Tag: Economics and Work
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III : Incentives
People often explain behavior in terms of beliefs, values, or intentions. Those things matter, but they are rarely decisive. What people actually do, especially over time and at scale, follows incentives more reliably than what…
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II : Effort
People talk about effort as if it were a preference. Something you choose to apply when motivated, and avoid when you find a better method. In practice, effort behaves more like a requirement. It shows…
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Things that endure
Most writing today is reactive. It responds to events, arguments, and passing moments, trying to explain what has just happened or anticipate what might come next. That kind of writing has its place, but it…
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What I Ended Up Doing This Year
People occasionally ask what I do. It’s a fair question. It just doesn’t have a neat answer. This year was a mix of writing, running, learning, investing, and paying attention in places that don’t compress…
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Money as a Lens on Modern Life
Money did not enter human life as a meaning-making force. It entered as a convenience. In early societies, exchange was local, personal, and bounded by trust. Barter worked until it didn’t, and money emerged as…
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Beyond Career
Most writing about work and success assumes that a career should remain the central organizing force of life indefinitely. For a long time, that assumption holds. A career provides structure, momentum, and a clear sense…
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The Unchosen Life
I’ve often caught myself wondering why people rarely stop to ask the hardest questions. It is not about politics or work, but about themselves. Why do we do the jobs we do, why do we…
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The Great Indian Guilt Trip: How ‘No Crackers, No Colors’ Became a Moral Flex
Every Diwali it starts again with the same chatter:We should get out of the city this year, it’s too noisyThe pollution gets unbearableThe poor dogs will suffer And suddenly, everyone becomes an environmental saint.The same…
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The Applause Trap
We pretend we don’t care what people think. We say it casually, I don’t need anyone’s approval. But that’s not quite true. There’s always that small, flickering hope inside us that someone notices. Someone pauses.…
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The Great Corporate AI Fart
The Great Corporate AI Fart: Smells Like Hype, Tastes Like PowerPoint Hold your noses, because the AI hype is out, and it stinks Every big firm is letting loose its own corporate AI fart Long,…