Thursday Thoughts - 12/15/2022
In this short newsletter, I share the most interesting things that I’ve read, heard, and/or watched over the past week.
What I Read:
The Only Crypto Story You Need, by Matt Levine | Bloomberg
I got back into crypto in May of last year. It started with reading an article about Axie Infinity, a play to earn game. It evolved into learning about various blockchains, DeFi, hardware wallets, and NFTs. Not all of it was easy to follow. I spent countless hours reading white papers, wikis, and Medium articles. I wish there was an all encompassing guide.
Now there is. Matt Levine does an excellent job in this 43,000 word article. It describes everything about cryptocurrency from Satoshi Nakamoto to SBF. He also does it in an unbiased way that’s easy to understand.
Average is Over | Tyler Cowen
This book by Tyler Cowen, an Economics professor at George Mason University, explores how machine intelligence is affecting the world. He leans heavily on his background in competitive chess. Deep Blue and his contemporary counterparts have changed the world of chess. Cowen predicts that similar things are going to happen in education, economy, and culture.
The books feels timely today with the rise of AI tools such as ChatGPT and MidJourney. However, the book was written over nine years ago in 2013. The main thesis of the book, there will be a divide between those who can work with computers and those who can’t, feels especially true.
What I’m Pondering:
“I don’t want to be a great problem solver. I want to avoid problems—prevent them from happening and doing it right from the beginning.”
Peter Bevelin from The Great Mental Models