← Archive

On Agency

A working note

Agency is a funny thing. Every once in a while I think really hard about what it really means and always have a slightly different definition. I think the best definition is "That you can get what you want in the world." but I do actually think theres more to it. I think you need to (or should) want the right things as well. Palmer Luckey and Elon Musk are two great examples. They both have obviously extremely high agency, and both have directed that energy towards highly aspirational goals. I have another friend that I consider having high agency, but he uses it to go to lots of concerts and music festivals. Sounds low agency, but even though we've all outgrown that phase he's able to conjure up a new group of friends and he gets himself up and out to these events all across the world. By my definition, it technically counts, and yet it doesn't feel like it because its being wasted. I often think about this for myself, I have spiky agency, I want to have higher agency, I "want to want more" instead of actually being excited about any particular thing.

When I think about the things I care about, there is definitely a viable list.

  • I like robotics, and new advances that will get us personalized home robots
  • I love American Dynamism, and seeing companies like Hadrian or Valar Atomics take industrial capacity seriously. This is a relatively new interest of mine but it aligns with my broader interest around cool technology and science fiction becoming real.
  • I like science fiction, I like the idea of futuristic places, futuristic ideas, and things that unmoor us from our day to day drudgery.
  • I like memetics and politics. I think the 2016 election and the covid era made me realize just how susceptible to mass hysteria or mass psychosis the world truly is. I find this to be a really fascinating problem because how can you really fix it without succumbing to it?
  • I like open finance...for politicians at least. And ways to bring their governance to bear.
  • I like good writing, and good analysis. I like business news.