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1/ So slightly more structured follow-on to this unstructured riff on ambition
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I'm getting curious about psychology of shrinking horizons with age. 20% is learning limits, 20% adulting constraints, but 60% = mystery...
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2/ A good unit for ambition is "baby equivalents." We already talk figuratively of projects as "babies", so why not formalize intuition
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3/ It is traditional in the US today to measure babies in terms of how much they cost ($1 million for middle class baby through college)
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4/ But this is the wrong way around. Children are the measure of economics-priced things, not the other way around.
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5/ One child is basically a certain fraction of no-strings/no-preset-budget time/quality attention allocation for rest of life
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6/ Memetic children have higher infant mortality rate, but the principle is the same. I'd guess one childbirth (for men)= writing 3 books
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7/ Not all projects are ambition vehicles, or comparable to children. Close-ended projects with end date are not like children.
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8/ The reason a book is like a child is that *if* it succeeds enough, it is an indefinite demand on your attention
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10/ More calibration. An ordinary startup is like 1 child. If it grows into unicorn, it's like 3-4 kids for the founder if they stay with it
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11/ Political ambitions I think are higher. A local election bid is like 1 child if you win. National-level is like 2. President=10
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