{"id":13080,"date":"2019-04-15T18:23:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T10:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/?page_id=13080"},"modified":"2026-02-15T17:45:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T09:45:02","slug":"start-here","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/","title":{"rendered":"start here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My current recommended starting order for new visitors:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. The library ethos<\/a> \u2013 on being radicalized by books to see life as a glorious adventure<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. We were voyagers<\/a> \u2013 expands on (1) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Are you serious?<\/a> \u2013 love and curiosity expressed earnestly<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Most People<\/a> \u2013 the problem with pandering to generalizations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. it’s just math<\/a> \u2013 improbable doesn’t mean impossible, it can even mean ~guaranteed<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. the world is big<\/a> \u2013 there’s more variance than you think<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. greatness is deviance<\/a> \u2013 you can’t be great and normal, that’s a contradiction in terms<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. pave the desire paths<\/a> \u2013 an organic approach to developing a body of work<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. word magic<\/a> \u2013 language is more powerful than you think<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. copes<\/a> \u2013 how we get stuck<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. things are knowable<\/a> \u2013 on figuring things out<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  12. heartsong<\/a> \u2013 on coming alive<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    \u2731 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you don’t care so much about my suggestions and just want to go by what’s popular, here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most shared: <\/strong>Communities<\/a>, Solve for distribution<\/a>, Letter to a young songwriter<\/a>, Being smart vs Being kind<\/a>, The library ethos<\/a>, relationships<\/a>, one must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing<\/a>, how to ask for help<\/a>, Most People<\/a>, good reply game<\/a>, unlearning coercion<\/a>, pay it forward<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most visited:<\/strong> relationships<\/a>, The library ethos<\/a>, do 100 things<\/a>, Communities<\/a>, good reply game<\/a>, Most People<\/a>, my influences<\/a>, make friends<\/a>, solve problems<\/a>, how to ask for help<\/a>, my talking points<\/a>, seek excellent peers<\/a>, constructive ADHD<\/a>, how to de-escalate tense situations<\/a>, do whatever makes your heart sing<\/a>, \u2018Mean Girls\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2731<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (2024dec23) Everything below this section is sort of a ‘big ball of mud’ of hyperlinks (h\/t laputan.org<\/a>), which… is something that I don’t want to get rid of all at once, because it is<\/em> full of useful material. But if I wanted to make it more reader-friendly, it would take me an annoyingly long time to sift through, tease apart and reorganize everything artfully. So I’ma set it aside (push it down, really) and ‘start from scratch’ up here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This blog has been through many seasons of care and neglect. Periodically I have phases where I feel inspired to tidy everything up, but I’ve never really been able to follow through on that all the way to completion. If you scroll down you’ll find some clues of that. But here’s where I’m currently at right now. I want this blog to be useful to me, first and foremost. I’m currently thinking of conceptualizing it as a set of ‘proto-books’ that are all overlapping and scattered together. A few weeks ago I switched up my categories to acknowledge this. I then realized that each category ought to have an ‘anchor post’ \u2013 desirepaths, heartsong, wordmagic, copes, knowable, dominoes. These anchor posts then made the categories kinda redundant, so I subsequently deleted them. There’s also memoirs<\/a>, reviews<\/a>, and unsorted<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I don’t know if these are the right names for the categories. But I do feel like, within these categories, I should be able to create more cohesive reader experiences\u2013 again, with the most important reader being myself. I know from experience working on my last two books (Friendly Ambitious Nerd<\/a> and Introspect<\/a>) that the act of putting together a book is actually quite a relief, because it creates a ‘home’ for information to live in, and be comfortable in. It can create spaces for new information to enter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I think that’s the quality that I currently most want in my blog, and in my life, really. I’ve been in the ‘magic junkyard’ era for years now, maybe decades, where I just kept collecting more stuff. And I take pride in being a pretty good collector of stuff. Maybe too much pride. Because now there’s so much junk\u2013 notesprawl<\/a>\u2013 it’s hard to really… relax and enjoy the space. So that’s my 2025 goal for visakanv.com\/blog\/ \u2013 to create a relaxing, enjoyable home for all this information I’ve collected and remixed and authored. I think an obvious first step is to create an ‘anchor’ post for each of those categories or proto-books. I’ll update this page when I have them… done. Is there an obvious second step? It would be to… improve the reader experience of each of those anchor posts. (2025dec16: this is still ongoing)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2731 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I’m planning to update Friendly Ambitious Nerd to a “Mark II” version. That’s going to be quite a heavy undertaking. In the meantime, one of the things I thought of doing was to assemble as many of the constituent blogposts in one place as possible. So here they are. Some links may be broken, I’ll fix them eventually…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Friendly Ambitious Nerd<\/strong>:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    I had to publish the book and stew on it for several years before I really came to “see the statue in the marble”. FAN is a seed of an operating system for healthy deviance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    focus<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Friendship is shared understanding<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Helm of the Arse Gods<\/a>, kids in shitty social graphs<\/a>, being a misfit<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Make friends<\/a> \u2013 practice good reply game<\/a>, seek excellent peers<\/a>, everybody loves to make a great introduction<\/a>, persuasion<\/a>, accumulating social capital<\/a>, small talk<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. How to be more optimistic<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. How to ask for help<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Develop genuine confidence<\/a>, imposter syndrome<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. communities<\/a>, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. assholes<\/a>, never be gleeful about violence<\/a>, when i block people<\/a>, sinister connotations<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    8. the apocalypse test<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    9. parents, peers and other benevolent plagues<\/a>, Most People<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    10. pay it forward<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    11. perspective<\/a> (feels kinda weak)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      FA: encourage your friends<\/a>, how to DM your heroes<\/a>, cold emails<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Ambition<\/strong> \u2013 giving as much of a shit<\/strong> as possible<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Are you serious?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. articulating a vision<\/a>, articulate your vectors<\/a>, joke about outcomes you want<\/a>, think in dominos<\/a>, fumbling the bag<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. optimize for survival<\/a>, 4 kinds of luck<\/a>, play long games<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. ambition is not about prestige<\/a>, the prestige trap<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      5. tell it slant<\/a> \u2013 on obliqueness<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      6. you are already monarch of your life<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      7. plans are worthless, planning is priceless<\/a>. XAB method<\/a>, soften the ground<\/a>, mvp model of personal dev<\/a>, projects require collaboration<\/a>, project management<\/a>, problems are solvable<\/a>, mario castle problems<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      8. elitism<\/a>, the ratatouille rule<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      9. don’t jump<\/a> \u2013 the folly of the plunge (2016)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      10. shame<\/a> \u2013 status regulation<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      11. self-promotion<\/a>, the world is unkind to the tacky<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      12. struggle porn<\/a> \/ hustle culture<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      13. good vs great<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      14. sitcom living<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      15. status quo soldiers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        AN: info architecture<\/a>… infostructure? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Nerds are people whose behavior<\/strong> is driven by curiosity<\/strong> (asking questions, making lists)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. pursue your curiosities<\/a> \/ taste is the beating heart of all creative value<\/a>, everything is a remix<\/a>, creativity is just connecting\/remixing things<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. take notes<\/a>, constructive ADHD<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. models<\/a>, ‘systems thinking<\/a>‘<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. ‘jetpacks<\/a>‘ should solve information overload<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. narrow utilitarianism<\/a> (failure mode), advanced stupid<\/a>, learned catastrophizing<\/a>, courage deficit<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. the utility of art<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        7. mindfucks<\/a> \u2013 ideas that expanded my mind<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        8. bottlenecks<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        9. humility is honesty in the face of reality<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          FN: talking to people makes you a better writer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          scenes<\/strong>: scenius<\/a>, jane jacobs<\/a>, talent is clueless and scared<\/a>, erasmus<\/a>, the losev problem<\/a>, greatness is deviance<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Introspect<\/strong>? Self-sense beating yourself up is egotistic<\/a> (merge? moral failing fallacy<\/a>), do you know what you want?<\/a> (currently titled \/introspect\/, should change this) fault<\/a>, boredom<\/a>, adulthood<\/a>, insecurity projection<\/a>, identity<\/a>, depression<\/a>, earn self-respect<\/a>, narcissism<\/a>, better place<\/a>, exhaustion funnels<\/a>, unlearning coercion<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Culture<\/strong> \u2013 I want to do more work here, this is what I want Voltaic Verses<\/a> (visakanv.substack.com) to focus on <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          school<\/a>, safe spaces<\/a>, baby abandonment<\/a>, smartphones<\/a>, screentime<\/a>, fame<\/a>, fashion<\/a>, civilization is potty training<\/a>, real life is already dystopian<\/a>, religion<\/a>, mean girls<\/a>, fuckability<\/a>, pissbabies<\/a>, Cultural appropriation<\/a>, cultural cosplay<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          masculinity<\/a> \u2013 merge menworld<\/a>, cowardly men<\/a>, mansplaining<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          memoirs\/about me?<\/strong> busker<\/a>, blinders<\/a>, giftedness<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \u2731 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          The following is a leftover remnant of one of the previous times I tried to sort my blog: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          don’t pedestalize people<\/a>, take deep breaths<\/a>, talking for writers<\/a>, Influences<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          heat death<\/a>, sisyphus<\/a>, ayylmao,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Potentially promising but unfinished: hyperthreading<\/a>, smartphones<\/a>, jetpacks<\/a> (information overload), information superhighway<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Things that should be essays: projects require collaboration, status regulation, obliqueness, monarch life…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \u2731 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          (2023jan4) magicbeans:<\/strong> I\u2019ve spent many years writing, blogging, note-taking, etc and over time I\u2019ve found it necessary to come up with good, memorable phrases that I can use as reference points. \u201cgood phrases\u201d or \u201cmemorable phrases\u201d is a bit too generic, but magicbeans is quite a bit better. It\u2019s not perfect \u2013 a truly great phrase would be one that nobody else uses. It\u2019s a bit more complicated than this but I won\u2019t get into that right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Advanced Stupid<\/a> \u2014 do100things<\/a> \u2014 joke about outcomes you want<\/a> \u2014 status quo soldiers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          teasers, riffs, seedphrases<\/strong>: poaster trajectory \u2013 switchboarding \u2013 ayylmao chaos surfing \u2013 focus on \u2013 Mario castle problems<\/a> \u2013 make yourself comfortable<\/a> \u2013 overpreemptive (thread<\/a>) \u2013 uncommonly confident, humility… more\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \u2731 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          changelog:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          2025dec16: some minor edits for readability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          2025jan15: just funny\u2013 I found a wordvomit from jan2013 (0033<\/a>) where I talked about wanting to redo my blog, and how even then I had been wanting to do it for a very long time. Well, we’re doing it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          2025jan14: i’ve made so much progress in the past few days, particularly with the anchor posts of heartsong, desire paths, wordmagic, knowable, copes, dominoes. looking forward to improving the reader experience of each, and basically paving the desire paths. i no longer feel embarrassed by the state of things here, though there’s still a long way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          2023May02: Wow, I’m so glad that I did this. It’s going to save me so much time as I continue to piece things together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          2023Jan18: This blog has been weighing on me somewhat. In part, it feels like a historical record, and that’s… good? But it also feels clunky and tedious. The sitemap is too complicated. I think it’s time I did a fresh “research review” of the posts that I reference and revisit most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          My current recommended starting order for new visitors: \u2731 If you don’t care so much about my suggestions and just want to go by what’s popular, here: Most shared: Communities, Solve for distribution, Letter to a young songwriter, Being smart vs Being kind, The library ethos, relationships, one must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing, how to ask […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13080","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nstart here - @visakanv's blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"start here - @visakanv's blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My current recommended starting order for new visitors: \u2731 If you don’t care so much about my suggestions and just want to go by what’s popular, here: Most shared: Communities, Solve for distribution, Letter to a young songwriter, Being smart vs Being kind, The library ethos, relationships, one must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing, how to ask […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"@visakanv's blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-15T09:45:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/\",\"name\":\"start here - @visakanv's blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-15T10:23:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-15T09:45:02+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"start here\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"@visakanv's blog\",\"description\":\"Buy my first book FRIENDLY AMBITIOUS NERD today! 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