Things I wanted to talk about:
- Feedback and continued development of the chess metaphor for financial independence.
- A more general discussion of chess, including recent developments such as AlphaZero
1. Let's use @bsog's formulation where the opening corresponds to debt reduction and frugal-skill building, and the endgame is the phase where FI has been secured and NW is in runaway mode. The personal finance domain has plenty of "opening theory" from Dave Ramsey up to ERE. The endgame is covered by nuts-and-bolts retirement books that presume some combination of nest egg and pension/SS has already been secured. What about the middlegame?
For FI/RE, the opening probably lasts about a year, while the middlegame is usually anywhere from 4-10+ years depending on motivation. Yet most PF resources are concerned with the opening, then treat the middlegame as some solved problem where one just needs to continue repeating the same behaviors until FI is achieved. Is it the same experience running the first and last 5km of a marathon? Should the pursuit of FI be any different?
It occurred to me that most of the discussion on this forum is centered around middlegame issues. Is anyone familiar with any PF blogs or books which address this phase? I'm looking for more of the "lifestyle design" or psychological aspects of remaining engaged in life/work during accumulation. The financial optimization and investing piece, not so much.
2. Here are some links to Youtube videos reviewing some of the games between AlphaZero and Stockfish (the most powerful chess engine):
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g9SlVdv1PY - Some insights into AZ's playing style.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk-q4SMba4s - AZ gives up a protected passed pawn but negates it through superior positional advantage.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oappbiIO3fY - AZ does a double pawn sacrifice and sets up a strong position that eventually wins
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFXJWPhDsSY - AZ completely shuts down SF's queen and sets up a zugzwang situation for SF
The next thought: I've previously dismissed all the futurist talk of AI world domination as premature and speculative (not an informed opinion, btw)... but this was sort of a wake up call that the revolution is coming a lot sooner than I expected.jacob wrote: ↑Fri Jan 05, 2018 2:06 pmAs far as AI developments go, watching those games is some of the most scary AI stuff I've seen yet. Not only is it winning, but it's winning in ways that often don't make sense or are hard to explain. Imagine if something like this was put in charge of military/nuclear strategy