This article illuminates how chess masters differ from lower-rated players. It talks about what to do when all else fails and the discipline to play well, even when you're feeling uninspired: "success doesn’t come from playing like a genius...focus less on how high your
It came up last night in discussion around The Bombardment, a film I have yet to watch but seems on par with Grave of the Fireflies. Both tragedies center on children experiencing the cruel devastation of World War II. Someone at dinner observed that arbitrary mistakes can cause immense suffering.
My friend and mentor Brett wrote a wonderful blog post earlier this year called "Reach out to people who publish". The punch line is right in the first paragraph: "A person that cares enough about a topic to write a blog post, article, or book on a
Many folks dislike the All-In Podcast, or Joe Rogan, or Tucker Carlsen, or Donald Trump, or Elon Musk, or Kara Swisher, or Andrew Tate, or Satoshi Nakamoto, or Richard Stallman, etc. They all need fine print, disclaimers. I recently discovered an interview where Seth reminisces about writing one of
I'm writing this on Monday September 29 2025. I just got home from a circuit of meetings, biking around town. I believe San Francisco is the most beautiful city in the world. I just moved back last month after living in South America and Asia since 2020. Today
The final section of The Practice is called "Seek Out Constraints" and it contains this gem, chapter #208: It's dark and cold outside the box. But the edge of the box? The edge of the box gives you leverage. When you find the edge of the
Last Friday I updated my little nook: andytrattner.com. My professional identity and internet persona have evolved in a new direction. Along with moving to SF, this post-Shuffle chapter merits a shift from my previous page. I love the internet. Just like language and money, the internet is one
San Francisco is incredibly special. To me, it's the most beautiful city in the world. Boston from the Cambridge side has the best skyline; Barcelona and Kyoto are amazing to visit; Singapore has awesome urban planning; San Diego has better weather; Vilcabamba is up there in terms of
I was editing my essay on school when Phu asked me for help assembling his white board for our home office. He had a plastic connector pushed midway down the joint and couldn't get it to slot in further. "No we don't have a hammer,
I first heard this question posed in Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin. It's been stuck in my head ever since. When I joined a San Diego charter school in fall 2018 as their new data officer, I thought it might be an opportunity to help fix education.
Phu has been inspiring me lately with his aggressive book per week reading schedule, zero-complaint desire to push his body to the limit exercising, and self-imposed sales quota for his company. He's been waking up before me to meditate and work. He goes to sleep after
More than 15 years ago, Adam brought a copy of The Singularity Is Near to math class. It's been incredible to watch the industry sprinting towards Kurzweil's 2029 AGI prediction ever since. The last decade has seen historic milestones like AlphaGo, chatGPT, and Waymo. We might
