Milk, No Sugar: Otherness; Techno-optimists; Twitter's death
Issue #362
💡Think
Happy nearly the end of the year everyone 👋
As the year has closed, and the build up of tension from an intense period has whirred, I’ve found myself looking to disconnect more and more. Or, I should say specifically, a disconnect from distraction.
It’s been a pretty simple switch, but not using my headphones on walks or on my commute to the office has felt quite transformative.
Hey, you know what, I’ve been able to actually hear my own thoughts rather than be plugged by a podcast or music in every waking empty second.
Give it a shot, keep your headphones in your pocket the next time you head out for your morning or afternoon walk, and see what ideas come into your mind.
If I don’t see you again this year, make it count ✌️
📷 Look
📖 Read
❶ Reciprocal otherness
This isn’t the usual kind of article, as it’s more literature focused than tech, but I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s a discussion about the author Simone de Beauvoir’s work, and specifically her investigation into what it’s like to be “othered”. Firstly, as a woman, but also politically and culturally. Enjoy!
❷ The techno-optimist’s fallacy
This is a juicy one. Has the internet, overall, been a force for good? Has software ultimately made the world better, or are we just more entertained and addicted?
❸ How Twitter broke the news
This is a nice long read, with lovely illustrations too, about how for a solid decade Twitter was essentially the place for everything. News, sports, scandal, it was all viewed on the bird. How did it pip Facebook and others to the post, and what the heck happened to allow itself to implode so violently?
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Bonus round
Why scientists are making transparent wood
Social media is not heroin (a loooong study)
🎧 Listen
How to waste time
This podcast is a similar sentiment to the opening section of today’s newsletter. It’s a discussion between co-hosts about how they treat their free time. It opens in a funny way with one of the hosts explaining that she struggled to wait 4 minutes without feeling a crushing and immense amount of boredom. Sound familiar?
Have a great week,
@disco_lu