The Firehose

To my Daughter, Kerri, July 2022--slightly edited)

One thing I have noticed as I get older is that the pile of things I didn't know I didn't know gets higher and higher at a frightening rate. I try to be efficient in my effort to deal with the situation.

• "Thinkers" come to my attention through a variety of links, including podcasts (of which I follow a dozen or so) and references from other "thinkers." I have always at least considered recommendations from anyone. I cast a wide net (For example, I often check in on Robert Reich on your recommendation).
• My Kindle library has over 600 books, many of which are "samples." The sample is a good way to find out if the book is worth reading.
• My "hard copy" library brings the total to about 1,000 books after a "cull" of more than 100 simply occupying space. As you know, I tend to give away books to anyone interested.
• If I am interested in someone, I usually see if I can find a talk, debate, or lecture on YouTube. This serves a double purpose: I like to put a face on the person who wrote what I read (a "voice"). Often, the talk will allow me to dismiss the author, put his book on the back burner, or dive in.
• If I buy a book, I want to get my money's worth. I commit to reading it through. If not, I just find something else to read. I don't go back to that book, feeling that there is something more rewarding to read. As a result, many of the books in my library are unfinished due to diminishing returns. It is not uncommon for me to go back to my library rather than buy a new book.
• When in Calgary, I make liberal use of the library. I also have access to sources of e-books affiliated with the library.
• In all of this, I look for either (a) entertainment and/or (b) stuff I didn't know I didn't know.
• As a general principle, I try to avoid general principles -- always looking to challenge long-standing basic ideas, most recently "Zen."

Although the core idea is "Seek first to understand" (Covey), I am always on the lookout for things that are of immediate relevance. At the moment, I feel like I am steering our financial kayak through some serious rapids. I am reminded of Isaak Newton - perhaps the smartest person who ever lived - who lost his entire fortune by going "all in" on the South Sea Bubble. Formerly in charge of England's mint, he died in poverty. 

The air is thick with bullshit on financial issues.

I think we are on the same page when it comes to COVID, but it takes a bit of courage to go against the flow when the rest of the world has succumbed to hopeful thinking over rationality.

Taking care of Pauline is a test of my world view which has, thankfully, turned out to be up to the situation. Turning your life upside down to look after someone whose days are numbered in months is a serious challenge -- it is like dividing by zero. While I still learn about this every day, the foundation was laid over the years before it turned out I needed it. The point is when life forces you to make decisions, you will draw on what you know at the time, much of which you learned simply out of curiosity. A Mindful ("Zen") outlook is absolutely essential. Pauline has a little verse that is pure Zen:

Yesterday is history

Tomorrow's a mystery

Today is a gift

That's why they call it the "present"(later)

This is a great example of an entertaining way to put an author on the back burner while enjoying the gist of his argument. His book is "The Growth Delusion," but I think I will put that on the back burner. I get the point: discount any statement that confuses GDP with wellbeing and look for other indicators, such as health and "social capital."

"GDP" appears all over the place, including the graphs that illustrate the scandalous gap between GDP growth and income growth (Robert Reich), as well as the warnings about debt to GDP limiting government spending.

This particular line of thought led me to reconsider the idea of "debt" and to revisit some sources on the subject, MMT in particular.