The Curious Cat is a journey where I aim to reconnect with my inner-child and explore my curiosity. I pinpoint themes & topics I’ve been interested in recently, ask myself questions about them and then write about them. I hope you find value within this issue and have a fantastic day doing what you love.
How will you remember 2021? For me it is the year of vaccinations, inflation and the further spread of authoritarianism to our liberal democracies. It’s easy to see the glass half-empty, so as I did last year, this is my attempt to reflect on the year and view it as half-full.
Here are some of my takeaways from the year 2021:
A big part of discovering what is true is to unlearn what is not true. Truth isn’t about knowing things, it is about unknowing.
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
You can reuse olive oil.
The “you” you think of is not you. Cogito, ergo sum.
As the crypto revolution gains momentum, it is dispersing into factions. 36 months ago everything was Bitcoin & Ethereum. Today there is DeFi, NFTs, Stablecoins, DAOs, Gaming and they’re all independent, self-sufficient fields with their own unique trends and journey.
Gotta stretch more. Too tight.
We await a few years of inflation. More money is being made than ever, and not enough goods are being made. So price go up. 40% of all US Dollars have been printed since the start of the pandemic.
A solution for many throughout this inflationary period (particularly businesses) could be to automate. With labour shortages and rising wages, money will be redirected into R&D for autonomous machinery.
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not and add what is uniquely your own,” Bruce Lee
Workout harder. It always pays off.
Mimetic Theory of Desire. Human desire is not an autonomous process, but a collective one. We want things because other people do too. And when these things are scarce, they’re immensely valuable.
Sell a concept, not a product. Rolex sells status, not watches. Supreme sells scarcity, not clothing. Harley-Davidson sells a lifestyle, not motorbikes. Apple sells style, not electronics.
The game of luring tax revenue to jurisdictions has begun. Individuals can wield a new weapon, the ability to move abroad, and use it as leverage when deciding where they want to live their best life.
The majority of my thoughts derive from fear.
Don’t know what to do or how to start? Get organised.
Companies have benefitted hugely, from both a capital gains and a PR perspective, from being more transparent and speaking directly. See Elon at Tesla, Jack at Twitter and Brian at Coinbase.
My best understanding of the word ‘enlightenment’ is the point where the mind loses the need for knowledge and is left with nature, all that is true.
DAOs have the ability to render all organisations null. DAOs automate the corporations of the industrial age (1800-2000).
The goal of the media is to make every problem your problem.
The focusing illusion. Beware of overextending bias on whatever you’re focusing on.
Decentralised stablecoin projects (like Terra & Frax) are interesting as fuck and a solid hedge against crypto regulation.
The best adventures are always a little scary.
Learning more about ego and what effect it has. TLDR: ego dangerous; purge it.
80% of success is showing up.
The story of Jesus Christ is based on astrology. It is probably not a story of a baby born in Bethlehem but a story of the night sky.
In spite of its carbon footprint, mining is a feature of Bitcoin; not a flaw. The more electricity expended to mine Bitcoin, the more secure the network grows.
The IKEA effect. We value things more if we build them.
5 best doctors in the world are sunlight, rest, exercise, diet and friends.
The point of adventure is to test one’s potential, or to rise to it.
All beliefs, all concepts and all thoughts are false; all bullshit. If you’re going for the truth, you will not find it if you take these things with you.
Self-Serving bias. Most of us fancy ourselves as more intelligent, better looking, more ethical and more likely to live longer than most people.
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Time heals all wounds, except those of the leveraged speculator.
“I don’t want to turn into dust having not attempted to live my life as fully as possible.”
In business, focus on customers, not competitors.
Reciprocation. You get what you give.
The Ark of the Covenant and its mysterious tales.
When trying to envision a new way of doing something, instead of asking “will this ever happen?” flip it and ask “if this were to happen, would we ever go back?”
A promising framework on how to give good gifts (thanks Van).
The US-China war is a lot more serious than I previously thought.
Tokens (like NFTs) monetise social capital into economic capital. Everything can be financialised.
The Pessimistic Meta-Induction from the History of Science - As so many theories from bygone eras proved to be wrong, we should assume that many of our current beliefs are wrong.
Balance boards are VERY fun
There is a compelling case that COVID-19 is the product of gain-of-function research within the Wuhan Institute of Virology and that it escaped beyond the confined walls of the Biosafety Lvl 4 laboratories.
In last year’s recap, my 12th takeaway was “the metaverse is maturing.” After Facebook rebranded to Meta and Metaverse-related assets soared throughout Q3 & Q4, I think last year’s statement was an enormous understatement and an instance where I was the victim of the Dunning-Kruger effect. There is so much more to build before we fully enter the age of the metaverse.
Egg fried rice with MSG is very nice.
How to cook new dishes that will last me my lifetime
Everyone was right. Time does go by insanely fast. Acknowledge it.
Imagined realities mean little to nothing to me. Nation-states, sports teams and brands are neither pure nor legitimate entities.
Hay k confiar, porque si no confias, no hay confianza.
The tales of Gamestop & Meme Stocks; retail has the power to beat institutions.
The intrusion of the US Capitol showed that the foundational institutions of our societies are more fragile than we might think.
Specialised industry hubs can grow & blossom in just a matter of weeks (SF exodus to Miami & Austin).
SpaceX’s Starship’s successful flight test has paved the way for mainstream space travel and the establishment of Homo Sapiens becoming a multi-planetary species. More confident than ever that one day, my childhood fantasy of exploring space (like Chewy & Han) will actually happen.
‘Crypto’rebranding into ‘web3’is the best rebrand of all timeSomething I subconsciously was aware of before, but now have begun to digest:
web3will trigger a seismic shift in the current world order of nation-states; similar to the agricultural and scientific revolutions.
Best Event: An 80s Disco Party my good friend Poltan hosted.
Best Content Creator: Van Neistat or Balaji Srinivasan
Best Song: Headshots by Isaiah Rashad.
Best Podcast Show: All-in-Podcast (feat. Chamath, David Sacks, David Frieberg and Jason Calacanis).
Best Podcast Episode: JRE #1747 or Tim Ferris #542.
Best Purchase: My DominGo Rooftent.
Best New Skill: I learnt how to cook red meat properly.
Best New Habit: Actually using my standing desk.
Biggest Regret: Falling victim to the most dangerously addictive thing on this planet, YouTube Shorts. For it has stolen my most valuable asset, my time.
Best New Venture: Crypto Coral Tribe is an NFT collection centered around coral reefs. 50% of the proceeds will go to reviving coral reefs around the world. It’s the first hybrid donation x investment vehicle I have come across.
🚿 Shower Thought
Really should hike up to a glacier when in the alps this winter; who knows how long they’re going to be there for?
This was great! Davourite was 6-8, 18. I dont agree with 35