Your Foundation Is Critical

🧶 Tags:: #literature_Notes
🗃 Resources:: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant (2020)
2026-06-10

I have people in my life I consider to be very well-read who aren't very smart. The reason is because even though they're very well-read, they read the wrong things in the wrong order. They started out reading a set of false or just weakly true things, and those formed the axioms of the foundation for their worldview. Then, when new things come, they judge the new idea based on a foundation they already built. Your foundation is critical.

What can I do for the next sixty days to become a clearer, more independent thinker? Read the greats in math, science, and philosophy. Ignore your contemporaries and news. Avoid tribal identification. Put truth above social approval.

Study logic and math, because once you've mastered them, you won't fear any book. When it comes to reading, make sure your foundation is very, very high quality.