Adaobi’s Newsletter

Adaobi’s Newsletter explores a wide range of subjects touching on personal development, societal norms, the intricacies of life, and the pursuit of self-awareness. It critically examines modern societal systems, like meritocracy and credentialism, while offering philosophical musings on life, work, and the essence of human judgment.

Personal Development Societal Norms Meritocracy Credentialism Philosophy Self-awareness Life Strategies Work and Labor Education Ethics

The hottest Substack posts of Adaobi’s Newsletter

And their main takeaways

Life

30 implied HN points • 20 Nov 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Life lessons
  1. Life can be tough, but don't give up
  2. Life doesn't owe you anything, you have to work for it
  3. Find something you value more than yourself to keep going

In pursuit of Sexiness

27 implied HN points • 07 Jan 22
  1. Sexy is about desiring yourself, a confidence that radiates without words.
  2. Being sexy is not about conforming to beauty standards but owning your uniqueness.
  3. Pursuing sexiness is embracing and loving yourself, regardless of societal norms.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Notes On: Power Listening

9 implied HN points • 22 Jan 22
  1. Be mindful of becoming an 'Opinionator' by starting conversations with an open mind and not focusing only on confirming your own thoughts.
  2. Avoid being a 'Grouch' by assuming the best in people and trusting their knowledge.
  3. Prevent being a 'Preambler' by asking questions with genuine curiosity and not just to showcase your intelligence.

Goodhart's law, credentials and social order - Part 1

14 implied HN points • 04 Jul 20
  1. Measuring proxies versus directly measuring things can have different impacts, especially when made public
  2. Goodhart's law doesn't apply to things that are observable and directly measured like in start-ups and sports
  3. Credentials are like a copy without an original, based on things we can't identify in their true form

Questions

11 implied HN points • 01 Sep 20
  1. Freshwater scarcity is a pressing issue that needs more attention and solutions.
  2. Understanding oneself deeply is crucial for personal growth and societal contributions.
  3. Providing good parenting to all children at scale can give them a clear advantage in life.

Is this important?

9 implied HN points • 29 Dec 20
  1. Importance does not necessarily correlate with glamour.
  2. It's crucial to differentiate between importance and glamour.
  3. Optimizing for importance may not always bring glamour, but it could lead to significant outcomes.

A tale of two meritocracies: Singapore vs USA

9 implied HN points • 23 Jul 20
  1. Both the USA and Singapore have flaws in their meritocratic systems
  2. Singapore has better equality in secondary education compared to the USA
  3. USA is more actively working to change policies regarding credentials in the workforce

The case against human judgement

7 implied HN points • 20 Aug 20
  1. Humans tend to pattern match in their judgments.
  2. Software has the potential to improve with bias and performance scrutiny.
  3. Measurement systems, whether by humans or software, have inherent incentives.

Lessons from The Fortune 100 : 1955 - 2020

4 implied HN points • 08 Dec 20
  1. Manufacturing has consistently dominated the Fortune 100 lists, representing nearly 50% for 66 years.
  2. Retail sector, despite being only 4.3% of the lists, contributed close to 10% of total revenue.
  3. General Motors, Walmart, and ExxonMobil have rotated as the top companies on the list, with various experiences in revenue and rankings.

Wanted : Global Radical

4 implied HN points • 28 Jun 20
  1. When working on a big idea, having a strong community is crucial for support and collaboration.
  2. In solving large-scale problems, it's essential to make people believe that the problem exists and it can be solved.
  3. Current credentials are exclusive, expensive, and static, leading to misallocation of talent and inequality in merit-based systems.

Auguste Comte and the Religion of Humanity

4 implied HN points • 28 Jun 20
  1. Auguste Comte believed in the co-existence of a scientific society and religion, emphasizing the importance of religion for humanity.
  2. Comte's theory of positivism identified three stages of society: theological, metaphysical, and positive, with an emphasis on using scientific methods for societal progress.
  3. Comte created the Religion of Humanity, centered around pillars like altruism and progress, with rituals such as marriage and retirement; the religion aimed to honor historical figures and promote societal betterment.

Credentialism in our ignorant society

4 implied HN points • 28 Jun 20
  1. Overreliance on credentials creates artificial demand in education and limits self-learning opportunities.
  2. Access to higher education is restricted by previous credentials, hindering learning potential.
  3. The value of credentials may decrease rapidly in a knowledge society, leading to generational advantages and disadvantages.

No one software should have all that power

3 implied HN points • 30 Sep 20
  1. No software should have absolute power over people's lives.
  2. Measuring and analyzing people at a large scale can have significant ethical implications.
  3. Building systems to measure people requires careful consideration of diversity and ethics.

Goodhart's law, credentials and social order - Part 2

1 implied HN point • 31 Jul 20
  1. Measurement of people is a challenging problem for society.
  2. Measurement of people is crucial for societal progress and social order.
  3. Measurement of people is often overlooked but highly impactful.