NonTrivial is about the patterns that exist at the intersection of science, philosophy and complexity, and how these speak to universal principles related to…
3:00297 views · 2w ago · 3:00
A surprising lesson from the molecular science of human vision: don't immediately weaken your objectives. Change the configuration of the problem until a better solution becomes possible.
3:00814 views · 2w ago · 3:00
We've been taught that compromise is a sign of maturity. But what if it simply means both sides are settling for less than they could achieve?
32:096K views · 2w ago · 32:09
We're taught that compromise is a virtue. But what if it's often a failure to find a better solution? Compromise typically means weakening two objectives until neither party gets what they really wanted. There's another approach: find the intersection.
25:015.4K views · 3w ago · 25:01
What if the best way to build something is to start with the entire finished thing, even when you know it's going to be wrong? Most people approach creation sequentially. Finish the first part, move to the next, and gradually work toward the final product.
3:00184 views · 3w ago · 3:00
Going deep too early can mean investing enormous effort in details that don't matter. Without context, even careful work can be misguided.
45:0122K views · 3w ago · 45:01
What if trying to do everything properly is exactly why you never finish anything? Going deep doesn't have to mean going slow. In this episode, I explain why mastering every detail from the beginning is often the wrong approach, and how working in layers lets you build deeper understanding while moving faster.
34:021.5K views · 1mo ago · 34:02
Thinking harder doesn’t always make you smarter. At some point, without new information, thought becomes rumination. In this episode, I explain why action changes the probability distribution of your future, why overthinking is computation without new data, and why the best way to make better decisions is often to stop thinking and perturb the real world.
3:0083 views · 1mo ago · 3:00
“Follow your passion” sounds like good advice. The problem is that the economy isn’t designed around what you love. The solution isn’t abandoning your passion. It’s changing the role you expect it to play.
37:0162K views · 1mo ago · 37:01
Following your passion doesn’t mean finding a job that perfectly matches it. Your passion should be the generator: the thing that builds your skills, produces ideas, and makes you unusually good at what you do. In this episode, I explain why you should protect your passion from the market, keep creating, and let the overlap with the economy emerge naturally. Then build a commercial arm around what the market actually values.
3:00163 views · 1mo ago · 3:00
Maybe Sheldon (from The Big Bang Theory) was never the smart one. AI is forcing us to reconsider why we confused analytical, rules-based thinking with intelligence.
43:011.9K views · 1mo ago · 43:01
For centuries, we’ve treated mathematics, logic, and analytical reasoning as some of the highest expressions of human intelligence. Then AI came along, and started automating them first. In this episode, I argue that this isn’t a coincidence. Mathematics and computer programming are unusually closed, symbolic, rules-based forms of thought. They can be extraordinarily powerful, but the very properties that make them precise also make them particularly amenable to machines.
30:01359 views · 1mo ago · 30:01
We spend our lives chasing closure; in our careers, relationships, beliefs, identity, and definitions of success. But reality rarely fits the neat version we have in our heads. In this episode, I explore why chasing closure creates so much frustration, why some things in life need to remain open, and how finding closure at the right level can give us something stable to navigate by.
35:101.3K views · 1mo ago · 35:10
We all have opinions, but many of us suppress them to avoid friction. In this episode, I argue that the cost of staying quiet is often higher than the cost of speaking up. Honest opinions create better signals, better relationships, better decisions, and better opportunities.
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