Thank you all for responding to my last question: What books, PDFs, or articles have had the most impact on your life (and why)?

I’m still compiling your great answers. A week in Seattle and drafts on the (severely underreported) OpenAI Hugging Face incident lured me away from finishing this post.

If you have more, send them my way.

Reading A Taste for Happiness (Biography of Lazard’s ex-chairman) was a fascinating look into choosing a life aligned with yourself. It’s also the most French book I have ever read, beating out Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales. It’s a semi-honest look into the financier’s soul. You should read it:

Charlie Munger's last short

This was fascinating to research. I dug through obscure archives to figure out what happened and why. Pricing data on Western Union's stock was just as hard to find, there were many nights of me combing old scans of 1960s Bank and Quotation Records.

It's funny how these coincidences turn up the longer you've been investing. Munger briefly owned the restructured company almost fifty years later. Even through decades of changes to the business model, priorities, and financial goals, some companies, like Western Union, just keep kicking.

Everything Is a Context Problem

The hard part was narrowing the scope. There are so many directions to take it, and the final piece isn't quite the one I first envisioned. So many problems come from poor, missing, or wrong context, and just as much value hides in that same context.

Either way, I enjoyed writing it. I hope you find it useful.

This was one of my favorite scenes in Olympic National Park. Imagine how much of these mountains stays unexplored.

Best,

Myles