Here are some quick thoughts that I want to share with the world. I’ve also added insights from other people here that may be useful to people trying to explore how the world works. I might expand some of these into full essays in the future.
Play positive sum games: This is a concept in game theory where you can have either positive sum games or zero-sum games. A positive sum game is when the one person gains something and the other person doesn’t necessarily have to lose something. On the other hand, zero sum games are when one player wins and the other player has to lose. Games like status are zero sum games as you hav eto be better than someone to have status. However, in positive sum games, people will want to help you and cooperate as they will also gain things. In general, playing positive sum games will lead to better outcomes for everyone and lead to a much better overall playing experience.
Do things that matter: Solving problems that matter to the world offers three things. The first is the satisfaction of helping people. This is a given with solving big problems and making people’s lives better will make you feel much better than just solely trying to get more profit. The second thing is competition. Many people are hesitant to do unproven, futurisitc things because of thier inherent risk. For this reason, you will have more people just willing to help you out and try to get your company successful. Finally, you can also gain better financial resources by solving big problems, as they come with big rewards.
Work on things that matter to you: This will ultimately give you more drive and willingness to do hard things because you actually care about the problem you are trying to solve and feel excited about doing the things necessary to solve said problem.
School Can Help: Lots of people in the startup space say that school doesn’t matter as it doesn’t teach you about useful things in life. I would disagree though. If kids start looking at only how to get better grades, they will be learning how to do that instead of learning how to learn. I see this pattern a lot where if you actually enjoy the process and understand the first principles of a subject, you are bound to do well in it. In short, aiming to learn will bring good grades but aiming for good grades won’t teach you how to learn. And the earlier that kids are trying to get good grades, the earlier it will backfire on them.
Why is math hated on: Math has had a long reputation of being kids’ least favourite subject. On the contrary, I think that math can be one of the best subjects and especially satisfying for those who can appreciate the underlying patterns in it. From my experience, kids don’t hate math that much in elementary as much as they do in high school. This points to one fact: kids are trying to learn about how to get the results instead of understanding the underlying principles. While this can work in early stages, it doesn’t work well in advanced math. Compoudning is real and the more you try to avoid it, math just becomes exponentially harder.
Discovery vs. Implementation: While research is focused on discovery, it’s very rare for scientists to actually go out into the world and implement thier discoveries. For this reason, it’s very rare for scientists to get recognition for their work when it doesn’t directly impact people. For example, almost everyone knows Elon Musk for created electric vehicles with Tesla but I’m pretty sure 99.99% of the population doesn’t know who created the concept of the car and discovered the mechanisms behind why it works. This should be a factor for people to think about when choosing a career path. If you want to see direct results of your work, get recognition, and possibly see large financial return, implementation is the way to go. If you are content with living a modest life, like discoveries, and really enjoy what you are studying, discovery may be better suited for you. Unfortunately in both cases theere is a lot of unwanted things that will suit neither case like grant applications and legal approvals for discovery and implementation respectively.
Action > Thought: Many smart people are clouded because they are constantly thinking about what their next steps should be. I like to combat this by just building and failing. If you are doing this, then you’re learning a lot and building serendipity for yourself. Even if it takes you the same amount of time as if you just thought it out first, you would not have as much insights and new skills from the failures you have experienced.
Surround yourself with concentrated talent: In high school, I spent 30 minutes driving to school every day. This was because my hometown is not very academic, and I wanted to surround myself with people more like me. Once I became accustomed to my new school’s academic nature, I wanted to challenge myself again. I joined TKS, where I learned about innovation and research. These are the two moments where I can say my life trajectory changed, and both involved me actively seeking more ambitious environments.
Never say no because you think you lack competence: For a lot of my best accomplishments, I had no business applying. I only wrote articles about research when I got my first lab job. My first grant was for a project in a domain I had been studying for a month. If I didn’t try, then I wouldn’t even have 10% of my current achievements. There is no downside in applying to the 1% opportunities; the worst case is that you get rejected and lose a little pride. If you’re happy with where you are, then that’s fine, but if you want to go somewhere, then just take your shot at it.
Be ready to face failure: This is common advice, but I thought I would add my story to the mix. In the spring of 2024, I was failing left and right. I was rejected from Rise, rejected from Masason, and rejected from the summer internship at the LTRI. I didn’t know where to go, so I just started building. I learned about protein design, spending hours every day building a project. Work isn’t enough though, I had to actively seek opportunities. By attending the 1517 Summit, I was able to pitch my project for a grant, and it worked (I actually applied before and was rejected)! This set off a chain reaction, where I received even more funding from Emergent Ventures. Now, I’m at the LTRI for my own project. This is 10x the outcome I expected, and it only happened because I was willing to keep working past failure. There’s no guarantee that you’ll succeed the same way I did, but if you give up, the chances are 0.
Think like a lawyer: In grade 10 English class, I learned one of the most important concepts in my life. My teacher said that when we present ideas in our essays, we should always have evidence attached to every claim we make. This is the best way to avoid flaws in our thinking, and enables us to see assumptions in others’ arguments. This is helpful in research, as it is a selective pressure for sound ideas.
Do whatever it takes: One thing I’ve learned from watching elections in high school councils is that the winner usually is the one who has a combination of shameless self-promotion and intense preparation. When I say “do whatever it takes”, it is not encouragement to do anything unethical. People hear things quickly, and doing anything unethical usually hurts you (besides the obvious moral issues). It means that you should be doing the dirty work, the things that nobody wants to do.
Analyze why you’re doing something: A trap I often see high schoolers get into is one where they do prestigious, but random things. This is usually in the hope of getting into a good university program, but it isn’t even the best way to do it. In my experience, the best way to get into these programs is to genuinely follow your interest. It is much easier to work extremely hard when you are driven by pure interest in the subject. If you aren’t seeing the results you want in an activity you don’t enjoy, it’s much better to just switch than stay on the same path.
It’s never too late: Some people have the idea that if they didn’t start young, they can never start. This is one of the thoughts that leads people to do the same, unfulfilling work their entire lives. In my microcosm of high school, I was a late bloomer to research. I started in grade 11, and was still able to achieve a lot in a short amount of time. This is the magic behind doing what you’re interested in: you get much better results. If you’re scared of being behind if you start something new, but you have genuine interest in the subject, just take your chance and try it out!
I’ll add more soon