A good friend shared this short with me recently.
It goes – “I think every meeting should start out like this. Hey, we’re all gonna die and none of this really matters. So let’s keep that in mind before anybody gets too worked up in here.
Just to kinda set the tone.”
It is one of those beautiful messages that manages to be funny and insightful while spurring reflection.
Well played, Adam Frith.
Ni Xia Lian represented Luxembourg in table tennis at 61 years old. She won her first round and lost her second round to the current world number 1.
Lebron James is 39 – an age when most basketball players are well into their retirement. He still dominated the semi-finals against Serbia and led the US basketball team to Gold medals.
Kristen Faulkner started competitive cycling at age 25 while working as a venture capitalist in New York City. She won two gold medals in Paris as a 31 year old.
These examples call into question so many assumptions we normally hold about age and mastery. And, what’s more, these are just a few examples among so many from these Olympics.
It’s time to put away all those assumptions that hold us back.
There’s no one path or right path. What matters is a desire to be excellent, a commitment to progress, and a willingness to learn from every turn along the way.
It’s that time of year where we see broken records. The kind of records we don’t want broken.
Deadhorse, Alaska saw a record of 31.7 degrees this week. The average over the past 55 years was ~9 degrees.
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia saw 400 year old temperature records broken. When that happens, those incredibly colorful corals “bleach” and become a ghostly white. If these trends continue, we won’t have a Great Barrier Reef in 20-30 years. Just as likely is an ice-free arctic region.
It is easy to get pessimistic when we see all this. That is especially in the case during a big election year around the world. A large chunk of the world’s population is casting votes and electing leaders. Many of these leaders still walk around denying or minimizing anthropogenic (i.e., human created) climate change because it suits their personal interests. Such lying is abhorrent – but, sadly, politics and lying go together. It is just a question of degrees.
While we’re likely to have a collection these leaders elected around the world (balance of probability), we’re approaching the point where myopic policies will have a smaller and smaller impact on the rapid decarbonization of the economy.
This graph looks at energy costs in Germany. It doesn’t make sense to run systems based on coal and natural gas. The combination of solar and batteries is cheaper.
Lithium battery pack costs continue to plummet. This is even as we continue to find other non-rare earth mineral alternatives such as solid state and sodium ion batteries.
We don’t need to pick decarbonization because it is the right thing to do anymore. We can choose it because it is simply better and cheaper.
LED bulbs are cheaper and better than their predecessors.
Electric cars are cheaper over their lifetime and are a no brainer for folks with shorter commutes. But, more importantly, they’re smoother, require less maintenance, and a pleasure to drive.
Heat pumps are cheaper to operate than traditional boilers/air conditioning systems.
Geothermal heat systems are continuing to make progress – things are beginning to look very promising.
We still need technology to replace plastic. We haven’t cracked that. Plastic recycling is an illusion – the only real solution for the medium term is to ban single use plastic.
It isn’t clear if we’ll get to fusion. But it is a bet worth taking even as progress on solar and batteries continue to defy expectations.
We could all do more in our own lives – eating less red meat alone has an impact. But I think the highest leverage thing we can do is push for better understanding of the costs of decarbonization.
In most places around the world, the right option is also the cheap option. And it is getting cheaper by the day. That understanding will result in all of us pushing for the kind of systemic change that counts.
Climate change is a reality. We aren’t going to escape the consequences of a hundred fifty years of burning fossil fuels. However, fossil fuels are, at best a transition state for humanity. As Prof Deb Chachra lays out in her book about infrastructure, even if we use <1% of the energy from the sun, we could comfortably meet all of humanity’s energy needs.
Our energy future is shaping up to be more abundant, more decentralized, and more resilient.
So it is important to stay optimistic that we’ll escape the worst-case scenario… and, hopefully, just hopefully, we’ll give nature the opportunity bounce back.
If Chernobyl’s example is anything to go by, we have reasons to stay hopeful.
Dan – who authors one of my favorite blogs – shared a great 3 minute video that explains why the 400 meter is considered among the most painful events at the Olympics.
In sum, it is because it is at that uncomfortable length where you have to run at close to full pelt to win. However, no human can run it all out from start to finish.
As a result, a runner uses four different stores of energy. The first 50 meters involves the “ATP-CP” – the energy system that makes the explosive start possible. This lasts 5-10 seconds.
Next, the runner moves to anaerobic glycolysis – this burns glucose without oxygen, leading to lactic acid buildup and muscle fatigue. This is when the runner is running at ~90% of full capacity.
Next, the runner uses aerobic energy. However, this uses oxygen to break down glucose and cannot keep up with the demand.
This means the final 300-400 meters is when the runner taps their anaerobic energy reserves when the aerobic energy is too slow to fill the gaps. This results in lactic acid buildup that, in turn, means pain.
This means the last 100 meters is a test of the runner’s pain threshold. Whoever has the highest pain threshold at this point wins.
We’ve been watching a lot of track and field events over the past weeks. While every one of them looks challenging (in different ways), this video made me see the 400m in new light.
It also made me appreciate just how incredible our bodies are.
Take good care of it, we must.
“Most advertising sells, regardless of what’s on offer, insecurity and discontent.”
I can’t remember where I came across this quote.
It was thought provoking.
One of the most important habits we can cultivate for our long-term mental health is reminding ourselves every day that our current circumstances – no matter how good or bad – are temporary.
It is inevitable. Skip the surprise.
This too shall pass.
Charlie Munger once talked about how sensational Costco founder Jim Sinegal’s career was.
Podcaster David Senra asked Munger: Why are there so few speeches or interviews with Sinegal?
“He was busy working,” said Munger.
The most impressive people don’t spend their lives on social media or managing their publicity.
It resonated.
H/T: Another of Morgan Housel’s masterclass posts
“Sometimes rock bottom is your trampoline.” | Danny Cho
This one made me chuckle. It makes for a powerful visual while being funny and true.
It definitely can be.
So much of life is what we make of it.
Clarity of thought is often misunderstood. You don’t “have” clarity of thought. It is a skill – you get it when you work at it.
That happens when you’re always in the habit of taking an idea, obsessing about it, writing about it, and stripping away all the extraneous details till you get to its essence.
Clarity of thought is earned.
Deb Chachra, in her book “How Infrastructure works,” tells the story of “Electric Mountain” – a fascinating power station in Wales. A few notes –
(1) “Electric Mountain” is the alternative name of the Dinorwig power station in Eryri, Wales. It is a “peaker plant” – used to supply electricity during sudden peaks. It takes all of 15 seconds to activate Dinorwig. While peaker plants usually use coal/dirty electricity, Dinorwig serves as a shining example on elegant solutions to peaker plants.
(2) Dinorwig was built in the 1960s and used to be activated after major TV events (E.g., sporting events). Predictably, the British population used to switch off their television and switch on their power hungry electric kettle – a phenomenon called “TV pickup.”
(3) The power station contains two lakes at a difference of 500 meters. A vertical shaft connects these lakes. Once the operator begins draining out the lake on top, the artificial waterfall from the top lake can generate electricity for six hours.
(4) Then, when the demand is low and there’s surplus capacity in the grid, the whole process is reversed and water is transported right back up. It essentially functions like a battery. Ingenious.
(5) The design and thoughtfulness is incredibly elegant too. Dinorwig blends into the landscape. And there were many thoughtful touches – it was built in a town where mining was on the decline. The fish that were originally in the lake were thoughtfully relocated.
This article – authored by Deb Chachra – in the Guardian has a lot more context on why she is so enamored by Dinorwig.
After learning more about it, it is hard not to join the Dinorwig fan club.
A Learning a Day 