Sunday Scaries (7/5/20)
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Hey everyone,
Writing to you from Zion National Park where I spent the weekend camping under the stars. Utah is massively underrated. Not only does this state have some of the most iconic natural beauty in the world, but it’s also home to a growing technology scene. Salt Lake City feels like the best-kept secret in the United States.
Also, I own Birkenstocks now. C’est la vie.
This weekend is the first of many. On July 1st I moved out of my apartment, packed what I could fit into my car, and put the rest of my life into storage. For the foreseeable future, I’ll be living from the road and making the most of remote work.
What’s New This Week
Social Drifting. In March, I wrote down my thoughts on how a prolonged period of social distancing would influence our friend groups. This essay focuses on the social norms that erode once we stop going to the same buildings together every day.
Thinking About Apprenticeships. The best artists throughout history were trained using a form of education that is rarely seen today. Does this model still exist today? If so, where? Can we apply it to other fields?
This post from Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution makes a case for subsidizing certain fields like microbiology, chemical engineering, and nuclear engineering.
This article is made more poignant by the fact that it was written in 2011. It’s no secret that higher education needs reform, but it just keeps lumbering on.
The Social Subsidy Of Angel Investing
Angel investing is risky and often results in your money being locked up for 10+ years (if it doesn’t implode). This essay outlines how tight-knit communities like San Francisco solve the cold-start problem of early-stage investing.
“The social rewards of angel investing solve an important chicken-and-egg problem in early-stage fundraising that financial rewards does not.”
This transcript from Teddy’s Roosevelts “Man in the Arena” speech is worth reading in its entirety. The passage that made the speech famous appears about 1/4 of the way down the page:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Thanks for reading,
Phil
Sunday Scaries is a newsletter that answers simple questions with surprising answers. The author of this publication is currently living from his car and traveling across the United States. You can subscribe by clicking the link below. 👇