2a2 - The time value of ideas

Last updated Aug 15, 2023

You have a choice: Get $100 today, or $100 in 12 months. Which do you choose?

Most people choose “today”. Why is that?

According to the “time value of money”, ==money you have today is worth more than the same amount in the future== because of the following reasons:

1. Certainty: You get the money. There are no guarantees in life, so waiting for the exact same amount doesn’t make sense.
2. Optionality: You can use the money.
3. Leverage: You can leverage the money to make more money. (And if you don’t, inflation will eat into the $100, making it worth less in a year’s time.)

The same principles apply to ideas.

According to the “time value of ideas”, ideas you develop today are worth more than the same ideas you might develop in the future because of the same reasons:

1. Certainty: You get the idea. (Just clipping articles seems like a safe way to “get” the idea, but what you are really getting is ==tremendous noise filling your system.==)
2. Optionality: You can use the idea. A dynamic network of emerging ideas can help future-proof YOU to the randomness of life.
3. Leverage: You can leverage the idea to make more insights. That’s how note-making gives you immediate value—==you get to leverage new ideas you deeply understand within a dynamic network of thought to build and connect with other emergent ideas.==