Luis del Rio Camacho / Unsplash
Key Takeaways
- Main Story: Environmental scientist Donella Meadows devised a set of rules to think about systems.
- “We can’t control systems or figure them out,” writes Meadows. “But we can dance with them.”
- Also among this week’s stories: How to age like Charlie Munger, the exit dreams of Silicon Valley, and the brain’s left hemisphere.
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This is an installment of The Nightcrawler, a weekly collection of thought-provoking articles on tech, innovation, and long-term investing by Eric Markowitz of Nightview Capital. You can get articles like this one straight to your inbox every Friday evening by subscribing above. Follow him on X: @EricMarkowitz.What do trees and businesses have in common?
For one, they’re systems. A tree dies when you starve it of water and sunlight, just as a business collapses when its resources are drained. In fact, all living things are systems: plants and animals, yes, but also organizations, relationships — even friendships. Stop responding to texts, and the relationship withers. (Unless, of course, that’s the goal. As the Gen Z might say: ghosting.)
Systems rule the world, and once you see them, you can’t unsee them. Perhaps I’m thinking about them now, as we slip into the holiday season, when our own network of plans, friendships, and families seems to weave together. (The system breaks, it turns out, when you forget the baby’s diapers at a family function.)
On this subject, no one is better than Donella Meadows, the environmental scientist and systems theorist whose essay, “Dancing With Systems,” is perhaps the most practical way to think about life, business, investing, work, and family.
Every so often, I find myself returning to her 14 rules, and as the year winds down, I want to share them here. “We can’t control systems or figure them out,” Donella writes. “But we can dance with them!”
Key quote: “I will summarize the most general ‘systems wisdom’ I have absorbed from modeling complex systems and from hanging out with modelers. These are the take-home lessons, the concepts and practices that penetrate the discipline of systems so deeply that one begins, however imperfectly, to practice them not just in one’s profession, but in all of life. The list probably isn’t complete, because I am still a student in the school of systems. And it isn’t unique to systems thinking. There are many ways to learn to dance. But here, as a start-off dancing lesson, are the practices I see my colleagues adopting, consciously or unconsciously, as they encounter systems.”
“Oh, to be 86 again”
What does a lifelong learner do the year before he dies at 99?
Duh: he keeps learning.
I loved this portrait of Charlie Munger’s final years. He was a man who, even at 98, was making contrarian bets, asking big questions (“Does Moore’s Law apply in the age of AI?”), and forming new friendships.
Munger never had much interest in retiring to a life by the ocean, though he maintained a sprawling estate in Montecito with view of the Pacific. Instead, he hung out around his modest house in Pasadena (no A/C), and spent his final days trading coal stocks, backing young real-estate investors, and debating ideas with his breakfast club.
Simply: he kept is mind working even when his body didn’t. He read, he questioned, he taught, and he listened (well, to the extent he could; his hearing was terrible). The profile offers a moving inquiry into the nature of longevity: stay curious, stay connected, and keep asking questions right up until the end. (H/T Nima Shayegh)
Key quote: “‘Even a week or two before passing away, he was asking questions such as, Does Moore’s Law apply in the age of AI?’ recalls his friend Jamie Montgomery, referring to whether artificial intelligence would see exponential gains like those experienced in computational power. Friends and family say Munger’s eventful last period offers lessons for investors — and a blueprint for how to age with grace, equanimity and purpose. ‘To the day he died, that mind was running,’ says Munger’s stepson, Hal Borthwick. ‘He never stopped learning.’”
A few more links I enjoyed:
The Progress Paradox – via Matt Prewitt (Noema)
Key quote: “Plenty of readers will still be skeptical. To many, the cutthroat Silicon Valley startup ecosystem proves on its face that competition, not monopoly, produces innovative technology. But look closer. Silicon Valley startups are routinely valued at many multiples more than their revenue or profits straightforwardly justify. What explains that? Investors are betting that those startups will eventually either become monopolies or merge into existing ones through acquisitions or other forms of financial consolidation. In other words, technology startups are ‘competing’ not to serve consumers’ needs, but to become — or join — monopolies. The aim for many of today’s Silicon Valley startups is a high-profile acquisition and a lucrative ‘exit.’”
Iain McGilchrist: Re-enchanting the Brain – via The Beautiful Truth
Key quote: “As societies grow, it’s harder for people to know and trust each other. Governance requires distance and bureaucracy, leading to a more crude control mechanism that replaces the full complexity of life. This simplification becomes visible in art, architecture, poetry, music and thought. I know I’m glossing over a lot, but this shift aids the left hemisphere’s desire for simple answers that give us power. Power is, in a sense, its main motivation. It controls our right hand, enabling us to grasp and hold, whereas the right hemisphere manages a complex, rich picture.”
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