Books

Thread containing all of the quotes from Silicon Valley Canon readers:

Building /bright-moments - minting onchain art IRL | /purple #15 | FID 129 #magikarp

Been reading Making of the Atomic Bomb as part of @phil's Silicon Valley Canon course. 

This early quote stuck out to me because it touches on the inevitability of discovery. Watching the "powers that be" fight against things like AI, crypto, etc. until they can themselves find a way to weaponize them only sheds brighter light on this reality. 

Enjoying the course so far, to say the least.

Innovators often face the masses’ disdain and lack of hope, as they are by definition earlier than ~98% of people to the ~new world~ one of hope of a better future rather than fear of the unknown. 

Despite appearances of pessimism predicted by many, there remains a narrow path of hope that we can produce a better future ✨

Appreciate the reading of the making of the atomic bomb in @phil’s Silicon Valley Canon 📚

https://warpcast.com/wanderloots.eth/0xc21cb30f

Cheers to Day 1 of @phil's Silicon Valley Canon!

Snippet from Innovators on the early intentions of the personal computer.

Replace "personal computer" with "crypto" and we're basically in 2024.

https://warpcast.com/coopahtroopa.eth/0x3a445fe9

Kicking off Day 1 of Silicon Valley Canon with a sunrise and Kindle birthday gift to myself 🌅

Reflecting on this quote from Richard Rhodes explaining the pondence principle that saved Bohr from “getting lost in the maze“:

“That correspondence between the reliable old and the unfamiliar new gave him an outer limit, a wall to feel his way along”

At times working in crypto I too feel as though I’m moving forward in the darkness and must rebuild walls to help navigate forward.

Ideas arise from necessity.

Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston

https://warpcast.com/0xabss.eth/0xfadad38c

Wasn't sure what Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion (essays about hippie counterculture in San Francisco) had to do with Silicon Valley tech and as I re-read the selection from Phil, I started to see it. Especially in regards to crypto. 

Countercultues pushback on existing legacy institutions, mostly because they were let down by those in charge. Pesonal freedom and anti-authoritarianism are deeply ingrained in both, and certainly impacted by the late 60's. Ideas around collaboration and openness also lead to things like the Homebrew Computer Club in northern CA. 

Haven't look at this since college so this was cool to revisit -- another highlight was the quote, "the idea that California is the beginning of the end...I feel it's insane" brings the thought that you have to be a lil crazy to build anything new, especially brand new industries.

https://warpcast.com/nounishprof/0x3d4d196b

https://warpcast.com/nonlinear.eth/0x111b97d0

On "character", from Joan Didion's 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem', currently reading in Week 1 of @phil's Silicon Valley Canon class.

https://warpcast.com/fluffheadchaser/0xc2d7799a

I've been participating in @phil's Silicon Valley Canon course, and on the first day, I started reading Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard Feynman. It's been a fascinating read so far.🥰 

One part that really stood out to me was this quote: "I always do that, get into something and see how far I can go." This made me reflect on my own approach to learning. As a student of mechanical and electrical engineering, I often focus on mastering the technical skills within my field. But Feynman’s words remind me that it’s just as important to explore new areas, even those outside my immediate studies. His willingness to dive into the unknown and see where it leads challenges me to step out of my comfort zone and embrace a broader curiosity, pushing myself to grow not just in my field, but beyond it.

https://warpcast.com/baegopayo/0x8094cdbf

narrative nonfiction editors HATE this one weird trick

https://warpcast.com/horsefacts.eth/0xf1572c4c

Excerpt from Men are from Mars, part of @phil Silicon Valley Canon

This is a well-known quote for scientist. I heard it quite often in 2015 when Big Data had another wave. Colleagues got access to the Twitter firehose (for free), server logs including chats from MMPRG and that app where designers would do bounties and contests. A divide was forming between those who used theory as the starting point and those who used data as the starting point. 

Best example that you need both is from an ethnographic research into those MMPRGs. Colleagues assumed that men would play with men, and women with women following the homogeneity principle. But it didn't. Theory couldn't explain it. The ethnographer on the team then started chatting with the players (in those virtual worlds!). 

The reason for men and women to team up in those MMPRGs was quite simple: Girlfriends wanted to spent time with their boyfriends. 

Long and windy way to say: Do stuff that you can't rationalize.

Also a key theme for me. I've been reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb for first time as part of @phil's SV Canon Book Club, and there is more than once that discoveries in quantum physics were preceded by a walk under the stars, a cold plunge, or a vast desert.

A sense I have is that human minds evolved to thrive in a very specific environment which we call "nature" and I think being receptive to its harmonies allows us to think in an exceptionally clear way about first principles.

(Also - I think music, with it's small integer ratios of physical sound, has a very similar power to what nature does visually.)

Love this quote from Richard Feynman about his experience of working with "great men". 

It's funny how unusual this experience seems today, especially with government bureaucracy. 

Listening to each other and deciding on the best course of action, even if it wasn't your idea. What a novel concept!

Silicon Valley Canon, Day One: 
(This is from yesterday’s reading because I am 100% /slowcore-hq)

I find this collection of scientists and their backstories fascinating. To have grown up in a small Hungarian village, watching your parents create opportunity through their own efforts—and then to watch as that society crumbles, or worse, to be Jewish and watch it crumble on top of you and everyone you love. 

I also find myself jealous of them, in a weird way. I’m so hungry for knowledge, to have intellectual rigor foisted on me so I can see what my mind is capable of. I want to be surrounded by incredible teachers, and the opportunity to test myself and discover new things. 

Nothing is holding me back from giving it to myself. Maybe this class is the beginning of my hermit scholar era 💅

Thank you @phil! I am so impressed with the care and intelligence you’ve put into this curriculum, and incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this.

More and more I think there is extreme value in layering disciplines, becoming more of a universalist, to make unexpected connections 💡

In, Surely Your Joking, Me. Feynman, he takes turns sitting with different branches of science at lunch and is both humbled and humbles others as they share their specialized knowledge and unique perspectives with each other ✨ 

Book from @phil’s SV course 📚

https://warpcast.com/wanderloots.eth/0x354b8070

all the brightest minds are driven by endless curiosity and an obsessive dedication to solving problems

How meetings looked at Los Alamos. The greatest minds in physics assembled in one place. Matches the findings in: https://hbr.org/2012/04/the-new-science-of-building-great-teams

https://warpcast.com/epistetechnician/0x403fe199

Reading Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson for the SVC. 

"He had never been a captain of a sports team or the leader of a gang of friends, and he lacked an instinct for camaraderie...that's counterproductive"

I have been the captain of a sports team and am camaraderie-heavy in my leadership style. Thinking time...

Two framings of the same concept, from "The Innovators" as part of @phil's Silicon Valley Canon. Both quotes are leading to, I think, the "Curation is the new creation" mentality. 

If, in 1945 & 1999, people already thought human's ability to comprehend information was maxed out, what about now? 

Information is increasing exponentially, especially with the advent of AI-generated content. 

I think we are at a phase in the Internet, perhaps as an element of web4 (the semantic web) where humans will begin much more carefully curating their information sources. 

Rather than be fed by algorithmic feeds, perhaps it's time to return to the wandering nature of the original internet, intentionally seeking & exploring, instead of the gluttony we see from algorithmic feeds. 

How do you curate your information your intake? 

PS Page & Brin are the founders of Google.

https://warpcast.com/wanderloots.eth/0xadf5811c

From “the Founders” on the origins of the PayPal mafia 👀

https://warpcast.com/coopahtroopa.eth/0x09f8ca3d

Just sit and observe for at least 1 hour a day

Anon, you are not getting rejected nearly enough.

love this quote from DHH on the value on constraints when building a product

I'm two weeks into readings from @phil's Silicon Valley Canon book course. It's great. Here are some select takeaways.

---

The story of great v0s being built in a couple days is laughably common.

- Gmail - "1 day"
- Viaweb – "a couple days"
- Ebay - "one long weekend"

And they were simple too: Paul Graham's viaweb, an e-commerce platform, launched without the ability to process payments. You couldn't process a credit card transaction until 2 years after launch.

eBay launched without the ability facilitate payments, it couldn’t even guarantee the buyers paid the sellers, just list and bid. Reviews were in a forum, separate from the bidding experience.

https://jtgi.xyz/posts/sv-canon-i/

i really wish i had been able to join this.   i just knew i wouldn't be able to devote the time i would want to in this time period...