Human Stuff
the messiness of what it means to be human, with all of its messiness and complexities
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Human Stuff
Keep enemies, hatred, and suffering in perspective. Love and hate, likes and dislikes, and fear, insecurity, uncertainty, and feelings of threat are common to our human psychology. Enemies abound, particularly for those who are vulnerable. But our brains were built for survival, not happiness, so often they collect negative information and dangers,... See more
Six Tips for Loving Your Enemies
It was striking how many of Elon’s early tweets about Twitter’s issues seemed to pin Twitter’s underperformance on engineering problems. Response times, things of that nature. But Twitter’s appeal was never a pure feat of engineering, nor were its problems solely the fault of engineering malpractice. They were human in nature. Twitter isn’t, as... See more
Eugene Wei • How to Blow Up a Timeline
Not using a phone taught me what a phone is really for. It’s not for communicating with other people, getting directions, reading articles, looking at pictures, shopping for products, or playing games. A phone is a device for muting the anxieties proper to being alive. This is what all its functions and features ultimately achieve: cameras deliver... See more
-Sam Kriss
I read nearly every post from Jon Haidt’s After Babel, but a recent one entitled “Why Antisemitism Sprouted So Quickly on Campus” really helped deepen my understanding of how we got to where we are now as it relates to anti-Semitism. It feels especially important as a parent of young children to understand “common enemy identity politics” vs. “common humanity identity politics” so we can identify it and discuss it more effectively with our kids and community.
19 Things You Can Say to People in 10 Seconds That Sometimes Produce Insanely Outsized Effects
1. Yeah, someone *should* do that. Why not you?
2. Is there something you could do about that problem in the next five minutes?
3. That's a great thought - have you written it up somewhere? I'd be excited to share it if so.
4. Should you write a blog or
... See moreLove these questions. They pair nicely with Milan’s list of things you’re allowed to do.
Why We Want Robots at Work but Humans in Art
We hate other people when latency becomes intolerable. As soon as a task is about speed, other humans feel like an irritating inconvenience. The Uber driver’s small talk annoys us. We wish we were in a Waymo. The cashier’s tip screen feels like a micro-ransom when all we want is a bottle of water.... See more
We hate other people when latency becomes intolerable. As soon as a task is about speed, other humans feel like an irritating inconvenience. The Uber driver’s small talk annoys us. We wish we were in a Waymo. The cashier’s tip screen feels like a micro-ransom when all we want is a bottle of water.... See more
Why We Want Robots at Work but Humans in Art
People are happy enough rich, and people are happy enough poor. But it’s hard to imagine anyone happy without a feeling that their actions have some impact, however small. Even if you’re not going to be remembered by history, you want to be remembered by your barista. The prisoner, though largely robbed of power, is probably happier if he can vex... See more