This week's token stream
2024-10-18
Things I learned
The last person to be guillotined in France was put to death in 1977. The Rest Is History, Wikipedia.
The Barnum effect is individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, yet which are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. Hat tip to Simon Wilson who brought this to me.
Worth your time
“Meanwhile, those who study, pray, and commit acts of loving-kindness keep the world going.” Cluny Journal
How young men and women (mis)understand each other. American Storylines.
Internet of Bugs, a software developer + YouTube Creator reviews o1 and sees it as a step change for AI.
Engelsberg Ideas on the missing quality of judgement. I’ve noticed that product management orgs in particular are often embarrassed by the degree to which the job depends on judgement; instead, I think they should embrace it.
How drones are changing the war in Ukraine.
Observations
When I’m in execution mode, I find myself searching for slack in my schedule to eek out just a little bit more productivity. When I look at my to do list this way, I start to see the little things I can do here and there regardless of priority. But eventually what happens is that I begin reordering my to do list away from what’s important and towards what I can do quickly. The urgent overwhelms the important.
I suspect that the Creator Economy is coming for software development. In the same way that the iphone made it so that anyone can make a video, LLMs are making it so anyone can make software. This makes it even more important to be focused on who the software is for and how it integrates into the life of the user. Nicheness is even more important.
Meaning comes from cost. If it’s free to do, you won’t feel ownership of it.