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Nadia Asparouhova

Nadia Asparouhova
How to do the jhanas The jhanas are a series of eight (or nine) altered mental states, which progress from euphoria, to...
8 months ago
77
8 months ago
The jhanas are a series of eight (or nine) altered mental states, which progress from euphoria, to calm, to dissolution of reality – culminating in cessation, or loss of consciousness. They are induced via sustained concentration, without any external stimuli or substances. This...
Nadia Asparouhova
Working notes for Summer of Protocols I’m participating in the Summer of Protocols research program this summer as a Core Researcher. It’s...
a year ago
71
a year ago
I’m participating in the Summer of Protocols research program this summer as a Core Researcher. It’s an 18-week program, funded by the Ethereum Foundation, that aims to catalyze a wider exploration of protocols and their social implications. I plan to focus on protocols as...
Nadia Asparouhova
Explaining tech’s notion of talent scarcity TLDR: Most conversations about “top talent” assume Pareto distribution; however, a closer...
a year ago
71
a year ago
TLDR: Most conversations about “top talent” assume Pareto distribution; however, a closer examination suggests that different corporate cultures benefit from different types of talent distribution (normal, Pareto, and a third option – bimodal) according to the problem they’re...
Nadia Asparouhova
Does meditation experience improve success with the jhanas? Jhanas – a series of altered mental states that are accessed via concentration – are often described...
8 months ago
61
8 months ago
Jhanas – a series of altered mental states that are accessed via concentration – are often described as an “advanced meditation practice,” a phrase that suggests that one must be a skilled meditator to access them: just as only a skilled outdoorsman would embark upon an...
Nadia Asparouhova
Mapping digital worlds I gave a talk at The Stoa in February about “Mapping digital worlds to understand our present and...
a year ago
44
a year ago
I gave a talk at The Stoa in February about “Mapping digital worlds to understand our present and future.” You can watch the video here; the following is a transcript of that talk. Peter Limberg asked me to talk about an analysis I did late last year, where I mapped out all the...
Nadia Asparouhova
The creator economy I’ve had some lingering thoughts over the past year about what it means to be a “creator,” further...
over a year ago
34
over a year ago
I’ve had some lingering thoughts over the past year about what it means to be a “creator,” further accelerated by a recent conversation with a friend, and I want to try to unpack those feelings here. The “creator economy” popped into our vernacular with surprisingly little moral...
Nadia Asparouhova
Early stage funding markets for science - an analysis In the summer of 2022, with support from Schmidt Futures, I took a closer look at several emerging...
over a year ago
30
over a year ago
In the summer of 2022, with support from Schmidt Futures, I took a closer look at several emerging science funding mechanisms – rapid grants, scout programs, and focused research organizations (FROs) – to understand how they serve the needs of early stage science. I also...
Nadia Asparouhova
The New American University I had the pleasure of stumbling upon the work of Michael Crow, Arizona State University’s president,...
over a year ago
26
over a year ago
I had the pleasure of stumbling upon the work of Michael Crow, Arizona State University’s president, earlier this year, and I so enjoyed his thoughts on knowledge production that I immediately wondered how his philosophy would translate to ASU as an organization. Turns out,...
Nadia Asparouhova
Mapping out the tribes of climate Climate is a gravity well for talent, but why don’t other, equally impactful topics attract talent...
over a year ago
26
over a year ago
Climate is a gravity well for talent, but why don’t other, equally impactful topics attract talent in the same way? Why isn’t everyone dropping everything to work on homelessness, or global poverty, or curing cancer? With many peers in tech now working on climate issues, I tried...
Nadia Asparouhova
Idea machines Tech as a system of values, and not just an industry, is heavily driven by its subcultures and their...
over a year ago
26
over a year ago
Tech as a system of values, and not just an industry, is heavily driven by its subcultures and their ideologies. Where do these ideologies come from, and how do they influence what’s accomplished? One of the most visible ideologies in tech is effective altruism (or EA), a...
Nadia Asparouhova
Understanding science funding in tech, 2011-2021 For those who sit between science and tech, it’s hard not to notice the proliferation of new...
over a year ago
21
over a year ago
For those who sit between science and tech, it’s hard not to notice the proliferation of new initiatives launched in the last two years, aimed at making major improvements in the life sciences especially. While I don’t have a science background, nor any personal relationship to...
Nadia Asparouhova
Not voting as a form of protest Sometime at the end of last year, I wondered about what it would look like to have a mass-organized...
over a year ago
21
over a year ago
Sometime at the end of last year, I wondered about what it would look like to have a mass-organized abstention campaign. My interest in this topic was mostly casual, but in a moment of enthusiasm, I shared these thoughts on a mailing list with a bunch of creative...
Nadia Asparouhova
Cultivating agency I didn’t always know that I wanted to have kids. I wasn’t against it, necessarily – for awhile,...
over a year ago
21
over a year ago
I didn’t always know that I wanted to have kids. I wasn’t against it, necessarily – for awhile, there were just more reasons in the “why not” column than the “why”: uncertainty about whether I’d be a good parent, fear of losing my identity, a lack of maternal instinct. Those...