I think people emphasize the optimal path too much
There’s a balance between acting irrationally and thinking about something for too long, and people only seem to think negatively about the irrational side of that equation.
Most people I meet on a daily basis are in a position where the worst thing that happens from making the “wrong” decision is a slap on the wrist, nothing truly life-changing. The amount of time they spend trying to make the better choice is often so long that if they had just acted on the wrong one, realized the mistake, and pivoted, it would’ve been more beneficial in the long run.
Society imposes a lot of ideas about how people should be. In startups: work 996, raise the optimal amount, be hyper-independent. For others: have your first love be the person you marry, go to a good university, etc.
I like to fuck around and find out. How will I ever know what’s on the other side if I don’t go see for myself?
Recently at Hyperic we adopted a puppy and named him JEPA (Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture).
Thought-out decision? Probably not. It was a joy having him around, but the responsibilities were too much for a team working 7 days a week.
It also made me realize that while it’s fun to be around dogs, this type of responsibility is something I’m not ready for yet.
There will come a time in my life when I’ll have to make high-stakes decisions that impact not just my life, but the lives of many people around me. As long as I still have the freedom to be a kid and learn, I’m going to make the most of it.
this blog is for all the UWaterloo kids having a midlife crisis over whether to intern at OpenAI or Citadel