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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Replying to @vgr
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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Replying to @vgr
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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Replying to @vgr
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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Replying to @vgr
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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Replying to @vgr
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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Replying to @vgr
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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Replying to @vgr
9/ A flop book, or a mercenary/tactical book for which you have no ambitions beyond a seasonal fad harvest is like an child that dies young
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Replying to @vgr
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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Replying to @vgr
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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12/ The trick to baby equivalent things is that *if* they succeed, they demand particular levels of attention/commitment for rest of life
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Replying to @vgr
13/ So we actually bring the same kind of thinking to managing ambition as we do to child-rearing and ask similar questions
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Replying to @vgr
14/ How much will it cost? Is it sick? Will it go to college? How many can I afford to have?
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