The more incompressible you are, the more your reach will be indirect, via the few people who put in the work to read it One reason it’s possible for even no-reach beginners to feel genuine pity for Tom Friedman is that The World is Flat is pretty well summarized by its title
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At the other extreme, James Carse Finite and Infinite Games is almost incompressible *despite* being highly redundant and repetitive
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But the people who *have* put in the work to read Carse have all been way more deeply influenced by it. I’ve read both. I never cite World is Flat except as a joke. I cite or use Carse almost every other thing I write. Often in a foundational way.
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Shall we call this the Velvet Underground effect? https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/03/01/velvet/ …
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Inequalities: ubiquity is not endurance endurance is not influence influence is is not consequentiality
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Compressing does not lead to incompressibilty though. If you write a very good summary of a book it could still be further summarized as “like that other summary except with this 1 extra point”. Incompressibility requires differentiation by adding integral original elements.
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Defensive pre-compression: Write an insightful article, then summarize it in a short phrase like 'premium mediocre'. That way you own both the original + compression

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Labeling a complex idea isn't enough to be compression. For me 'premium mediocre' isn't self-explanatory. I had to read longform, so it's a label. However, 'waldenponding' I grasped the instant I read it, and reading the longform explanation didn't add anything key.
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The medium is the message. Why it’s best to toss a few Easter eggs into stuff.
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