Rocking chair time? Politics will get worse before it gets better. Special ideas often aren't. Even when not lies, statistics often mislead. The irrationality of crowds. Go ahead, look the fool. Read.
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1. “Retiring is just practicing up to be dead”
Your Work Will Last Forever – John P. Weiss – (Blog)
Weiss’s first point is that we often find purpose and community through our work. The results can last long after we’ve left.
The lives of people we help through our work contribute to the betterment of society, even if we are no longer remembered for our efforts.
The second point is simple: traditional retirement often removes people from access to the community and the purpose they need. It doesn’t have to be a job, but we all need a purpose at every stage in life.
Do this: Never truly retire.
#community #purpose #retirement
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2. “Forget what’s true and false.”
Welcome to the shitpost election – Casey Newton – (Platformer newsletter)
I don’t normally “do” politics here, but this is an issue that has concerned me for some time. There’s misinformation intended to fool you, and there’s misinformation intended to annoy you. The former are lies designed to be treated as truth, the latter are “jokes”, intended to make fun of the target.
Of course, there is a long tradition of Americans spreading nasty lies about their candidates for national office.
My concern is twofold: the now extremely rapid spread of misinformation, as we’ve already seen in prior elections, and the newfound ease of creating very plausible, yet very fake, media. The jokes are turning into lies, and it’s scary.
Do this: Be skeptical. Seek the truth. Don’t feed the trolls.
#deepfakes #politics #fake-news
3. “We’re fascinated by ideas that are special.”
“Deep” Bullshit – David Pinsof – (Everything is Bullshit newsletter)
This is a take on how we’re attracted to things that are different or special, and ignore things that are boring. More precisely, it’s all about how we think about, and how we interpret, things.
One example from the essay (there are several):
“If a thing loves, it is infinite.” – William Blake
- Interesting interpretation. If you love someone, you achieve immortality or become a black hole or something.
- Boring interpretation. If you love someone, that is really, really cool.
While I think the goal here is to encourage us to think about how we interpret things, there’s another message that I think is more applicable these days. This phenomenon makes us particularly susceptible to manipulation.
Go this: Think about how you think about things. Are there plausible, yet more boring, explanations?
4. “The data and the stats haven’t changed. Expectations have.”
The Either-Or Economy – Zachary Karabell – (The Edgy Optimist newsletter)
We’ve probably all seen the discussions: the economic numbers for 2024 are very, very good, so why do so many disbelieve? This is part of it:
The vast majority of people, of course, don’t measure inflation by wonky federal statistics. They measure inflation by what they see themselves spending.
To be fair, there are definitely issues. But a topic not mentioned in the essay, but to me excruciatingly clear from the single chart included, is the possibility that perhaps we’re also being manipulated by outside forces. Once again, in our currently divisive environment, consider who benefits from a particular viewpoint.
Do this: Consider both the numbers and the anecdotal evidence, but look for who profits as well.
5. “Online crowds can be as unthinking as in-person ones”
Inoculate Yourself Against Social Contagion (gift link) – Arthur C. Brooks – (The Atlantic)
I, in common with every human being, am capable of losing my faculties of perception and individual discernment when participating in a large group activity that involves intense shared emotion.
This is part explanation for so much of what’s happening around us, and part warning to be wary of it happening to you. It’s not always necessarily obviously the bad you might think of. For example, Brooks opens with his experience in the crowd at Fátima. But it’s all too easy to come up with example after example of people losing themselves, and their rationality, when they become part of “the crowd”.
Do this: Hold on to your rationality.
#crowds #groupthink #rationality
6. “Creativity, by its very nature, looks foolish at first”
The Art of Looking Like An Idiot – Joan Westenberg – (@westenberg newsletter)
This is a rallying cry for everyone who’s ever wanted to do something, but didn’t because they were afraid of the opinions of others. I can confirm a) others will have opinions, b) those opinions don’t matter unless, c) you’ve asked for them, and even then it’s only marginal. Don’t let the fear of others’ opinions stop you from creating, doing, or being what you need.
In a world that seems fucking designed to crush creativity, to encourage conformity, to prioritize fitting in over standing out, the simple act of creating despite the fear of ridicule is an act of rebellion. It’s a declaration that your voice matters, that your ideas have value, that your perspective deserves to be shared.
Maybe your willingness to look foolish will inspire others to do the same.
It’s that last statement that really speaks to me. Leading by example is one of the bravest things we can do.
Do this: Create.
7. “Reading remains an unsurpassed vehicle for the transmission of interesting new ideas and perspectives.”
Where Good Ideas Come From – Steven Johnson – (ebook)
I started 7 Takeaways, in part, to spend more time reading better stuff. A little over three and a half years later, I consider it a success. But it’s all predicated on an assumption that reading itself is valuable. In particular, long-form reading, and even more specifically, reading books. By that measure, it’s been a success as well — my reading list has 137 entries for that same time period.
Johnson’s book is about ideation, creativity, and how to maximise your own ability to come up with new ideas. One approach is to create an environment where unrelated ideas can intermingle in various ways. Many, perhaps most, ideas are really just combinations of existing ideas in unexpected ways.
Reading, as the takeaway states, remains one of the most effective approaches for exposing yourself to a vast variety of ideas. And, no, reading tweets or other short form social-media content doesn’t qualify. Even there, the “best” posts are often the lengthy string of tweets, or other forms of long-form writing.
Do this: Read. Read more. Read books.
Other Links
- Why Do Some People Always Wake Up At 3am Or 4am? – Yup.
- Consensus – “Consensus … direct access to a vast database of over 200 million academic papers through the ChatGPT interface.”
- The Upstream Cause of the Youth Mental Health Crisis is the Loss of Community
What I’m Reading
In progress:
- Iron Kissed – Patricia Briggs
- Where Good Ideas Come From – Steven Johnson
- Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman (audio)
Daily:
- A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World’s Sacred Texts – Leo Tolstoy
A full list of my common sources is on the sources page, and I list the books I’ve read on my Reading List page.
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Thanks!
-Leo