Prefer not to know
Discover more from Russian Rules
Prefer not to know
Abundance is not always a virtue
Hey!
July was a busy month. I worked a lot, travel just a bit, and had a lot of filter coffee despite the heat.
Yeah, it may seem surprising to you, but summers are schorching in Siberia. In the begginning of July we had two days of +37°С in a row! It felt like Iran, and even worse as it’s also very humid in Tyumen.
Beside sweating like hell I read books, practiced English with my tutor Lilith, and spend evenings either with my family or working out. Between all that I had some time to write, walk, and think.
Today’s edition is a digest of my thoughts, ideas, and insights for the past month. Brew some coffee, scroll down and enjoy!
The photo above was taken by my friend Emin in Baku. It was a good evening, and I look happy because I just ate a huge plate of pilaf and drank several glasses of strong Azerbaijani tea.
Insight of the week. Prefer not to know
There’s an endless flood of information. It keeps going 24/7.
And not just information. Knowledge, too. Courses, webinars, conferences, new technologies. We’re forced to be aware of all those things, care about them, have an opinion on them. But should we?
We learn so many things through life that we’ll never put to use. Daily we receive more information than average person from 19th century probably received in their life span. For example, in 2011, Americans took in five times as much information every day as they did in 1986. That’s insane!
We’re overdosed with knowledge. The worst thing is that we’ve decided that we’re obliged to know everything and be always aware. We are voluntarily agreed to have our attention overwhelmed on a regular basis. We should leave some mental space for just being, instead, as we used to do 30−50 years ago.
I remember that even in my childhood in the 90s we didn’t have such a problem. On the contrary, people had to make a lot of effort to gain some knowledge, to get some information. To read up for exams you had to go to the library or ask a friend who had a PC to visit him so you could search something on the internet. You had to be creative to acquire knoweledge.
So much we didn’t know back then! And we couldn’t care less that we didn’t. We didn’t consider whether it was a lack of knowledge or we were uneducated. We simply didn’t give a fuck about that. We were much more easy-going and didn’t put a pressure on us for not knowing. Things are different today, bad different.
So when I hear people say:
— Oh, there this ChatGPT thing. I have to learn more about it…
— Oh, there’s this Barbie thing, I should create a pic of me as a Barbie doll…
— Oh, there’s a new program language I should learn to code in…
I think to myself, “Jeez, be lucky not to know!” Because no matter how hard you try to filter the incoming flow of news and irrelevant knowledge, people still will bring it up and post it anyway. There’s literally nowhere to hide from it.
So I prefer not to overload my brain with that information. I prefer not to know. 'Cause let’s be honest, 99% of news and posts on our feeds is a complete bogus. It’s useless. So why bother? Why waste our energy, motivation, and attention on it? Why please interests of those who will not care back?
You don’t need to know everything that is out there. It’s hard to be good at one thing, and yet people try to be good at plenty. Instead of cramming your brain with another new technique do what you already do well and perfect your routine. Choose wisely and thoroughly what you want to see on your feed, what you’d like to draw your attention on.
Know your drill. Keep your focus clear and steady. Prefer not to know.
Leadership principle. The less, the better
For six years of writing I used to believe the more platforms I post on, the better. It wasn’t a very effective strategy.
Three weeks ago I deleted my Twitter and Instagram accounts, and last week my Telegram channel in English went for good. From now on I will keep writing only on these three platforms: my standalone blog, Substack, and Mastodon.
The less platforms I have to maintain, the more attention I can pay to the writing and not the distribution.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately, seek an opportunity to reduce the amount of projects, errands, and tasks you’re dealing with. Keep three the most important to-dos you have on your list, start with them and drop everything else. You’ll get back to it later after you’ve handled the essentials.
If three is too much for you right now, cut it to one to-do. The less, the better:
Doing three projects? Take a break in two, and finish the one with higher priority.
Reading three books, none is finished? Pick one, finish it, then move to the next one.
Repair works are stuck and it’s all a mess? Stop everything and choose one, for example, fix a kitchen door that’s been out of order for weeks.
When life pushes hard, don’t try to bear it all on your shoulders. Reduce the number of options, select the most important thing to focus on, and after it’s done move to the next most important thing on your list.
One-thing-at-a-time strategy always works, plenty-things-at-a-time strategy—not so often. The less, the better.
Writing trick. Note-taking at lectures
My friend Tonya Alexeeva posted this on Twitter some day:
“Tomorrow begins my intensive one-week course on machine learning. I just realized I’m not used to make notes, but it would be great to revise this material later. Any tips for making notes for technical subjects and coding?”
I came across her tweet and gave a piece of advice on making notes during meetings and lectures. Here's my perspective:
I don't think there are any special tips for machine learning. No matter what subject you’re learning, techniques are pretty much the same. There’re dos and don’ts.
Dos:
Take notes not during the lecture, but in the first 30 min after it. This way you’ll be able to focus on listening and absorbing new information.
Sketch anything that requires visual explanation. Images work better than abrupt and incoherent notes.
Record a memo of the class to go back to something you've missed later.
Don’ts
Don't make screenshots or photos of the teacher’s slides. No one ever gets back to review them.
Don't try to remember and catch every minute detail. Pay attention to what brings novelty into your work, not what you already know.
Don't be afraid of asking questions like. "Why" is the best tool of gaining knowledge. Use it as more as you can.
Something I’ve had in mind lately
“We think we understand the rules when we become adults, but what we really experience is a narrowing of the imagination.”
David Lynch
Photo of the week
On my mom’s birthday we had a nice family walk along the river embankment, and watched a thrilling sunset. An old Russian house, a monastery, the sunset, and us. It may sound naive, but you won’t find such sunsets somewhere else.
That’s it for today. Hope you’ve enjoyed this email. And if you have, share it with your friends and people who may like it. I’ll appreciate your support and feedback.
See you in two weeks or later!
Take care!
Evgeny
Tyumen, 3 August 2023
Ask me anything via email: evgeny@lepekhin.me
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