2025-11-09

Markers of High Agency

38 observations

My previous post makes it clear that I do not think you can raise someone’s agency levels via a 1000 word blog post.

This post is my contribution to the agency industrial complex.

  1. They have exceptionally clear writing.

  2. They say things that allow you to connect dots in your own life.

  3. They are consistently dissatisfied with the state of their work.

  4. They are dissatisfied with the state of the world.

  5. They will always ask the question, no matter how dumb it may make them seem.

  6. They are internally disagreeable.

  7. They believe that agency is an environmentally-induced trait.

  8. They often keep read receipts on.

  9. They respond very quickly.

  10. They treat their own time and other people’s time with the utmost respect.

  11. They either talk very slowly or very quickly.

  12. Talking with them feels like they are being actively inhibited by language.

  13. They poke and prod at social norms and/or technical systems.

  14. They can run to the frontier in less than 6 months.

  15. They are insanely loyal and reliable.

  16. They have many well-formulated opinions across domains that are non-obvious.

  17. They are in relatively good physical shape but not at an extreme, or on a trajectory to be in relatively good shape.

  18. They have that dog in them, constructed by some form of hardship before age 25.

  19. They feel strongly wronged by the world in at least one key dimension.

  20. They feel weakly wronged by the world across many dimensions.

  21. They are simultaneously optimistic and pessimistic.

  22. You get the feeling that they think people misunderstand them.

  23. They remind you of an amalgamation of amazing people.

  24. They follow up relentlessly.

  25. They actively reason by analogy, and understand where it could lead to shortcomings.

  26. They have at least one thing in their desktop or browser that I haven’t heard of and increases their productivity.

  27. They have strong opinions about their tools and workflow but are not married to them.

  28. They have many blind spots, many of them they recognize.

  29. They have high intellectual tism and/or high social tism.

  30. They know more about one segment of the world than anyone else, no matter how niche.

  31. They are in at least one group chat you really want to join.

  32. They are much farther along than their peers in at least one dimension.

  33. They understand compound growth about as well as humans can understand it.

  34. They execute on compound growth in a tangible dimension.

  35. They find ways to escape low agency cultures and sub-cultures.

  36. Many interactions evoke the failed simulation effect.

  37. Their presence inspires you.

  38. They always seem to get the things they want in life.

It is important to note that high agency traits should not be confused with people traditionally deemed to be successful, as success implies agency and intellect directed towards a certain vector. The market for high agency individuals has become sufficiently liquid and lucrative that there are now many performative imposters.

To be sure, high agency people are not necessarily happy or good to be around, nor should you necessarily aspire to be one. As your friendly anonymous internet blogger, this list serves as a record for myself to prevent revisionist history.

This post is inspired by Alexey Guzey’s Omens of exceptional talent.

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