My Why

Learning is something that every human mind is craving; efficient communication is what all humans desire.

Why is it that we fail so drastically at both?

It took internal motivation to learn something new, and it took 30 years to do so. It took an additional study of nearly a decade to understand how my particular mind works. And in doing so, I understand the mind of my father and therefore my mind, for the first time.

Reading Nassim Taleb has removed the wool from my eyes. However, it took my eyes to be opened in order for the effect of the wool being removed to be effective. What comes first the chicken or the egg?

I believe our minds are very much genetic, and how we learn, how we see, how we retain; therefore, the ol' saying, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, remains relevant.

Allow me to elaborate; I was broad stroked into believing that my retention was based on textile and visual. My teachers gave me tips on rewriting notes, using note cards, reading and highlighting all of which failed miserably, my retention was next to nothing. Is it just that teachers are too lazy to lecture these days? Or am I one of very few? AOC the podcast, introduced me to some lawyer dude that went blind during his schooling as a lawyer. He was able to get audio versions of the text, cases, etc. and trained himself to listen at an astonishing 6x speed. Keep in mind, I heard this podcast once, never again, and while the names of the guests got by me, the concept stuck so hard that nearly ten years later, I'm still refereeing to it.

(I looked it up https://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/isaac-lidsky-eyes-wide-open-episode-615/)

I didn't change any of my writings to prove a point, therefore as you can see Isaac lost his sight before law school, a detail I got wrong, and as well, I didn't verify the 6x speed, someone can listen to the podcast to verify or deny my correctness. The point I wanted to get across is I listened to this podcast a LONG time ago, and I can still refer to it with some accuracy, my retention is pretty darn good when I listen. Visual/textile doesn't work for me; audio does! And it took me nearly 30 years to figure it out!

I have since purchased and listened to nearly 50 books, let alone my online library book listening, I'm guessing around the same, and countless podcasts. I have trained myself to listen at 3.5 times speed, with what I have determined to be satisfactory retention. I can "multi-task," and if you know me you know that there is no person that can effectively multi-task, therefore, I'm quite the hypocrite. I digress, I can multi-task, in other words, vacuum, clean, run, bike, mow the lawn, drive a vehicle, and listen with enough retention at about 2.5 times speed. I am attuned enough to understand that if my task requires more of my attention, I need to slow the speed down. The idea of multi-tasking is an interesting phenomenon that I've decided I'll digress again. I took a few classes online with Harvard, for neuroscience, my wife is a pediatric neurologist. Therefore it was interesting for me to understand a little about her world so I could engage in conversation. I've been fascinated by how the mind works for years. And guess what I learned! We don't know squat about how the mind works! And I kind of love that, what a vastly intriguing concept. For if we knew, we would know, and how boring would it be to just simply know? How exciting it is that we are on the cusp of being able to map the brain, fMRI is rad, I just hope one day to be able to play with people, or just me and an fMRI machine. Elon, I'll be your huckleberry! Anyway, one thing that reigns true is that multi-tasking is not something the average human brain can accomplish. I reference the book "Deep Work," and the concepts for my mind are spot on!

I opened my eyes for the first time when I started listening, remarkable that the title of the podcast I hadn't heard in a very long time title, "eyes wide open" I love the serendipity. I have not edited anything about this so it was written chronologically, with reference to opening my eyes first, the wool removed, only after I referred to the podcast did I look it up. Smiles. So let's try this again …

My eyes were wide open, understanding how I learned. I came across a mind like Nassim Taleb, a probability master, and for the first time my retention moved from a form of memory to a form of practice, my mind works in probability, always has. They say Elon Musk's mind works in pictures; he can visualize in 3d form spaceships and concepts. My mind, I believe, similar to Nassim's mind, works in probability, assigning probably to life. I do not have the words to explain it further than that; however, a light went on, the wool was removed from my eyes and instantly I understood how the mind of my father an actuary works. With the combination of probability and an understanding of my style of learning, I have grown leaps and bounds in just the last quarter.

I started my business KISC, long ago as a brain baby, not quite able to put my finger on the "why" I knew I wanted to do it for the participants, for the people I over the years built great relationships with but wasn't able to "protect" them the way I'd prefer to. I did everything I could to protect them from their own financial demons, implementing behavioral economic concepts. Understanding how my mind works has helped me put my finger on the "why" and it is based on Nassim Taleb's quote "if you see a fraud and do not say fraud, you are a fraud."

I'm saying fraud!

That's my why. I no longer want participants subject to the smoke and mirrors of the investment universe; it's a fraud, its despicable.

Coming full circle, it took me 30 years to learn I learn with my ears, and it took 37 years to learn how I think. Watch out world I'm coming for you.