Extinction gets your attention. Wide world of feeds. Investing in future you. Read more books. Exercise for pain. Survey overload. Reading is hard and that's good.
“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
–John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
Greetings from Bellingham, Washington. (Well, technically outside B’ham, but close enough.) I’m up visiting relatives, which means 7 Takeaways “world headquarters” (aka Ask Leo! world headquarters) has temporarily migrated to our travel trailer. Coincidentally, I’m testing a Starlink internet connection, which seems to be working quite well, even with moderate Pacific Northwest tree coverage.
Take care,
1. “‘Extinction’ tends to short-circuit people’s thinking”
Your questions about the AI apocalypse, answered (gift link) – Cameron Peters – (Vox)
I find the discussion and hype around a potential AI-driven human extinction event both fascinating and frustrating. As the takeaway above notes, once you mention “extinction” people lose all sense of nuance. The reality is significantly more complex.
I’m more concerned about humans voluntarily handing power to flawed AI systems than AIs developing their own motives.
In that sense, the more clear and present danger is nothing new: it’s people. Giving people with questionable motives access to a new and powerful tool has always been a source of danger. Extinction-level? Unlikely. Serious? Absolutely.
Do this: Step away from the hyperbole and focus on tangible threats.
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2. “A wider feed makes a wider world”
Making the algorithm work for you. – Hana Lee Goldin, MLIS – (Card Catalog)
What we refer to as “The Algorithm” in social media is nothing more than this: “Show me more things like what I spend the most time looking at already.” It’s that simple. But the problem is that the result is a very narrow view of the world. We see only those things that speak to us and are never challenged to broaden our view.
A feed narrows us because it learns from what we already do. Feed it something different, on purpose and more than once, and the same system starts carrying us toward things we didn’t know were there. A wider feed makes a wider world, with more in it to want and more of it to live in.
The solution is to be intentional about stepping outside of what your social media feeds offer you. Heck, “be intentional” is the solution to many of our information consumption issues.
The essay includes concrete steps and ideas to make this happen.
Do this: Be intentional.
3. “When you take care of now, you take care of the future”
Going on 94, and Still Waking Up – Larry Rosenberg – (Lion’s Roar)
At any point in life, but particularly as we age, things change. Things we’d rather didn’t change, change anyway. Much of the suffering that results is from the desire for things to go back to the way they were before the change. Rosenberg calls the present-moment acceptance of change as “waking up”. Falling back into the old habits of wanting things to be other than they are is “falling asleep”.
Say a pain that I’ve never had before arises, and now I have it. By being awake to it, bringing awareness to it, I can help take care of it, help diminish it. Put in other terms, I wake up to the present moment. And once I look at it, I’m okay.
But it’s too easy to fall into sleep again — to let the old conditioned mind creep back in with some semblance of fear or concern.
This speaks to me because, at 69, my body continues to change, and not always in the directions I’d prefer. Staying awake, so to speak, can be a challenge, but it absolutely helps bring about a kind of peace.
Do this: As the author says, “… those of you practicing [meditation, self-awareness], especially when you’re young, please… do it now! Keep at it! Because it’s not just about now.”
4. “The best way to read harder books is to read more books”
How to stop forgetting what you read – Scott H. Young – (Blog)
I’ll admit, I’ve felt it. I come to the end of a book and ask myself, “OK, now, what was that all about again?” Or someone asks me about a book I read last month or last year, and the answer comes slowly, if at all.
This is a fascinating perspective.
Reading is an active process in which we are constantly merging what is in the text with what we already know.
It makes sense. I know I’m constantly comparing what I’m reading to my existing experiences and opinions. “Merging” seems an appropriate term.
The key to remembering more is knowing more, and the key to knowing more is reading more.
That seems overly simplistic, but at a gut level it makes sense. If nothing else, it’s a bit of motivation for my (lately somewhat stalled) reading habit.
Do this: Read more.
5. “Making exercise a more routine part of pain care”
Gentle Exercise May be More Effective Than Medications at Managing Chronic Pain (gift link) – Jake Currie – (Nautilus)
The subtitle matters too: “Side effects may include an improved mood” 
.
Getting back to my aches and pains, this short essay is a good reminder: doing something is not only significantly better than doing nothing, but possibly even better than prescribed medications. The surprise?
shorter-duration and lower-intensity programs showed greater reductions in pain, suggesting people may not need to exercise harder or for longer to experience meaningful benefits.
Benefits may be closer than we expect.
Do this: Exercise a little [more].
6. “Tell us about your visit”
I Bought Toothpaste. Why on Earth Are We Still Talking? – Hans Casteels – (The Oncology Underground)
OK, a “shakes fist at cloud” moment. Casteels rants about something that has annoyed me greatly lately. I’m pleased to find a kindred spirit.
Surveys.
A supermarket receipt is no longer content to record the purchase. “Tell us how we did!” it demands, beneath the evidence that I bought an onion. You sold me an onion. The transaction offers limited room for artistic interpretation.
My personal pet peeve is when our waste management company asks if we would recommend it to our friends. First, garbage collection is not something I have long conversations with my friends about, and second, I have no choice! If I want my trash picked up, I must use this company. Recommendations are simply not part of the equation. (I suppose you could choose where you live based on the trash company serving it, but that seems over the top.)
I feel better.
Do this: You have my permission to completely ignore survey requests.
7. “The whole point of reading is that it’s hard”
If You’re Trying To Do This Fast, You’re Doing It Wrong – Ryan Holiday – (Blog)
Holiday starts by dismissing “speed reading” as missing the point. The full takeaway:
The whole point of reading is that it’s hard, but that the hard is worth it. The whole point of a book is that there is a lot in there and it will take time to get it out. There is a payoff and that payoff is priceless wisdom.
I know not everyone gets excited by “priceless wisdom”, but perhaps change that to “useful knowledge” and it’ll be more meaningful for you.
Of course, the follow-on question is “Why?” Why spend all that precious time in books?
It makes me a better person. It makes me a better parent. It makes me a better husband. It makes me a better boss. It makes me better at everything I do. So I take it seriously. I invest in it.
It’s nothing less than an investment.
Do this: Invest heavily.
Random links
Other things I found interesting this week.
- Outrage is Our Last Campfire – It’s what brings us together, for better or worse. And it’s what’s dividing us at the same time.
- Isaac Asimov Showed Us How to Avoid the AI Apocalypse – The three laws, and more.
What I’m reading now
- Tell Me Where It Hurts: The New Science of Pain and How to Heal – Rachel Zoffness, Ph.D
- There Is No Antimemetics Division: A Novel – qntm
My Reading List – everything I’ve read since 2021.
My Sources Page – the common sources I scan/read regularly.
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