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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • Atlas Shrugged changed my political beliefs entirely when I read it as a teenager. Real life experience and empathy changed it back again a few years later, thankfully. It’s tough when you’re young, recognizing that the world is flawed and searching for something that might be an answer.

    It’s not quite the same because I was never any kind of ardent “pro-nuke” activist, but the movie Threads took me from a position of resigned ambivalence regarding the existence of nuclear weapons to a strong believer in global disarmament. If anyone is neutral on the topic of nuclear weapons, I’d suggest they give it a watch.



  • There is a social cost to abandoning your shopping cart; it’s just not borne by the abandoner. Carts left in the parking lot can block parking spots or damage cars if moved by wind or gravity. Additionally, if no one returns their cart, there will be none available at the storefront for use by the next customer. That’s part of the “test” as I understand it - there’s no one grading you individually on whether you fulfill your communal responsibility to return the cart, but that doesn’t mean there’s no impact from your failure to do so.

    Feels like we might be talking past each other or conceptualizing the shopping cart theory differently?


  • I like a cover letter. Not to get my ass kissed, but so I can see you draw the lines between your work experience and the job posting. My field is niche enough that there are few applicants with directly related experience, but there are many ways to gain the basic skills required. I can make all sorts of inferences based on a resume, but I don’t want to guess when choosing who to interview. Just tell me how you match up and what you think you’ll bring to the table. This helps me separate people who are applying for any job they can vs those who know (at least kind of) what they’re getting into.




  • I’ve hired (low) dozens of people in public sector environments, and neither myself nor anyone on my hiring panels has ever cared if we receive a post-interview thank you. Maybe private sector is different, but I’d just as soon not have you clog up my inbox with thanks or make a post-interview pitch about your skills/excitement.

    If you say thanks in the room, we’re square. Likewise, I always thank people for their interest and time in the role.