PoC - 8 - Not Invented Here
Not Invented Here and other curations
If you’re new here- Hi 👋🏼 !!! I’m Ram Rao. You signed up for this newsletter, Pursuit of Curiosity, at some point during your internet journey from possibly from my website, rmdrao.com or from my twitter
Hello Pursuers,
It has been a while since I have had the time to sit down and write. Life happens.
I have a couple of reasons behind writing a newsletter.
Firstly, sharing my journey of discovery and building as I go along.
The head-fake goal for myself is to build a system and discipline around consuming, organizing , and communicating.
With that in mind, I would like to simplify my newsletter to talk of just
Project(s) I am currently working on
Thoughts that I have been occupied with
Curations and recommendations that you will appreciate
Project I am currently working on
I have previously written about my struggles with my website, and how I had opted for a far more steeper technical path via Gatsby.
I enjoyed working on React, Gatsby and learning JSX but every time I had to make a small change something would break and my incompetence would go down on a Yak Shaving path.
It is great fun to figure out how all the pieces come together but the question I ask myself is, is it moving the needle on my primary purpose?
My primary purpose is to express and explore my ideas.
And the answer was a loud No and I had to do something about it.
Over the last 2 weeks I have been working with a really awesome designer to get my new website up and running based on Webflow that would allow me to focus on my writing and promises great flexibility.
So keep your eyes open for a new look and feel on the website.
Thoughts that I have been occupied with
The not invented here problem
At the heart of my website-type challenges is a repeating cognitive bias pattern that you would observe across many cultures and subcultures. ( esp among Technologists )
The notion that an external solution that solves your problem is inferior to the one you could build yourself.
The reasoning for this varies:
Lack of flexibility,
confidence in one's own ability,
lack of awareness,
unwillingness to value that others could be smarter and
most importantly the need to hold on to your beliefs as new facts emerge.
There are genuine cases where one needs to rebuild a product from scratch, where existing products are missing key features or even cases where there is fear of patents etc
As with all cognitive biases the first step is awareness.
Second, a conscious well thought through Build vs Buy phase would help us identify alternatives, calculate implementation costs, quantify costs of delay and value.
When in doubt, focus on bits that are closely aligned with your goals and stay away from the Yak shaves.
Curations you will appreciate
The era of Learning Worker is here
A blog post by Ramses Oudt makes the case that being a learning worker is a sensible antifragile approach in this new world we find ourselves in. Ramses is truly a Professional learner (as he brands himself) and you will find many nuggets on his website on organizing your learning, philosophy and growth.
Richard P Feynman talking about Fire
We all know and understand fire but until you listen to Richard P Feynman talk about it to understand how many levels of knowledge exist. I am generally envious of people who develop such a wonderful first principles understanding of a subject that can explain it in a way that seems magical.
If you haven’t read it you should read his book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
The Right Stuff (2020) from Disney
The series retells the stories of the Mercury astronauts as they race to be the first men in space. I am a space buff and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although, we seem to be the cusp of another manned space exploration era I am a little disappointed. Growing up watching reruns of Star Trek : The Original Series I was quite confident of having a future where “Beam me up, Scotty !!” is a no longer fictional. Hopefully my son ends up looking at that future.
That's it for this week folks , will try to keep it regular and real.
Cheers,
Ram Rao