Read the piece on paulgraham.com ↗
Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.
Our reading
Mental modelFeedback loops
Their wordsThe way to figure out what to work on is by working. If you're not sure what to work on, guess. But pick something and get going.
Their wordsWhat are you excessively curious about — curious to a degree that would bore most other people? That's what you're looking for.
Our reading
Mental modelMany models, not one
Their wordsIt's good to know about multiple things; some of the biggest discoveries come from noticing connections between different fields.
Their wordsBoldly chase outlier ideas, even if other people aren't interested in them — in fact, especially if they aren't.
Their wordsFour steps: choose a field, learn enough to get to the frontier, notice gaps, explore promising ones. This is how practically everyone who's done great work has done it, from painters to physicists.
Their wordsOne reason per-project procrastination is so dangerous is that it usually camouflages itself as work. You're not just sitting around doing nothing; you're working industriously on something else.
Our reading
Strange tastes are often strong ones, and a strong taste for work makes a person productive.
Their wordsStrange tastes are often strong ones, and a strong taste for work means you'll be productive.
Our reading
Mental modelCompounding
Their wordsMorale compounds via work: high morale helps you do good work, which increases your morale and helps you do even better work. But this cycle also operates in the other direction: if you're not doing good work, that can demoralize you and make it even harder to.
Their wordsThe value of an audience doesn't grow anything like linearly with its size. Which is bad news if you're famous, but good news if you're just starting out, because it means a small but dedicated audience can be enough to sustain you. If a handful of people genuinely love what you're doing, that's enough.
Their wordsConsciously cultivate your taste in the work done in your field.
Their wordsColleagues don't just affect your work, though; they also affect you. So work with people you want to become like, because you will.
Our reading
Be professionally curious about a few topics and idly curious about many more.
Mental modelMany models, not one
Their wordsBe professionally curious about a few topics and idly curious about many more.
Our reading
Mental modelMany models, not one
Their wordsOne of the most powerful kinds of copying is to copy something from one field into another. History is so full of chance discoveries of this type that it's probably worth giving chance a hand by deliberately learning about other kinds of work. You can take ideas from quite distant fields if you let them be metaphors.
Keep reading
The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.