SHREEDA SEGAN
Writer
Meridian, a magazine by MercuryMost of the tech founders I meet say their first experiences online involved writing code; mine involved writing blogs. I’ve been writing online since I was 8 years old.
- The future belongs to those who prepare like Dwarkesh Patel
- Byrne Hobart, the unlikely oracle
- Emmett Shear on AI's culture wars
- Inheriting ambition, Sheel Mohnot
- Tim Beiko on Ethereum's moonshot
- How Jonathan Hillis' cabin became a DAO
- Startups through the hands of potters
Reader
Yak Collective, a proto-DAORegular attendee & occasional benevolent dictator for the weekly Governance Studies reading group. Fridays at 11am CT on Discord.
On The Internet
| Twitter: @freeshreeda |
| Farcaster: @shreeda |
| LinkedIn: @shreeda-segan |
| Jobs: Resume |
| Email: shreedashreeda [at] gmail [dot] com |
"Without seduction by the atopic Other, which sparks erotic desire, thinking withers into mere work, which always reproduces the Same." — Byung Chul-Han
Things I Love
I notice that in these instances I am most empowered to reach for a future that feels truly worthwhile. I can swallow the hard truths of a sociopathic necessity that working for a worthwhile future may entail; I can appreciate how deep my affections for my budding lover run, as there is a decompression in my chest that leads to newly opened cavities of affectation.
I am in love with this sunlight as it cuts through the lightness of open and yet to be plowed fields.
Music
Here are some of my favorite albums:
- Since I Left You: If you're looking for the canonical example of sampling in electronic music, this is it.
- Music Has The Right to Children: Wikipedia describes it as 'an adult meditation on childhood, concerned with play, naïveté and nostalgia, all tinted with rosy pastoralism,' but 'also devilishly subtle, intricate and emotionally mature.'
- Loveless: Whoever this album touches, is touched by it deeply.
- Innerspeaker: This album will always have a space in my heart. I've been listening to it since senior year of high school and no plans to stop revisiting it.
- Dive: If I were stuck on an island and could bring a few albums with me, this would be one of them.
- You've Come A Long Way, Baby: This album puts the decade I was born into context.
- Mythic Music: Jazz for aliens, perhaps. (Stoned ones)
- ACID REFLUX: An album that appears in my latest Spotify Wrapped that I'm absolutely sure no one has heard of.
- All Mirrors: The literal voice of an angel.
- Sun Giant: The album that has come closest to making me want to learn how to sing.
- Thank Your Lucky Stars: Contains music I want on my hypothetical wedding day playlist.
Movies
I like some movies, not all of them.
- Hereditary (2018): How to make movies about dysfunctional families.
Powerlifting
Beginning: December 2021
Started out at Starting Strength Austin & previously trained under Lee Pavelich. Currently at Home Barbell Club.
| Lift | Lifetime PRs |
|---|---|
| Bench | 1x1 x 152.5lbs |
| Press | 1x1 x 115lbs |
| Squat | 5x1 x 225lbs |
| Deadlift | 1x1 x 295lbs |
Lifting teaches several life lessons, like when to exercise discipline (almost always during novice linear progression) vs. taking a break, that most people have the potential to be much stronger than they might ever discover, to break big goals into incremental steps, the importance of protein in diet, and the benefits of having at least an hour or two each day when you are totally focused on the present moment.
I've always lifted first and foremost for my mental health.
“The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back. The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal.”
––– Henry Rollins
Pottery
Click to scroll through some of my favorite pieces below.
My primary research interests are in psychology, design, architecture, philosophy, and cognitive science. Scroll through some of my favourite books above.
If you have recommendations, reach out.
The future belongs to those who prepare like Dwarkesh Patel
How the rising star of podcasting eschews the breadth v. depth dilemma and is quickly becoming known as ‘the new Lex Fridman.’
Emmett Shear on AI's culture wars
The former interim CEO of OpenAI demystifies the various factions of AI and its risk to humanity.
Byrne Hobart, the unlikely oracle
How the hedge fund analyst turned writer makes the future look clear, even without a crystal ball.
| TOPIC | MY NOTES | RESOURCES |
|---|---|---|
| Design Systems | [A Pattern Langauge] [Not So Big House] | |
| Governance | [The Network State] [Online Governance Primer] [Vitalik's blog] |
The writing I am interested in is analogous to published work you’d commonly find in a book, magazine, newspaper, or journal. But instead, you’re finding a similar quality of writing on the internet. Typically this writing is closer to self-published than not.
Unlike typical blogging, internet writers are not necessarily chronicling their everyday stories and experiences. They’re interested in a different type of writing, sometimes called “insight porn” or even longform blogging.
The bottom line is that these writers are leveraging the open nature of the internet to write and post quality content on their terms, catered to their own goals and interests, and often for their audiences. The freedom to write for oneself seems to unlock the creative possibilities and risk-taking that centralizing platform-writing prohibits.
Internet writers by-and-large do not conduct active research. Their ideas come from some marriage of reading, watching, learning, talking, and experiencing. I write about their workflows here:
→ Internet Writer Workflows