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The minds you seek on Nostr aren’t valuable because they’re search engines. They’re valuable because they’ve lived something you haven’t. Think about it: when someone shares hard won knowledge here, you’re not just getting information. You’re getting the scar tissue. The late nights. The failures that taught them what the textbooks couldn’t. You’re getting wisdom that was expensive to acquire, offered freely because they remember what it was like not to know. Their expertise isn’t some polished, sanitized output. It’s inseparable from their specific journey, their unique vantage point, their particular blind spots. And yes, even their biases and limitations. That’s not a bug. That’s what makes it real. That’s what makes it useful in ways a perfect answer never could be. Because here’s the thing: you don’t just need correct information. You need to understand how someone got there. You need the context, the nuance, the “yeah, but watch out for this one thing that nobody tells you.” You need their beautiful human incompleteness, because that’s where the actual learning lives. An AI tool can give you answers instantly. But it can’t tell you what it felt like to be wrong for two years before figuring it out. It can’t say “I thought that too, until…” It can’t share the wisdom that only comes from being human, from struggling, from changing your mind. Use the AI when it serves you. Let it handle the obvious stuff, the quick lookups, the pattern matching, the coding etc. But when you’re here for the real thing? When you’re trying to actually understand something that matters? Seek the humans. Ask the questions. Build the relationships. Because wisdom has always been relational. It’s not transmitted. It’s shared. And that makes all the difference.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Replies (11)

The next step after this is to take seriously the task of defining what is of value to you and then filtering for the humans who are willing to share in ways that matter to you. Sometimes the loudest of voices are broadcasting information that is not helpful for your journey. That is why it is important to test the source by having extended conversations. Multiple back and forth. See if there is a willingness to discuss and or explain. Look for track records, lurk in the comments and examine the replies. I’m pretty they are here but not easy to find.
Wisdom also demands curation. You must build your own council of minds worth trusting on Nostr, testing their signal against noise, their depth against performance. This is not the passive consumption of feeds. This is the active construction of an intellectual network that compounds your own thinking rather than diluting it. View quoted note →
Here’s some hard-won knowledge: - If you’re negotiating comp for a J.O.B. and are given a choice between marginally higher salary and profit sharing bonuses, there’s only one employer in a hundred that’ll be transparent with the balance sheet and/or not blow out a bunch of profit on capital purchases right before bonus day to erase the net that your bonus would have been based on. Go for the extra salary. Or extra paid days off that you can use to work on YOUR projects away from the office. And make sure to keep an eye on where the next bracket kicks in. Better yet, stay away from employers period. They mainly get ahead by making sure their labour costs decrease relative to the value of the dollar by consistently lagging 10-15 years behind the curve on inflation indexed wages.
I love this: “You’re getting the scar tissue. The late nights. The failures that taught them what the textbooks couldn’t.” Two thoughts… - My mad genius of a business coach has helped me avoid countless mistakes because he can see me marching right into them. Great coaches are a gift. - One of my favorite interactions on Nostr in my first 10 days has been helping someone understand what may and may not be helpful in their business re: social media. That advice is rooted in lots of wasted hours and energy - no reason for my fellow pleb to have to do the same. #grownostr #newtonostr View quoted note →
Here’s another gem: “The idea of having a thing, is almost always cooler than actually having the thing.” I’ve been there and learned that lesson. I see guys spending thousands of dollars on toys that are either a draw on their finances because of maintenance, financing and storage costs. Or items that sit in their shop largely unused because the poor sap is working 60 hour weeks to pay for them.
Interesting... Lots to think about, appreciate it. Wouldn't mind exploring this further - I definitely believe there's value in both - Because here’s the thing: you don’t just need correct information. You need to understand how someone got there. You need the context, the nuance, the “yeah, but watch out for this one thing that nobody tells you.” You need their beautiful human incompleteness, because that’s where the actual learning lives. My fear would be the person's context, without accurate/correct information - is like asking them 'their truth' - there's still value in understanding how they interpret things but also having reality/correct info to compare it against contextualizes things further.