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The Foundations Are Math and Logic.html
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The Foundations Are Math and Logic.html
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<html>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles2.css" />
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<body>
<p>![[Naval-Ep17.mp3]]</p>
<p>Mathematics and logic are the basis for understanding everything else</p>
<p>The ultimate foundations are math and logic</p>
<p>
<strong>Naval:</strong> Foundational things are principles, they’re
algorithms, they’re deep seated logical understanding where you can defend
it or attack it from any angle. And that’s why microeconomics is important
because macroeconomics is a lot of memorization, a lot of macro bullshit.
</p>
<p>
As Nassim Taleb says, it is easier to macro bullshit than it is the micro
bullshit. Because macroeconomics is voodoo-complex-science meets politics.
You can’t find two macroeconomists to agree on anything these days, and
different macroeconomists get used by different politicians to peddle
their different pet theories.
</p>
<p>
There are even macroeconomists out there now peddling something called
Modern Monetary Theory which basically says, hey, except for this pesky
thing called inflation, we can just print all the money that we want. Yes,
except for this pesky thing called inflation. That’s like saying, except
for limited energy, we can fire rockets off into space all day long.
</p>
<p>
It’s just nonsense, but the fact that there are people who have
“macroeconomist” in their title and are peddling Modern Monetary Theory
just tells you that macroeconomics as a so-called science has been
corrupted. It’s now a branch of politics.
</p>
<p>
So, you really want to focus on the foundations. The ultimate foundation
are mathematics and logic. If you understand logic and mathematics, then
you have the basis for understanding the scientific method. Once you
understand the scientific method, then you can understand how to separate
truth from falsehood in other fields and other things that you’re reading.
</p>
<p>
<strong>It’s</strong>
<strong
>better to read a great book really slowly than to fly through a hundred
books quickly</strong
>
</p>
<p>
So, be very careful about reading other people’s opinions and even be
careful when reading facts because so-called facts are often just opinions
with a veneer [of pseudoscience] around them.
</p>
<p>
What you are really looking for are algorithms. What you are really
looking for is understanding. It’s better to go through a book really
slowly and struggle and stumble and rewind, than it is to fly through it
quickly and say, “Well, now I’ve read 20 books, I’ve read 30 books, I’ve
read 50 books in the field.”
</p>
<p>
It’s like Bruce Lee said, “I don’t fear the man who knows a thousand kicks
and a thousand punches, I fear the man who’s practiced one punch ten
thousand times or one kick ten thousand times.” It’s that understanding
that comes through repetition and through usage and through logic and
foundations that really makes you a smart thinker.
</p>
<p><strong>Learn persuasion and programming</strong></p>
<p>
<strong>Nivi:</strong> To lay a foundation for learning for the rest of
your life I think you need two things, if I was going to try and sum it
up. One, practical persuasion and two, you need to go deep in some
technical category, whether it’s abstract math, or you want to read Donald
Knuth’s books on algorithms, or you want to read Feynman’s lectures on
physics.
</p>
<p>
If you have practical persuasion and a deep understanding of some complex
topic, I think you’ll have a great foundation for learning for the rest of
your life.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Naval:</strong> Yeah. In fact let me expand that a little bit. I
would say that the five most important skills are of course, reading,
writing, arithmetic, and then as you’re adding in, persuasion, which is
talking. And then finally, I would add computer programming just because
it’s an applied form of arithmetic that just gets you so much leverage for
free in any domain that you operate in.
</p>
<p>
If you’re good with computers, if you’re good at basic mathematics, if
you’re good at writing, if you’re good at speaking, and if you like
reading, you’re set for life.
</p>
</body>
</html>