Becket U curates the best resources in Math, Physics, Computers, Microeconomics, Game Theory, and Persuasion. With this knowledge, you will understand how the world works.
Undiscovered #053: Elon's Big Week, 45 Years Studying Influence Condensed, What to Do With Your Saved Bookmarks
#053: Elon's Big Week, 45 Years Studying Influence Condensed, What to Do With Your Saved BookmarksHi All! We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com. This week, we will take a look at the new announcements from Tesla & SpaceX, Julian Shapiro's list of principles for living a fuller life, how math equations dictate the way the world functions, and more. Lets' dive in: Elon's Big WeekIt was a memorable week for Elon Musk, with recent announcements for Tesla and SpaceX making news headlines. Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi, dubbed "Cybercab," at an event in Hollywood. This autonomous vehicle represents Tesla's attempt to enter a new market segment and potentially revolutionize urban transportation. The retro-futuristic fleet of art deco inspired cars is scheduled to hit the streets in 2026 or 2027. SpaceX successfully launched Starship’s fifth test flight on October 13, achieving a historic milestone by catching the Super Heavy booster with the launch tower’s “Chopsticks” mechanism for the first time. This achievement represents a significant step towards rapid rocket reusability, potentially reducing turnaround times and costs for future space missions. The successful attempt brings SpaceX closer to realizing its vision of frequent, cost-effective launches for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. What to Do With Your Saved BookmarksJulian Shapiro is a deep tech investor and founder of previous Y-Combinator startup, Demand Curve. He also writes one of my favorite blogs, with tons of high quality posts. Some of them include how to build muscle, starting a startup, explaining Hifi Audio, becoming a better writer, and more. One that I recently revisited was his "Memorized Rules: How to give your life direction" post. It starts with a very appropriate declaration: "A funny lie of adulthood is pretending we'll act on the life advice we save". This includes social media bookmarks, Kindle highlights, and Google docs. In this post, he intends to act on the advice he has been given and distill it into a set of principles, adages, and rules. A few of my favorites are as follows: If you rethink this from scratch, what would this look like if it were easy? - Tim Ferris
Does the amount of attention I'm giving this match its importance? -James Clear There is no value in winning when the game doesn't matter to you. We create our own stress due to our perception of what we must do. In conversation, lead with curiosity instead of critique. Luck is a function of surface area. More experiences generate more serendipity. The post goes on to explain how to implement memorized rules, how to determine what makes a rule good, and the next steps for taking action instead of continuing to hoard items we may never look at again. 45 Years of Persuasion Research CondensedRobert Cialdini is the author of the famous book, Influence, which breaks down the science of persuasion. His career and research took place over 45 years and the findings can be distilled into the seven following principles of persuasion: 1. Reciprocity. People feel more obligated to say yes to us if we have done something for them first. i.e. 'owing someone a favor'
2. Liking. The more we like others and they like us, the more they want to say yes to us. i.e. friends supporting your side project
3. Unity. People will prioritize our requests to the extent to which they see us not just as like them, but as one of them. i.e. if Apple releases a new product and I am involved in the ecosystem, I am more likely to try it out
4. Authority. People's likelihood to accept our advice and recommendations increases to the extent they perceive us to be an expert. i.e. eating a diet that a doctor may recommend
5. Social proof. People are motivated to follow our proposal when they find others like them are doing the same. i.e. everyone is talking about the hot new book to read, making us want to read it.
6. Consistency. Our proposals are more persuasive if they align with people's values or a previously made commitment. i.e. going to the gym every morning, after declaring my desire to run a marathon
7. Scarcity. If our offer is unique or is becoming less available, then people will want it more. i.e. Black Friday savings and discounts, driving demand for product.
This thesis is one of the foundational aspects of persuasion, and it's always a good item to revisit. Thanks to @Kpaxs for their post which included this summary. "Universe is Quite Literally a Song"Recently came across a post by @hamptonism that said "The universe is quite literally a song", and had three quadratic forms paired to real-life phenomena that are related to them. For portfolio optimization there is the Markowitz model, spin glasses have the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model, and neural networks use the Hopfield model. A quadratic form is a mathematical expression involving squared variables and their products, representing the simplest nonlinear relationships between variables. Their connection to real-life phenomena suggests that the fundamental structures and behaviors of the universe can be described using simple, harmonious mathematical patterns, much like musical harmonies. Just as quadratic forms represent elegant, recurring patterns in diverse phenomena, from physics to economics, this metaphor implies that the universe's complexity arises from the interplay of simple, underlying "melodies" or mathematical relationships.
Gamify Your Coding JourneyCoding games are some of the best ways to improve your skills in CSS, Python, React, JavaScript, Blockchain, and more. Here are a few of our favorite resources, along with a brief description of what they cover:
P.S Can you please respond to this email and bring it into your 'primary' inbox? You can say 'Hi!', tell us the last book you read recently, or what your favorite resource was from above. We appreciate any feedback you are able to provide here. What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Feel free to reach out to us on Instagram and give us a follow there, tag your friends on our posts, and please forward this newsletter along to anyone else who would enjoy it. Disclaimer: Becket U is an Amazon Associate and purchases through Amazon links may earn a small affiliate commission, but the price is the same for you. We only recommend books we love and think you would love, too. Always wishing you the best, J.B. |
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Becket U curates the best resources in Math, Physics, Computers, Microeconomics, Game Theory, and Persuasion. With this knowledge, you will understand how the world works.
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