REVERSE NOSTALGIA
Before I dive into my monologue here — a favour to ask.
I promised last week I would have a website up and running in order to do email capture. The more I thought about the daunting task of buying and structuring a website, the more I realized all I needed was a good spreadsheet (I am an engineer, after all).
So the link below goes to a Google form for email capture. I would be delighted if you put in an address I could reach you by to better send this collection to you each week.
https://goo.gl/forms/PP0gNI0LXiV2OqHk2
If you decide to unsubscribe, I won’t be offended.
I’ve also included my list of promises, from the Common Notes for Uncommon Folks newsletter team, to you, the reader.
I would be delighted if you shared this with others who might be interested in joining our community.
As always, it is a pleasure to serve you.
As part of our promise as a reputable email newsletter institution to you, as our reader, we solemnly swear:
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- to support small revolutions, and the bold individuals that start them
The theme for this week, if you can call it that, derives from the book I’ve been reading by Chuck Klosterman (below) and asking the profound question “When the future looks back through history at the present, here and now, what will they think?”.
It’s a powerful bit of reframing, and has encouraged me to challenge what I’ve been doing in the day-to-day moments in order to better achieve the kind of memory I would be proud of looking back upon. Each article is about the future, and framing it in a way that we should be thoughtful of how we proceed, as our future historians will look back on this point in time (roughly) as a major turning point.
From the future history of rock ‘n roll, to the nature of the Blockchain and how it impacts economies, to the general feeling of “Twumpism”, how better to evaluate decisions (looking forward and backward) and one of my favourite background music albums from nearly 10 years ago (that I’m sure everyone has forgotten about) — I hope this collection helps you brace the future with the positivity and assuredness that comes from looking backward from up ahead.
With gratitude,
Brendan
Things I’ve Been Reading, by length:
But What If We’re Wrong? By Chuck Klosterman [262 pages] (4/5)
I loved “X” by Klosterman, the last book I read, and this one was even better. Asking the simple (but not easy) question of “What will the future historians think about us right now?” is the premise of this sweeping analysis. This leads to all kinds of interesting places, such as “What will be remembered from Rock ‘n Roll, and will there be a single artist that is unanimously celebrated as the face of the era? And if so, who?” and “What if everything we know about gravity is wrong (or at least, incomplete)?” These lead down some pretty intense rabbit holes, and although the ride is primarily speculative, I enjoyed every minute of it. Citing thought experiments from John Phillip Souza to Newton to Bob Dylan to the nature of understanding, Klosterman takes us on a whirlwind tour of understanding our own knowledge landscape, and posing some deep, penetrating questions about how we know what we know. For me, I found it riotously entertaining and thought-provoking all at once. I would definitely recommend to anyone who can handle the level of literary criticism and stick with such abstract concepts. In other words, give it to your Ph.D. cousin, not your grandmother.
Beyond the Bitcoin Bubble [30 min read] (5/5)
This is the single best article I have read about Bitcoin and the blockchain so far. Using primarily layman’s terms, Steven Johnson explains how a distributed system could contribute to a new era of the internet, moving from a closed, privately operated system, to an open, democratized underlying structure a la 1990s internet. Some of the promises seem outlandish, and many have drawn criticism from democratizing social factions and ruthless capitalists alike, but the truth is simple: something big is coming. I can’t say whether I would predict a big upheaval in the next few years, but I would say I feel a lot more confident in what exactly the blockchain is and why it’s relevant, thanks in part to this article. This is the one article I sent my parents, grandparents and close friends when they ask “What the hell is a Bitcoin?”. It’s long, but isn’t understanding the future of the digital economy worth 30 minutes of your time? Follow up with Bitcoin by Taleb.
Poker, Speeding Tickets, and Expected Value: Making Decisions in an Uncertain World [12 min read] (3/5)
A brief primer on the concept of “Expected Value” and why that is so important in many areas of our lives. A simple calculation you can do in your head might help you make better decisions, and very little math is involved. Basically, the odds of winning money times the amount you might win minus the odds of losing money times the amount you might lose — this gives you the amount, over many trials, you can expect to win. Unless you’re really brave (or really stupid) you should never take a bet with an expected value outcome that is negative, which implies you’re going to lose money more often than you make it. This applies to any area, not just with money, and with odds that are calculable. A quick reminder that often we put ourselves in situations we can’t win, and sometimes it’s better to walk away and not play the game than it is to try to win back what we’ve already lost (sunk cost fallacy).
Never Waste a Serious Weiji by Reid Hoffman [7 min read] (4/5)
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and former Paypal senior executive, outlines the feeling I’ve had about the Trump era for a while: danger meets opportunity. He explains that (incorrectly) the word in Mandarin for “crisis” (Weiji) was thought to be a combination of two terms: danger, and opportunity. In the midst of any crisis, of anything that goes well or poorly, there is both danger and opportunity. As a form of mental jiu-jitsu, I’ve found no better way to think about the challenges going on in the world, and what we can do about them. In all environments around the world, we are seeing more and more danger arise — from political conflict, environmental damage, social dissolution, and economic challenge — but in the midst of this there is tremendous opportunity. When danger meets opportunity, think positive, and keep moving forward.
Something I’ve been listening to:
The XX (5/5)
This album from 2009 is still one of my favourite complete albums — they certainly don’t make them like this anymore — and is one I love to use to relax or get some deep work done. The mellow beats and upbeat tone make for easy listening and a great boost for some afternoon focus. In particular, I love “Islands” which has one of the best bass grooves I’ve heard in a long time. If you love them, check out Jamie XX (where the name comes from) on Spotify as well.
