December 2024
How I think about personal finance
I’ve been re-reading Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, and the gist is that the only defense against poor decisions is rules, processes and algorithms. So I’ve been thinking of three rules around personal finance. Don’t Lose Money Warren Buffett said that the first (and really only) rule of investing is don’t lose money. Studies by Kahneman and Tversky1 have shown that people hate losing $10 more than they like winning $102.
2 minutes
August 2024
What superpower would you like to have?
I was asked this question at my first job interview.1 Back then, I wanted to have Hermione’s Time-Turner to study and do multiple things at the same time, because it reflected my own values of appreciating the finiteness of time. When people say time is money, I don’t think the point is to create equivalency. It’s to say that time is the ultimate and most precious currency in our lives.
1 minute
May 2024
The last defense against a world of disorder
As an engineer, it’s especially easy to fall into a trap thinking that technical expertise will carry you for eternity. But because most people can’t even predict tomorrow’s forecast, I highly value adaptability. Transferable skills ground you towards your inner principles even during ever-changing and tumultuous times. What are some useful transferable skills? The most important ones are easily quoted, but rarely executed. An obvious one for an engineer would be critical thinking and problem solving.
2 minutes
February 2024
A brief history to how we use computers
The Booms and Busts of Silicon Tech has had a dynamic cycle of innovation. In the 1980s, we saw the boom of the personal computer (think Microsoft 📎1 and Apple 🍎), whereas the 90s and 00s saw the rise and fall of internet companies (from Amazon 📦 and Google 🔎 to Pets.com 🐶). Since it’s harder to categorize the past decade so soon, I’ll offer my personal take – I think the 2010s proved the surge of cloud computing ☁️ and harnessed the power of economies at scale.
blockchain cloud Cloud computing Computer Science computing systems Systems
3 minutes
October 2023
The psychology and power behind improvement
Recently, I have been fascinated in how psychology can tackle the classical question of whether talent is bred or born with. I’d like to inspect this question in context of psychologist Carol Dweck’s1 work on student motivation and her studies on growth mindsets. Fixed versus Growth Mindsets 🧠 Dweck splits student mindsets into two categories: Fixed minds tend to focus on how they are judged and perceived by others. They worry about grades a lot more and value natural talent over hard work.
2 minutes
An Approach to CS Resumes
Why we write resumes 📝 A resume is a written pitch. It contains the most impressive accomplishments of your life and is often written to sell your services to someone else. Just like how the length of an elevator pitch1 varies depending on whether you’re going to the top floor or the second floor, I think that a resume needs to cater to three different audiences as well. The 10 second resume ⏱️ In a world where 1200 other people compete for eyes on their resume2, you need your resume to stand out from others in a span of 10 seconds.
2 minutes
September 2023
Get the most out of your Hackathons, from a 4x MLH medalist
Motivation In January of 2021, Jacob1 and I stumbled into our first hackathon (UofTHacks) together with nothing but the clothes on our backs 🙈. There, we met Christine and Rachel, and went on to win awards at 4 major MLH hackathons2. In light of our journey in the 2022 MLH circuit, I wanted to share three tips for successful hackathon project 🥳. Three tips Find your squad 😎 If you are going solo, then skip to point 2 ✌️.
3 minutes
Fighting AI and Automation Anxiety
Why we shouldn’t fear the computer
I gave a talk on “automation anxiety” in 2020 1 to explore reasons why people are (rightfully) scared that computers will take their jobs. This was before ChatGPT was a thing, and events like the ongoing Writers’ strikes 2 only emphasize the importance of equipping the right tools in the labor markets today. On the other hand, I think AI will have an extremely hard time taking over the world in the short run.
ai ai economics economics presentations work
3 minutes
Motivation I’m starting a blog for two reasons. The obvious reason is that I want to get better at writing. The other reason is that I want to talk through my thoughts aloud. Putting pen to paper helps me flesh out what I don’t know and helps me fill in those missing gaps. And everyday, I realize that there is much I don’t know about myself and the world around me.
1 minute