Member-only story
We have a cultural obsession with optimization. We are in a rush to learn more, do more, become more with less time, energy, and money. It’s a race not just to the best possible outcome, but the best possible outcome with maximum efficiency.
As a general philosophy, this makes sense.
Even biologically it makes sense.
But for up-and-comers, it’s a fucking death trap.
First and foremost because there’s low-quality information everywhere. Everyone has a megaphone and anyone can brand himself as an expert (or a life coach). This means we are taking in incomplete, sometimes even ineffective, advice. When we mirror those who are inexperienced, we adopt their inexperience, leading to inevitable suboptimal outcomes.
Without deep experience and a wide range of knowledge, it’s difficult to vet the quality of our teachers and their messages.
This is a fairly well documented and highly criticized phenomenon among young, hungry hustlers.
Our desperation for optimization (and the success we think it brings) blinds us from our ability to remain rational and choose the right sources of knowledge.
