As always another thoughtful and prescient post by Ruxandra Teslo.
If we want humans at all to be in charge in any way over the world, we need them to continue exercising their intellect and gaining mastery over intellectual domains. If we deplete the institutional and cultural resources that underpin that, in a generation or two our minds will atrophy and no human will be in charge of anything (or the world will be horrendous).
A couple of days ago, this phrase popped into my head: “small tyrannies.” I was trying to name this idea, the tyranny of small things. I can’t remember where I first came across it. I vaguely recall reading something along these lines in a Substack post. But anyway, it came up in a conversation with a friend. We were…
Read the note →This tweet thread by Jake resonated deeply with me. We all seem to be becoming increasingly adversarial in how we think about the world, and that’s not a good thing:
The deepest divide in today’s world, whether in economics, politics, investing, or even religion, seems to come down to those who view society as a zero-sum game and those who believe in shared growth. This is increasingly showing up everywhere, from relatively benign issues like tariffs and tax policy to more consequential debates over social rights and aid (and even territorial ambitions). Decisions being made seem shaped by a mindset that there needs to be a winner and loser over collective progress… at the expense of longstanding norms and values.
And
If you see the world as zero sum, you end up resenting people who are different from you or who enter your space (whether in the economy, schools, or country) because you view them as an opponent and their presence as a direct cost to yourself.
The troubling decline in conscientiousness. A critical life skill is fading out — and especially fast among young adults
Read the note →