November Newsletter
Hello reader! If you are stopping by for the first time, let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Aaron, and I am interested in robotics, fitness and philosophy. I recently turned 18, and I am on a quest to live my best life. Everything that I write here is meant to be useful to someone. This could mean writing about a cool topic or idea that you might not have considered (useful to you), or simply an outlet to help me get my thoughts and reflections written down (useful to me). Regardless of what brought you here, thanks for coming, and enjoy the ride!
Since the last newsletter, I have been thinking a lot about my path in life. This is a problem that every young person must ultimately confront. Like with many important decisions, it is best to start from the foundations. One such foundation is the concept of fulfillment. Before doing anything, you need to know why you are doing it. If you are doing it with the intention of becoming fulfilled, will it work? Should you be doing it? Is there a better path?
What is fulfillment?
Fulfillment is a word that few people ever define, like happiness, or love. Fundamentally, fulfillment is the solving of ones problems. It is the state of satisfaction. When you are fulfilled, you are satisfied. You are not stressed. You are calm. However, It is not the achievement of goals that grants this feeling, it is the lack of goals that creates fulfillment. This is the trap that most people fall into. First, you set goals for yourself. Underneath these goals is a contract that you make with yourself to be unsatisfied with what you have until you achieve your goals. The more attached to the goals you are, the more unsatisfied you will feel not having achieved them. Then when all of the hard work pays off, you can finally feel fulfilled. When you no longer have those goals, now you can relax. you can stop chasing. Life is good. But wait! You think that you need to do something bigger! Then you can be more successful. Then you will truly be fulfilled. you move the goal post once again, and the cycle repeats.
This is the curse of desire. Once you achieve your desire, it does not go away. It simply remanifests itself into some other goal. Something else that you “need” to do.
There’s no such thing as happiness.
Rather, a fragile contentment with the way things are.
Broken by unhappiness, the pain of wanting something.
Until we get it or get over it.
Returning to an interlude of gratitude without reason, beauty without motive, love without demand.”
– Naval Ravikant
You must understand problems before you solve them.
How can you alleviate suffering if you do not know what causes it?
It is through understanding the nature of things that you become free from them. If you do not understand the nature of your thoughts, you will find yourself being controlled by them. You become identical to your thoughts in every moment. You become pulled in every direction by the desires which originated in your uncontrollable mind.
Who is the “Self” that we keep talking about?
Are you your thoughts?
Do you control the thought that appears? Or does it simply appear, seeming to have nothing to do with you. What are you going to think next? Even you yourself don’t know.
Before we can suffer, or experience happiness, our perception of the world is first filtered through the mind. The degree to which you suffer is dictated by your judgements of the world.
Desire is the root of all suffering.
This is a fundamental truth. Anyone who has thought about it deeply enough will find that this principle applies universally.
Pain is not suffering. Pain is simply an experience.
It is possible to remove the desire to be without pain.
In short, if you want to be fulfilled. You need to be content with what you have. You need to limit your desires. Once you understand that the external world does not dictate your internal fulfillment, you can approach the root of the issue.
The problem IS within the problem itself. In most cases, there is no need for a problem. Your mind is creating the problem.
Choose your problems wisely.
This philosophy is amazingly useful. I love these teachings because they don’t force you to make any assumptions about reality. There is no god in Buddhism. The “buddha” was a human. There was nothing special about him. Buddhism simply asks you to observe the world for yourself. To encounter your experience of life directly, to see through thoughts and emotions for what they are. To question your beliefs.
There is no need for faith.
There is only observation.
This is what makes this philosophy so practical. It is simple, and it applies. You don’t have to renounce all of your desires. Your Desires are not good or bad. They simply exist. Pain is not good or bad, it simply exists. Whatever you are chasing in life, it is possible for you to suffer less.
you can encounter pain and hardship while remaining calm, and peaceful. I believe that Buddhism has the potential to guide me greatly through life. Hard work does not have to be “hard”. Progress might include pain, but it does not require suffering. This is a belief that requires maintenance and practice. Very few have mastered it, but I will certainly try.
The fundamentals.
If I were to continue along this path of philosophical reasoning, explaining more ideas relating to goals, achievement, fears and more, It would ignore the main point. Often, thinking so deeply about philosophy is counterproductive. The best ideas are often the most simple.
“It's the mark of a charlatan to try and explain simple things in complex ways”
- Naval Ravikant
The practical implication of all of these ideas is to simply ground yourself in this moment. Observe more, judge less. Understand your goals, and understand how you can achieve them. Enjoy the process.
Creativity is born through play, and killed through stress.
If you want to make your most positive and authentic contribution to the world, Relax.
Although engineering and technical work can seem entirely separate from philosophy, and in many ways, it is. However, I believe that there are deeper reasons to pursue invention. So, to continue with the theme of asking why, Why am I pursuing engineering?
The Philosophy of Engineering
Engineering is the pursuit of truth applied to solving real problems. What better measure of one’s knowledge than for him to be tested by the ultimate source of truth? Reality. At the end of the day, the planes need to fly, the software needs to compile, the robots need to function. our engineers need to be able to predict the complicated interaction between their creations and reality. Knowledge creation must stem from a source of truth. This most fundamental truth is physics. everything else is an abstraction placed on top of the underlying truth that is physics. It is the fundamental feedback mechanism that allowed life to sprout and improve, It has allowed animals and increase their intelligence through competition. Organisms have tried, failed and ultimately succeeded to pass the trials of life, with physics as the unwavering, uncaring judge of performance. Life has been engineered by entropy to favor the designs which have mastered the game of physics. True knowledge must be formed with physics as the core feedback mechanism. There is no other option.
Knowledge creation is accelerating.
Although you might not intuitively recognize it, as your life only comprises a tiny fraction of the history of knowledge creation, knowledge creation is accelerating. What was once the learning of random mutations and Darwinian evolution has transformed into learning through abstraction, sharing knowledge between generations. This new form of knowledge creation is not linear. It compounds. With the ability to share knowledge between humans, we are no longer trying to figure it all out as individuals. We have multiplied our ability to solve problems by the number of humans which are able to help us. We are rapidly approaching an age of abundance, unlocked by engineering.
Knowledge creation, when applied from the principles of physics, is one of the most beautiful pursuits. It is what allowed humanity to push past moral and technological revolutions, create vast abundance, and grow more rapidly than any organism in history. The possibilities are limitless.
How are things going?
The theme of this newsletter was originally intended to be a personal update. I know that all of the abstraction may seem out of place, but this is simply my mind at work. I am constantly thinking about these ideas, and this past month has been exceptionally rich with reflection. Admittedly, this came at the cost of progress on my previous project timelines. However, I believe this is okay because, fundamentally, reflecting on why I am doing what I am doing is just as important, if not more so, than pursuing the goals themselves.
The Pen Plotter
My main project, introduced last month, is an electronic pen plotter that utilizes my custom-designed actuators to test their precision—and to draw some cool stuff along the way. The project has been progressing nicely; I’ve successfully assembled the mechanical parts and am currently wiring and writing software to control everything. While this project has presented many challenges and time often feels limited, I remind myself that stress is the enemy of creativity.
Music
Although I do not have a fully composed song quite yet, I have been experimenting with many ideas through improvisation. I do not know how to read sheet music (although i am working on it), so all of my music is based purely on feel.
Here is a sneak peak of what I am making.
We’ve arrived at Newman’s manifesto! I love to see the progress, both in your coming realizations and physical work.