Wisereads Vol. 13 — The Art of Money Getting, Bill Gates on AI agents, and more
Last week, we shared Wild Minds, an excerpt from Morgan Housel’s new book Same as Ever. This week, we’re excited to share a classic of American self-help: The Art of Money Getting by P. T. Barnum.
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Most highlighted Articles of the week
What I Learned Getting Acquired by Google
Shreyans Bhansali's essay on his company's acquisition by Google is a pretty good litmus test for tech: while reading, do you regard Google with respect or disgust? “Amazing things are possible at Google, if you play the right game... you must find the most important problem in your field, and play whatever games necessary to solve it.”
AI is about to completely change how you use computers
Last week's OpenAI announcement unveiling the Assistants API prompted Bill Gates to speculate on how agents will impact health care, education, productivity, entertainment, shopping, and more. "Clippy was a bot, not an agent. Agents are smarter… Agents won’t simply make recommendations; they’ll help you act on them. If you want to buy a camera, you’ll have your agent read all the reviews for you, summarize them, make a recommendation, and place an order for it once you’ve made a decision."
Want To Upgrade Your Brain? Stop Doing These 7 Things Immediately
Author, organizational psychologist, and professional Medium blogger, Dr. Benjamin Hardy distills research into actionable advice for replacing toxic habits. “Most people are so trapped in consumption they’re dependent upon it just to get going in the morning… do you wake up consuming junk that then (literally) scatters your brain?”
Most highlighted YouTube Video of the week
Daniel Goleman on Focus: The Secret to High Performance and Fulfilment
Daniel Goleman, psychologist and author of Emotional Intelligence, explores mastering focus in three dimensions: inner, other, and outer. “We don't exercise [our attention.] Typically, we depend on externals to grab our attention; in fact our economy, in a sense, is built on the grabbing of attention… it's a very radical move to cultivate the ability to manage your own mind so that you can orient at will.”
Most highlighted Twitter Thread of the week
One pattern I’ve noticed in all miserable people
Creator consultant Taylin John Simmonds examines the recipe for misery: overthinking and underacting. “Overthinking = beating yourself up at dead ends. Outcome thinking = using dead ends as data to escape the maze. Think in the direction of your goals.”
Most highlighted PDF of the week
You and Your Research
Mathematician and Turing Award laureate, Richard Hamming, lives on through his You and Your Research talk on making an impact in your career, a perennial favorite of smart internet folk. “The chief gain is in the effort to change yourself, in the struggle with yourself, and it is less in the winning than you might expect. Yes, it is nice to end up where you wanted to be, but the person you are when you get there is far more important.”
Hand-picked book of the week
The Art of Money Getting
Most know P. T. Barnum for his hoaxes, museum of (exploited) oddities, and, of course, his circus: The Greatest Show on Earth.
Barnum’s modest upbringing and career in entertainment exposed him to bankruptcy, wealth, and everything in between. The Art of Money Getting persists as a succinct guide to mastering wealth by mastering yourself predating other How to Get Rich favorites such as Felix Dennis's book and Naval Ravikant’s tweetstorm by over a century.
“Money is in some respects like fire; it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master. When you have it mastering you; when interest is constantly piling up against you, it will keep you down in the worst kind of slavery. But let money work for you, and you have the most devoted servant in the world. It is no 'eye-servant.' There is nothing animate or inanimate that will work so faithfully as money when placed at interest, well secured. It works night and day, and in wet or dry weather.”
We're excited to offer The Art of Money Getting through Standard Ebooks. If you haven’t already, explore their collection of high quality, carefully formatted, accessible, open source, and free public domain ebooks here.
Handpicked RSS feed of the week
Milkman Delivers
In her Substack Milkman Delivers, Wharton professor Katy Milkman shares tidbits from Charles Schwab’s Choiceology podcast. From her interview with UC Berkeley Professor Don Moore, Are You Overconfident?: “Over-placement leads us to enter competitions that we will lose, take risks that won't pay off well, and make asses of ourselves by stepping out and taking public stances or showing off.”