MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

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ThisDinosaur
Posts: 997
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2015 9:31 am

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by ThisDinosaur »

Fish wrote:
"But is there a responsibility to inform readers of the existence of higher levels of competence? That's very difficult to message while maintaining an image as an expert."
BRUTE wrote:
Beloved Leader jacob sometimes has a similar thing, claiming that "the majority of humans aren't clever enough to do ERE" (or similar). jacob is simply substituting intelligence for moral superiority, a similarly vacuous concept. some humans enjoy lentils, some humans enjoy Ferraris. no need to moralize.
Methinks BRUTE may be level 9 on the ERE wheaton scale.
@BRUTE, do you have a blog, book, or cult following yet?

Tyler9000
Posts: 1758
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:45 pm

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by Tyler9000 »

General Snoopy wrote:What distinguishes ERE from all the rest is not spending level, but its incorporation of the Renaissance concept.
+1. Personally, I relate a little more to MMM on the spending level but to Jacob on the overall systems mindset. I see them as two important voices in the FIRE community and think a world without either would be a lot less interesting.

Fish wrote: Readers are going to be lower level than the PF-guru writing the blog, so I wouldn't expect such promotion to generate much value for the readership. The problem takes care of itself because people self-select their gurus based on their personal goals. Gurus are replaced as people grow.
Very true. And for that reason I also think it's important to distinguish between the men themselves and the internet tribes that associate with them. It's normal for the average follower of any given voice to be a few Wheaton levels below -- otherwise they wouldn't look up to that voice! I read forums way more than I read blogs, and I occasionally have to remind myself that the "common knowledge" of the tribe may not accurately reflect the sophisticated and nuanced beliefs of the leader. This is less of a problem here because Jacob is an active participant and is happy to clear things up, but the MMM crowd may not always accurately understand Pete's true beliefs simply because he largely avoids the forum. Granted, due to the size of the MMM tribe I can't blame him for not bothering to fight every fire. That would be exhausting.

distracted_at_work
Posts: 202
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2017 11:51 am

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by distracted_at_work »

Tyler9000 wrote:
General Snoopy wrote:What distinguishes ERE from all the rest is not spending level, but its incorporation of the Renaissance concept.
+1. Personally, I relate a little more to MMM on the spending level but to Jacob on the overall systems mindset. I see them as two important voices in the FIRE community and think a world without either would be a lot less interesting.
+1 & +1.

ERE teaches how to be flexible. I spent a month on the MMM forums and I came to think (whether true or not) that if the 4% rule collapsed overnight, the the forum goers would be running back to find employment that morning. They want set it and forget it personal finance. It's important to note that isn't what MMM preaches but it IS what his followers tend towards. Either way, MMM was a fantastic introduction to this world and I'll thank him for that.
jacob wrote: [*]Pete likes Cosmos and Neil deGrasse Tyson. As an ex-professional scientist, I have semi-bitter sentiments when it comes to any science-popularizer :evil: ... because I suffered from the result of it. I'm not a fan of sacrificing detail and reader-effort for excitement ... which is also why the ERE book was written the way it was. Somewhere between textbook and popularization. I think it's a desert/void.


I have no doubts you suffered but I think we need flag-bearers to bring science/personal finance/whatever to the world. The majority will stop at the that level yet the curious can always drill down.

I had a very unique professor who wrote a book/textbook in your style so it isn't quite a void. The overarching point of the (4th year) class was to learn to think about everything we had learned and to apply it to everyday situations. His book used mythbuster-myths as a hook. It reminded me of ERE in that he wanted us to be map-makers not direction-followers.

enigmaT120
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Location: Falls City, OR

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by enigmaT120 »

I have a book about foil fencing that is written much like Jacob's book. At least, it's also dense. Shorter, too.

BRUTE
Posts: 3797
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:20 pm

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by BRUTE »

Tyler9000 wrote:This is less of a problem here because Jacob is an active participant and is happy to clear things up, but the MMM crowd may not always accurately understand Pete's true beliefs simply because he largely avoids the forum. Granted, due to the size of the MMM tribe I can't blame him for not bothering to fight every fire. That would be exhausting.
this dynamic seems important to brute. communities that exceed the Dunbar number lose the human aspect and become cults, in a sense, following a doctrine built upon an image of the leader. thus, the only way for a community to stay true and un-cult-like, is to limit its size.

Dragline
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Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:50 am

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by Dragline »

That makes sense. "More is Different".

BRUTE
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Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:20 pm

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by BRUTE »

difference of degree, if degree is sufficient, becomes difference of kind. wow.

Dragline
Posts: 4436
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:50 am

Re: MMM interviewed by Tim Ferriss (ERE mentioned)

Post by Dragline »

Learn it. Know it. Love it. Or be surprised when the linear thinking and Laplace's Demon (known today as "scientism") don't pan out.

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