Complain, complain. Be reasonable! AI will make us better? Stillness can be fear. No one is thinking. The value of diverse interests and friends. The universe is talkative.
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
– Voltaire
1. “There’s more complaining than gratitude”
In 10 years, you’ll wish you started today – Stepfanie Tyler – (Bad Girl Media)
A self-styled rant about people who look around them and complain — about the situation, about the unfair advantages supposedly given to others, about the state of … whatever — and using that as an excuse not to do things. Specifically, not to “get in the arena” and do something.
The people who are winning right now aren’t smarter than you. They’re probably not luckier either, despite what you tell yourself when you see their success. They just started before you did, and they kept going when it got hard.
Much of the unstated focus of the essay is the appearance of AI tools, which is, of course, controversial. However, do you look at them and complain, or do you work with them — or even despite them — in order to contribute something of value to the world? (Spoiler: complaints are rarely, if ever, actually valuable. Actions are.)
Do this: Get in the arena.
#complaints #action #persistence
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2. “Is There Still a Return on Being Reasonable?”
How to Stay Sane in a World That Rewards Insanity – JA Westenberg – (Blog)
When you pick a side and commit to it wholly and without reservation, you get things that moderate positions cannot provide. You get certainty in an uncertain world. You get a community that will defend you. You get a simple heuristic for navigating complex issues.
When you’re an online creator?
Above all: you get engagement, attention and influence.
The current online ecosystem rewards extremism and punishes nuanced thought. I see this even in the day job where if I push back on someone saying “so-and-so is EVIL”, with a “well, it’s more complicated than that”, I’m instantly accused of being a traitor, or in so-and-so’s pocket. And yet the fact remains that the issues — even those that some consider signs of absolute evil and the end of humanity itself — are so much more nuanced than they’re willing to even consider.
They get a tribe. If they publish online, they get views and likes and even dollars.
The rest of us just get frustrated.
Do this: Embrace, even look for, nuance. It’s closer to the truth than any extreme. It’s just scarier, and more work.
3. “We are more human”
Robots Will Make Us Better Humans – Kevin Kelly – (Blog)
I love this contrarian position taken by Kelly. The takeaway above is from early in the essay:
The 8 billion people alive on the planet today are not the same beings who walked through the Rift Valley millennia ago. We’ve changed our bodies, our minds, and our society. We are more human.
Kelly’s point is very simple: this progress will continue, as it has through the ages. AI is another step along the way. It won’t be perfect — progress never is — but in the long run AI will force us to become better.
I haven’t decided yet how much I agree with it all, but I find it a refreshing perspective we’re not hearing from others.
Do this: Be open to the possibilities.
4. “Mistaking stillness for peace when really it’s fear in disguise”
Every Decision You Make Is a Maslow Test (Most People Fail It) – Thomas Oppong – (Postanly Weekly)
The essay is about how important it often is to choose growth over safety. Safety has its place, of course, but all too often we choose it not because we need it, but for other reasons.
Nobody ever died of discomfort, yet living in the name of comfort has killed more ideas, more opportunities, more actions, and more growth than everything else combined.
That’s a quote from T. Harv Eker.
It’s a common assumption that we choose safety out of a desire for comfort or even out of laziness. I think that more often than we’d like to acknowledge, it’s out of fear.
Do this: Choose growth.
5. “When everyone is thinking the same thing, no one is really thinking at all.”
Wisdom Takes Work – Ryan Holiday – (ebook)
Simply following in the footsteps of another’s thoughts is a shortcut. It’s a way to avoid doing the heavy lifting of thinking for yourself. You might convince yourself that your thoughts are your own, but in reality you’ve likely just heard something from a source you appreciate, and nodded your head in agreement without poking at it too hard.
The world is full of groups where everyone is playing follow the leader; thinking the same thing as other members of the group. In reality, then, they’re not thinking at all.
We must think for ourselves.
We must go to first principles.
We must respect precedent, but question it. Challenge it without tossing out what matters.
Don’t be lazy.
Do the work.
You have a brain.
Use it.
Please.
And lest you think this is about “them” and not you, think again. Or, rather … think.
Do this: Do the work.
#thinking #critical-thinking #groupthink
6. “Approach challenges in innovative ways”
Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World – Anne-Laure Le Cunff – (ebook)
The full quote:
By expanding your knowledge across disciplines and cultivating connections with diverse thinkers, you’ll be able to approach challenges in innovative ways and contribute to solving complex problems that require an interdisciplinary perspective.
Or, in less expensive words, the broader your interests and talents, the greater your diversity of contacts, the greater your ability to come up with unique solutions.
What came to mind immediately is that this is a competitive advantage. We often see the workplace, entrepreneurialism, or even societal contribution as a competition of sorts. One way we can be more effective than those around us, contributing to the greater good in ways they cannot, is to have a wider range of interests and experience — a bigger toolbox, as I like to think of it — to bring to bear on the problems being addressed.
Often the most innovative solutions don’t come from a single domain of knowledge, but by combining things that don’t seem combinable.
Do this: Range widely. (And yes, that’s a link to the highly recommended book of the same name.)
7. “The universe does seem to have a lot to say”
Be Open to the Signal – David Cain – (Raptitude)
Being open to the signal is just a matter of looking out into the world more, especially when the mind feels tight. Look out at the wealth of detail in the world around you, and see what’s looking back. You will be shown words, emblems, signs, animals, talkative strangers, and discarded objects.
We like to think that the universe is talking to us; showing us signs, as it were. That’s not necessarily the case, but it can be a useful approach to living. Why? It forces us to get out of our own heads and pay attention to the world. You’ll naturally encounter things — call them signals if you like — that spark ideas and connections in your own mind.
Listening to signals is really listening to what your own mind sees.
Do this: Look and listen.
What I’m reading now
- Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World – Anne-Laure Le Cunff
- Wisdom Takes Work – Ryan Holiday
- The Nature of Things – Lucretius
- The Fire Rose – Mercedes Lackey (audio)
My Reading List – everything I’ve read since 2021.
My Sources Page – the common sources I scan/read regularly.
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