2026-11-14 20:05:00
In The Laws of Human Nature, Robert Greene opens his chapter on conformity with a story from Born Red, Gao Yuan’s memoir of the Cultural Revolution.
Gao was a 14-year-old at Yizhen Number One Middle School when it began. Following Chairman Mao’s call, students became Red Guards and took over the school. They held mass rallies against their teachers, and some were driven to suicide. Then the students then split into two factions, and the school and town turned into armed camps.
It started with a goal that sounded noble: rooting out corruption. Red Guard armbands were coveted, and wearing one carried status. An older friend and mentor named Fangpu pulled Gao in. The students suddenly had the power to attack their teachers and skip school without consequence.
The rallies against teachers grew into marches through the streets with chants and jeers, and eventually organized torture and violence. The early victories felt exhilarating. Then the movement fractured into two armed factions, and by the time the military arrived to restore order, what was left was defeat and disillusionment.
Reading this story made me reflect on how easy it is to dismiss this sort of crazy happening as something that is just so far from our lives. After all, it was just an experiment with a bunch of kids that went wrong.
However, I don’t think the age of the students involved matters much. Human nature is consistent, and if adults were put in those same circumstances, I think things would resolve to the same place.
Mao’s core mistake was believing he could rewire human behavior. He wanted a blank slate, where young people would absorb the spirit of the revolution and unite under new principles. Human nature has worked the same way for millions of years, and it wasn’t going to change. What followed was disorder. In groups, we lose nuance and go with the group. Tribalism and us-versus-them formed quickly, and soon it was all about status and survival.
Organizational politics and government politics run on the same dynamics. Groups sort out insiders, then establish status. Identity-based divisions tend to be the most damaging, because without nuance, identity is easy to see, easy to judge, and easy to form a group against.
When I look at the version of identity politics that has been on the rise over the past ten years, I think about the idea that history doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. Understanding the patterns of the past makes us more aware of the patterns around us today. It’s also a reminder that human nature is a constant through all of it.
2026-11-13 20:24:00
One of the interesting side effects of the explosion in coding intelligence is what it does to enterprise software. The moat of “this is hard to build” is gone. If AI can build it, you need a different moat.
That leaves three categories of enterprise software that survive.
The first handles incredible complexity at scale. Think of something like Epic Systems in healthcare. The complexity and scale required to operate at that level is still an enormous moat, even in this new age.
The second is built on a data asset rather than the software itself. The software might be easy to replicate. The data behind it isn’t. You could build a simple ad targeting engine in a weekend, but without Facebook’s or Google’s data, it won’t work.
The third is software too cheap to bother replacing. Even if someone could build it faster and better, the cost and effort of switching isn’t worth it for what you’d save.
And it isn’t just that building has gotten cheap in the hands of a reasonably skilled team. Most enterprise software, for most companies, comes with a lot of friction, because it was never custom enough for their specific use case.
Now you have the option to build something that fits exactly. If it doesn’t fall squarely into one of the above categories, why wouldn’t you just build it yourself?
2026-11-12 20:54:00
A couple of years ago, a woman working the shoe section at our local REI taught us how to tie a lace so it never comes undone. All those years, and the best I had was a double knot. Which helps, but isn’t a guarantee.
Her method: get to the bunny ears, same as always. Then, before you pull them into the final knot, give each ear one extra turn around the other before cinching it tight. Here’s a video tutorial.
It’s been a gift ever since. I wish I’d learnt it as a kid.
2026-11-11 20:51:00
A year ago, I was on a hike with some colleagues when a few of them started raving about the Aura frame. I hadn’t heard of it. They described it as one of those no-brainer gifts for your parents: a digital frame you can load with photos remotely, so they always have fresh ones from your life in front of them.
We bought one each for our parents and for us at the start of the year, and loaded them with our favorite photos. They’ve become one of my favorite additions.
I think I appreciate them more after Bill Perkins’ Die with Zero insight that experiences pay out dividends over time. Every time I walk past it, I catch a photo that instantly transports me to a memorable experience, and brings a small wave of joy.
It’s a simple idea: a frame that keeps cycling through your best memories. Aura executed it well. Well played.
2026-11-10 20:12:00
Anton Chekhov once noted: “Love, friendship, respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.”
Robert Greene builds on this in The Laws of Human Nature, pointing out that leaders have used a rival or enemy since time immemorial to justify almost anything and to distract from their own shortcomings.
As relevant through history as it is now.
2026-11-09 20:48:00
When hiring, people routinely overestimate the value of domain knowledge.
And they underestimate the combined power of curiosity and first-principles thinking.
