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Doing the right thing

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-11-19

Life is only in the right now. You can only act right now. When in doubt, just do the only next right thing. How should you live? “Your questions are unanswerable, because you want to know how one ought to live. One lives as one can. …if you do w... more


Types of People and the Cost of Stupid

written by on 2024-11-13

Human Stupidity Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation. The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. Human beings fall into four... more


Be a Reasonable Person

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-11-08

Challenge from the CMS CS Department to be Reasonable Reasonable Person Principle: Everyone will be reasonable. Everyone expects everyone else to be reasonable. No one is special. Do not be offended if someone suggests you are not being reasonabl... more


Stoicism and the US Elections

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-11-04

Stoicism in Practice (Regarding the US election) Focusing on What You Can Control Stay grounded by Practicing this distinction We can vote, engage in healthy discussion, and educate ourselves on the issue, but we can’t control how others vote or ... more


Become an Expert

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-09-26

How to become an Expert The 4 things needed to become an Expert: Valid environment (chess is valid, roulette is random) Many repetitions (predicting election results is hard as they are rare events with low repetitions vs. basketball rebounds) Ti... more


Productivity Purge

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-09-20

Consider A Productivity Purge How it works: When it feels like your schedule is becoming too overwhelmed, take out a sheet of paper and label it with three columns: professional, extracurricular, and personal. Under “professional” list all the ma... more


Live safe - Know the Rules of Stupid

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-09-03

The Rules of Stupid Don't Go Stupid Places With Stupid People At Stupid Times Do stupid things You can "break" 1-2 of the rules Like having to leave work at 4 am from a bad part of the city Add in 3 or 4 - can be deadly. Like taking the bus from ... more


The simplest diet plan

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-09-02

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. -Michael Pollan "In defense of Food" more


Be a Dragonfly

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-08-27

Focus like a Dragonfly Accuracy/Consistency: Dragonflies capture 95% of their intended prey! Sharks capture 50% of their prey Lions capture 25% of their prey Reference more


Blunder Check through Life

written by Matthew Rensberry on 2024-08-21

Blunder Check (Chess) In chess, most people lose because they make a move that overlooks a risk that they just didn't see. This often results in unnecessarily losing their most powerful piece (the Queen). In chess, you can minimize your blunder c... more