The Most Important Skill in Life
If you think back to when you were a slobbering, drooling kid, life was pretty simple. Mom told you to say “thank you” so you said thank you. Dad told you to clean your room, so you cleaned your room. Teacher told you to stop picking your nose, so you stopped picking your nose (in public, at least).
Life was algorithmic. Do X and be rewarded with Y. The X was always clear and given while the Y reward was dependable. You could count on it. You could expect it.
Most of life passed this way. Teachers deigned assignments upon you and you knew that completing them in a certain way would earn you specific rewards. Your friends told you what was cool and what was lame and you followed accordingly. Your boss told you that if you didn’t stop falling asleep during important client meetings, he’d fire your ass (and now look at you, lazy sack of shit).
And so it goes: Do X; expect Y result. Everything is predictable. Everything is understood. Whenever you do something, you always know what result to expect.
Let’s call this “The Algorithmic Life.”
The Algorithmic Life works at first for the …
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