Incentivising

The instinct to fix it fast is the very instinct that guarantees you will not even make it to the next round. x.com/i/article/2081…

@Internet1ore It really does

@incentivising Responsiveness builds trust. Unbounded availability trains entitlement.

Game theory explains why being endlessly available is how you effectively price yourself at zero. Extraordinary value is always derived from the thing a person cannot have right now, mixed with the dream of what they COULD have. For example, when you reply within minutes every time, they'll eventually stop thanking you for it. You habituated them, and you've experienced it before: their perceived value of your time has now dropped to zero. Keep in mind that nobody consciously decided you were worth less. Instead, you just trained them to think that way. Practice restraint. Withhold deliberately. Let there be a delay or a refusal.

@mr_b_bacon all i can offer are substack articles rn

@incentivising I need short book about this :D with less abstract examples

Game theory explains why improving yourself rarely fixes your outcomes. People keep treating their own skills and discipline as a dominant variable because it's the one they can consciously control. They end up running never-ending optimizations but leave the whole structure around them untouched. Suddenly, they are the shiniest object in the room, but it gets them nowhere. That's because a diamond in the mud is still part of the mud. Cleaning it and putting it back to where you found it changes absolutely nothing. Hence, you must change the structure. Swipe the whole room clean; toss out the junk. Ask yourself which environment converts what you already have into a return and what it would cost to move there. Don't spend a decade improving yourself while covered in filth. The structure around you either works for you or against you. There is no middle ground.

Advice from decision theory: Before committing to anything, ask yourself 3 questions: 1. Can I progress on this, and does said progress compound? 2. Would I recommend this exact action to another person in my position? 3. If I start working on this now, where will I end up in 6-12 months? This will spare you years of wasted effort. If an idea passes these three tests, congratulations, you just found a high-leverage idea.

Master game theory and you automatically become a high performer.

I publish articles on game theory and neuroscience. Insights into the structures present in daily life that will help you see the rules that shape your office, social circles, and industry: structuralist.substack.com

@24TVTree That can be challenging. Might write an article on that one.

@incentivising The problem is to find that place that permits you to grow and shine…

@DrHadizaib I'd actually say your environment matters more simply due to the human tendency to adapt to their own (social) environments.

@incentivising Your environment matters as much as your effort. Growth is not only about becoming better; it’s also about placing yourself where your strengths can create real opportunities.

@Internet1ore Accurate.

@incentivising Self-improvement raises your capacity. Environment determines whether that capacity compounds or gets absorbed.

@HaiderEhsan_ True

@incentivising A better version of you still runs through the same broken structure. The upgrade never mattered if the pipe it flows through never changed.

@Sirobama56 I love how there are a billion different metaphors for this, and I somehow chose the most condescending one lol But I digress. I fully agree.

@incentivising Not every lack of progress means you need more discipline. Sometimes it means you've outgrown your environment. A seed doesn't become a tree because it tries harder. It becomes one when it's planted in the right soil.

Most of your downfalls are cuts at the calf. A movement-restricting annoyance, but it will not kill you outright. At least as long as you do not try running a marathon with it. The infected wound is the harshest death because everyone knows that it could have been treated.

@SunbeMikeEth 🫡

@incentivising This is really good

The instinct to fix it fast is the very instinct that guarantees you will not even make it to the next round. x.com/i/article/2081…

@digiii Nothing more satisfying than a good comeback

It really is never too late to start again

I publish articles on behavioral strategy, game theory, and neuroscience. Insights into the structures present in daily life that will help you see the rules that shape your office, social circles, and industry: structuralist.substack.com

Game theory explains why working harder inside a broken system is the worst response to that system. Because a system is never truly broken. It's just producing exactly the outcomes its own incentive structures were designed to produce, whether intentional or not. Working harder inside this system increases your output in the payoff matrix, but it simply won't change the actual structure of the system's matrix. Thus, the correct response is not more effort. Instead, you must aim to identify whose interests the current structure serves and position yourself in favor of those interests rather than against them. Change the game, or play the game that is actually being played. Either way, you must stop optimizing for the game you wish it to be and start acting realistically.

@RawPowerGame You've returned. It's been a while.

If you can attain power without giving up your soul, you have won the game without losing yourself. If you achieve power while distorting your character, you've won while losing. If you remain powerless but preserve yourself, you've won spiritually but lost in every other way.

@Slick_Sage7 Now that's a wholly different take and one that can be discussed. It is not "my game theory." It's mathematical, and no one can dictate how concepts ought to be used. Whether one will use it for selfish means is their own decision, one over which I have no influence.

@incentivising Lol Solid point. But I wasn't trying to cherry-pick. The systems in the world are (mostly) broken and flawed. It's usually the morally crooked that get the most Put of these corrupt systems. How, then, should one apply your game theory in a dog-eat-dog world?