Welcome back to the 1st Law Newsletter - Friday Edition.

In this email:

• Giving and receiving advice
• Definite and indefinite optimism
• Don't show your work and trust your gut

Giving and Receiving Advice

A rule of thumb for giving advice is to never give or ask for general advice. Giving general advice is a charlatan move, as you are essentially just extrapolating your own past experiences into a general rule. Asking for general advice is inherently lazy as you didn't even put effort into coming up with a specific question, you are just fishing for shortcuts.

Instead, when seeking guidance, ask people what they did and why they decided to do it that way. This will give you a much better understanding of the topic and avoid the blatant personal bias that is inevitable when you ask for general advice and receive opinions.

Further, when listening, remember that all advice sums to zero. No matter the perceived soundness of the advice given or received, counter examples surely exist. Somebody has done the exact opposite and achieved great results.

For these reasons, advice is largely non-serious. Serious advice asking is only done with very specific questions. This is more a problem with the question, not the advice giver. We are often asking just to feel good, which is a productive sham.

Ask more serious questions. Is it entertainment or truly productive?

Ideas from podcast with Jeremy Giffon​

Definite and Indefinite Optimism

North America, for the past 100 years, has been and still is optimistic about the future, however while it used to be for definite reasons, it is now indefinite. By this, I mean that it used to be clear why people should be optimistic. New inventions were coming out all the time, people were employed, the family unit was intact, progress was generally and obviously being made as time went on. This resulted from a high focus on engineering and art. The continent was the most advanced and efficient producer.

Now, with an indefinite outlook, engineering has taken a back seat. The main focus is now on finance and law. Instead of building new companies, firms buy old ones, restructure their debt and resell them for more money with less utility. Money continues to be created with no matching rise in utility in the economy. People do not know what to invest in, and since they are still optimistic about the future, see no need to save their money for tough times ahead.

Ideas from Zero to One by Peter Thiel

Quote I Want To Share

“It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover.” ― Henri Poincaré

By logic, we can only build incrementally on what already is. With intuition, it is possible to innovate, discover, and cover leaps and bounds with no intermediary steps. When trying to build something, contrary to what we have learned in school, it is okay to skip steps and not show your work. Sometimes this is how true genius works. Read about Fermat's conjecture if you are curious about how not showing your work can make you famous.

On this topic: follow your gut. When people say they have a gut feeling, there is actually a scientific reason for this: your gut produces about 95 percent of the serotonin in your body. Serotonin regulates your mood, sleep, digestion and recovery. This is why eating well and having a healthy gut biome can do wonders for your wellbeing and life. Trust your gut.

Thanks for reading!

Lucas