NonTrivial
NonTrivial is a podcast about the patterns that exist at the intersection of science, philosophy and complexity, and how these speak to universal principles related to skills, growth and life. The longer you listen, the more you’ll internalize these universal principles and see how they inform your work, your ideas, and the way you shape the world around you. Become a Member at nontrivialpodcast.com or patreon.com/8431143/join Premium members get access to Techniques and Mindsets videos, where you'll learn to implement the universal patterns I discuss as a set of skills, and shape your thinking into a formidable tool for recognizing and executing the patterns that work. Premium members also get access to the member app, with Visual Concept Summaries of Each Episode, Community Forum, Summary Notes, Transcripts, and more.
Episodes
In this episode I discuss the difference between learning rules and recognizing patterns, arguing that genuine understanding comes from immersing yourself in real environments rather than relying on isolated fundamentals. Through examples like chess, programming, language acquisition, and piano, I emphasize that patterns are felt and latent, not definable by textbooks. True learning requires exposure, courage, and creativity.
In this episode I discuss the idea that attitude must come before action and results, and that true growth requires courage. I explore how mindset shapes behavior, why resilience emerges from maintaining the right outlook, and how stepping into uncertainty allows new patterns to form. By embracing risk and venturing into the unknown, we create the conditions for authenticity, discovery, and ultimately wisdom.
Become ...
The episode is about how true peace of mind comes from discovering and practicing a personal process—the “how”—that aligns with who you are, rather than chasing external categories or “what” you do.
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In this episode I discuss the importance of capturing the essence of things—the single core idea or statement that strips away noise and redundancy while anchoring creativity, learning, and performance. I explain how identifying this essence makes thought and action more efficient, portable across domains, and naturally generative, whether in writing, storytelling, life decisions, or science.
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In this episode, I discuss why relentlessness is the mother of all skills, enabling us to push forward despite frustration and setbacks. I explore how techniques and mindsets serve as anchors but ultimately subsume into the higher-level purpose of relentlessness. Through examples from nature, engineering, and AI, I show how consistency of effort amidst life’s complexity leads to long-term growth.
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The extremely effective skill of recognizing and following the patterns that move us. And the detrimental, interfering behavior of attempting to explain those patterns.
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In this episode I argue that we should choose to work on the first thing that comes to mind, rather than prioritize. While such behavior will cut into the time you would have spent on some other more prioritized task, it will be absolutely worth it. Choosing the non-prioritized action means much more movement, increasing the transition dynamics inside your state of possibilities. The long run outcomes are far better when you work o...
In this episode I discuss how doing everything in a day is almost always an impossibility, but is in fact possible if you learn to categorize your work in a fashion akin to how nature operates.
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In this episode I discuss how making decisions in an uncertain world is best handled, not through explicit weighing of choices, but by focusing on high level targets (like balance) that cut through the noise.
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In this episode I discuss how reading should be done for more than just entertainment and knowledge. Reading should be done every day to train the mind in extended concentration, maintaining a single thread of thought, and holding your attention deliberately. I discuss what I think it means to read well, and show how this skill goes well beyond just reading, amplifying our personal and professional lives.
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In this episode I discuss the importance of creating a physical snapshot of your life, to add meaning and direction to your efforts.
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In this episode I discuss the idea that our environment should make the "decisions" for us, when it comes to crafting our lives and the things in it.
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In this episode I discuss the new direction engineering is headed, and why it sounds to many as unsophisticated. It's a "throw everything in a pot to see what happens" outlook on how to build things, which I argue is in fact a far more sophisticated approach than best-laid plans. Something we should learn to embrace in our creativity and life in general.
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In this episode I argue that platforms like X are in fact a better source of truth than mainstream news outlets, despite their errors and lack of expertise. I lay out the underlying mechanism behind how truth persists in large collectives, and show how natural dynamics in large complex systems effectively materialize truth.
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In this episode I talk about a recent comment made by Ben Affleck, suggesting that AI does not currently create. I challenge this, outlining how AI follows the same overall approach to creativity as humans. Further, I argue that our creativity should be challenged by AI, as this ensures we challenge ourselves to be as humanly creative as possible.
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In this episode I discuss what I believe is missing from almost all debates today; an understanding of the dynamics at play in the systems being discussed. I argue that knowledge of natural systems and their dynamics can land debates on something more rigorous and true than the mere swapping of facts.
O'Connor / Shapiro Debate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7rtkLJqbxM
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In this episode I discuss the importance of placing guarantees in your life, to ensure you biggest realizations get folded into your processes going forward.
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Externalizing your memory to machines ultimately makes you less productive.
It feels like the opposite when you first do it. That’s what today’s products depend on.
But what feels like an advantage is really just seeing the isolated definition of a task become optimized.
Real world tasks do not function according to such isolation definitions.
In the long run, externalization causes you to do m...
In this episode I discuss the potential of the human mind in terms of assumed versus actual boundaries. People frame their mental potential in terms of space and time complexity (although most don't call it that); in other words, they assume their potential is limited by the speed and space of the task (how much time it takes, the amount of raw information involved). But nature computes in ways that are very different from how...
You can read more effectively by hovering above words and waiting until the text you thought would be too much to comprehend materializes in the mind. But if you try, sometimes it seems to work and sometimes it doesn't. But if you learn to hover and wait, it eventually always works. There is a universal pattern at play here, that occurs in many areas of life. In this episode I talk about the need to enter into situations imper...
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