N.B: This is my annual retrospective post. It contains no special insights and is 100% skippable.
Summary
In terms of my material life, this has been a good year. My social skills continue to advance. My career continues to improve. My relationship with my girlfriend has also progressed. My physical health has also substantially improved.
Intellectually, the year has been poor. I’ve written far less than in previous years. I’ve read far fewer books and slightly more articles as a result of a gradually expanding RSS feed. I’ve also picked up a few good new podcasts, Ideas of India being the best.
Writing
Total posts this year: 13 (-26 vs 2019)
Decent Posts
- Large Gains From Small Choices
- Social media checks, bias and the presumption of innocence
- Racism as a prisoners dilemma
- Why prostitution is immoral on the buy side
- Thoughts on cancel culture
- Massai Wife Sharing
- Violence towards children in history
- Against expropriating the founder of wework
Looking back, I think my writing voice is improving. Writing has also become easier since I’ve started using Obsidian, which is a non-hierarchical, bidirectional knowledge graph like system similar to Roam Research. My quantity of writing has decreased markedly. I think the main cause of this has been less time spent commuting. Whereas before I would write or read on the train, now I do not.
Reading/Listening
Total Books Read This Year: 5 (-21 vs 2018)
I continue to read three serials: A Practical Guide To Evil, Pale and Delve.
Books:
- Fiction
- Non Fiction
Money/Career
My financial situation has improved markedly. I began the year making £3.77k net per month. I ended it making £3.94k plus £0.5k – £5k of equity, depending on how the firm does. My saving rate has risen from 43% to 53% and my overall wealth has risen from £25k to roughly £54k. I currently have 26 months of runway.
My career is going well. I’ve learned a great deal about backend development and picked up or refined a few specific technologies and languages. My social skills have also continued to improve. I can increasingly pass for normal in most work interactions.
Misc
I began tracking macros for everything I eat. I’ve done this intermittently in the past, but this year I’ve done it more often and for longer periods of time. I’ve found it highly effective, both in improving the quality of the food I eat and making me aware of when I’m overeating.
Dissent 