Economics of Human Energy
Thoughts about how money and human energy relate
Economics of Human Energy
The faster the experimentation cycles, the faster the learning, the more of an advantage you have over established people and companies.
Leo Guinan • The Build In Public Manifesto
speed wins
Getting found is about being findable.
Tina Mai • Kernel | Chaos Theory
Takes less energy to be found if you are findable. Less energy it takes, more likely to happen.
Creativity is not a process. creativity is not scripted.
One of the most salient traits of creative visionaries like Walt Disney and Steve jobs is the absence of process.
Process is an organized way of doing things. But they didn’t have a process. They just did the work. No strict adherence to budget or timelines. Just figure things out on the fly.
... See moreCreativity timelines aren’t predictable, so why do we try to put creative professions into timelines?
- Paladin saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Barbarian masculine energy saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Enlightened sexless bureaucracy saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Nurturing feminine energy saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Unbridled technological acceleration saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Unbridled GDP growth saves the world? Degrowth story.
- Saintly
every story is a degrowth story
These I agree are degrowth stories.
I think the connection he’s making is to the book, so that the loss of complexity in society leaves people feeling lost and unvalued, and that leads to societal collapse.
What if we don’t tie society to complexity?
“AI will lift the ceiling, leading to more creative outputs made possible by more powerful tools; it will also lower the floor, making it easier for anyone to design and collaborate.”
Our Centaur Future - A RADAR Report
When the gap between the ceiling and flow increases, the way to prevent unrest is by adding more steps between. It’s important to see clearly how to level up to the ceiling, and not only enable people who have the ability to make the leap between the existing steps. More people being able to do something shouldn’t threaten the existence of anyone currently doing the thing.
In the US, this began with the launch of TikTok.
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
this began well before TikTok.
It was always there from the time we networked the first computers together, because it’s the flaw with the economy first and foremost.
Similarly, I wonder whether the creator economy, as it matures, will resemble less of its original promise (a way for people to do the things they love), in favor of a “creator industrial complex.” Part of the problem is that creativity comes in fits and starts, and can’t always be tamed into a predictable routine. If you’re obligated to create... See more
Nadia Asparouhova • The creator economy
Creativity collapsing to productivity because money doesn’t know how to reward creativity
In early 2021, while most founders were chasing quick exits, I was laying the foundation for something more sustainable. The digital fingerprints are clear in my content DNA—establishing values and identity wasn't just personal branding. It was memetic groundwork.
The Time Architect: From Building in Public to Bending Time
What’s your content DNA look like?
Doubtless we all need a lot more time for sheer sloth and slack than we ever enjoy now, regardless of income or occupation, but once recovered from employment-induced exhaustion nearly all of us want to act.
Bob Black • The Abolition of Work
Sloth isn’t the default state; it’s the state that is a result of energy sucking activities.