Abundance
what happens to us humans when we move from conditions of scarcity to abundance
sari and
Abundance
the ideal of limitlessness consumption serves the modern economy quite well, but it does not serve the person well at all.2 This ideal imparts to us all a spirit of scarcity that darkens our experience: not enough time, not enough attention, not enough capacity to care. But upon what does this spirit feed? It feeds, in part, on the temptation to... See more
L. M. Sacasas • The Art of Living
This reminds me of what Craig Mod calls ‘having clear edges’
Edges ground us. Without clear edges we don’t feel like we’re in control.
Bottom line: When the amount of information available to be filtered is effectively unlimited, as is the case on the Net, then every improvement in the quality of filters will make information overload worse.
Nicholas Carr • ROUGH TYPE
The best way to manage the myriad decisions of the modern age is by employing “philosophical razors,” so-called because they shave away options, simplifying choices.
“A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with 2 watches is never sure.”
Ancient societies followed a single narrative. Modern societies are cacophonies of competing narratives. Without trust, more data doesn’t make us more informed but more confused.
Ancient societies followed a single narrative. Modern societies are cacophonies of competing narratives. Without trust, more data doesn’t make us more informed but more confused.
Gurwinder • 30 Useful Principles
It’s all very paradoxical: that the ability to constantly communicate has made us bad communicators, that instant access to all forms of entertainment would leave us with so few touchstones, that surveilling kids doesn’t necessarily make them safer, that the absence of limitations also often means the absence of creativity — and that the particular... See more
Anne Helen Petersen • The Sterile World of Infinite Choice
Situational overload is not the problem. When we complain about information overload, what we’re usually complaining about is ambient overload. This is an altogether different beast. Ambient overload doesn’t involve needles in haystacks. It involves haystack-sized piles of needles. We experience ambient overload when we’re surrounded by so much... See more
Nicholas Carr • ROUGH TYPE
too much signal is also overwhelming. this is why scarcity and the finite edges of something tangible like a book creates meaning. boundless vs. bounded.
Second, I’m reflecting on a point former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale famously made in 1995: “There are only two ways to make money in business: bundling and unbundling.” I think we’re burnt out by the fragmentation that the D2C era brought to everything. After subscribing to tons of hyper-niche content over the years, the idea of a couple brands we... See more