Bevelin's incredible work, a compilation of seemingly every piece of wisdom he's ever come across, would have changed my life if I had read it a few years ago; I'm on nodding terms with such books these days. This book is remarkable just for its density. I suppose an easy criticism is to suggest that reading the original sources of these insights might prove more beneficial, but such a dismissal ignores that ingesting Seeking Wisdom instead saves hundreds of hours.
Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin (May 2020)
To expand on the above point, it's an example of opportunity cost, the idea that the best way to value a decision is to compare it against the next best alternative. These sorts of intellectual, academic ideas are covered in exhausting detail over just three hundred pages - applications of the prisoner's dilemma, why relative frequencies influence better than probabilities, or the importance of base rates. Those who want the ten minute version can follow this link to my notes.
The book presents an early insight that serves almost as its mission statement - the best way to achieve wisdom is to master what other people have already figured out. I don't like this thought much - as longtime readers may recall, I have my own definition for wisdom: wisdom is knowing when your experience is relevant. Bevelin is fully in charge of the intellectual relevance of his experiences, as demonstrated by this book, a collection rather than invention; the critical next step is recognizing in his own life those moments where by standing on the shoulders of Munger and Darwin, he has seen beyond where their eyes only saw horizons.
There is so much in this book that I fear going on and on would merely restate the work; my notes above might prove a decent compromise, as could be this extended review and analysis of the book. I am even considering an old-school TOA riff-off, and I do not make that threat lightly. For now, let's close with a thought that has lingered with me over the past couple of months - better roughly right than precisely wrong. Seeking Wisdom explores many ways to apply the idea - for example, increase system efficiency by employing trustworthy people instead of worrying about every little mechanical detail. Bevelin also explores a mathematical angle to the idea, noting that analysis carried out to a third decimal place - often with the help of lawyers, accountants, and consultants - suggest a complexity that should make anyone wary about reaching a clear conclusion. Another way to think of this is that it's easier to multiply by 3 rather than by Pi - not only does it simplify the math, it also forces us to admit that we merely estimating.
