The most difficult situations are often not those in which the decision itself is difficult, but rather, the situations where the proper decision is clear, but taking the action is difficult. evancoopersmith.com/posts/UAu2pbTU…

Overreactions occur when we fail. How often do we notice when we (or those around us) succeed? Do we appreciate the frequency of opportunities to fail and thus, how often they come and go without incident? evancoopersmith.com/posts/Wo2W6OeA…

When the costs of gaming a system are lower than the costs of failing to navigate it, bad behavior is inevitable. In this case, one might question the relationship between elite credentials and social mobility rather than how those credentials are pursued.

NFL RBs need to have another zoom meeting and figure out a way to make sure what has happened to Saquon Barkely and Nick Chubb doesn’t happen again. Under-paying top level running backs because they have a higher injury chance and then overusing them is BONKERS.

Perverse incentives persist when per-unit pricing is unavailable to the seller.

Every edge ultimately erodes. The wisest, most innovative, most disruptive idea will itself be replaced. This is only distressing if we believe our best is already behind us. evancoopersmith.com/posts/Csvkr8hv…

Failure is hardly the worst outcome. Limping along in perpetuity when a better alternative exists is worse. Of course, recognizing when a more promising opportunity exists often requires information we lack. evancoopersmith.com/posts/3aTQtq40…

If a critic asks for the consideration of an additional feature, ask if they will accept your conclusion if that adjustment is made. There is always an additional feature by which to normalize. This is often the difference between good-faith critique and bad-faith opposition.

From a personal reflection I'll post soon: "I loathe the idea of a truly, profoundly, fundamentally inexplicable world. I am kept awake by the control I cannot exert, by the predictions that must be made in order to live one’s life, and the harsh reality of a random universe."

Explanations are not valid simply because they are satisfying. No one truly wishes to grapple with the reality of a random world. But Einstein was wrong, if there is a deity, that deity is no stranger to dice. Read more here: evancoopersmith.com/posts/rPTQUxx4…

In a world of numerous, small firms, the path to growth is paved with new products and improved customer experiences. In a world of concentrated dominance, the path to growth is the erection of barriers to entry and squeezing every last drop from users. (Stay tuned for more)

Elite NCAA football programs can offer up to 25 scholarships annually. For basketball, that figure is 3 or 4. In turn, the best HS football players flock to ~10 elite programs (who win the CFP every year). Talent concentration kills innovation in sports and tech. (more to come)

Who wants to live in a world where the same giant companies win the labor of the best and brightest, the best and brightest all attend the same few schools, and the same teams win championships every season? Be Original, I Beg You evancoopersmith.com/posts/IpQaEhyO…

The landscape of adult life is littered with hall-monitors. They are the risk-averse naysayers willing to cast doubt on an idea that runs afoul of existing orthodoxy, but not to put their own skin in the game to demonstrate that they believe their own rhetoric. (More to come)

I am continually amazed at how easily I can avoid feeling the internal anguish when presented with someone else’s irrationality if I can simultaneously recognize that they would be unwilling to put their money where their mouth is.

Be wary of any argument made by someone unwilling to bleed. The goal should never be to settle arguments, but rather, to partake in arguments if and only if both parties have skin in the game. evancoopersmith.com/posts/IpypWqRL…

What the US spends on education, and what it buys.

Arguably more impressive as an adult, but decidedly more cramped.

To judge an outcome is to presume to know the objective of the decision-maker. Perhaps someone is optimizing for something different than you’d suspect or prefer.

So here’s the very model of a modern hypothetical: One half believes a premise that the other finds heretical.