software engineer automating e-commerce marketing with AI
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Mar 28 • 7 tweets • 12 min read
every single good thing in my life came from connections
went from shit middle of nowhere to elite university and difference was nauseating. from literal criminals to everyone multi-millionaires
it's not just grades. biggest difference between people who go to shit universities and elite ones is actually mental health
nobody talks about this because I'm going to sound like such an asshole, but fuck it, let's see what happens. I'm interested to hear what you think. maybe I'll learn something
people assume "oh I've met people who aren't geniuses at top universities" but that's missing the point. top universities are not selecting for Einstein. they filter out the worst of humanity. if you think the oxbridge/ivy league grads are bad, you haven't met the dregs of society. if you don't want to go meet them in-person, go to any relationship subreddit and you will get a taste of how subhuman most people are
the base assumption is that 99% of people who go to a shit university come from broken families, alcoholic parents, violence, drug addiction, mental illness, low trust, sour grapes, no agency, no self-control, seek drama, low ambition wage-slave aspirations, crabs-in-a-bucket mentality, little emotional self-regulation, impulsivity, and suffer from making the most basic logical errors and self-destructive habits
like every single problem they have is one google search away. every single mistake they make could have been fixed with 5 seconds of running the numbers on a napkin
the way you do one thing is the way you do everything, so if someone is constantly fucking up, they're probably failing in every aspect of their life. this is a studied phenomenon called "g-factor" (general intelligence). in short, it means that both good and bad habits come in clusters, not in isolation.
here's an example. my circle rarely eats fast food, maybe once a year, because it's fucking disgusting. most people at elite universities know that their cognitive performance is tied to their physical health, so their nutrition, exercise, and sleep are on point. this improves their emotional stability, social relationships, and overall sense of well-being. everything is in sync. momentum
yet normies "omg I have brain fog and no energy, I wonder why?" whilst eating garbage literally every day. they can't accomplish anything, they are moody, they hate their life. their decisions compound, and this creates chronic problems
another way to look at it is that you become more like the people whose habits you have. steak and eggs don't need to do any marketing because McDonalds customers do it for them. every time you eat there, you become more like the average person who goes there.
you could say, "well fox, they're aware and becoming more healthy these days." okay, but I'm not just talking about health. these people are also just doomed for failure because of their mindsets.
like let's say you tell someone they're incorrect
an intelligent person might think "hmm what information does fox have that makes him think this way." maybe engage in a careful dialogue by asking questions. "yeah? why do you think that?" or if your critique is stupid, they just smile and never speak to you again
the stupid person gets angry because they think it's a status game. they think you're trying to establish hierarchy. you're putting them at the bottom of the pecking order. they might sabotage you or go out of their way to do other weird things
I have made this mistake many, many times, trying to prove myself wrong, by suggesting that someone's suffering may potentially be self-inflicted and fixable. however, every single time, they lash out to an insane, disproportionate degree. maybe because they don't want to acknowledge that, this whole time, they wasted their own life, and it's their fault, because their problems were easily fixable with google
the worst part is that it will pollute your own "training data" if you try to help them. you'll be less likely to speak the truth after getting crazy reactions so often. they are infecting you.
this is why people who are constantly in a state of deprivation, unluckiness, unhappiness bring it to themselves. "misery loves company." and they will drown you with them. if they can't see themselves as a victim, it means that the villain in their life can no longer be bad. so in order to keep the villain evil, they must still suffer
this is why I never give feedback unless I'm paid to do it
instead, I picked up a trick from gen z, which is to just slowly let the relationship fade away instead of saying it to their face, because sometimes people will want vengeance for speaking your opinion. for literal air.
must be some tribal caveman mindset "okay if he's not on my team, then he's on the enemy team." or because they want to signal how "good" of a person they are by being against the "bad guy." disney-style "I'm on the RIGHT team"
yes, I know, it's not every single person. you may be the special exception because you scroll this part of the internet. but universities are actually quite good at filtering for intelligence. yes, a dumbass or two might slip by because of diversity or something, but overall they do a good job.
and contrary to popular belief, elite universities aren't just for nerds, but talented kids who know how to use google/youtube to play the system. even if you don't do any extra work, avoiding major bad habits still gets you into a top 30 institution
yes, you could just filter people based on intelligence instead of uni, but this is very hard to find out in the wild. there's a reason uni/credentials became a big thing in the first place. because it's hard to find the 1% of people who aren't stupid. to fix this, we have rules, procedures, processes to *get rid of as many stupid people as possible*
this is why the career game is so different for elite vs. non-elite.
it's not just about getting into top internships your first year. it's not only major CEOs of top companies coming to visit your campus. it's not about meeting children of billionaires.
it's about risk tolerance.
all of my friends, engineering or non-engineering, who are doing their own startups, all come from elite universities. they're able to afford the risk of doing their own thing because they know, even if they fail, they can go get a job INSTANTLY
I can literally open my LinkedIn, message a recruiter, and get an interview within days for any company
the interview process is also disgusting. "hey bro, how are you? yeah? so what have you worked on lately. okay cool, well we'll let you know when to start." obviously this isn't the case at ultra-competitive companies like OpenAI, but this is how it usually goes for most
I have a friend who left a cushy job paying $250k for single-digit hours of REMOTE work per week, because it was psychologically taxing. he wanted to start his own brand.
it's now doing $1m/yr only a few years later, but he was only able to afford that risk because he had massive capital reserves AND the confidence that he could get another job, even with a multi-year resume gap
winners win. people who have a track record of success will succeed because success does not happen by accident. Bezos and Thiel were at a hedge fund, Larry and Sergei were getting PhDs, Zuckerberg was at Harvard and Exeter. early success amplifies future outcomes
and it's not just money. the biggest thing people don't tell you is that uni makes a difference not just with your career, but your social class.
some people might say that social class doesn’t matter, only money does
“people in trades make plenty of money, and that’s all that matters.”
who do you think is saying this?
what I notice, is that only affluent people broadcast how much they support the trades, while privately doing all they can (even risking prison) to ensure their kid gets into a top university
lesson in there (it's in the parent's incentive to reduce the competition for their children)
there's something about your entire circle consisting of doctors, lawyers, scientists, professors, engineers, politicians, consultants, and bankers–people that overwhelmingly influence culture and policy
your speech, behavior, mannerisms, and humour will subtly reflect your background. people can tell whether you’re on the same level of class, intellect, and other psychological attributes just by the way you conduct yourself. elite circles socialize you to become culturally fluent in their communication styles, so they can recognize their own
even your humour reflects your class. lower-class jokes about crude sexual topics, middle-class repeats puns/dad jokes/pop culture references, upper-class is more about wit
on top of that, your study buddies in your 20s will end up being directors of major institutions in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and Wall Street by your 30s–and the relationships aren’t the same if you meet them later in life. plus, this social network becomes a lifelong hidden dating market, because educated, wealthy people pair with others of the same class. wealth marries wealth
compare that to a circle of ex-convict construction workers, carpenters who don’t speak English, dropshippers, growth hackers, onlyfans managers, crypto pump-and-dumpers, NFT collectors, ebay flippers, keto influencers, podcast bros, airbnbers, meme pagers, instagram models, holistic honeys, yoga healers, facebook ad agency owners, high-ticket closers, self-improvement gumroaders, daytraders, forex course sellers, fake therapists, political print-on-demanders, pickup artists, masculinity bootcampers, and marketers marketing marketing to coaches coaching coaching?
I know which group I want to be in.
a lot of my social circle is still based on who I studied with, because relationships made at a younger age tend to persist
I don't make new friends often. most of the people I hang out with are people I knew from over 10 years ago
you might not find your spouse during university, but what about after?
you go to private weddings, fundraisers, birthdays, whatever
what is the probability that you are going to meet trailer trash?
now, what's the probability you meet your future spouse at one of these events, and one who has their life together?
how about the probability that you meet someone who is also ambitious, emotionally secure, who wants to see you succeed?
I can tell you that I have friends who would casually drop $100k on ads if I told them I wanted to launch a software product with them, just based on our relationship. they didn't offer this immediately, it took about 4 years
the first time this happened, I replied "bro you can hire good eastern europeans for much cheaper. let me give you this guy's number" and he said "nah it's not about the cost, I just want to do something fun with someone I like"
🥹
blew my mind. haven't taken his offer yet because I have too many irons in the fire, but it's good to know that there are options out there if I'm ever in a tight spot. it calms the nerves like a nice tonic, and that energy reinforces itself, because desperation is repulsive. lady luck only approaches those who don't need her
it's not all about money either. educated wealth is just more pleasant to be around. they don't get into insecure passive aggressive contests. they don't try to sabotage you. they don't get jealous or angry when you do succeed because they think of it as their circle improving. abundance mentality, "a rising tide lifts all boats"
the conversations are just more interesting, too. talking to a dumbass person is like talking to an old model of chatGPT. they don't stick to the point, they don't think about the root cause, they can't stick to the right topic. they just hallucinate things they've read or seen. you activate their memories with certain words. the original "prompt engineering" with robots. regurgitated clichés, no analytical depth, no original insights
whereas a smart person can ask you a single piercing question that reorients your entire perspective on a problem. "holy shit I never thought of it that way" happens a lot with my friends
Sly Fox Tip: asking the right questions is a filter in conversation, because not only does it signal that you're sharp, but you're also a good listener. this is the #1 advice I recommend in my networking guide
let's assume this is all fake news. "fuck you fox, I don't believe you." well, it's not about you specifically. it's about perception. people just assume you are a better human being in general, in every regard, just like how beautiful people are viewed as better in every way. they are assumed to be smarter, kinder, have better genes, just superior overall
if you're trying to get these connections after university, sorry, but it's really fucking hard. and if you don't show signs of early luck/talent, they don't want to be near you anyway
but don't blackpill. never kill yourself. you can learn anything. see my "volume" guide below. focus on becoming competent, charismatic, and looksmaxxing
once you're worth interacting with, here's where I'd go:
- a top company or hot startup at a tier 1 city
- some niche events based on your interests and hobbies
- conferences or keynotes where you will meet like-minded individuals
- events in wealthy parts of a city
- "micro fame" with a very specific topic (so you're well-known in your field, but at the same time don't get harassed by civilians)
- friends-of-friends
- literal dumb luck, right-place right-time at (met a guy who runs a major modeling agency at a lavatory because we said "nice outfit" to eachother at the same time)
- social signaling by wearing particular items
- becoming a regular at expensive venues such as sauna or gym
- digital nomadding at a really nice café when traveling
if I had to pick the easiest industry to network in, I'd say tech. tech people are pretty good about "pay-it-forward" culture. everyone gives value constantly. not sure why this is. maybe because:
- you could be talking to the next silicon valley billionaire
- or they just know that knowledge and value doesn't get "taken" because it can be shared an infinite number of times, like code
- or because the community is used to being charitable, like with open-source software and free PDFs
- or because you can make money without screwing anyone over or taking from anyone else, because wealth/value is not zero-sum and can be created from nothing
- or because the industry just filters out stupid people. one reason I try to talk about technical subjects is because it attracts technical people
and being around them makes you more generous, too. one reason I get along so well with business bros is because I do this all the time naturally.
earlier this week, ecom friend starts talking to me about how he's trying to experiment with ads. I link him to one of my blog posts on how to use AI to make good ads cheaply/quickly. now I'm invited to a massive party in autumn with him covering the major expenses.
this all just goes back to filtering. there's not enough time to evaluate every single person you come across. I'm not "out on the hunt" reading people's résumés, but I put myself in environments where people are nice + succeeding, and it rubs off
"filter your training data" also means filter your environments, habits, and interactions
but beware: you can actively seek to improve, but nobody wants to be around a "social climber," even though everyone is a eugenicist at heart.
how to learn anything: more VOLUME
what are some video games with such beautiful storytelling that it had a profound impact on the way you think?
with such beautiful writing that it ought to receive a Pulitzer prize
culturally significant or
genre-defining or
history-making
so satisfying, that it makes you say “I wish I could erase my memory and experience that again”
Nov 13, 2023 • 6 tweets • 6 min read
Cancer has already been solved for over a hundred years and no, this is not clickbait (sources and my anti-cancer protocol below)
The solution isn't popular because it requires genuine effort and doesn't make any money
A number of clinicians such as Dr. Alan Goldhamer have found that cancer occurs when the body is deprived of fasting. There is a whole institute dedicated to this research called The Medical Association for Fasting and Nutrition (ÄGHE). Their research has found that their patients who fasted at least one week every year had a cancer incidence of near 0%
This makes intuitive sense. If you think about it in “caveman” terms, it’s impossible for our ancestors to have been around food all the time 24/7, so clearly humans needed mechanisms to survive long periods without food, just like animals who hibernate during the winter
Our bodies are not only are adapted to handle situations without food, but NEED it. It gives the body a "break" from digestion
Think about all the organs that need to work to process food: your stomach, liver, intestines, kidneys. Literally everything. Eating puts these organs in a state of constant work
When these organs can be put to “rest,” they can begin autophagy and cellular/mitochondrial repair. Fasting is like sleep, where we take a break from everything to “reset” and “repair” our brain. It’s by far the BEST protocol for longevity and detoxing
Long-term fasting specifically fixes two problems:
1. Metabolic Syndrome: the class of disease that involves obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and insulin resistance
2. Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: including arthritis, gastritis, colitis, migraines, asthma, allergies, mood disorders, and CANCER
Fasting doesn’t just have physiological effects, though. Because you’re saving an enormous amount of time (eating, cooking, cleaning) and changing your routine, you can use it as a chance to introspect and reset habits
Or, you can use it to start eating healthy because your tastebuds become re-sensitized to normal food. It’s almost like psychedelics which help you “reset” behaviour
My anti-cancer protocol is intermittent fasting during the day, one full-day fast at least once a month, and a minimum 7-day fast during the winter
Obviously fasting won't prevent cancer from outside sources like radiation poisoning, but you should focus on what you can control
If you have any questions, let me know and I’ll link you to a publication
I lost maybe 1 lb/day of weight but it wasn't muscle mass. Most of the loss occurs from your organs shrinking, so they can regenerate after refeeding. However, your muscles, brain, and balls are spared (source below)
Evolutionarily, this makes sense because why would your body make you weaker when you need to hunt for food?
In the first 2-3 days before ketogenesis fully kicks in, you might lose a bit of muscle. However, after breaking your fast, your body has rapid increases in beneficial hormones such as HGH to restore that muscle, plus the fasting improves mechanisms such as insulin sensitivity. You only go into starvation/catabolism around the 40th consecutive day of fasting, but I wouldn't go near there.
There is even a study by Laurens et al. (2021) that argues fasting not only maintains but may improve strength:
Is muscle and protein loss relevant in long-term fasting in healthy men? A prospective trial on physiological adaptations (2021)
Results: The 10 day fast decreased BW by 7%. Fat mass and lean soft tissues (LST) accounted for about 40% and 60% of weight loss, respectively, -2.3 and -3.53 kg.
LST loss was explained by the reduction in extracellular water (44%), muscle and liver glycogen and associated water (14%), and metabolic active lean tissue (42%).
Plasma 3-methyl-histidine increased until Day 5 of fasting and then decreased, suggesting that protein sparing might follow early proteolysis.
Daily steps count increased by 60% (P < 0.001) during the fasting period.
Strength was maintained in non-weight-bearing muscles and increased in weight-bearing muscles (+33%).
Glycaemia, insulinemia, blood lipids, and blood pressure dropped during the fast, while non-esterified fatty acids and urinary beta-hydroxybutyrate increased.
Jul 11, 2023 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
if you want to avoid getting caught using AI, whether for school or for SEO
you should learn how plagiarism & copyright detection works in general
detecting AI-generated content isn't new
"document fingerprinting" has been studied as early as 2003
here's the latest research: 1. Watermarking
one of the biggest problems with AI-generated text is that it has a hidden "watermark"
there are words or sentences that will flag your text as AI-generated
there are currently four known ways to bypass watermarking in GPT-generated text:
Apr 12, 2023 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
the most powerful 3-step guide to stop addictions or create habits
WARNING: not backed by science, but ancient wisdom
Aristotle believed that, if you know the right thing to do, but don't do it, you suffer from "akrasia," also known as "weakness of will"
here's his solution: 1. obtain an elegant notebook and pen.
these must be highly aesthetic: beautiful notebooks, pens, and people are more pleasant to interact with.
and, beauty invokes the flow state.
for unsophisticated beginners, I recommend:
- A5 Musubi Tomoe River S 52
- Uni-ball Signo UM-151
Dec 8, 2021 • 42 tweets • 11 min read
💻 2022 Web Developer Roadmap
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Includes FREE certs & FUN projects you can put on your résumé! 🎉
For everyone worried about losing muscle:
