The (G)oldmine of the Internet
15 Insightful essays on the internet that are more than five years old
To this date, there are more than 500 million blogs out of 1.7 billion websites on the entire spectrum of the internet.
The web world is saturated with information. Over-abundance of information has made it difficult to identify the gems of the internet.
One thing that I dislike about Google is that a poorly written article with excellent SEO would perform better than an excellently written with poor SEO.
Good writers write for their readers; average writers write for website traffic. This is why good writers neglect SEO (including myself), but the average ones excel at it.
Another thing that I dislike about Google is that it promotes new content over seasoned articles. That is why the chances of an old article to survive on the internet for more than 3 years is almost negligible.
Good old articles are difficult to find on the internet. There is no way a good essay can stay alive on Google’s first few pages bearing the rough tides of SEO and information overload.
I have been looking for a place where I could find the collection of G.O.A.T essays of all time. Fortunately, I did found one. A humongous list of intellectual writings and interviews.
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, tweeted this two weeks ago.
This tweet had 170+ replies. Hundreds of informative essays scattered under it. I went through them to pick the 15 finest pieces of content.
Let’s go!
1. Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks — including death itself — at the university's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005.
2. An Interview with W. Brian Arthur
W. Brian Arthur is a Citibank Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, a private think tank in New Mexico where he also serves as a board member, calls himself an "applied mathematician."
Brian Arthur's idea of accelerating returns was very prescient. He saw how the internet would create network effects, based on applied complexity theory research.
He explains his theories in this interview from 1998.
3. GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done
GTD—or “Getting things done”—is a framework for organizing and tracking your tasks and projects.
Its aim is a bit higher than just “getting things done”, though. (It should have been called “Getting things done in a much better way than just letting things happen, which often turns out not to be very cool at all”.)
This 10 years old essay, written by Erlen Hamberg, is an elaborated guide to GTD. Read this to boost your productivity.
4. 7 Reasons Why You Will Never Do Anything Amazing With Your Life
In this essay Raymmar Tirado, shares a list of things that limit you—financially and intellectually—from acheiving something substantial in your life.
Its a bitter-to-read eye opening essay. Even though it is unneccesarily dramatic, the philosophy behind this essay makes complete sense.
5. Why Startups Need to Focus on Sales, Not Marketing
Jessica Livington in this 6 years old essay sheds light on entrepreneurs obsession toward marketing rather sales.
According to her, the most important thing an early-stage startup should know about marketing is rather counterintuitive: that you probably shouldn't be doing anything you'd use the term "marketing" to describe.
6. The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement
One of the most insightful essay on personal finance I have read in my entire. Supported by legit data and facts, it will re-establish your fundamentals about Early Retirement.
Read it to manage money better.
7. This Is Water—David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech
David Foster Wallace in his Commencement speech is addressing the 2005 graduates of Kenyon University. Sharing his view about the claim that Liberal Art teaches you how to think.
His speech is a timeless trove of wisdom. Most important one in the entire list.
These are my favourite lines from this speech:
The point here is that I think this is one part of what teaching me how to think is really supposed to mean. To be just a little less arrogant. To have just a little critical awareness about myself and my certainties. Because a huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded.
8. 6 Harsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Person
We are often very disconnected with the reality in times like this—living in a mythical world with flawed ideas about life.
Our society is anything but ideal and predictable. Its ruthless. Your circumstances won’t always favour you. It will crush your soul when your ideal expectations about the world shatter.
This essay, published in 2012, is an important read to make you comfortable with the harsh reality of the world we live in.
9. Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule
Paul Graham, founder of YCombinator, is one of my favourite essayist. His writing are not only useful for the founders of the coming age, but they are also cherished by an intellectual audience in general.
His essays are an in-depth analysis of the world we live in.
One of the most famous work of Paul Graham is Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule. In this essay he classified the corporates in two parts: Makers and Managers.
Makers and managers have entirely different schedules, and Paul here, in his 2009 essay, is trying to shed light on their schedules seperately—establishing an understanding among both us, the makers and the managers.
10. Solitude and Leadership
William Deresiewicz, in his lecture at the United States Military Academy at West Point in October 2009, gave the world a fresh perspective about leadership.
He highlighted the importance of solitude, and how it builds one’s character to be a better leader.
It is a 35 minute lecture filled with unconventional ideas about leadership. You will also find a reflection of Stoicism in William’s speech.
One of the most important pieces of content about leadership in this decade.
11. The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Productivity guru and coach David Allen, who is also the creator of the Getting-things-done framework, talks about "Stress Free Productivity" at TEDxClaremontColleges.
A must-to-watch lecture for those who want to live a stress-free productive life.
12. Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System
Second most important essay in this collection. Written by Donella Meadows, who was an American environmental scientist, educator, and writer.
She is best known as lead author of the books The Limits to Growth and Thinking in Systems: a Primer.
In this book Donella talks about Leverage Points—places within a complex system (a corporation, an economy, a living body, a city, an ecosystem) where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything—and the human instinct to admire, observe and create leverage points.
This detailed essay presents you lessons that will improve your personal, professional and financial life in many ways.
13. I, Pencil
This is a short story that sheds light on the incredible complexity involved in creating a pencil.
An age old piece of essay that highlights the importance of trade networks in innovation—an idea that Matt Ridley highlighted in his book, The Rational Optimist, as well.
14. The Tail End
Published exactly 5 years ago, this essay by Tim Urban will make you realize how big your life is, yet how insignificant amount of time you have.
Death, in my opinion, is one of the most philosophical aspect of human life. It makes us value the time we are left with. This essay is all about death and the remaining time we have.
A playful essay about a gravely important part of life.
15. 1000 True Fans
To be a successful creator you don’t need millions. You don’t need millions of dollars or millions of customers, millions of clients or millions of fans.
To make a living as a craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor you need only thousands of true fans.
A true fan is defined as a fan that will buy anything you produce. These diehard fans will drive 200 miles to see you sing; they will buy the hardback and paperback and audible versions of your book.
This essay is as important for creators today as it was 12 years ago. A highly recommended read.
These were the 15 best picks from the hidden archives of the internet. I hope you find my collection insightful. Keep reading, until next week.
I appreciate your patience and dedication to read this endless essay. If you have any doubts or suggestions please comment below or DM me on Twitter.
More than having a large audience, I want a sustainable audience of the right people. People who get something out of these weekly essays. If you know someone who fits the bill, feel free to share my work with them. And if you are new here and like what you have read, then by all means subscribe.