0wis

The “Urban mining” part is the most underrated part of the electrification. Few journalists or commentators get the importance of the recycling industry for batteries. First on the geopolitical side, it means that once need are covered, material can stay in the same region, so no continuous dependance to extracting regions. Second, if we manage to do that cleanely enough, it means that the environmental cost is paid only once. Third (and probably not last), it means that used batteries are still valuable assets.

So the conclusion is « buy everything even with borrowed money, but anyway it’s mostly a game of luck and even with the best strategy you’ll loose most of the time».

Not a bad model it seems, curious to test against a « I never want to die strategy », where everyone saves enough to keep playing, which is what mostly happens in real life too.

In the end, it aligns with YC and the startup model to try the all in for a project that will make you win disproportionately.

It is definitely a XXIst century skill to direct your attention. I am convinced that it is not only by deliberately choosing to be outside the tech bubble, reading paper books or newspapers but also by « pruning » algorithms.

Especially on YouTube that can spiral you on a rabbit hole, it can become a very powerful learning force. I have quite a few friends that became experts in niche subjects by rabbit holing themselves on these topics on YouTube, for example, a serigraphist, a carpenter on Japanese carpenting art or a ceramist.

I think the issue already existed for those who had access to the largest libraries and book stores, only Internet reduced friction, increased span of topics and added video.

Since Da Vinci, it is not possible anymore to have all the knowledge in your mind so focus and attention is the main super power.

Definitely a concept that should be diffused and discussed in France, especially in preparation of next elections for which anti-capitalist sentiment is quite high.

Really neat idea, I think it is one of the best ways to exploit the combined building and explaining capabilities of LLMs. I am currently building an app/game to explain friends and family concepts around wealth management and wealth building. Games are a great way to hide complexity while still including it in the « guide » you are making.

I’ll add that you still need the will and the care to drive it towards an useful product. AI still not magically generate useful products if you don’t ask it to do it and prune the results until it approaches what you desired to create.

Nice article, interesting to keep an open mind. On "No. 0002. Preserving problems", it can happen to people too, no need for a complex system at the size of a company. I have often noticed recognized experts keeping the root of the problem unsolved because it was justifying their position. I may even have been subject of this curse. As an expert, you may know the root cause but have no incentive to solve it and it can be harder to mobilize ressources to solve the root cause than to keep solving the superficial issue. It is management or outside help role to identify and push for solving problems at their root, but it takes time and dedication because of expertise. As most of the time, incentives explain nearly everything.

I have an industrial engineer education. My master’s degree was specifically a collection of small projects to demystify (and have the keys understand deeply) all kind of manufacturing processes and the designing that goes with it : machining, soldering, smelting, forging, electrical circuitry.

I ended up working in IT for a large company because of opportunity. Both in terms of interesting projects and pay. All my fellow classmates that went into industry seem to be stuck in heavy internal processes, or working like hell to finish projects that barely recoup their costs. Those who went into hardware entrepreneurship struggle to find clients and investors. The only sector that still seems sexy is the very high end for B2B and luxury.

My analysis is that scale cannot be reached by non Chinese companies except for very specific and high end products (that have a smaller scale by design). Therefore it is impossible to compete on the price/quality ratio of large scale products. And I end up thinking that tariffs could be the solution.

I am based in Europe by the way

Related indirectly : Turkish airlines hub (Istanbul airport) is a scam. Everything there costs at least twice the price it should. Especially food which is basically what everyone does during layover. Think 30€ for a burger or a kebab.

« Brand new » is not an argument by itself. Business is a must, or at least booking a lounge.

Setting for command is different from actual temp. Plus, humidity is rarely accounted for. A good AC that lowers humidity from 90%+ to 30% and this 30°C home becomes quite comfortable.

What about a continuous scale ? Choosing a base 60/24 for counting time is cultural and even if it is now the world’s norm, I would argue that an alien would not get this choice

For exactly the same reason : space is scarce but power even more. Power can also become unavailable in a degraded situation much often than on land. Therefore, it is a better design choice to have a chest freezer.

In a city appartement where floor space is scarce, convenience is a key feature and power costs barely nothing, it is a less obvious choice.

EU rollback on reducing gas liability, especially the widely debated rule on « no gas car after 2030 », feels now laughable. Maybe the reason why « technocrats » are good rulers is because they use science and data to do it.