12 Comments
User's avatar
Mike Hind's avatar

I might get this just to enjoy a big name reinforcing my own post-tribal, non-conformist instincts.

Eric's avatar

I think very highly of Bryan, but the "appeal to authority" of citing the founder of Major League Pickleball to promote the book made me laugh a bit.

SolarxPvP's avatar

But thinking that's wrong is exactly what a conformist would think 😉

Isha Yiras Hashem's avatar

This is the type of advice that backfires exactly 50% of the time.

Incentives Matter's avatar

I wonder if Bryan would consider doing something in the style of Tyler Cowen's GOAT project?

If as you say the primary benefit of the book is the curation, this seems like something current AI will do well, but will be more flexible to create over topics of the reader's choosing, and then to further interrogate the source material.

Not that I want to deny Bryan some money of course!

Austin Caroe's avatar

Bryan’s work has had an incredible impact on my thinking. My substack is laced with how I have navigated life as a military officer as a semi non-conformist (I know it sounds like a contradiction!)

DavesNotHere's avatar

There be a Kindle or audio version?

loophole's avatar

Two years!? It's hard to wait...

Happy New Year!

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Jan 1, 2024
Comment deleted
Edmund Bannockburn's avatar

In a sufficiently unmoored world, the only true rebellion left is orthodoxy!

I agree with your point about distinguishing passive from active conformism. I would also add a distinction between contrarianism (a general assumption that the majority is *wrong*) and true non-conformism (which recognizes that the majority could be right or wrong on any given question; one must carefully weigh the evidence).

Also, non-conformism is high-variance. I can certainly believe that the most successful people in the world are non-conformist. However, I would also bet that many of the least successful people (e.g. convicts) are likewise non-conformist. If only people really had reliable readings on how smart and competent they are relative to average... (Non-conformism works a lot better if you are smart and at least somewhat conscientious.)