Friday Links 08-03-28

From the Web

The Entrepreneurship Myth – Owning your own business sounds glamorous, but according to Scott Shane, it isn’t the way to get rich. The article talks about Shane’s book The Illusions of Entrepreneurship which shows research that says small business owners tend to earn less than they would have at a job. The article isn’t pessimistic, as it supports the idea that, even if entrepreneurs aren’t making as much money, job satisfaction is much higher. (Hat Tip: IWillTeachYouToBeRich)

Wanting What Isn’t Real – If dragons were real, would people find the idea of dragons interesting? In another great article at Overcoming Bias, Eliezer writes about the importance in enjoying what actually exists. This post reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, from Douglas Adams:

Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?

From the Archives

Here’s a few posts about effective email usage I dragged up from the archives:

How to Keep Email From Wasting Your Time – “Developing a system to efficiently handle your e-mail is a must, even if your current inbox doesn’t demand it. You’re forced to be efficient when facing a hundred e-mails a day. When your e-mail needs are moderate, it is easy to kill hours a day without even realizing it.”

The 7 Bad Email Habits That Make People Want to Kill You – “4) … Don’t try to be witty or sarcastic in an e-mail and pretend as if everything you say will be taken literally. Although a few metaphors can come across well in an e-mail, most don’t. The person on the other side can’t tell with what intensity or emphasis you typed the words.”

Seven Rules for Enhanced Email Communication – “Given how important e-mail is in today’s world, it is amazing how bad some people are using it. Here are some tips to improve your communication through e-mail.”