I keep wanting to write a book with Emily but we can’t really agree on what it’s going to involve. My feeling is that if we are going to bother writing a book – if anyone wants to publish a book for that matter – is to first figure out, what is the one major thing that we want to get out and stand behind? I’ve offered the possibility that we should cherish and promote independent perspectives and intellectual curiosity. It’s not that no one already stands for these things, but it should be a major part of our mission to write words with purpose. 

I used to be all about thought leadership and establishing yourself as a trusted voice in a particular space. But, a lot of the reading I’ve done lately leads me to believe that it’s all about finding your own angle, not so much a particular topic, but rather championing an approach to things in general. My big push lately has been about being more efficient and thoughtful about choices you make. Decision trees need to become a much bigger part of my strategy going forward. I need to get the reader much more active in what I’m trying to say.

Not long ago, I made a joke that Emily and I should farm decision trees. Now, this sounds absolutely absurd, but in a literal sense, it’s possible to actually do this. After all, decision trees are crucial to making the most of our time on this earth and also force us to plan each step that we take to reach a particular goal. So many people spend their lives “waiting on the world to change” as John Mayer once sang. You can’t wait for people to come around; you have to come around first and work at least twice as hard as they do, while all the while never making excuses. 

People rarely want to take responsibility for screwing up, and it’s far easier to blame environmental factors or pure chance. The idea is to always stack the odds in your favor as much as possible, doing high percentage success things along with more risky propositions; always have a fallback plan, but don’t just play it safe for safety’s sake.

For example, I was talking to Emily about how free-to-play games can sometimes mirror our own life decisions. In these games, you always have the option to pay yourself ahead and skip over a lot of grinding. The problem is that all you actually do when you spend money is that you get a rush from the rewards, when many times, with some patience you can establish yourself in a game entirely for free, then pay as you can get upgrades here and there. 

Life is also like this for many people; people believe they have to mortgage most of their future upfront for a degree to give them BETTER ODDS at a particular type of job. The only time you should ever spend money on a game is if the reward is GUARANTEED, but most of the time, it’s all items that give you a CHANCE at better items. Yes, spending money gives you better odds, but there are also diminishing returns. 

This is why I’m OK with monthly subscriptions for certain things, because you know what you’re getting and can easily measure the cost of the service versus the value you are getting. In a free to play game, [or what’s more properly referred to as “freemium” games] that service is purely entertainment. This is why I’ve long preferred hobbies like card games, where there are tangible assets involved and while you may not ever recoup your investment, you can always get something for the entertainment. This is opposed to those games where the only things you can do are sell your account (which is technically against many terms of service, but people do it anyway) or see it as a sunk cost.

What concerns me is that the amount of gambling in mobile and other online gaming is that it’s a reflection of the larger culture. [And it’s gotten so much worse since 2023.] With quality control weakening in many industries to keep up with demand while keeping costs down, it feels like almost every purchase Emily and I make is literal gambling. We’ve even bought some lottery tickets because frankly, the jackpots have been so enormous that a few mega millions tickets are a drop in the bucket. But many people are spending all their free cash on these things, thus why the jackpot is so enormous. 

Now, college is becoming almost as bad as the lottery; there are absolutely no guarantees because industries shift so rapidly that your education is always going to be out of date when you graduate. If these institutions taught actual critical thinking, writing, and reading skills applicable to any field, we’d be better off, but no, everything is hyper-specialized to the point that you’re mortgaging away the best years of your life for a shot at a corporate job you hate that sucks away your soul. 

Sure, the chances of starting your own business and succeeding can be very slim. But even just having something on the side that you get some value out of is better than simply complaining and making excuses. You should be managing your assets to give you more breathing room, not taking shots in the dark that may just be a total waste of time.

[I don’t come to any conclusions here, really, but I wanted to publish this entry all the same, because it’s all still relevant as I publish these thoughts in September 2025. Also, as yet, Emily and I have not co-authored a book. That could very likely change in the future, though.]