2026 Neuroplasticity beginning
Published:
Intro
Work
It’s pretty clear that the way we work is going through a fundamental transformation. With Claude Code, now the fundamental units of intellectual work are democratized, so the skill of writing basic code is no longer valuable. So what remains? Knowing what to work on, having connections, trust, branding, et cetera will be hard for AI to automate, and so it will be even more important to lean into those things. Organizational skills, research taste, and convinction are now even stronger levers for outperforming the market.
Badminton
As a way to get in weekly cardio and also learn something new, I started badminton lessons with Kenny Leung at the Synergy Badminton Academy next to my apartment in Menlo Park. There are interesting differences between badminton and tennis, and I like analyzing why those differences exist.
- Badminton strokes are small and quick and optimized for recovery, whereas in tennis you can have a big stroke because the time between shots is a lot longer.
- Badminton uses deceptive movements a lot more than tennis, also because the shorter time between shots means that opponents have less time to recover from a deception.
- Badminton uses the wrist and arm a lot more because moving and recovering quickly is a lot more important than generating power by striking with your body rotation like in tennis.
- Tennis it can be possible to hit a winner almost anywhere from the court, but in Badminton this is not possible because of the drag from the birdie caps the max speed that the birdie can travel.
Some AI-related analogies that I had about the game:
- Just like other sports, the best way to play badminton depends on your body type. For example, if you are younger than your opponent then you want to tire them out. Against a taller opponent, direction changes can be good.
- Having a teacher helps a lot compared to trying to learn something by yourself. Imagine if I had to learn badminton just with the rules of the game and without anyone to play with, it would just be like trying to do RL on math with a random init. So sometimes, SFT can help a huge amount.
- I enjoyed having to unlearn some concepts from tennis and rewire my brain for badminton, as this is analogous to how in AI, we have to unlearn things from a previous era in order to perform most effectively in the current era. This ties into neuroplasticity generally.
Amangiri
I went with a John, Linda, and a few other co-workers to Amangiri for three days. One of John’s friends hosted us at the grand villa. The thing that makes Amangiri special is the landscape and the privacy. Obviously the amenities and service were top notch, and the way architecture disappears into the landscape makes it feel like you’re one with the environment.
Left, the pool at Amangiri with a Native American performance; middle, the villa at Amangiri; right, horseback riding.
Health
I started using Function Health pretty seriously, taking four blood tests.
| Metric | Jan 12 | Jan 21 | Feb 23 | Mar 09 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ApoB | 127 | - | 87 | 97 |
| LDL | 159 | 151 | 108 | 115 |
| HDL | 56 | 56 | 62 | 66 |
| Non-HDL | 172 | 165 | 121 | 135 |
| Total | 228 | 221 | 183 | 201 |
| Total / HDL ratio | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Triglycerides | 43 | 47 | 52 | 94 |
I found out that at the beginning of the year, my cholesterol was incredibly high! It was almost unbelievable, so I retested, and indeed it was high. I felt like my lifestyle was already relatively healthy before so there wasn’t too much to change, but I asked ChatGPT and I made the following changes:
| Category | Before Jan 12 | After Jan 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | BJ longevity mix; macadamia nuts, cashews, some pistachios and pecans; spinach; 2–4 eggs with yolks | BJ longevity mix, mostly pistachios and pecans; spinach; egg whites |
| Lunch | Salad with kale, tomato, cucumber, onion, 6–7 slices of beef, some chicken, tofu, feta or mozzarella cheese | Salad with kale, tomato, cucumber, onion, 3–4 slices of beef, a lot of chicken, tofu |
| Dinner / Additional Food | Same salad as lunch; Chobani yogurt protein drink; whey protein shake; occasionally hot pot or Thai food | Cafeteria food, usually chicken and vegetables; BJ protein shake; nonfat Greek yogurt; almond milk; occasionally Sweetgreen with salmon |
| Exercise | Cardio 1–2x/week; weightlifting 2–3x/week | Cardio 4x/week; weightlifting 2x/week |
| Alcohol | 2x/month | 4x/month |
| Supplements | Creatine; fish oil inconsistently | Creatine; fish oil inconsistently |
At first I didn’t believe the Feb 23 test result because it looked too good, but the March 09 test result confirms that it’s not a fluke. I didn’t stay consistent with the cardio as work and social life picked up so we’ll see when I retest whether the results hold or if I need to continue doing cardio.
Left, running with Shuchao after work at Meta; middle, getting a prenuvo scan; right, a hike at Stanford dish when Yi was visiting.
Adventures in the SF bay area
I continued to build up my acquired taste for the bay area via various short excursions not too far away.
- Shrooms in the presidio with friends was such an adventure.
- Devil’s slide is a very peaceful hike with a touch of American history.
- Ridge Trailhead offers a dual view of a sunset in the distance in addition to the eastern city view.
- Atef and Megan’s wedding was my first and I am so happy for them, they had such a cool wedding in SF city hall. Megan’s social ability really inspires me.
Going to these places with friends (or dates) are such great memories and a great way to lose myself in the nature.
Left, a hike in the presidio; middle, Ridge Trailhead; right, Devil’s slide.
Left, Megan’s wedding; middle, making dumplings at Megan’s for new years; right, hike in Presidio with Anna, Megan, and Kevin.
Left, dinner with Tengyu after he lost a bet to me about when AI would solve the hardest IMO problems; middle, at Linda’s room with Michelle, Megan, and Andrew;
Conclusions
Conclusion