Agalia Tan

“The paralysis is the point”

If you struggle to stay informed without losing your mind, you’re far from alone. In 2022, the American Psychological Association warned that growing numbers of Americans were suffering from what one therapist termed “media saturation overload” — a specialized sort of stress that results from encountering a steady, ceas... See more

defluxing isn’t about watering down. It’s about finding the heart of an idea. By iterating, adapting, and remixing, we find ways to invite others into the conversation. It is an exercise in gardening — engaging the world one practical, intuitive insight at a time.

Echo chambers lack that friction. So do “filter bubbles,” which are essentially the digital incarnation of echo chambers. In his book Filterworld , Kyle Chayka explores how personalized searching, algorithms, and online behavior flatten our culture by continually offering us more of what we’ve already consumed, shrinking our digital worlds.

the McNamara fallacy, as it came to be known, refers to our tendency to focus on the most quantifiable measures, even if doing so leads us from our actual goals. Put simply, we try to measure what we value, but end up valuing what we measure.

Not even our sleep is safe. Nintendo recently announced “Alarmo,” a very cute alarm clock that uses motion tracking to play different sounds from various Nintendo games to help getting out of bed easier. Move to the left, and the sounds of Super Mario coins ring. Move again, more coins clanging. By the time you get out of bed, that little Italian p... See more

Instead of a fulfilled life, a life filled full.

When we forget our ability to choose, we learn to be helpless. Drip by drip, we allow our power to be taken away until we end up becoming a function of other people's choices — or even a function of our own past choices. In turn, we surrender our power to choose.

There are many kinds of value. Time, space, personal freedom. Monetary worth is only one. You choose what holds the most weight.