Sam Liebeskind
@samliebeskind
product partnerships at New_Public; previously community & growth @ Geneva
Sam Liebeskind
Quantitative experiments, sometimes including tens of millions of individuals, have examined inclusiveness and efficiency in decision-making via digital networks. Their findings suggest that large networks of nonexperts can make practical, productive decisions and engage in collective action under certain (1) conditions. (2) These conditions... See more
Alex Pentland • Rediscovering the Pleasures of Pluralism: The Potential of Digitally Mediated Civic Participation — Digitalist Papers
- Smaller teams are better
- Faster decisions, fewer meetings, more fun
- No need to chop up work for political reasons
Nat Friedman • Nat Friedman
Many social goals are best accomplished indirectly; singles parties are never the best singles parties, dinners devoted to a discussion topic rarely produce good conversation; you’ve got to cultivate the conditions, not demand the behavior
Sasha Chapinx.comThat might be an inevitable consequence of “enshittification”, but the solution isn’t to avoid all algorithms, but just to avoid algorithms you can’t control.
Algorithmic ranking is unfairly maligned
When you have trouble writing, it’s usually because you don’t know what you’re trying to say. Most writing problems are actually thinking problems. And you can't copyedit your way out of poor thinking.
When we buy a physical product, we accept that it won’t change in its lifetime. We’ll use it until it wears off, and we replace it. We can rely on that product not evolving; the gas pedal in my car will always be in the same place.
However, when it comes to software, we usually have the ingrained expectations of perpetual updates. We believe that if... See more
However, when it comes to software, we usually have the ingrained expectations of perpetual updates. We believe that if... See more
The beauty of finished software
finished software is software that’s not expected to change, and that’s a feature
To understand exactly why this is the case, let’s consider Chesterton’s Fence, described by G. K. Chesterton himself as follows:
There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use... See more
fs.blog • Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Second Order Thinking - Farnam Street
Don’t remove a fence until you’ve understood why someone put it up in the first place