Michael Brooks
@mike
Michael Brooks
The mathematical genius Alexander Grothendieck once had a metaphor for solving problems. He suggested that instead of forcing open an impossibly hard kernel with a hammer and chisel, one should simply let it sit in water and wait. Over time, the shell softens and opens with ease. This is also true in writing; time is the only non-substitutable... See more
Epiphanies Come From Waiting
Remember The New Yorker . You subscribed because you liked it. Then it taunted you with its endless words, pages and pages demanding to be read. It reminded you of all the time you didn’t have to spend reading The New Yorker . Whenever you glimpsed the growing pile, you felt mild panic. Every time you recycled an unread issue, you felt like a... See more
Caroline Cala Donofrio • You Are a Person, Not a Pickle
“If you want a new world, start making it right now, in whatever you are doing.”
-Brian Eno.
If you imagine the world you would like to be in and start making objects, systems and collaborations that belong to that world, that world comes into being.
Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly 10 times faster than the average rate of warming after an ice age. Carbon dioxide from human activities is increasing about 250 times faster than... See more
The more attention we pay to the moment, the simpler it becomes. Because you are no longer juggling endless loops of thought at once. You’re exclusively focused on the precious moment you are in. And in doing so: you expand into it. In focusing your attention on one point—precisely where you are—you channel your infinite attention directly into it,
... See moreIsabel Hazan • distillation
A helpful prompt when using AI:
Do not simply affirm my statements or assume my conclusions are correct. Your goal is to be an intellectual sparring partner, not just an agreeable assistant. Every time I present an idea, do the following:
1. Analyze my assumptions. What am I taking for granted that might not be true?
2. Provide counterpoints. What
... See more
“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary. It's time for that to end.”