"I can't do this. I didn't come up with it. It's not original"

It's crazy everyone thinks that way.

Walton, LKY and Munger even took pride in copying others.

Framework: Find out what works and do it.

Thread on how they did it: We are taught 'original thinking' is good and even feel shame when we 'copy others.'

Unlearning this is extremely profitable and more truthful to the nature of things.

No one owns ideas.
And they are much older than we think anyway.

I thought I knew what science meant until I found Richard Feynman.

Feynman was not only among the most brilliant people on earth, but he always said what he thought was true.

Thread: Feynman believed there is a kind of pseudoscience.

Disciplines that claim to be science but are nowhere near.

There's a philosophy book that ended up in the business world.

It shaped from Apple's products to Nick Sleep's investment philosophy.

Why I think it happened and why it'll stay: There are two big narratives in this book:

1. Romantics vs Classics.
2. Quality.

If you pay attention, you see both everywhere.
Let's break them down.

I gifted this book to my father in Sep 2024.
By Jan, he was starting his third re-read.

I couldn't believe it, so I had to buy it and read it myself.

Thread: Everyone has a negative view of the investing field.
With good reason.

But there's a whole range of successful investors above all the nonsense who are healthy, wise, admired, and even happy.

More than investing, it's a book about their system for life.

The most complex systems are rooted in deep simplicity.

Thread breaking down this astounding book and idea: The systems of the world are immensely complex.

If you put together a few elements and give them time, amazing things happen.

Complexity arises after nodes start interacting.

Lee Kuan Yew is the most exceptional leader I've read about.

Long thread with how LKY took Singapore from third world to first: Lee Kuan Yew's genius was in systematically picking the correct system to fix huge societal issues.

Singapore's GDP per capita increased from $500 in 1965 to $83,000 in 2023.

We'll go over how he laid the foundations for such a crazy outcome.

Poor Charlie's Almanack has truly thoughtful advice on its back cover.

Feynman, Bezos, and Michelangelo are evidence that applying it really works.

Thread breaking down Munger's insight: There is no miracle people.
No one comes to the world with extraordinary abilities or knowledge.

Great things take time, just like a tree takes decades to grow.

Rushing is pointless.
And those mocking newcomers still have a long way to go.

If you want to learn Economics, don't enroll in any course.
Just read this book.

I'm not kidding.
It will seriously teach you more than anything else can.

Thread: Adam Smith was the father of modern Economics.

He's the person who first put this beautifully infinite field into a cohesive framework of ideas.

You'll get a really complete education out of only reading this book.

"I largely blame The Selfish Gene for a series of bouts of depression I suffered from for more than a decade"

"Others have asked me how can I bear to get up in the mornings"

Thread breaking down this rather disturbing book: The Selfish Gene came to improve upon Darwinism, but at a huge cost.
It could easily be seen as making the case for nihilism.

I still found it fascinating, so I'll go over its core idea and implications.
But read at your own risk.

(Friendly guy)

My obsession over reading started in July 2020.
4.5 years later it's just gotten worse.

Long thread about why I insist so much upon it: There's a simple way up in most societal hierarchies:
Become a learning machine.

If you go to bed every day a little bit wiser than you woke up, it's crazy how much more helpful you'll be to the world.

It'll take time, but it is certain, and you'll be rewarded for it.

"When you find a genius, give them all power."
I've been obsessed with this idea for 12 months now.

I learned it from Munger but then saw all successful people apply it.
From Steve Jobs to Robert Oppenheimer.

Thread: Truly gifted, high-integrity, people are rare.

When you find a person like this, you want to do 2 things:
-Partner with them.
-Get out of their way.

This seems obvious, but few people do it.

Lee Kuan Yew was one of the most extraordinary leaders in history.

He turned a tiny island into a modern civilized powerhouse, in the face of all the troubles you can imagine.

Thread with how Lee Kuan Yew took Singapore from third world to first: Lee Kuan Yew's genius was in systematically picking the correct system to fix huge societal issues.

Singapore's GDP per capita increased from $500 in 1965 to $83,000 in 2023.

We'll go over how he laid the foundations for such a crazy outcome.

I thought I was crazy until I found Richard Feynman.

Feynman was not only among the most brilliant people on earth, but he transmitted something I've never seen in others.

Thread with some lessons from his peculiar way of being: While reading and thinking, there were moments when I felt I was having actual fun.

But I doubted myself: "How could I be having fun doing this? Maybe I don't understand fun."

It was not until I saw the joy Feynman transmitted that I understood this profound emotion.

There is an incredibly peculiar idea that I've seen everywhere:
Attractor States.

It's in economics, biology, physics, statistics.

Long thread breaking it down: The first time this idea hit me from an unexpected place was in physics.

If you leave a system by itself, it will tend towards the state of minimum energy and maximum entropy.

In a bowl, balls sink to the middle.

I always felt academia was wrong, but couldn't see how.
Then I read this book.

Charlie Munger found the correct approach to knowledge:
Worldly Wisdom.

Thread breaking down this unpopular but right idea: This is a dangerous approach to acquiring wisdom.

Your friends will say you are wasting your time, others will call you crazy, and professionals will despise you for getting into their territory.

To them, Charlie's message:

Lee Kuan Yew was the most extraordinary nation-builder in history.

He turned "a malarial swamp into a modern civilized powerhouse"

This is the full story of how LKY took Singapore from third world to first: Lee Kuan Yew's genius was in systematically picking the correct system for fixing huge societal issues.

Singapore's GDP per capita increased from $500 in 1965 to $83,000 in 2023.

We'll go over how he laid the foundations for such a crazy outcome, starting at the beginning.

Guns, Germs, and Steel is Sapiens^2.

While Sapiens goes for the 'What', Guns, Germs, and Steel answers the much more tougher question: 'Why?'

Full breakdown: Jared Diamond went to New Guinea in the 70s to study birds.

One day, he was walking along a beach and Yali, a local politician, happened to be there.

They decided to walk together and Yali started quizzing Jared..

The most complex systems are rooted in deep simplicity.

This pattern is seen across physics, biology, and chemistry.

Thread breaking down this astounding book and idea: After religion started losing the spot as the main explanatory agent, science hopped on a peculiar path.

Information was stored more rigorously and, suddenly, we were in a huge mess.

There was isolated knowledge everywhere.
True chaos.

This book has incredibly profound insights.

Thread with some extracts that could change your life: When all paths go somewhere, there may be something there.

Learning accounting is incredibly troublesome.

No course teaches it well and 99% of books miss the point.

Long thread on why this short book will finally help you understand accounting: The first test most sources fail is in admitting the limitations of accounting.

It is not a science and shouldn't be treated as such.

Joe and Karen straight up recognize this, benefiting all readers.

There's too much material to learn about investing and almost nothing is useful.

These are the 8 reads I think will get you to 80% and why: Warren Buffett's 1983 letter.

It exhibits every trait one should look for in managers and has invaluable accounting lessons.