3 Year Anniversary
3 Year Anniversary
3.00 | Lessons from 3 years | "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." - Saint Augustine
News and Numbers
Markets this Week:
S&P 500 is down 1%
NASDAQ 100 is trading flat
Bitcoin-USD is up 1%
Ethereum-USD is up 2%
Headlines from this Week:
The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 5-5.25%.
WHO declares end to COVID global health emergency.
Finance
By Vlad Estoup, B.Comm. (Finance), working in Ethereum cybersecurity
Will Rates Rise Forever?
The past years have been a roller coaster ride for the economy, as the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. One of the most significant concerns for investors has been the rise in interest rates. While it's true that interest rates have been on the rise lately, there is no need to panic just yet. Rates will not rise forever, and here's why.
Interest rates rise when the economy is doing well, and inflation is a concern. Central banks hike rates to slow down economic growth and curb inflation. However, this is a delicate balancing act. If rates are raised too much, too quickly, it can lead to an economic slowdown or even a recession. On the other hand, if rates are not raised enough, inflation can spiral out of control, which can be equally damaging to the economy.
Inflation has been on the rise lately, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising by nearly 8% in the US at its peak in 2022, the highest level in decades. However, the Federal Reserve has been quick to reassure investors that this is temporary, and inflation is likely to ease off in the coming months. The reasons for the recent surge in inflation are varied, ranging from supply chain disruptions to pent-up demand after a year of lockdowns.
The Federal Reserve has indicated that it will keep interest rates high for the time being, in spite of the recent rise in inflation. The Fed's stance is that any inflationary pressures are likely to be transitory, and the economy needs to be put in check to curb this newfound inflation.
While it's important to closely monitor the situation and stay informed, it's equally important not to overreact. Markets tend to be forward-looking, and a bull market can kick in well before interest rates start to come down. It's also not a good idea to sell your investments during a temporary dip in the market, as history has shown that markets tend to recover well before interest rates budge.
In conclusion, while the recent rise in interest rates may be cause for concern, it's important to keep things in perspective. Rates will not rise forever, and the current surge in inflation is likely to be temporary in the big scheme of things.
This is not financial advice and you should always do your own research before investing in any securities or cryptocurrencies.
Sci-Tech
By Keyann, Software Engineer in Web3
Reflecting on 3 Years of Tech Pieces
Over the past three years of writing tech pieces, I’ve learned a lot.
Initially, I believed that immersing myself in the industry and learning from it would increase my chances of success. However, I discovered that newsletters and simply covering news wasn't the key to success, or even peace of mind.
When you look at the news for long enough, you start to notice certain patterns or even cliches. It seems there’s always some crisis that’s manufactured in the news for some ulterior agenda for profit.
While covering news helped me gain knowledge and insight, it became apparent that pretty much all news stories are meant to distract you, and I was doing a disservice to others and myself by freely disseminating distractive information.
The attention we give so freely to these stories either scare us, polarizes us, or distracts us, leading to unproductive behaviour. These are cognitive resources that could be spent fostering and cultivating meaningful relationships, improving your skills in a particular domain, growing a business, and solving problems in the real world.
In retrospect, I learned that focusing on personal development and sharing the knowledge and skills I acquired was more valuable than simply reporting on mainstream news. This approach was more relevant to my goals, and allocating most of my time to it made me feel more accomplished, fulfilled, and content, ultimately improving my odds of success and happiness.
In some ways, I guess you could say I’ve learned to mind my own business.
Paradigm Shift
By Roman Kuittinen-Dhaoui, BBA (Hons.), CPHR Candidate
Language Barrier
Travelling to a foreign country can be an exciting experience, but it can also be challenging when there is a language barrier. This week, I was on vacation in Mexico. I am always amazed at how, even in places like Cancun where the majority of their economy is based on tourism, it’s still a struggle to find English translations of things such as menus, directions, etc.
Not being able to communicate effectively with locals is a humbling experience as you feel ill-prepared, inadequate, and somewhat dumb trying to put together some broken sentences with the few words you know or were able to look up translations. Dealing with a language barrier can be an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth. It requires one to be patient, adaptable, and creative in finding ways to communicate (e.g., hand signals). The experience of overcoming a language barrier while travelling can be a valuable lesson in communication and human connection, reminding us of the power of language to bring people together despite their differences.
It’s like when you’re injured. For example, you don’t realize how much you used a certain muscle (e.g., your bicep) until you feel the pain of using that muscle. Likewise with language, I take being able to eloquently express my thoughts and connect with others for granted until I can’t rely on verbal communication.
Additionally, travelling frequently can be a motivator to learn a new language (e.g., Spanish) to not miss out on opportunities to engage with locals, learn about their way of life, and make new friends. Learning a new language can have numerous cognitive benefits, both in the short term and the long term such as improved memory, enhanced problem-solving skills, increased attention and focus, better multitasking skills, etc.
TLDR: the language barrier you experience while travelling is a humbling experience.
(Head)Space
Lessons from 3 Years of Headspace
By Keyann
With everything I’ve written, it's hard to know where to start, or what the common lesson is from all of them. But I like to think that I have grown by writing, as it has helped me clarify my thoughts by looking at them more objectively in order to understand them better, rather than the way certain things gets discarded in a headspace of fleeting thoughts.
As I reflect on all that I've written, there are two things that stand out to me as the most valuable - ‘optimism bias’ and ‘affective forecasting bias’, also known as the "impact bias.".
Optimism bias is the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes and underestimate the likelihood of negative outcomes. However, I've realized that my decision-making is also influenced by affective forecasting bias, which is the tendency for people to overestimate the emotional impact of future events, both positive and negative.
I think these fallacies are relevant because so much of what motivates our goals and decisions, especially on a long-term basis, is based on how we think the outcome will be and how we’ll feel after it. The way you navigate these moments can have a big effect on your life.
Ultimately, I've learned and understood that I am not good at predicting and estimating my feelings or the likelihood of positive outcomes.
So, what's the solution to this? I don't have a perfect answer, but I've discovered a few things that work for me.
Firstly, cultivating self-awareness. By writing about my headspace, I've gained a better understanding of my own thought patterns and biases, which has helped me become more aware of my tendencies and not fall into them.
Secondly, having a clear sense of values, goals, and time. It’s easy to get caught up in dreams, fantasies, feelings, or negative outcomes. But by being clear about your goals, realistic about your time, and prepared for negative outcomes, you can set actionable steps and work towards them consistently to make optimal progress.
Lastly, gratitude and being present. I often get caught up in thinking about the future, comparing my life, or dwelling on the past, but if you can’t appreciate what you have in the moment then nothing will long term.
For me, the best way I applied this was last year when I made an app. I was so clear on what I was building, why I was building it, and how I would respond if it didn’t work out the way I hoped. I had been thinking about the app for a year and dreaming of being in a startup for years more, but I barely made progress until I actually devoted all my free time towards it for like 3-4 months straight, all while working and going to school. It was one of the most challenging things I’ve committed to, but I managed to build it. And even though it didn’t amount to what I had hoped, it helped me develop my programming skills and resume to a point where I got the job I wanted. In retrospect, I spent years in my head fantasizing about something that was actually just a few months of consistent, solid work away.
Company of the Week
The Graph
The Graph is an indexing protocol for querying networks like Ethereum and IPFS. Anyone can build and publish open APIs, called subgraphs, making data easily accessible. Subgraphs can be composed into a global graph of all the world's public information. This data can be transformed, organized, and shared across applications for anyone to query with just a few keystrokes. Before The Graph, teams had to develop and operate proprietary indexing servers. This required significant engineering and hardware resources and broke the important security properties required for decentralization. By making data more accessible, The Graph is growing in popularity in the Web3 developer community.
Written by: Vlad Estoup, Keyann Al-Kheder, and Roman Kuittinen-Dhaoui