Andrei Stoica

Ever since I read Barbara Tuchman’s book about the Black Death, A Distant Mirror, in 2020 (my notes here), I’ve been enamored of the idea that modernity began not in the 16th century, with the Age of Exploration, as in conventional accounts, but in the 13th (which was also an age of exploration1). Apparently I’m not alone in thinking this. Sachin... See more

Together, Hobart and Huber argue that bubbles are coordination mechanisms for progress: by linking collective risk to potential financial rewards, bubbles enable megaprojects beyond the capability of any single person or industry—megaprojects which, although risky, mark inflection points in technology, economics, and culture when they are... See more

Note that the key attribute must now be defined for the Note components, and not for the li tags like before.

While my current studies have no live teachers in the loop, each time I sit down to study something seriously, I’m reminded of how much I’m practicing behaviors first learned under the watchful eye of good teachers. We tend to remember the exceptionally charismatic (which is not the same thing as good ), and exceptionally terrible teachers, but... See more

The second reason I gave extra focus to the left in this essay is because of the relationship with the artistic class, which was the more important group I wanted to focus on. As a New Yorker and creative, I’ve seen how these folks articulate how they judge impact on the world and what it means for their personal production. This has to change.... See more

I'm not talking about anything as narrow as ambition. After all, ambition eventually wears out and probably should. But you can keep your zest until the day you die. If I may offer you a simple maxim, "Be interesting," Everyone wants to be interesting -- but the vitalizing thing is to be interested. Keep a sense of curiosity. Discover new things.... See more

The famously irreverent Boomers were the first generation of Americans born in the shadow of the new managerial society. The “New Left” counterculture of the 1960s was, in turn, the first attempt to break the shackles of bureaucracy and conformity. New Left radicals condemned the “bewildering dependence” of Americans on “inaccessible castles

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As I noted earlier, the ideal instrumental interface for any task or problem is a magic button that can (1) read the user’s mind perfectly to understand the desired task, and (2) perform it instantly and completely to the desired specifications.

In absence of such a perfect button, you, the designer, must conceive of the closest possible... See more