Awhile back, on a Ben Thompson/Stratechery podcast, he introduced the concept of “Principle Stacks.”

We have principles.

But they aren’t all equal.

There is a priority order in which they “board the plane.”

So, for example, when I see a headline on CNN that says “Trump contradicts Netanyahu on Gaza,” I understand that CNN’s principle stack has the “we hate Israel” as higher than “we think Trump is a total liar.”

So, Trump’s a total liar unless there is something higher in the principle stack to which it is subservient.

The point here isn’t to rip on CNN. What’s the point? They’re a hollow shell anyway.

The point here is to remind myself that, I too, have principle stacks. So does everyone.

The key is to recognize what they are, determine if the stack is actually in an order aligned with the future vision of the kind of person I want to be, and be aware of when the stack is being deployed, in order to identify moments of potential “stack inconsistency” (which may be viewed as hypocrisy possibly).

Even better, and I don’t know if this is something that one can know or one simply must feel, is when the stack sits in harmonious alignment from top to bottom.

Perhaps that’s when we feel the muscles under the skin relax, when the brow unfurrows, and when the shoulders sink gracefully, sloping toward the earth.

Then, the stack is aligned.

For the moment.

Awhile back, on a Ben Thompson/Stratechery podcast, he introduced the concept of “Principle Stacks.”

We have principles.

But they aren’t all equal.

There is a priority order in which they “board the plane.”

So, for example, when I see a headline on CNN that says “Trump contradicts Netanyahu on Gaza,” I understand that CNN’s principle stack has the “we hate Israel” as higher than “we think Trump is a total liar.”

So, Trump’s a total liar unless there is something higher in the principle stack to which it is subservient.

The point here isn’t to rip on CNN. What’s the point? They’re a hollow shell anyway.

The point here is to remind myself that, I too, have principle stacks. So does everyone.

The key is to recognize what they are, determine if the stack is actually in an order aligned with the future vision of the kind of person I want to be, and be aware of when the stack is being deployed, in order to identify moments of potential “stack inconsistency” (which may be viewed as hypocrisy possibly).

Even better, and I don’t know if this is something that one can know or one simply must feel, is when the stack sits in harmonious alignment from top to bottom.

Perhaps that’s when we feel the muscles under the skin relax, when the brow unfurrows, and when the shoulders sink gracefully, sloping toward the earth.

Then, the stack is aligned.

For the moment.