If, instead of focusing on finding answers, you focus on whether you are asking the right questions in the first place, you put yourself in a position to see things from a better perspective. Worse still: if the questions are wrong, wasting energy and time chasing answers to the wrong questions is even more damaging. Asking the right questions draws on all the mental models we have absorbed so far, and on the direction we have followed until now.
One question I often ask myself, and one that resets my perspective and where possible directions for the near or long term often begin when I revisit it:
What to do? Paul Graham wrote a great essay on this.
What to do? We could stop here and look for an answer right away. I must work, I must rest, get groceries, watch TV, go out. We take for granted that these are the best answers we can give.
Slow down. What to do? Any activity should be tied to what gives you satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment. In other words, enjoying and savoring the one limited life we have. Tomorrow we will die. The people around us will die. But in the meantime we live. Somehow we humans became conscious of ourselves. But let us not digress. Let us stay concrete. I do not want to drift into questions so large that no one has settled them yet.
And by enjoying life, I do not mean avoiding suffering, sadness, or any of life's emotions. On the contrary, we must embrace them and taste their full pain, because they are part of the experience of life. Remember: it is always in our head, and just as we have consciousness, we also have agency as human beings. Whatever happens, we can always take a small step to shift perspective and move in another direction.
So, what to do? What makes you satisfied, fulfilled, happy, today? For everyone the answer is different.
Beware always of the quick and superficial answer: money, fun, hobby. No.
What fulfills me (and I believe many share this) and makes me happy is being able to create value for other people. But if it were only that, I would simply go do volunteer work every day. No, it is not only that. Creating value for people I know, care about, or who I think deserve it.
How do I create value for people I know, care about, or who I think deserve it?
- Become a better person
- Have skills to create value, and independence and freedom to offer to the people I care about
You cannot help the world if you cannot help yourself first. You cannot help others improve if you cannot improve yourself.
So, what to do? What skills create value? How do I become a better person?
What are some other questions to keep asking, including here:
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What could be the blind spots and limits in this line of reasoning?
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What am I missing or forgetting, or what other insights or reflections would be very useful in all of this?
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Which problems should I tackle that I once thought I could not tackle? Suppose that learning and understanding are easier now than before, because I have Claude Code to help me go deep on almost anything. What problems are worth tackling? What are my limits, and how do I overcome them, given what I want from life?