For some fortunate 17 year olds, the end of the year is the day for a momentous decision, one that’s largely out of the comfort zone of a 17 year old.
A four-year college education in the US can cost nearly half a million dollars once we count the expenses and foregone opportunities that go with it. It can shift our persona, our learning and most of all, the systems we live in for the rest of our lives…
One way to make a complex decision of this magnitude is to relentlessly make it simpler. We can begin by vividly describing the flavors, factors and preferences that go into the choice (I have heard every single one of these from students I’ve coached or spent time with) and then pruning them away:
- I like the weather there
- They have recycling bins all over campus
- The tour guide who showed us around was cute/engaging/friendly
- I think I’d have fun at the football games
- My peers in high school will be impressed
- It is much cheaper than the alternatives
- It’s expensive and so it must be better
- I might make the soccer team
- I grew up watching the school’s teams on television
- I hear they have a really good math program
- It’s close to my house and doing laundry will be easier
- It’s far from my house and I won’t have to deal with being at home a lot
- My parents went there
- My parents didn’t go there
- It feels right
- I’m tired of this and need to get it over with already
- It was a stretch to get in and I feel accomplished
- It was a stretch to get in and I feel intimidated
- My guidance counselor said it was a ‘good’ school
- The people I know have heard of this school
- I know exactly what I want to do for a living and this is the best place to start on that journey
Many of these are matters of short-term taste, and are the sorts of things we bring up when everything else either feels the same or we’re afraid to examine the real issues too closely. In my case, I picked the college I went to partly based on the radio station I heard (or didn’t hear) when I visited the campus.
Here’s a different way to look at it, one that we can broaden into an insight about adult decisions about where to work, where to live, who to hang out with. There are two parts:
- Are the people this place attracts the sort of people I want to spend time with and become more like?
- Is the system that is in place here one that pushes and cajoles and processes people to become more like the kind of person I’d like to be?
That’s it.
It doesn’t matter if the campus is pretty or if the football team is good. It doesn’t matter if it was sunny on the day you visited. Unless… unless those factors are the factors that are attracting and keeping the folks you had in mind in #1.
A party school isn’t a party school because there’s a good liquor store on campus. It’s a party school because the combination of #1 and #2 create a self-perpetuating system.
Once you answer these two questions, pick the least expensive option that helps you get to where you’re going.
Perhaps this feels like a big decision because it’s about you. But it’s not actually about the you you are right now. It’s about the you you hope to become.
December 31, 2023
We evolved to be wary of change. Our attention is limited, new things can be a threat and the status quo feels comfortable.
As a result, we spend a lot of time and energy being afraid (and arguing about) the upcoming changes in our lives, but almost no time at all thinking about the things we’re used to.
A decade from now, people will look back on things we do now and view them as dangerous, foolish or selfish. If they were introduced today, they’d be shunned, not embraced. If someone had just invented the coal mine, it would be a really hard sell.
The takeaway isn’t that any particular habit or technology is inherently dangerous. It’s that giving the benefit of the doubt to the established ones might be a mistake.
December 30, 2023
Every day matters.
It seems like a waste to spend one as a to-do list item on someone else’s agenda.
It’s easy to become so focused on checking the boxes that we forget that there are people involved. Peers, colleagues and friends that with something human to offer, if we only cared enough to connect.
December 29, 2023
My building had an elevator problem. The management company sent everyone this note:
Please be advised we have been experiencing intermittent issues with the elevator. Our priority is your safety, and we are taking immediate action to address the situation.
After a thorough investigation by our electrician, it has been identified that there may be an issue with low voltage affecting the elevator’s performance. The electrician has reported this matter directly to Con Edison and is working collaboratively with them to rectify the situation promptly. Con Edison will not be able to address this issue until sometime next week.
Until this matter is resolved, the elevator will be taken out of service.
We understand that any disruption in elevator service can be inconvenient, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Your safety is our top priority, and we assure you that we are taking every necessary step to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time.
I asked ChatGPT to rewrite it for humans. It responded with:
We’re fixing the intermittent elevator issues to ensure your safety.
Our electrician found a potential low voltage problem affecting the elevator. They’ve informed Con Edison and are working together to solve it quickly. However, Con Edison can only start repairs next week.
For safety, we’re shutting down the elevator until it’s fixed.
We apologize for the inconvenience this causes and are working fast to resolve it. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
I took it one step further:
You have probably noticed that the elevator is broken. The electrician is working with ConEd but they don’t expect it to be fixed until next week.
We know it’s a hassle, and thank you for being patient.
People don’t write like bureaucrats because it’s easy or fun. They do it because of the mistaken belief that it lets them off the hook.
December 28, 2023
It’s almost impossible to remove a screw with your bare hands, but easy with a screwdriver.
The handle might only add a little torque, but it’s more than enough.
If someone is succeeding at something you find difficult, it might be because they realized they needed a screwdriver.
Looking for the tool is the first step in finding it.
December 27, 2023
Add up all the senses you use and the things you notice: that’s your umwelt.
It’s pretty obvious that your dog has a different one than you do. They see fewer colors and smell far more intelligently. Sea slugs see a much wider range of colors, and bats can sense vibrations.
Among humans, we each have our own umwelt. Paying attention, after all, requires payment.
If your default range of inputs is working for you, that’s fabulous. But for most of us, we’re missing something, something we might not even realize.
What if we went looking for it?
December 26, 2023
In 1959, three years after Columbia Records spent a fortune rolling out stereo recording, a senior A&R executive named Ward Botsman told the New York Times, “Let’s face it, the craze for stereo has not been as intense as expected,” writing off the format that would end up thriving for, as far as I can tell, forever.
It’s hard to tell a fad from a trend when you’re in the middle of it.
But often, that’s our job.
The easiest thing to do in the face of change (which brings fear) is to become cynical and to decide that the change you fear is nothing but a fad, soon to disappear.
But it’s also tempting to imagine that every fad is going to instantly and permanently change the systems of our culture.
Ward was paying attention to buzz instead of focusing on the structural changes that were moving in the other direction.
Cynicism is easy. And sometimes it pretends to be clear-eyed thinking.
December 25, 2023
Most of us know what enough happiness feels like. But some people are stuck in an endless cycle of seeking more money. That’s a bad trade.
Because after a certain threshold, it’s hard for more money to buy you more happiness. And the trap is that trying ends up costing you both.
December 24, 2023
…of course, if you’re lost on purpose, you’re not lost.
Lost is only possible if you are fixed on getting somewhere specific.
December 23, 2023
The future creeps up on us slowly. But when it leaps dramatically, we notice.
One spam phone call a day is an irritation. 1,000 of them destroy the utility of the phone.
One photographer undercutting our rates is a threat. 1,000 of them means we can’t make a living at it any longer.
We’re facing several 1000x cliffs right now.
The most obvious is AI. (Or possibly not). Entire systems are going to be replaced. New careers are developing overnight, and old ones are going away. When an AI can read a standard x-ray 1000 times faster and 1000 times cheaper than a radiologist (and get better results) then something is going to have to change.
The more urgent one is the change in the climate. One freakish storm is something many economies and communities have a chance to recover from. But 1,000 days of weird weather is more than we can handle.
Systems are networks, and widespread changes compound exponentially.
December 22, 2023
