Welcome back to the 1st Law Newsletter - Friday Edition.

In this email:

• Abstraction layers

• Removing the layers

• Quote on goals

Abstraction layers

Modern society constantly innovates and builds upon itself and these innovations. The result is often increased comfort and quality of life, but with this increase comes a separation from necessity and reality. Sometimes it is nice to recognize the layers of abstraction that build up in our daily routines, they are everywhere. A few examples:

The grocery store. Where you get your food? Its already all cut up and prepared and packaged. How did it get there? Where did those fruits come from? Where did that chicken come from? Who plucked and prepared it? We are undoubtably far removed from the base layer of what we eat.

Watching TV. There is a whole industry dedicated to distracting us from the very thing that makes us us… Our thoughts. Instead of sitting quietly and reflecting on our life, we turn our focus externally and distract ourselves from our reality.

I think the biggest culprit of abstraction layers is in the financial sector. We had gold, then we printed paper to represent gold. Then the paper wasn’t linked to gold anymore, the paper itself is money. Then we created cards that let you spend money you might not have (credit cards). Companies issue debt to buy other companies, or restructure their debt to somehow be worth more while making them less productive .We can buy electronic shares of companies that we have never heard of. If we are brave enough, we can trade derivatives and bet on whether the price will be higher or lower in the future.

I want the smartest people in our society to be working on improving quality of life. Inventing things and building tools. Not trying to figure out the best way to split up and restructure a mega-Corp or how to roll over debt.

Remove the layers.

If you cant find it in nature, grow it or kill it… should you eat it? Even if you are still buying it in the grocery store, simply recognize where it came from and how removed you are from the start of the process. If you like watching it, the odds are you would like to do it too. Go out in real life and enjoy it instead of watching it on a screen. Sit with your thoughts. Walk barefoot . Sleep on the ground or on a thin pad. Find simple answers and remember what it was like to be human 2000 years ago.

Quote I Want To Share

I just find it interesting how most things that I am striving for, I have never experienced. I want to travel the world for a year, but it is possible that I am uncomfortable and longing for home after 2 weeks. I dream of owning and running my own business, but what if I do not like the chaos and find I instead prefer the structure of regular employment? The very things that I have decided to place my desire upon (and thus be unhappy until I get them), are possibly unpleasant to me.

Thanks for reading!

Lucas