Mike's notes.
Park of poker’s appeal is that people balance consequences and rewards. Thoughtfully in the best cases. But the lessons aren’t always obvious. Nate Silver notes that live poker can be boring because participants don’t play that many hands. Yes, Maria Konnikova replied, that’s one way to look at it. “There’s a perception that live poker… Continue reading Konnikova’s Data
Context matters. A person at a college football game is unlikely to rip off their clothes and go streaking across the field. It happens, sure, but not whimsically. Streaking is premeditated. How else do they write such witty comments on their bum? But that person might rage. They might tear down the goalposts. They might… Continue reading Cons & Contexts
Parenting Teens with Love and Logic by Jim Fay and Foster Cline is *checks Amazon* the #44th ranked book in the Parenting Teenagers category. I read it because it counts as volunteer hours for our school. And I kinda liked it. One idea around here is don’t just do something, sit there. Our default thinking… Continue reading Parenting teens with love and logic (book review)
Headspace, the mindfulness and meditation app had a problem. People came to the app under duress and wanted to feel better. Now. So, Rory Sutherland summarized, people didn’t persist for the long term benefits without a short term win. “That’s fair,” says Dr Clare Purvis. The company had to address the immediate need but also… Continue reading The Headspace JTBD
“There’s a great point in your book,” host Adi Wyner says, “where your coach tells you you’re coming in too high in the tournaments.” “This realization happens pretty early on. It’s six months into my poker playing and I’m very happy I’ve been cashing in poker tournaments. Say you buy in for $100, but the… Continue reading Creativity through randomness
One way to think of a decision is to think of the ‘right’ answer. This has limits. ‘Right’ answers exist within conditional assumptions, and mostly in the mathematics and moral fields. Should I be honest with my partner? has a ‘right’ answer. What’s the optimal distance my 2017 Subaru Outback should follow this other vehicle… Continue reading Subtraction’s Value
See these green things? They are reusable straws, purchased from Wawa. A lot of times people say “sunk costs” like it’s a bad thing. Part of Poker’s Appeal is thinking conditionally, and one way to do that is to avoid sunk costs. Here’s Maria Konnikova talking with Annie Duke: “The chips don’t remember they used… Continue reading Sunk cost straws
“I’ve grown accustomed to this type of (probabilistic) thinking because my background consists of experience in two disciplines; sports and poker, in which you’ll see pretty much everything at least once. Play enough poker hands and you’ll make your share of royal flushes. Play a few more and you’ll see your opponent has made a… Continue reading Poker’s Appeal?
Maria Konnikova is on the podcast-book-tour to promote The Biggest Bluff. It is great. I liked Mastermind more, only because I like Holmes more than poker. One idea from her podcast conversations that might get missed by book readers is how Eric Seidel came to coach her. She told Shane Parrish: “He (Seidel) didn’t actually… Continue reading Small Poker Bets
From Maria Konnikova’s The Biggest Bluff. In the same way that mediums matter for content (why are there no good FinTwit YouTube channels?), mediums matter for work too. Much work is information exchange. The internet repairman comes to your, now home, office to install a better modem and upgrade the internet plan. The internist diagnosis… Continue reading Multiply all potential WFH consequences by 1.2
The Waiter's Pad 