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1/ Reading was the domain of royalty/clergy until someone along the chain “gave” one of our ancestors literacy.
While we talk about multi-generational wealth in terms of $, imo, we should talk more about multi-generational wealth in terms of literacy.
While we talk about multi-generational wealth in terms of $, imo, we should talk more about multi-generational wealth in terms of literacy.
2/ To the extent that I was the “model Asian” immigrant good student, sat, md, blah blah...
imo what society was measuring all along was primarily the integrated weight of knowledge transferred to me
imo what society was measuring all along was primarily the integrated weight of knowledge transferred to me
3/ And it’s not even the direct literal knowledge that is super useful today because that’s easy to copy/paste/search now.
It’s the meta-knowledge. The mental models, heuristics, algos, shortcuts, systems, etc, that give you leveraged advantages
It’s the meta-knowledge. The mental models, heuristics, algos, shortcuts, systems, etc, that give you leveraged advantages
4/ In my case, my mother’s family in India was actively involved with Nehru and the independence struggle.
Her aunt, was a woman senator in the 1st Indian Congress and in jail for protests against Brits. Many other fams also in jail.
But her father & gramps was an attorney.
Her aunt, was a woman senator in the 1st Indian Congress and in jail for protests against Brits. Many other fams also in jail.
But her father & gramps was an attorney.
5/ They launched lawsuits against the Brits, actually won back property in British courts multiple times.
So my mom lived in a highly literate household & pursued law in the house of an attorney with family members that were in Congress
BUT
Most importantly, stroke of luck...
So my mom lived in a highly literate household & pursued law in the house of an attorney with family members that were in Congress
BUT
Most importantly, stroke of luck...
6/ Their lifestyle was ironically a result of the British Empire!
So right out the gate I was embedded with the general concept of “life is probably fairer than you think, you just need to know how to press the right buttons” &
So right out the gate I was embedded with the general concept of “life is probably fairer than you think, you just need to know how to press the right buttons” &
7/ also “British empire had lots of bad but lots of good”
Which is a huge advantage!
I was embedded with a mental model that allows this contradiction to live peacefully in my head - not through hard work, but by a lunchtime story.
Through sheer ovarian lottery luck.
Which is a huge advantage!
I was embedded with a mental model that allows this contradiction to live peacefully in my head - not through hard work, but by a lunchtime story.
Through sheer ovarian lottery luck.
8/ My father in the meantime, left his house at age 12 because his mom got cancer, his father had 8 kids and they didn’t have the resources to take care of all of them.
So he and his 10 yr old brother got on a train and went to Mumbai - alone.
So he and his 10 yr old brother got on a train and went to Mumbai - alone.
9/ My dad stayed with an uncle, found out later that his mom died of cancer (it had been kept a secret so he never got to say bye), and was helping to raise his younger brother in a city away from the rest of their family - fairly tough situation...BUT
10/ His father was an engineer and it seems like my dad caught the math bug too.
He tested into IIT Mumbai, which at the time was like going to Harvard, except with a ~0.1% acceptance rate.
Oh, and the entire application was one math test given nationally. (tennis not needed)
He tested into IIT Mumbai, which at the time was like going to Harvard, except with a ~0.1% acceptance rate.
Oh, and the entire application was one math test given nationally. (tennis not needed)
11/ So he became an engineer.
Ended up working on nuclear power plants throughout the US.
I grew up understanding calculus and physics basics before high school - not because I searched out this stuff!
Because he held my hand and walked me through the valley. (insisted
)
Ended up working on nuclear power plants throughout the US.
I grew up understanding calculus and physics basics before high school - not because I searched out this stuff!
Because he held my hand and walked me through the valley. (insisted
)
12/ Now, according to modern immigrant folklore, we came to the country with no $, which is true.
But that’s bc our dummy understanding of wealth and knowledge is so collapsed around a few digits, we completely ignore the massive invisible “currencies” running the universe.
But that’s bc our dummy understanding of wealth and knowledge is so collapsed around a few digits, we completely ignore the massive invisible “currencies” running the universe.
13/ And this is the point of most mental models.
They essentially come down to various predictive and/or risk-reduction strategies to control entropy to allow us to increase our probability of genetic reproductive success.
(this is the overarching point of $)
They essentially come down to various predictive and/or risk-reduction strategies to control entropy to allow us to increase our probability of genetic reproductive success.
(this is the overarching point of $)
14/ So imo, it’s important to start thinking about people in terms of more than just $ and start thinking in terms of “literacy NW”and “mental model wealth”.
Also unlike $ this is almost completely free to scale and a super high ROI strategy to make the world better.
Also unlike $ this is almost completely free to scale and a super high ROI strategy to make the world better.
15/ In sum, I was not born wealthy in terms of $ but I am insanely privileged in terms of literacy & mental-model lineage, which over time I’ve come to believe is much more useful in the long-run.
(no fault or attribute of mine or my parents, just tumbling dust in the wind)
(no fault or attribute of mine or my parents, just tumbling dust in the wind)
16/ So, I am always on the lookout for someone who is multi-generationally literacy or mental model broke.
Because the vector of a human that is helped out of that mess is a
If you want an “undervalued growth stock”, there you go.
Because the vector of a human that is helped out of that mess is a
If you want an “undervalued growth stock”, there you go.
End/ Because risk cannot be isolated easily & we tend to all share and infiltrate each other’s risk pools, as a game theory strategy for humans, nothing beats teaching people how to control local entropy.
This is as positive sum as it gets.
This is as positive sum as it gets.
