Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 20171/ So slightly more structured follow-on to this unstructured riff on ambitionQuote TweetVenkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017I'm getting curious about psychology of shrinking horizons with age. 20% is learning limits, 20% adulting constraints, but 60% = mystery...1411
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgr2/ A good unit for ambition is "baby equivalents." We already talk figuratively of projects as "babies", so why not formalize intuition123
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgr3/ 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)13
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgr4/ But this is the wrong way around. Children are the measure of economics-priced things, not the other way around.16
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgr5/ One child is basically a certain fraction of no-strings/no-preset-budget time/quality attention allocation for rest of life114
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgr6/ Memetic children have higher infant mortality rate, but the principle is the same. I'd guess one childbirth (for men)= writing 3 books27
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgr7/ Not all projects are ambition vehicles, or comparable to children. Close-ended projects with end date are not like children.13
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgr8/ The reason a book is like a child is that *if* it succeeds enough, it is an indefinite demand on your attention319
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz@SethS_D·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgrI don't think a successful book is that huge a demand on your attention. Definitely nothing like a start-up or even a normal job.1
Venkatesh Rao@vgrReplying to @SethS_DWell, I'm talking big success, but ordinary-success books you're right. Not as demanding.5:56 PM · Aug 2, 2017
Seth Stephens-Davidowitz@SethS_D·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @vgrEven big success. I don't think Michael Lewis, Kahneman, Levitt have to do very much, except watch their books sell.3
Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Aug 2, 2017Replying to @SethS_DNot what I mean. I mean they now have a whole thread to their lives (talks, audience interactions, follow-on projects) sparked by the book