--:-- And to me, foundational things are principles. They're algorithms. They're deep-seated logical understanding where you can defend it or attack it from any angle. And that's why microeconomics is important because macroeconomics, a lot of memorization, a lot of macro bullshit. As Nassim Taleb says, it is easier to macro bullshit than it is to micro bullshit because macroeconomics is voodoo complex science meets politics. You can't find two macroeconomists to agree on anything these days, and different macroeconomists get used by different politicians to peddle their different pet theories. There are even macroeconomists out there now peddling something called modern monetary theory, which basically says, hey, except for this pesky thing called inflation, we can just print all the money that we want. Yes, except for this pesky thing called inflation. That's like saying, instead of limited energy, we can fire rockets off into space all day long. It's just nonsense. But the fact that there are people who have macroeconomists in their title and are peddling modern monetary theory just tells you that macroeconomics as a so-called science has been corrupted. It's a blancher politics. So you really want to focus on the foundations. The ultimate foundation are mathematics and logic. If you understand logic and mathematics, then you have the basis for understanding the scientific method. Once you understand the scientific method, then you can understand how to separate truth from falsehood in other fields and other things that you're reading. So be very careful about reading other people's opinions. And even be careful about reading facts because so-called facts are often just opinions, but with a veneer around them. What you really are looking for is algorithms. What you're really looking for is understanding. It's better to go through a book really slowly and struggle and stumble and rewind than it is to fly through it quickly and say, well, now I've read 20 books. I've read 30 books. I've read 50 books in the field. It's like Bruce Lee said, I don't fear the man who knows a thousand kicks and a thousand punches. I fear the man who's practiced one punch 10,000 times or one kick 10,000 times. It's the understanding that comes through repetition and through usage and through logic and foundations that really makes you a smart thinker. To lay a foundation for learning for the rest of your life, I think you need two things if I was going to try and sum it up. One, practical persuasion. And two, you need to go deep in some technical category, whether it's abstract math, or you want to read Donald Knuth's books on algorithms, or you want to read Feynman's lectures on physics. If you have practical persuasion and a deep understanding of some complex topic, I think you'll have a great foundation for learning for the rest of your life. Yeah, if I could expand that a little bit, I would say that the five most important skills are, of course, reading, writing, arithmetic, and then as you're adding in persuasion, which is talking, and then finally, I would add computer programming, just because it's an applied form of arithmetic that just gets you so much leverage for free in any domain that you operate in. If you're good with computers, if you're good at basic mathematics, if you're good at writing, if you're good at speaking, and if you like reading, You're set for life.
