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  "kind": "fragment",
  "origin": "https://www.msweet.net/notes/",
  "page": "700-moss-toads",
  "author": {
    "name": "Matthew McDowell-Sweet",
    "url": "https://www.msweet.net/"
  },
  "created": "2026-08-29T16:21:24Z",
  "updated": "2026-08-29T16:21:24Z",
  "version": 1,
  "content_md": "First, one needs to have standards to lower, though.\n\n> Lowering standards is how you back off from prematurely optimizing outcomes in a particular finite game in favor of extending and enriching the infinite game. Lowering standards is how you create room in your illegible life utility function to change standards altogether. And you do it all without prematurely disrupting the nominal forms of your life too much. It's often better to phone it in while you figure it out, rather than abandoning things outright. After all, you might decide the right thing to do is to raise the standards again with a renewed commitment.\n\n[Mediocratopia: 11 — Ribbonfarm ↗](https://ribbonfarm.com/2021/09/20/mediocratopia-11)",
  "content_html": "<p>First, one needs to have standards to lower, though.</p>\n<blockquote><p>Lowering standards is how you back off from prematurely optimizing outcomes in a particular finite game in favor of extending and enriching the infinite game. Lowering standards is how you create room in your illegible life utility function to change standards altogether. And you do it all without prematurely disrupting the nominal forms of your life too much. It's often better to phone it in while you figure it out, rather than abandoning things outright. After all, you might decide the right thing to do is to raise the standards again with a renewed commitment.</p></blockquote>\n<p class=\"source\"><a href=\"https://ribbonfarm.com/2021/09/20/mediocratopia-11\">Mediocratopia: 11 — Ribbonfarm ↗</a></p>",
  "content_hash": "sha256:7fc3cf0c0fecb5415af68887b0c90d4cd4d8ba5b7cc4a1a76d5d5a4afce831ce",
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  "changelog": [
    {
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      "at": "2026-08-29T16:21:24Z",
      "note": null
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