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Greetings from the Colorado Rockies. I write this from 8,000 feet so excuse any nonsense that proceeds.
#0 Sharing: I have a decent amount of subscribers now, which is great for giving me the nudge to keep doing this - its been fulfilling and energizing to sit down each week and reflect on what I've read and learned. If you are finding it valuable, would you share a simple tweet or facebook post?
#1 Preference Falsification: Fascinating article on how people lie about their stances to fit in with groups. Pair this with increased polarization and the fact that extreme views stand out and we are convinced that there is only a binary way of looking at the world. I am definitely guilty of holding back my true views over the past couple of years to avoid being vilified: "preference falsification occurs when an individual publicly misrepresents their private views to fit into a social group. It is conformity for the sake of social self-interest."
#2 NYC: A dark view of the evolution of New York City from a dynamic city to one that serves as the metaphorical global bank for the wealthy. I left New York in 2017 and a lot of the feelings brought out by this article ring true but it does leave out a lot of amazing things New York offers in terms of artistic community, food and culture. However, the central point of the article is about housing development and how all building is slowly being converted into high-rise luxury buildings for the global elite to spend 30 days in a year.
#3 Work Culture: Adam Grant shows how American work culture has become more "transactional" exemplified by the fewer number of friends we have at work: "Americans reported inviting 32 percent of their closest colleagues to their homes, compared with 66 percent in Poland and 71 percent in India. Americans have gone on vacation with 6 percent of their closest co-workers, versus 25 percent in Poland and 45 percent in India."
#4 Suffering & Creativity: Brian Leiter discusses Nietzsche and diagnoses modern culture, arguing that our obsession with happiness in western societies stifles creativity:
"Nietzsche’s crucial thought is that in a culture committed to happiness and the elimination of suffering as its goal, nascent Nietzsches and Beethovens will squander their potential in pursuit of both those aims, rather than in pursuing creative work. After all, if it is bad to suffer, then all your efforts should be devoted to avoiding suffering; and if it is good to be happy, then, that should be the aim of everything you do. But human excellence is compatible with neither the pursuit of happiness nor the flight from suffering."
#5 Empathy & Surgery: Atul Gawande's commencement speech at UCLA's medical school shares stories of how openness, curiosity and empathy helped him be a better surgeon: "I didn’t understand him or like him. But all it took to see his humanity—to be able to treat him—was to supply that tiny bit of openness and curiosity."
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