Conversation

Definition: A frontier is a place where allocation of survival effort is largely determined by the novelty in the environment and the jankiness of the tools, leaving little room for subjective value-based choices. Activities are ends in themselves rather than means to other ends.
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People who settle on frontier may have vague notions of larger ends like getting famous/making money, but there is no room to work explicitly on them. Just existing absorbs all effort. You leave larger ends to luck. Being on frontier at all is your investment in the long term.
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A gold/rush pickaxe-selling phase is how town-planning eras get started, because then a formula exists for frontier casino life that's marginally better than "just get the hell away from the stifling confines of civilized life"
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"First we shape our tools, then our tools shape us" Frontier life becomes defined by the maturing tools that shape the people who mature with them. Hence "have gun will travel" mindsets. Similarly, "have blog, will shitpost".