Prediction anxiety. Make a decision. Wisdom comes from chaos. Worrying about decisions you'll never need to make. Be the best geezer. The sound of silence. AI in the classroom.
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
– Isaac Asimov, Three Laws of Robotics
1. “If you feel like you can’t predict the future, you will default to fear, worry, and rumination.”
How To Live Freely In A Goal-Obsessed World – Anne-Laure Le Cunff – (Modern Wisdom podcast on YouTube)
I thought this was an interesting insight:
Humans never genuinely pursue happiness; they only pursue relief from uncertainty. Happiness emerges momentarily as a byproduct whenever uncertainty briefly disappears.
Which is what the takeaway above builds on. I’m not sure I’d say happiness only appears in the absence of uncertainty, but the opposite most certainly feels true: it’s hard to feel happy, or even calm, when you’re faced with copious quantities of uncertainty.
As we are these days.
Do this: I know it’s another theme that seems to be forming here, but embrace uncertainty as best you can.
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2. “The secret to decisions is just to fucking MAKE them”
What I learned about decisions from a pancake – Annie Scott – (Midlife Mess with Annie Scott)
We’ve all been there. You gingerly, slowly, carefully try to flip the pancake you’re making, and … splat. What was a pancake is now a mess of batter, broken and folded and looking nothing like a pancake at all.
The pancake is a (tasty) metaphor for life.
But the flipping is very much a “shit or get off the pot” situation. A short, sharp and authoritiave[sic] flick of the wrist is required to turn that fucker over.
No hesitation, flip the damn pancake with authority. No waffling (sorry), no dithering … make a decision and move on. Deal with the results, learn from them, of course, but you’ll have wasted less time hesitating.
And you might very well have a beautiful pancake in front of you.
Do this: Try not to over think when making decisions. Make ’em, learn from them, and move forward.
3. “Wisdom emerges from our losses, our failures, and our mistakes.”
The Illusion of Control – Tom Greene – (Wit & Wisdom)
We have more choices than ever. We have more control over the minutia of our lives than ever before. Greene begins with the absurdity of the degree to which we can customize or “curate” our beverage order at Starbucks.
And yet that’s not how life works.
See, real life isn’t curated at all. It’s mostly comprised of unscripted, uncurated moments. The most important choices in life aren’t really choices at all—they’re entirely random.
It’s our acceptance of that randomness, and our willingness to go with it rather than fight it, that makes all the difference.
Do this: “don’t expect everything to be customized to perfection.” Instead, enjoy the ride!
4. “We have to stop carrying the weight of decisions that may never even happen.”
Going all-in on maybe. – Greg Storey – (Brilliantcrank)
There is a lot on everyone’s plate right now. Storey makes the case that we’re worrying about and preparing for things that are likely to never happen.
There is nothing going on right now—and there’s a lot, I know—that requires you to carry the stress of a decision that hasn’t actually landed in front of you. Preparing is fine. But preparing to prepare? That only adds unnecessary stress, which chips away at your health—mental and physical.
There’s more than enough in front of us that we need to deal with. With everything else going on it’s much too easy to take on even more that we simply don’t need to. And perhaps shouldn’t, for our own sanity.
Do this: Choose your decisions carefully.
5. “Become the best geezer I can be”
The Truth About Being 80 That Few People Know – Gary Buzzard – (Medium)
I’m not there yet, but a lot of this essay resonated.
But you’ll still die; we all will die — so enjoy the moment and spread the love because we’re all in the same wonderful boat together.
While the insights took 80 years to accumulate, they really do apply at any age.
Old age is coming for you, and it always wins in the end, so don’t fear it. Use Jiu-Jitsu on it.
Embrace it as it comes at you, and use its energy to flow with it. Co-opt it and transform it from a crazy monster to a lifestyle choice — old-age chic, maybe.
Do this: Spread the love.
6. “Silence, as the saying goes, speaks volumes.”
Awkward silences – Rebecca Roache – (Aeon)
An interesting examination of periods of silence in conversations and how they can feel incredibly awkward. The initial example is of a philosopher known to actually think before speaking. What a concept!
Interestingly, the concept of a silence being “awkward” comes back to something we’ve seen a lot of lately: anxiety.
Running through all the aspects of awkward silence we’ve explored here is a common thread of anxiety about how well we’re engaging in connection and understanding with the people we interact with.
One thing not discussed that came to mind is verbal static. The “uhms” and “ahs” and “likes” that some often use to fill the silence as they speak. That, too, seems based on anxiety and concerns about how we’re perceived.
Personally, I’d love for it to be completely normal and comfortable to always allow for time — silent or otherwise — to think before speaking. We’d all be better off.
Do this: Think first. Embrace silence if needed.
7. “They don’t have original thoughts.”
Teachers Are Not OK – Jason Koebler – (404 Media)
The appearance of AI on the landscape has certainly changed the world, but nowhere is that more apparent, and scary, as in the classroom. This article is a collection of feedback from teachers at various levels, responding to a question about how AI has changed how they teach.
“I’ve been thinking more and more about how much time I am almost certainly spending grading and writing feedback for papers that were not even written by the student. That sure feels like bullshit.”
It’s an incredibly difficult problem to solve. In part because we teach to the test (or grade) rather than teaching to some goal, like actually being more effective at the skills we care about.
… like going to the gym and asking a robot to lift weights for you.
I don’t know the answer, but I am reminded of the old “calculators in the classroom” argument of years gone by. This seems very familiar to that scenario, but on steroids.
Do this: Lift your own weights.
What I’m reading now
- Mistborn: The Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson
- Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World – Anne-Laure Le Cunff
- Project Hail Mary: A Novel Kindle Edition – Andy Weir (audio)
- We Did That? – Sophie Stirling (audio)
My Reading List – everything I’ve read since 2021.
My Sources Page – the common sources I scan/read regularly.
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