Mike's notes.
Edit: see the comments about the original purpose of the VCR and why the clock was important. That said the overall idea still stands and applies to IOT, cameras, chips. When I was a kid there was something I didn’t get. Why did VCRs have a clock? The thing never seemed to work correctly, was slightly different… Continue reading Average Lies 2
“Often an average is such an oversimplification that it is worse than useless.” – Darrell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics. We don’t really think about averages. The average hospital costs for hepatitis A was $16,000 in 2017. The average student loan debt for North Carolina residents is $36,000. The average American says they’ll spend… Continue reading Average Lies
There’s a story about Bill Gates’s wealth and height you’ve probably heard. If not, let’s quickly share it here. If Gates were to walk into a room of you and twenty-five friends, the difference in average height and median height would be small. However, the difference in average income and median income would be large.… Continue reading Median and Average Meanings
When not listening to podcasts, I can often hold a conversation while running, and conversing is a proxy for Zone 2 cardio. It’s a Goldilocks exercise. Is this a better way to run? Between Instagram stories, Andrew Huberman emails, and runner scuttlebutt, Zone 2 is in the zeitgeist. Without getting into physiology, can we figure… Continue reading Zone Two cardio
One framework for investing is the bathtub model. Individuals (but also managers of OPM like pension funds, endowments, etc.) aim to fill the tub as much as possible. An individual’s main stream is their salary. Maybe some salary first goes to an investment, and then pours in the tub. A rental property, a second job,… Continue reading The best uncorrelated asset
“First time seeing this at restaurants…,” posted Mrs Monroe, “way to guilt customers to spend more”. Commenters added: “tipping is a sham”, “servers don’t really get that money”, “I hate seeing this at…”. Some suggested subterfuge, a special and spiteful $0.01. It’s too bad, and a chance for good copy. There are many restaurants because… Continue reading Here’s a tip, better copywriting
I don’t check my home equity every day, goes a joke among the Vanguard-Buffett-DCA crowd, why should I check my stock portfolio? It’s a riff on the availability heuristic: if I think it, it’s important. ‘Home’ is super available. Vacation rentals, of someone’s home. A chunk of net worth is home. Neighbors move. During Covid… Continue reading Copying the Inflation Buster
We like things we are good at and we are good at things we intentionally practice. We practice better numeracy through examples like A+ BS HSA rates. The point there was that organizations choose favorable framing in absolute or relative numbers. Numbers are just characters in a story. LoTR has Frodo. Stranger Things has Eleven.… Continue reading White water white wash
These are an ongoing series. Psychological literacy: An understanding of ones unconscious and automatic processes. (via Dolly Chugh) Heterogeneous: a data set where the mean is misleading. More here, here, and here. Zoom towns: An enjoyable place to live enabled by remote work. (via Conor Sen) Hopium: the drug of hope, as in, “you’re high… Continue reading 2022 definitions
Ethics aside, there are no bad businesses – only the wrong business model. Successful organizations have the right people interacting in the right way given the conditions. Outcomes are a mix of who and how with a sprinkling (or deluge) of randomness. One ‘condition’ is the relationships with customers. Amazon sellers interact through Amazon, and… Continue reading Fixing weaknesses (NFL)
The Waiter's Pad 