Amir Bolous

This is a linkpost for https://amirbolous.com/posts/21/

Today, I turn 21. Here are 21 reflections for 21 years.

The highest ROI thing you can invest in early on is learning to be an independent thinker. The world is full of noise. It's impossible to drown out it all out, but it's possible to pick out the tunes if you listen carefully. Learn to derive things for yourself. Read and listen to what other people say but always arrive at your own conclusions.
Corollary to this: there may be forces that drive you to take a certain path. A shocking number of new possibilities open up when you realize you don't have to walk on the path

... (read 1199 more words →)

Amir Bolous4yQuick Take

Why is teaching hard?

The other day in an interview, when I was trying to explain Poseidon (a web framework that I wrote from scratch, https://github.com/amirgamil/poseidon), I found it difficult at exactly "what level of detail" I should communicate.

The challenge is that, the student has a different map of the territory than the teacher. And as we know reality is incredible detailed. Frames are made out of the details you know.

So when you explain something, the challenge becomes,

How best do I determine what level of detail to communicate at?
How do I proactively explain things to slowly move the level of detail closer to the source of truth (i.e. more detailed)?

This really... (read more)

Amir Bolous's Shortform

This is a special post for quick takes (aka "shortform"). Only the owner can create top-level comments.

Replying toReflecting on building my own tools from scratch and 'inventing on principle'

Reflecting on building my own tools from scratch and 'inventing on principle'

Interesting perspective, I can definitely see the value in that, I actually came across a "midwit" meme with that similar theme. What's the tool you've built that you're most proud of? What's the tool you're built that you use the most often to this day?

Reflecting on building my own tools from scratch and 'inventing on principle'

This is a linkpost for https://amirbolous.com/posts/build

Introduction
Tools and Products
Dogma
Building is Empowering
Closing Thoughts

Introduction

For the past couple of months, I've built personal tools completely from scratch. I built a way to organize and record my thoughts. I built a programming language to understand Lisp. I built a tool to generate cards for family and friends. I built a web framework from scratch. I used that web framework to ship a couple of projects.

The weird thing is that, until recently, I didn't know that I could do this. I didn't even realize this was an option or move I could make. I didn't know that if I had an opinion for how things should be, I... (read 1238 more words →)

Replying toSome people just won't get it

Some people just won't get it

Whoops, thanks for the shout, updated!

Some people just won't get it

Abstractions and translation

This is a link post for https://amirbolous.com/posts/advice

Introduction
Heuristics for Good Advice
Closing Thoughts

Introduction

The counterintuitive thing about advice is that although it can be incredibly useful, it can also do more harm than good. Advice is a double-edged sword, had certain extremely successful people listened to (certain) family members or friends for example, they undoubtedly would not have gotten to where they are now.

If you're doing something niche or untraditional, especially relative to people who are in close proximity to you (geographically e.g. people in your neighborhood or socially e.g. people you go to school with or work with etc.) many people will look down on you and think what you're doing is weird or... (read 429 more words →)

This is a linkpost for https://amirbolous.com/posts/abstraction

Introduction
Languages and Meaning
Communication and Translation
Closing Thoughts

Introduction

For the past three weeks, I've been building an interpreter for Lisp (more specifically, for a Lisp-dialect I created inspired by Clojure and Scheme). Building a language from the ground up is incredibly fascinating because you get to see in real-time how different abstractions come together.

In the beginning my language was just a simple calculator that handled single expressions.

Pretty straightforward, nothing fancy. Then it was a calculator that could handle multiple, nested expressions

Then it could take on relational and logical operators.

Ok becoming cooler but still more reminiscent of a calculator than a programming language, what about state? That is, saving, calling, and... (read 505 more words →)

Replying toTalkers and doers

Talkers and doers

Talking in this context = saying they are doing/working on things as opposed to everything you just said

Talkers and doers

This is a linkpost for https://amirbolous.com/posts/doers

In this world, there are two types of people: the talkers and the doers. The talkers, self-evidently, talk about things. They talk about building. They talk about solving problems. They talk about starting a project. Most people are talkers.

But some special people are doers. They build. They solve problems. They draw. They write. They code. They paint. They do stuff. They don't need to talk because their work speaks for itself.

It's easy to be a talker. It's hard to be a doer because it's uncomfortable on many levels. Uncomfortable to acknowledge that you're a noob in the beginning. Uncomfortable to not know the map from the territory.... (read more)

-1

Curiosity needs courage

This is a linkpost for https://amirbolous.com/posts/curiosity

Introduction
Growing Up
The Missing Link
Closing Thoughts

Introduction

One of the most courageous people I've ever met is my five year old cousin Max. He has no trouble sprinting across the road when cars speed by, which is why we have to hold his hand everywhere we go. He loves being thrown very high in the air, while I get nauseous just thinking about roller coasters. And he enjoys sticking his hands (and sometime other body parts for the matter) in the hottest, coldest, and stickiest surfaces he can find - from flames to ice to spiders.

Until a couple of months ago, I mistook his courage for stupidity. At least, that's... (read 664 more words →)

Replying toAim to get rejected often

Aim to get rejected often

This is a great point. I think my takeaway isn't to seek out rejection, especially if that's at an expensive cost of your mental health. It's to not let your fear of rejection stop you in cases where there is an asymmetric upside.

Aim to get rejected often

This is a linkpost for https://amirbolous.com/posts/rejection

Introduction
Why it's ok to get rejected
Why you should get rejected often
Closing Thoughts

Introduction

I get rejected at least one to two times a week. In busier periods, this can often be closer to five to fifteen rejections a week. These rejections come in many shapes and forms: internship applications, fellowship applications, cold-email/DM requests, you name it. Anything you can get rejected from, I have probably done so.

I'm going to convince you

a. why it's ok to get rejected

b. why you should get rejected often

Why it's ok to get rejected

In the past, I used to be devastated by rejections because I thought they were a reflection of my self-worth or achievement.... (read 599 more words →)

Replying toWhat it means to be lucky

I agree with your definition that it's the result of a random event outside your control (up to an extent) but why are you thinking about this in terms of the negation? Why does doing X or Y reduce the likelihood of being unlucky as opposed to increase the likelihood of being lucky? And if so, why and how are these mutually exclusive?

Replying toWhat it means to be lucky

That's a good point but it's hard to think about in practice. How do we define the opposite of luck? Is it being unlucky - as in bad things happen more regularly to you than others? That's probably not a definition we would care about too much. Is the opposite of luck the absence of luck? What does that mean?

The problem with all of this is that in hindsight, no one can say why things turned out the way they did. Sometimes luck and optionality are on your side (your interview was in a good mood when they were interviewing you, or the traffic light malfunctioned and it saved your car crashing into the truck etc. etc.) and sometimes they're not. The only thing we can really do is IMO a. be humble about this i.e. recognize the importance of luck b. put ourselves in positions where this is more likely to happen than otherwise (by working hard etc.)

Replying toWhat it means to be lucky

Yep I definitely see that, thanks for sharing!

This is a linkpost for https://amirbolous.com/posts/luck

Introduction
Anecdotes
Dimension One: Random Good Fortune
Dimension Two: Luck as a Function
Dimension Three: Luck as a Serendipity Vehicle
Closing Thoughts

"When it comes to luck you make your own" - Bruce Springteen

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity" - Seneca

"I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work the more I have of it" - Thomas Jefferson

Introduction

I've noticed that no one seems to agree on a concrete definition for what we term "luck." Colloquially, luck has been adopted to mean many different things in many different contexts. I would like to arrive at some concrete understanding of what it is and to do so, let's look at how... (read 1220 more words →)

Replying toMotive Ambiguity

Motive Ambiguity

I think the reason situations of problem 2 arise is because of misaligned incentives. When you care more about pleasing some other party, the best action is not necessarily the one that does the most good, but the one that best pleases the other person.

The cost incurred from doing so is then payed by either you (i.e. I pay the price in choosing a restaurant I hate) or society (in the factory example, the water is poisoned because of your choice)

Replying toBets, Bonds, and Kindergarteners

Bets, Bonds, and Kindergarteners

Super awesome that your parenting style actually gives your children agency! Not that I'm a parent, but not belittling or not respecting that children can make informed, rational decisions is something we as a society do all the time and we need to strive to do better:)

Distinguishing goals from chores