Cognitive Dissonance – Part 3: Mark Twain On Essentials May 22, 2008
Posted by Mark T. Market in Cognitive Dissonance.Tags: essential, gambling, knowledge, lies, speculation
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Apart from Huckleberry Finn, few people know that Mark Twain was a speculator by profession, making bets on markets and on games for a living. Arguably (although I haven’t read Twain’s bio extensively), this exposure to speculation and gambling gave Twain the essential ingredients to understanding people’s motivations.
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
- Mark Twain
On a related note, this website on professional gambling might share further insight on what might have made Twain tick, as well as giving all of us pointers on how to approach life in general.
It’s the uncertainty of life that makes it worth living. In it we are all essentially gambling on the biggest odds we can get: our own lives. Where we take those odds, and how we make those bets, will spell the difference between a life of abundance and prosperity, and a life of want and regret.
This goes beyond material possessions. Essentially goes to the very core of ourselves.
Cognitive dissonance is not only about the lies we tell ourselves, but also about the lies we take for granted as truths.
Paths To Immortality April 12, 2008
Posted by Mark T. Market in The List.Tags: dynast, essential, hero, immortality, lives, paragon, polymath
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Essential #5 is Stick To The System
Begs the question: So what’s the system? What’s the plan ‘bub?
Why to be immortal of course, silly.
It’s the ultimate rhetorical question, and interesting point to ponder. Exactly why or what are you doing in this world? What’s your point? Or more succinctly: what’s the point of you?
At this point, it’s very tempting to lapse into a semi-philosophical discourse on destiny, or a semi-theological rambling on the nature of creation, and so on and so forth. But no I’ll spare myself the stress.
What I will do is consult a gamebook.
Yes, a game. Did you realize that as of this writing, it’s the year 2008 while the PC, arcade game, and cartoon revolution was in the 1980s. That means with the exception of a few geriatric dinosaurs, the world now as we know it is being run by the kids of 20 years ago. Kids who watched He-man, Voltes Five, Transformers, played Atari, Nintendo, and Dungeons and Dragons.
It’s not a far-fetched thought now to think that the geo-politics and socio-economics of the world today was as much influenced by GI-Joe, as it was by Super Mario.
Punch up: Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A and you get 100 lives.
Unlimited Continues.
Immortality.
Frank Mentzer of TSR Inc., creator of Dungeons and Dragons wrote interesting rules on achieving immortality. It’s interesting to read this stuff now as an adult considering it was written for a kids game. According to Mentzer, your character in the D&D world can gain immortality through one of four paths:
Dynast
Root of the word dynasty. A dynast is a character who builds a great and powerful empire. The dynasty must be vast, and must stand for a long time.
Hero
A hero (or Epic Hero) is a character who represents the ultimate ideals of heroism. The character must display the traits of the classic Epic Hero in every thought and action. Among other things, the character must travel to far lands and perform great and noble deeds.
Paragon
One who reaches the ultimate in his or her profession. The paragon must invent or discover new skills and knowledge, and must be reknowned as a master professional.
Polymath
A polymath is a character who learns much about everything, not only in the original profession, but in all areas. The character must give up all known skills before gaining others, and live many lives. A polymath eventually integrates all lives lived until the path to immortality is ultimately revealed.
Yeah, the kids of the 80s were crazy reading this stuff (me being one of them). But then again, reading it makes absolute sense now that I know a little more about real life where (sigh), money makes the world go round, not love (although sex comes pretty close).
Wanna live forever, take your pick. It’s not a walk in the park, but each path rocks. Perhaps you didn’t realize it, but your calling is already in one of the paths above.
But then again, I realize most people don’t wanna be immortal. That’s fine too, as long as you’re aware of your role as cannon fodder, just wanna-be-at-the-background kind of person, don’t bother no one, don’t do nothin, don’t matter if I crap in my pants kind of life. Although no regrets at the end of time ok?
On the plus side, at least your funeral queue will be short and quick.
The Essentials April 10, 2008
Posted by Mark T. Market in Quotables.Tags: essential, risk, system
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As an active investor, I love reading Ed Seykota’s Website, which is choc-full of life’s wisdom on markets and just about anything. I picked this up from Ed which I now currently have stuck on my computer monitor(s) as a gentle reminder:
Market traders refer to these as “trading rules” but I’m applying them as a philosophy for living. Like the Tao D’ Ching, the teachings of Confucius or Buddha, these simple statements are essential to living a fulfilling life.
Ride Winners
Second guessing one’s talents I think accounts for at least 50% of “failures” in life. Most people are afraid to fail, they inadvertently fail to succeed. Doubt, especially self-doubt, is quite a dangerous bogeyman, especially if insecurity is tied to the opinion of others. Why people generally avoid recoginition–because they do not believe they deserve it, even if evidence to the contrary already present themselves.
Why fix something that ain’t broke? If you’re doing quite well in something, or even better: if you’re showing some promise in doing something, don’t stop to second guess (like I won’t stop writing crap in this blog to second guess).
Just go ahead and do it. Venture, dream, get it done.
Cut Your Losses
Curiously, the flipside applies to failure. Don’t dwell on mistakes. Commit them, learn from them, and then move on.
How many people, refusing to admit they are wrong, continue to plod on in the same direction, even if it pains them.
That job that will never go anywhere, that relationship that keeps getting sour, that project that can’t simply take off the ground–how hard can it be to just simply shake it off and start anew?
Another definition of insanity (by Steve Buscemi in the movie, Con Air): “Doing something again and again, hoping to get a different result.
People are addicted to failure as much as they are adverse to success. Crazy.
Manage Your Risk
People call me the pessimist, because I always look at the downside to everything. However, folks who think like me regard ourselves as realists. We like to see the worst case scenario–and if we can stomach that, then we have nothing to worry about.
Managing Risk is managing the unknown. For most people, unknown is negative. Anything that cannot be certain, is to be avoided. For me the unknown can easily be positive. Arguably, things can’t get worse than losing everything. However gaining the world is an infinite proposition. Deny yourself the opportunity to gain anything, and you’ve just confined yourself to the limited certainty of a mediocre life.
Managing risk is being aware of your surroundings, your companions, your adversaries and obstacles. It means being an active participant, rather than just simply being a spectator to life’s events.
I sometimes call myself a spectator-speculator. I watch things, and make side bets. To manage risk means stepping in the ring instead. And also knowing that the ring is bigger than you perceive, and that arguably we are all already in it whether we choose to or not.
Use Stops
Draw a line in the sand. Beyond this point you will let go. It does not matter how short or long the line is, nor how thin or thick. What matters is that the line exists, and when it is crossed, you know what to do. And what you need to do, you do without any hesitation.
Stick to the System
Always have a plan, but once you have one, stick to it. Flip-flopping is the most wasteful thing one can do with one’s life. This is a by-product of doubt, and the lack of any conscious effort to manage oneself.
Most people are outcome oriented–they judge things by result, and not by process. This evidently leads to a life where you are at the mercy of the lucky people, who got to life’s spoils early, and now dictate upon you like they deserve the luck.
Luck is a tricky thing. It cannot be predicted. And to a casual observer, true talent and simple luck can appear identical–until failure occurs. The lucky ones do not know how to deal with failure, while those who do become the lucky ones later, regardless of their real talents.
File The News
Two points make a line. A hundred points make a trend. You won’t know where you are going, but where you came from is a 100% certainty. So while we try not to be fazed by events as they happen, we are also conscious of a series of events that can lead to a very logical conclusion.
We read the signs of the times, then file them away. There is no such thing as past, or future, just a continuous moment of NOW. That’s ultimately the problem of most people–living too much in past, or looking to far ahead in the future.
Anyway, thanks to Ed for his essentials. Namaste.
