Agency

A good passage in continuation of the note on collective imaginations.
Responsibility that should be borne by an individual is dissolved amongst a group, who rely on the process of deliberation, passing on the responsibility to the organization.
Excerpt: “Committees are commonly used in our society because they create the illusion of avoiding risk. They are a wonderful device for avoiding responsibility while making the institution seem more rather than less accountable. Modern institutions have overloaded on actual risk while fleeing the appearance of it, especially if you count “failing at core mission” as a risk. Such aversion to the appearance of the unusual can’t be justified on economic grounds. Rather, it is a socially driven aversion.“

Related to this, I’ve been thinking a lot about obsession, relentlessness, and near-unachievable goals. What makes someone able to reach heights others view as impossible? What makes some better suited for pursuits involving a singular focus?
The answer seems to be: a capacity for intensity. Intensity is a derivative of focus. The word intense is
... See moreIsabel Hazan • Intensity
My most profound moment in college was when a professor mentioned that we were in school not to learn concepts, but to learn how to think critically. It was a major unblocker for me.
Prior to that moment, I'd been prioritizing getting good grades in my classes. It was the most important thing at the time. The clearest object I had in front of me.
Now
Agency is the capacity to act. Gaining agency is gaining the capacity to do something different from the rigid path of events that simply happen to you. Remarkable people typically go off-script early, usually in more than one way. Carnegie becoming a telegraph message boy is one opportunity; asking how to operate the telegraph is another. He was
... See moreSimon Sarris • School Is Not Enough
First, we must gather information, and collect our puzzle pieces. Then we must assemble the edges, building the container for our work. In this way, action is the precursor to creativity. Not the other way around.
We must act our way into creativity, not think our way in.
It's easier to give/apply advice to a thing that exists