*date: july 14 2023* --- 'Hidden influences' are influences on your life that are unknown to you. It's a particularly satisfying feeling whenever I uncover one. It adds newfound weight to the past, and leaves me impressed by how the dots connect. It has happened a few times recently, enough to write a few words about it to honor such moments, and maybe find relatability with you reading this who may have felt this too. One example of it was when reading [[the man from the future, the visionary life of john von neumann by ananyo bhattacharya (book notes)|the man from the future]]. I decided to read this book out of a vague interest for von Neumann. I'd heard of his involvement in the development of computers and in the early days of artificial intelligence. I was particularly interested in him because I knew he'd written about the connection between artificial intelligence and the human brain. Mostly though, I had picked up the book because of [a funny tweet](https://twitter.com/ObadiaAlex/status/1638298391510757379?s=20) about it. As I went through the book, I was expecting to learn about the history of computing and von Neumann's role in it, but was instead surprised by the breadth of his contributions in other fields than computing. In chapter 6, I learnt that between his essential contributions to quantum physics and computing, von Neumann [founded game theory](https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/courses/soco/projects/1998-99/game-theory/neumann.html) (!!). A few chapters later, I learnt that his book [Theory of Self-reproducing Automata](https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/john-von-neumanns-cellular-automata#:~:text=In%20Theory%20of%20Self%2DReproducing,%E2%80%9Cvon%20Neumann%E2%80%9D%20neighborhood) was one of the main inspiration of John Conway's [Game of Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life), which was ultimately Conway's claim to mathematical fame. I was impressed! Besides the expected impact of von Neumann on my life from his contribution in computing, I was now realizing von Neumann had something to do with my meeting of John Conway many years ago, and had been essential to my research on MEV which is absolutely reliant on game theory. I was also curious. Were there deeper reasons for why I'd chosen to read this book? Why hadn't I heard of von Neumann's work before? What other hidden influences were out there for me to uncover? Who should I read about next to continue connecting the dots? It felt like the more I'd learn about who I'm influenced by, the closer I would be to some truth about the choices I make, the paths I take. The easier it would be to place myself in a lineage of individuals who have come before me, to place myself in prior schools of thought and movements. In short, the easier it would be to unmask the giants on whose shoulders I was standing on. Some of you will read this and argue that it’s really hard *not* to be influenced by influential people like von Neumann. Some of you might also add that it's foolish to seek to understand our influences as it's too complex, too abstract and too interlinked to ever make objective sense of it. That's all fair, yet the point of this post is not to advocate for everyone to seek out their hidden influences, or to debate the magnitude of von Neumann's influence on my life, rather it is to appreciate the times in our lives where new information allows us to look back and connect the dots, giving us a new perspective on our own lives. It reminds me of a quote by Kierkegaard: *Life can only be understood by looking backward; but it must be lived looking forward*. --- sidenote: - another example of this happened while listening to [Erykah Badu's On & On](https://youtu.be/TW28iWV7nxE). - it wasn't the first time I had listened to the song but as the hook came in, I realized it was sampled in a rap song I used to play on repeat as a kid called [Je Marche Seul by Areno Jaz](https://youtu.be/7zq2bkY6HWQ). - it surprised me because my music tastes at the time weren't as developed as they are today. yet here i was, listening to a french rap song sampling Baduh, an artist I now love very much. - it made me wonder if one of the reasons I like Erykah Baduh is because of that song I used to play as a kid, because of her familiar voice. - i also wondered if in a way my liking of that song and my liking of Erykah Baduh today was just one continuum of my music taste. where I didn't know I would like Erykah Baduh yet back then, but the producers of the french rap song liked her, and were influenced by her throughout the song's production. the rapper Areno Jaz liked her, influencing his flow and his rhymes. All of this priming me to ultimately vibe with her music.