John Stephenson

stream of johnsciousness - thinking in public • building in private

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

“Anyone who is both clever & lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses intellectual clarity & composure necessary for difficult decisions.

Beware of anyone who is stupid & diligent as he will always cause mischief.”

~ Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

“STOPPING & SKIPPING: I stop a good chunk of books between 5-100 pages in. Never keep going if a book sucks. Most books are bad.”

[Alex & Books 📚 @AlexAndBooks_]

This is Patrick O'Shaughnessy.

He's an investor, host of the popular podcast "Invest Like The Best", and an avid reader who spends 3+ hours a day reading books.

Here are 20 reading tips from @patrick_oshag:

1) Reading changes the past. This is important. The past isn’t fixed. A new book often makes you realize something essential about an old book.

2) This is why knowledge compounds. Old stuff that was a 4/10 in value can become a 10/10, unlocked by another book in the future.

3) This is why picking “best” books is hard and maybe misguided. Usually it’s some combination of books that has a non-linear impact.

4) When you start out reading, you are collecting distant dots in a constellation with no apparent connection. As you keep going, say past 100 books, you start to realize all the good ones, even those on wildly different topics, are connected.

5) In most books, even good ones, I find about 20% of the text useful. Because the past isn’t fixed, I still view this as time well spent.

6) In a small subset of books, the author doesn’t give you ore, he/she gives you gold. Impro. The True Believer. The Tiger. Bird by Bird.

7) Joseph Campbell: “If what you are following is your own true adventure, if it is something appropriate to your deep spiritual need or readiness...then magical guides will appear to help you.” That has been true for me with reading.

8) Beyond being an asset--“a stock” or sorts--it is also a “flow.” I hear runners talk abt flow state. I feel the same when reading some books.

9) Reading gets more and more enjoyable the more you do it.

10) 82 books may sound like work, but I don’t even feel it. That kind of joy is an EDGE.

11) I highlight and write notes in Kindle, and then export each book’s notes/highlights into Evernote.

12) I prefer physical books, but because I have to type up 100+ notes, I can’t justify reading that way unless Kindle isn’t available.

13) I probably highlight 50-100 things in each book, and take a more detailed note on 10-20. Most notes are about building out the constellation.

14) Notes are essential. Without them, I’d forget almost everything. Sometimes I’ll just root around in my Evernote book section for hours.

15) STOPPING & SKIPPING: I stop a good chunk of books between 5-100 pages in. Never keep going if a book sucks. Most books are bad.

16) I skip a lot in non-fiction. If a paragraph’s opening sentence seems repetitive, I move to the next. The “body” is usually way too long.

17) Campbell had a great rule of thumb: the fewer citations, the better the book. This isn’t always true, but it’s true an awful lot.

18) I am increasingly tired of books which follow the “academic study + cute anecdote” formula.

19) Books that use “proprietary data” are best. That data could be experience, conversations, actual data that isn’t publicly accessible.

20) I also read one book at a time. If I find myself reading a second, that means I should quit the first. So I do.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@G_S_Bhogal https://t.co/obhD2RRAqN

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

“An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.”

~ Simon Cameron (Secretary of War 1861-1862)

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@Kpaxs https://t.co/rHTMI0cHpq

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

The Stoics are still relevant, after 2,000 years.

“We suffer more in imagination than reality.”
~ Seneca

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@signulll https://t.co/nROdVvKLaD

[Three Year Letterman @3YearLetterman]

He mastered this app in 72 hours in a way I haven’t been able to do in almost 9 years

All you can do is tip your cap

[Arthur MacWaters @ArthurMacwaters]

Let me get this straight

> 84% of Americans support requiring a photo id to vote

> every major democracy in the world does this except the US

> even under our very eyes, the mail-in ballots in California are highly suspiciously slanted toward only one party

And yet majority can’t push this through?!

This is a traitorous level of incompetence

Pass the SAVE Act!!

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@FU_joehudson https://t.co/d4cgx4kaR3

[Mark Manson @Markmanson]

You are not stressed from doing too much. You are stressed from doing too little of what you care about.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@avidseries https://t.co/LdwmFnOKbz

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@robkhenderson Rob - as you know, this concept is explored deeply in “The True Believer” by Eric Hoffer

[Institute of Economic Affairs @iealondon]

🌱"If you are raising taxes, yes you get some immediate revenue — but you are eating the seed corn.”

@DanielJHannan on why tax hikes always backfire 👇

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@drgurner https://t.co/9PIK79qgUF

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

Lesson:

It is often better to get no advice than bad advice from those with good intentions.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@stevemagness True in every “game.”

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

If rejection isn’t a self-referendum on your worth, it’s just data and eventually a funny story.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

Your nervous system doesn’t care about net worth, status, or accomplishments.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

"Academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.”

[Kevin Bass @kevinnbass]

Imagine spending your whole life becoming an academic expert. Then a random guy online tells you that you are wrong about your own field. And he's right. But you can never admit that. Because it would mean admitting that your life was a lie. That is the dilemma of many academics.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@bohumilo @avidseries https://t.co/JkgkQwAwxB

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

It's always easier to tear down than to build.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@isabelunraveled Yes…Free!

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

The existential burden of the hedonistic treadmill:

“You wake up the same person, hunting for the next thing.”

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

We convince ourselves that hitting the goal will change our life.

It won't. You'll celebrate for a week, then wake up the same person, hunting for the next thing.

What changes your life is who you had to become chasing the goal.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@michaelgervais https://t.co/TMiUSiwCGO

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

An unwise use of emotional energy is to fret about another’s insensitivity, oversight or incompetence.

98% of the time it is Not personal.

Don’t treat it as such.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@karandotg @G_S_Bhogal https://t.co/MNDc9Vduih

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

“How to find info that changes you?

There are two ways people obtain info online: fishing & hunting.

Hunting is active; fishing is passive.

Most people spend their time fishing.

To make matters worse, they fish in polluted waters.”

Great piece by @G_S_Bhogal
⬇️⬇️⬇️

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@BStulberg https://t.co/y20fWcsww8

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@nickcammarata If you’re not having fun, success just got 10x more difficult.

@reasonisfun

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

There’s a special joy in reconnecting with an old friend.

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

@G_S_Bhogal https://t.co/KbSpGqErSn

[John Stephenson @JSargent88]

Why AI tools feel so powerful:

They don’t get tired.

They don’t get insecure.

They don’t zone out when things get complicated.

They listen.

They respond to the full depth of your thought.

Magic.