We are all of us descended from survivors, which is to say, the most prolific murderers.

Life does not require as much as you think it does.

This life is not your life, but it could be—never deny that. Don’t worry. Be happy.

upon reread, this essay seems to remind me of Kierk Suren from The Revelations by Erik Hoel just before he accepted to do research in New York. he had been struggling to come up with an all encompassing theory of consciousness, dissatisfied with the explanations that his field had to offer for this weird phenomenon. he just decided to leave his research one day, choosing to live a life like the one Gwern has described, living in his car, writing, reading.

this was a really great read. nice one from Gwern.