You’ve Got to Have a System
The joy of methodical living
People say a lot of things, often they say the same things a lot of times, to the point where it’s hard to separate truth from truism: I once lived with a chef who said ‘colour means flavour’ at least three times a day. Really good advice! One of my maxims used to be ‘saying it more times doesn’t make it true’. That one is useful for winding up fanatics of all stripes. But the one that has really stuck with me is the catchphrase a former housemate picked up from an obscure British comedian: ‘You’ve got to have a system’.
The world doesn’t make much sense. Birth and death, success and failure, love and despair, are all pretty much accidental. Our options are almost endless, but we have to work out what we’re going to do, and why. That’s why a good system can really come in handy:
A Guide to Friendship, Schmoozing, and Social Advancement by Glenn O'Brien – Keep your mouth shut, break up with bad friends, and insult with precision. A harsh, but strangely fair guide to managing your social circle for maximum success.
Keep Your Identity Small by Paul Graham – A simple system to keep you from becoming a fundamentalist.
The Need-to-Know Basis by Tom Chiarella – “If knowledge is power. Information is gold. Giving away either of them is just plain stupid.”
37 Conversation Rules for Gents by Cecil B. Hartley – A list of truly golden rules to help you avoid making a fool of yourself. Still as fresh as the day they were written (in 1875!). Also works for ladies.
Personal Best by Atul Gawande – Do you want to keep improving? Ask someone what you could be doing better. A simple but amazingly effective system for self-development.
Want to Remember Everything You'll Ever Learn? by Gary Wolf - “Given the chance to observe our behaviours, computers can run simulations, modelling different versions of our path through the world and give us rules to live by...”
And last, but by no means least:
Ubiquity Illusions and the Chicken-Egg Problem by Venkat Rao – Stumped by Catch 22? On chickens, eggs, and an how to fake it till you make it.
For more reading recommendations from The Electric Typewriter visit tetw.org or follow @electric_type
