Being easy to work with. Accepting old age. Being judgy. Being adaptable. Being brave. Being ethical. Being interesting.
“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined,
irreverent and original manner possible.”
― Richard Feynmann
1. “The skill to build is to be easy to work with”
Advice on Enduring Today’s Uncertain, Hostile Times – Adam Savage – (Tested on YouTube)
Former Mythbusters co-host Savage answers a question from a viewer about a t-shirt he often wears that says “Empathy, Kindness, Respect” which leads him down a very reflective and philosophical path. Besides suggesting that being easy to work with is an incredibly important skill (it is), this quote caught my attention:
Everything good I have in my life is because of empathy and kindness and respect.
Think about that. He prioritizes not his skills, which are many, or his luck, of which he had much, but rather the attributes needed when working and interacting with other people. I find it a very valuable perspective.
Do this: Prioritize empathy and kindness and respect.
Support 7 Takeaways
(Or just forward this to a friend; that helps too.)
2. “Accept old age like a decades-long root canal”
How to Be Old and Content, Even Happy – Gary Buzzard – (Enjoy the Moment)
Acceptance is hard. And yet when it happens, things get less complicated.
Old age will be better if you accept it like a root canal — relax and don’t resist the process. It’s happening whether you’re tense or relaxed. So you might as well relax. Root canals can be painful, but they can also lead to healing, less pain, and more confident smiles.
Even more than acceptance, gratitude is called for.
I am grateful for every new day, at least when I remember to be. But most of the time, I take it for granted that I’ve made it to 81. Each morning before I get out of bed, I should thank God, the universe, the Tao, or Mother Nature for allowing me another year on Planet Earth.
The essay is a lovely reminder of how we can age with grace.
Do this: Accept and be grateful if you can.
3. “Humans are extremely judgy.”
Everything Is Signaling – David Pinsof – (Everything is Bullshit)
Pinsof examines the idea that the majority of human behavior is motivated by how we appear to others; in other words, signalling.
Humans have: 1) a powerful motive to signal (i.e., their urge to gain status), 2) a powerful means to signal (i.e., their spectacular mind reading powers), and 3) a vast number of opportunities to signal, roughly equal to the number of ways they are judged by their hyper-judgy peers.
While the knee-jerk reaction is to consider signalling a bad motivation, what he adds is the concept of “defensive signalling”.
What is a defensive signal? It’s a signal designed to avoid looking inferior to your peers—e.g., dumber, meaner, thirstier, less devoted to the tribe, etc. It’s designed to avoid our worst nightmare: a descent to the bottom of the social ladder.
Offensive signalling might be all those peers actively (though perhaps subconsciously) trying to position themselves as better than others. It’s an interesting take on human behavior.
Do this: Watch for signals.
4. “The future is not determined. It never has been.”
A soft-landing manual for the second gilded age – Joan Westenberg – (Blog)
The lengthy essay lays out a possible path as AI inevitably changes the work and political landscapes.
I realize this is almost at odds with the takeaway above, since it makes predictions about the future, but this quote captures a lot of my reaction to the AI doomers who feel it’ll destroy jobs and society:
New industries will emerge. New forms of work will appear. People will adapt, because people always adapt.
This is nothing new. Each new technological shift has resulted in similar upheaval. The constant is change, and the fact that we can, and will, adapt. The only question is how hard we’ll resist the change.
Do this: Adapt. Change.
5. “Just be brave”
How Do You Create When You Don’t Feel Safe? – Hank Green – (YouTube)
The internet isn’t a safe place, particularly if you make your living by creating and publishing things for the world to see. Trust me on this.
Hank Green discusses the reality he sees and experiences, and outlines several approaches that people can take to deal with it all. I’m partial to bravery.
Real creativity is so harshly constrained by the ruthlessness of our current information environment.
Creating is scary. It can also be very rewarding – trust me on this as well. The “trick”, if you want to call it that, is to set your own goals, choose those voices you feel worth listening to, and completely ignore the rest. It’s not easy, particularly as you’re starting, but it’s very doable.
Do this: Be brave.
6. “Was my inflicting of pain unethical?”
Neat ethical principles have nothing to say to doctors like me, faced with the brutal, bloody compromises of hospital life – Ronald W Dworkin – (Aeon)
Nominally an essay about the pragmatic ineffectiveness of bioethics, the author — an anesthesiologist — discusses the harsh reality that decisions made by medical professionals are rarely as clear-cut as they might seem. They often impact the doctors and staff deeply. He shares a moving story about the considerations involved when intubating an elderly patient with various complicating factors.
The doctor’s moral sense and civilised sentiments are always playing defence against the savagery of physical existence.
“Savagery of physical existence” sounds harsh, but nowhere is it more apparent than in the ER or on an operating table. Ethics and morality become very complex concepts.
Do this: Have empathy.
7. “I miss actual conversation.”
The Conversation Menu: 50 questions worth asking the people worth knowing – Stepfanie Tyler – (Bad Girl Media)
The introduction to the list touches on something that I’ve called out before: we don’t know how to disagree anymore.
We’ve been trained, very deliberately, to treat disagreement as a form of aggression.
You see it everywhere, of course. Be it personal, religious, or political — disagreement with your tribe’s party line is, in particular, verboten.
We’re also no longer allowed to change our minds, apparently.
The willingness to update is the whole point of having a mind, but we’ve made it costly in a way it’s never been before, and people have responded by becoming more rigid, more defensive, and much less interesting to talk to.
As she also quotes: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” (apparently often mistakenly attributed to John Maynard Keynes).
Do this: Be open to disagreement. Be open to changing your mind.
#conversations #disagreement #open-minded
What I’m reading now
- The Way of Kings: Book One of the Stormlight Archive – Brandon Sanderson
- The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke – (Audio)
- The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark – Carl Sagan
- Everybody Has Something to Hide: Why and How to Use Signal to Preserve Your Privacy, Security, and Well-Being – Guy Kawasaki & Madisun Nuismer
My Reading List – everything I’ve read since 2021.
My Sources Page – the common sources I scan/read regularly.
Support 7 Takeaways
Your support helps keep 7 Takeaways viable. I appreciate your consideration VERY much. I have options for recurring Support (Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly options) as well as one-time support over in The Ask Leo! (my “day job”) store. Purchasing any of the books using the links on my Reading List also helps.
Another thing that really helps is sharing 7 Takeaways with a friend. Just forward this email on. And if you received this email from a friend, you can subscribe at 7takeaways.com to get your own copy every Sunday.
Thanks!
If you’re having difficulty viewing this email, visit 7takeaways.com/latest.
If a link to a source above leads you to a paywall, please read my note on paywalls.
Some links above may be affiliate links.
If someone forwarded you this email, subscribe at 7takeaways.com.