Efficiency errors; Meme control; Meeting in person
Milk, No Sugar #301
💡Think
I was having a great discussion yesterday about the difference between remembering and learning.
I struggle to remember information the first time I hear it, but some people take it in straight away. But for me, I get great satisfaction from a repetitive approach to learning.
It’s a bit deeper than that though. To truly understand something, we can link separate pieces of possibly unrelated information to encourage recall.
“Associative memory” is just this – the ability to piece together unrelated information for the greater good. For example, remembering a street name because of the smell from the restaurant on it.
This sensory reflection and linkage helps improve our learning massively, try it out!
p.s. I’m taking a long overdue vacation next week, and I think it’ll mean I won’t be sending a newsletter. This is scary for me, but it feels right.
📷 Look
📖 Read
❶ The errors of efficiency
Although this article is advertising-focussed, it’s still a great read about the missed opportunities we can have when we try to over-optimise everything. Sometimes, it’s actually more beneficial to “waste”, because the consequences of being too efficient is that we lose natural growth and curiosity. It’s easy to see how a car company could ultimately sell more if they weren’t just targeting people who already owned one, right?
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❷ How memes control everything
“Memes are basically models of reality” was enough to get me hooked into this article. It’s a brain-breaker, but is totally true. Culturally, they anchor you, intellectually they allow you to assert your superiority, and socially they boost your ego and status. Who knew, huh?
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❸ Do we really need to meet in person?
Before you assume I’m an anti-social monster, this article is about meetings 😉. It raises the important question that I presume a lot of part-time office workers are contemplating – “what am I doing here that I can’t do at home?” If we’re ultimately travelling somewhere to sit in silence all day and join a videoconference every couple of hours, are we really benefitting?
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Bonus round
The 200 best albums of the last 25 Years, according to Pitchfork readers
What is the metaverse, and why do I need to care?
🎧 Listen
How technology collides with politics, culture and society
The main reason I’m sharing this one is because of a story the guest tells about how despite being on the planet for tens of thousands of years, we only invented the bicycle a few hundred years ago. Isn’t that wild? It’s a great metaphor for how things happen at the right time, rather than when you think they should.
Listen to this podcast (60 minutes)
Spotify – Apple Podcasts
🙌 Share
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🙏 Thanks
Have a great week,
Luis Ouriach
@disco_lu
Founding member special shoutouts:
Kevin Fernandez (@kvnfz)
Karl Barker
George Sumpster