The happiness experiment.
Quartz does a beautiful job overviewing our human struggle with happiness and a lot of the research that’s shaping our understanding of it. | learn more
The archive
Find a half-remembered link or follow a subject through years of Sunday notes.
7,487 posts
Linear thinking in a nonlinear world.
Humans are great at linear thinking, and we’re generally bad at nonlinear thinking. Unfortunately, many things in life are nonlinear. This excellent HBR article lays out the problem and tactics to address it with. | learn more
An accidental vaccine for mental illness?
Neuroscientist Rebecca Brachman has stumbled upon a paravaccine (vaccine-like prophylactic drugs) that seems to inoculate mice against the effects of stress. It may be effective against depression and PTSD. | learn more
How Zapier pulled off one-and-done financing.
A look behind the scenes at automation company Zapier, with a focus on what they did to avoid an addiction to VC dollars. | learn more
AI is the new business moat.
Greylock VC partner Jerry Chen writes about legacy business moats such as economies of scale and network effects, then lays out why he thinks AI will defend the next generation of businesses. | learn more
Picking good pics of yourself is hard.
A new study from a trio of Australian universities shows that strangers are better than you at choosing your most flattering photos. | learn more
How do I start an airline?
On Q&A site Quora, George Zaharoff details all of the plans that went into the airline he was to start in 2002. He includes amazingly detailed financial projections, vendor strategy, and more. | learn more
You can’t multitask.
Okay, maybe you sort-of can if you’re among 3% of weirdos. But you’re probably not. | learn more
Uncovering insights from employees.
Claire Lew, CEO of Know Your Company, shares 9 questions that uncover the most surprising insights from employees. This is based on 15,000 employees and 3 years of data. #1 - “Are you afraid of anything at work?” | learn more
The psychology of human misjudgment.
Charlie Munger is Warren Buffet’s partner, and one of the most successful investors ever. In 1995 he recorded a talk he gave on the subject of errors in conventional wisdom. | learn more
‘There’s a story behind why we shoot’.
Two young Chicago gang members open up to talk about why they picked up a gun. | learn more
Water from thin air.
A new type of material called Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) has enabled an MIT team to create a device that, “has proven itself capable of harvesting about a cup of water per kilogram of MOF over the course of just 70 minutes. That’s in 20–30 percent humidity, which is…
LSD microdosing is gaining popularity.
You may know of LSD as the powerful drug taken by hippies in the 60s (or maybe Adrian Grenier in the movie Harvard Man). There’s a growing trend to take tiny doses that don’t make you trip, but instead may aid producitivy and treatment-resistant depression. | learn more
How to be lucky.
Believe that you’re lucky, and you get luckier. “A belief in luck can lead to a virtuous cycle of thought and action. Belief in good luck goes hand in hand with feelings of control, optimism, and low anxiety.” | learn more
Sergey Brin is in the air, too.
Last week we saw Larry Page’s latest flying car. This week, we learn about his Google cofounder Sergey Brin’s new toy - an enormous airship. | learn more
Modern yachts attract cyber criminals.
Billionaires like wifi too, so their superyachts are equipped with extra-strength signals. Unfortunately, that doesn’t usually come with extra-strength security. Criminals are going after these high-value targets. | learn more
Recreate any voice with only a minute of sample audio.
Lyrebird is an AI company creating synthetic voices that sound like real people. Their most recent product is not perfect, but does a really good job starting with only a minute of sample audio. Check out the link to hear Obama, Clinton and Trump talk about the startup. | learn…
Debunking superhuman AI.
General artificial intelligence doesn’t exist, but many smart people worry that it will someday, putting humans out of the “being in charge” business. This post shares the opposite view, and is worth reading for anyone interested in the topic. | learn more
Octopuses can edit their own genes.
Through a process called RNA editing, cephalopods are able to edit their genomes in 11,000 different places. | lean more
In Tokyo you can rent a middle-aged Japanese man.
There’s a service where you can rent an Ossan (slang term for middle-aged man) to hang out with you by the hour. | learn more
Change Agent
Daniel Suarez comes back with more after his excellent sci-fi books Daemon and Freedom. Change Agent is the story of a future where CRISPR (the REAL new tool that enables DNA edits) has developed to the point where scientists can sculpt DNA to their liking, and Interpol maintains…
Good managers apply radical candor.
Kim Scott worked for Sheryl Sandberg at Google. After a presentation to triumvirate Larry, Sergey, and Eric, Sandberg wanted to help Scott by offering real-time feedback. Scott was having a hard time hearing it until Sandberg said “You know, Kim, I can tell I’m not really getting through to you. I’m…
Why you should have two careers.
Investment banker, record producer, and author Kabir Sehgal makes a great case for why you should have (at least) two careers simultaneously. He says by committing to multiple careers, you’ll be better at all of them. I agree with him. | learn more
Germany’s Otto uses AI to order inventory.
Managing inventory efficiently is a challenge that each retailer (and wholesaler) must figure out how to work through. Managing a broad assortment of inventory gets really hard for a team of humans. Otto has applied AI to automatically order over 200,000 items a month from its suppliers without…