink the old ones."
In a similar vein is Eli Whitney's cotton gin. It was intended to reduce the need for slave labor in the South, but instead it made cotton wildly more economically viable, increasing the use of slave labor on plantations, and dramatically changed the economy of the South. Some attribute it as an unintended factor in starting the civil war.
Chao, this piece blew my mind a little. The clarity of your thinking is really admirable, and I love how you took one idea and then explored it from a couple different angles.
I have a lot to learn not only from the writing and structure and crystal clear clarity in this piece, but also from the content! Your Jecons Paradox of Anxiety has really articulated a latent feeling to me that I've never ever put my finger on before. I'm really glad I read this.
Very cool post! Pls clean the couch next time you eat chocolate on it.
Chao, your thinking here is so very complex and multi-layered, I'm going to read it again ... but only after letting your ideas "marinate" in my mind for a while. (Translated: a lot of this is above my own personal "cognitive pay grade"; you're one sharp cookie.)
That said, your stock went WAAAAY up when you mentioned that you attended a No Kings rally. Then it went into the stratosphere when you referred to "a war sold on weapons that weren't there." (It reminds me of the time someone hacked into Google one day around 2004. A search of "weapons of mass destruction" led to "404 Not Found." I kid you not.
Anyway, thank you for stretching my mind a bit. I'll revisit this.
Sorry, I don’t think it’s your “cognitive pay grade”, but this is me trying to write something that is still bubbling fuzzily in head incoherently - please let me know which parts are confusing
"Jevons noticed that using less coal to produce more power didn’t reduce coal consumption. It increased it. Efficient coal is cheap coal, and cheap coal finds new uses faster than the efficiency gains shrink the old ones."
In a similar vein is Eli Whitney's cotton gin. It was intended to reduce the need for slave labor in the South, but instead it made cotton wildly more economically viable, increasing the use of slave labor on plantations, and dramatically changed the economy of the South. Some attribute it as an unintended factor in starting the civil war.
Chao, this piece blew my mind a little. The clarity of your thinking is really admirable, and I love how you took one idea and then explored it from a couple different angles.
I have a lot to learn not only from the writing and structure and crystal clear clarity in this piece, but also from the content! Your Jecons Paradox of Anxiety has really articulated a latent feeling to me that I've never ever put my finger on before. I'm really glad I read this.
Thanks Neha! Your substack note was part of the motivation to get me to start this
…this is my favorite thing you have ever written, merging your personal, your passions, and the little stuff you can’t unsee…top notch…
Wow, really appreciate the comment, especially coming you, Mr Foote!
…loved it Chao…so many fun ways you weaved yourself in your self…