Agalia Tan

students on their phones take fewer notes and retain less information from class. Other research has shown that “task-switching” between social media and homework is correlated with lower GPAs and that students whose cellphones are taken away in experimental settings do better on tests.

The rise of the ‘Luxury Worker’

The luxury worker does not compete on volume.

They do not scale by adding headcount.

They scale by increasing the perceived value of their participation. Their work is expensive not because it takes longer, but because it carries the weight of curiosity, curation, and judgment.

In many ways, this inverts the usual... See more

We see curiosity theater all around.

Audience members asking questions at panels that are actually mini-speeches. People at dinner name-dropping obscure books in conversation but never engaging with their core arguments. Folks on social media starting ‘learning projects’ and abandoning them after a week.

Then there’s curation theater.

Posting endless... See more

In this environment, social and economic signaling converge: individuals and organizations who are recognized for reliable curiosity, trusted curation, and sound judgment accrue disproportionate attention, trust, and capital, further amplifying their economic position.

Even as AI gets better, there are certain kinds of knowledge it still struggles to capture, and may for a long time. Never say never, though. Tacit knowledge - the things you just know without being able to explain - was considered beyond the realm of technology, yet, LLMs approximate many forms of tacit knowledge, which even 7 years back would... See more

Context is often misunderstood as ‘local knowledge’. ‘Local knowledge’ is not really an advantage. It’s just a data arbitrage. You’ve better than AI only because it doesn’t yet have the data you’re working with.

Context is more about interpretation. The ability to create meaning in a certain context by understanding the context and applying the... See more

In an attention-scarce world, curation is a way to exert power through narrative control.

Why does curation have power? Quite simply - because it works through elevating something and excluding something else.

The art is in knowing what not to show; and creating meaning by how things are connected or contrasted.

Good curation filters noise and focuses attention.

Curation is also a form of taste projection. It comes with meaning and sometimes, identity.