It might be magic, or it might be the fact you liked the work just enough to spend a few thousand hours on it.

The wide availability of information makes it less useful than you might think. The useful stuff is buried in BS. In practice, the well-connected can make better use of information, including the free stuff, because good networks help them filter for and act on value.

In a hype-driven world, deliberately delayed judgement is like being able to see into the future.

Have a physical presence that is strong and confident but humble and understated. It will save you a lot of problems, because it gives people no reason to mess with you and many reasons to not.

It's all up for the taking, but only if you take the initiative. This isn't that hard to do but it's easy to talk yourself out of.

Actual work conversation among data scientists: "We'll see if the bananas are still dancing when the sun rises and further analysis is done"

Many know a lot, but few know what matters. Many can speak eloquently, but few of them say anything. The many may look good but the few will inherit the earth.

Not saying to be sloppy, but most of the successful people I know value speed of execution and iteration over perfection of planning and execution.

How's Noble Motor Oil coming along?

Next time you hear something unsubstantiated that you want to be true, consciously choose to disbelieve, or at least doubt it. Observe how your life goes on more or less the same. Get the hang of this and you'll waste a lot less energy.

Noble Post-Upload Motor Oil ain't gonna formulate itself...

I ain't gonna tell you twice. If I'm wrong, it won't matter. If I'm right, the world will tell you more effectively than I ever could. Best of luck out there.

In general, I don't bother to explain or argue. The former is usually resented and the latter is always pointless. Unless I like you, I have no incentive to give you information that might help you or reason to complicate my life.

Been there. Done that. If was fine. If I was a lesser man or more of a millennial it would be much longer and vastly less honest social media trail.

Except the weather is always a tornado.

I've never been a big watcher of movies or TV, but it's getting even less in recent years. This is mostly because I've become much busier, but also because rapidly decreasingly expectations offer even more rapidly decreasing protection from disappointment.

Caipirinhas! In Space!

Data Science, if you do it right, can turn dirt into bricks. It can't turn shit into gold.