My (current) favourite technical links can be found here. Here are some of my favourite movies and quotes of all time.
I do not necessarily agree with all of the thoughts included in readings below. Thanks to anyone who recommended readings on this list! Suggestions always welcome.
Do Things Faster
HOWTO: Be more productive - Aaron Swartz
Maker’s Schedule - Paul Graham
Productivity Archive - Brad Feld
What Should You Do With Your Life - Alex Guzey
How Do We Live & How Do Others Live? Vignettes
Hagakure A person who becomes fatigued when unhappy is useless.
The Trouble with Optionality - Mihir Desai Harvard Commencement Speech
You can never create enough option value—and the longer you spend acquiring options, the harder it is to stop.
Considering Nontraditional Summer Opportunities - Rohan Pavuluri
On optionality.
This is Water - David Foster Wallace
You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t.
C’était à cause du soleil.
Slouching Towards Bethlam - Joan Didion
It is impossible to think of Howard Hughes without seeing the apparently bottomless gulf between what we say we want and what we do want, between what we officially admire and secretly desire, between, in the largest sense, the people we marry and the people we love.
The first thing I did in my search for an answer to Why go out? was write down a list of every single reason I could think of to go out – there were about twelve.
This Is the Life - Annie Dillard
You enjoy work and will love your grandchildren, and somewhere in there you die.
Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell
Be Better
What do startup founders want - Aaron Swartz
Importance tends to require centralizing things, which means restraining innovation and leaving yourself open to the demands of actual power.
You Are Not Late - Kevin Kelley
It is the best time EVER in human history to begin. You are not late.
Searching for outliers - Ben Kuhn
It’s important to filter for “maybe amazing,” not “probably good.”
Invention of Objectivity - Aaron Swartz
Indeed, objectivity wasn’t even invented until the 1900s.
Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! - Richard Feynman
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool.
I just want to be right—I don’t care if the right answer comes from me.
The Undoing Project - Michael Lewis
No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.
Politics and the English Language - George Orwell
It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.
You and Your Research - Richard Hamming’s speech, courtesy of Sam Altman’s blog
If you do not work on an important problem, it’s unlikely you’ll do important work.