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“You live in a mechanical universe. It’s time to start understanding that.” I was disillusioned with myself. I was performing badly in highschool(even dropped

“You live in a mechanical universe. It’s time to start understanding that.” I was disillusioned with myself. I was performing badly in highschool(even dropped out) I couldn’t understand why. I wanted so badly to do something epic. I feared being an average guy and living an ordinary life. I didn’t understand this advice at first. However, I decided that I couldn’t take the life I was living, so I decided to change. If you accept that the universe is essentially mechanical, then you accept that there is nothing actually standing in your way. You do not have inherent bad luck, and you aren’t cursed. Probably the best example of this is Elon Musk. The guy watched his entire fortune burn as his companies crumble. He worked 20 hour days. But what separated him was a very specific ability, and it wasn’t just his ability to work hard. “Most people when confronted with a disastrous scenario start to make bad decisions. When that happens to Elon, he becomes hyper-rational. I’ve never met someone with his ability to take pain.” This is a paraphrased quote from Musk’s biography, from a Tesla engineer who knew Musk personally when the company was on the verge of collapse. The ability to make hyper-rational decisions during hardship is one of the most important traits of a leader. This advice got me through that period. I understood that everything had a cause and effect, so I decided to change. Reading made me more prepared for anything. Building and making things made me more friends. The second you understand that we live in a mechanical universe is the second you are given the key to changing it. I may never become the next Elon Musk(asking myself how can I do it better, but that's another subject if you want to talk about it I'm happy to do so) but my life will be so much happier because I understand that it can change according to rules. Rationality and a cause-effect mindset is an incredibly tough road to go down because there are no easy answers. When you do, however… you can change anything.

fredsir 6y ago
> Elon Obviously, it's also a good advice to be born with wealth from the blood of an emerald empire. Hyper-rational, being born wealthy. Great advice! Kidding aside. I'm just sick of people putting people like Elon up on a pedestal. Look at all the rich, successful people out there. How many come from wealth, and how many come from dirt poor conditions and just worked themself up? Working hard is good advice, but it doesn't guarantee success, quite the contrary. A lot of successful people never worked hard a single day in their life, and billions of people work hard their whole life and never come close to the kind of success the former enjoys. Hell, I guarantee that Elon is not even the hardest worker at his companies, even though he enjoys most of the fruit of the labour.
- Dumblydorr 6y ago
  Would you deny Elon has a knack for finding great opportunities and executing? He's at the head of two of the most innovative companies, you make it seem like hes totally lucky and there's nothing to his approach.
  - fredsir 6y ago
    Indeed. He has some great ideals, I think. And he is great at finding brilliant people to work for him, it seems. But is he anymore brilliant than what thousands or millions of other people would be were they giving his shoes? I don’t think so.
- gfodor 6y ago
  Being born into wealth helps, but it also hurts. If you have something to lose, its harder to take risks. Elon put all of his wealth on the line for SpaceX and almost lost it. Anyone, from him down to the person who scrapes together pennies to start a risky business to make a better life for themselves, deserves respect for taking risks to achieve their dreams.
  - fredsir 6y ago
    Elon knows that money is something he can always get, because he has gotten them before. Also his family is rich. He knows that worst case is he goes to them and get some millions and back to work again. Rich people aren’t taking any real risks by using their money. The people taking the real risks are those putting their lives and livelihood on the line every day, doing the dangerous, back breaking, mind numbing work for the rich people with the money, while the rich just look on from a far while their workers are doing the actual work for them using their resources and making them even more rich while the workers doing the actual job have nothing to gain in comparison themselves, often being far closer to personal and financial ruin everyday than the rich ever are. Elon isn’t risking shit. That those with money that invest them is taking the risks and thus also deserves the rewards is a myth, is a ruse, but it’s not hard to figure out who would stand to gain from such a myth.
Balgair 6y ago
I disagree, but I am happy that this has helped you. For me, it was the opposite, it was that the universe is stochastic. That the random parts happen, and you can't fix that. But you can bet on the 'averaging' of the universe. You can't guess the roll of dice, but you can build systems that will survive bad rolls. I'm glad you've found something that works for you and I'm glad you shared this with us.

fredsir 6y ago

> Elon Obviously, it's also a good advice to be born with wealth from the blood of an emerald empire. Hyper-rational, being born wealthy. Great advice! Kidding aside. I'm just sick of people putting people like Elon up on a pedestal. Look at all the rich, successful people out there. How many come from wealth, and how many come from dirt poor conditions and just worked themself up? Working hard is good advice, but it doesn't guarantee success, quite the contrary. A lot of successful people never worked hard a single day in their life, and billions of people work hard their whole life and never come close to the kind of success the former enjoys. Hell, I guarantee that Elon is not even the hardest worker at his companies, even though he enjoys most of the fruit of the labour.

Dumblydorr 6y ago
Would you deny Elon has a knack for finding great opportunities and executing? He's at the head of two of the most innovative companies, you make it seem like hes totally lucky and there's nothing to his approach.
- fredsir 6y ago
  Indeed. He has some great ideals, I think. And he is great at finding brilliant people to work for him, it seems. But is he anymore brilliant than what thousands or millions of other people would be were they giving his shoes? I don’t think so.
gfodor 6y ago
Being born into wealth helps, but it also hurts. If you have something to lose, its harder to take risks. Elon put all of his wealth on the line for SpaceX and almost lost it. Anyone, from him down to the person who scrapes together pennies to start a risky business to make a better life for themselves, deserves respect for taking risks to achieve their dreams.
- fredsir 6y ago
  Elon knows that money is something he can always get, because he has gotten them before. Also his family is rich. He knows that worst case is he goes to them and get some millions and back to work again. Rich people aren’t taking any real risks by using their money. The people taking the real risks are those putting their lives and livelihood on the line every day, doing the dangerous, back breaking, mind numbing work for the rich people with the money, while the rich just look on from a far while their workers are doing the actual work for them using their resources and making them even more rich while the workers doing the actual job have nothing to gain in comparison themselves, often being far closer to personal and financial ruin everyday than the rich ever are. Elon isn’t risking shit. That those with money that invest them is taking the risks and thus also deserves the rewards is a myth, is a ruse, but it’s not hard to figure out who would stand to gain from such a myth.

Balgair 6y ago

I disagree, but I am happy that this has helped you. For me, it was the opposite, it was that the universe is stochastic. That the random parts happen, and you can't fix that. But you can bet on the 'averaging' of the universe. You can't guess the roll of dice, but you can build systems that will survive bad rolls. I'm glad you've found something that works for you and I'm glad you shared this with us.