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.

Intrinsic value is subjective and rooted in meaning.

Economic value emerges when that meaning meets scarcity and relevance.

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

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

Our humanity has intrinsic value, yes.

But only when it’s scarce and relevant does it have economic value.

Yes, all your other ‘human’ skills will continue to matter. But they will command economic value only when tightly bundled with curiosity, curation, and judgment

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

consensus theater

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.

Elite curation - which really commands economic value - is less about matching preferences and more about shaping them in your favour.

That comes only through narrative control. You choose what to elevate and what to exclude and you then get to tell the story of why that curation matters