Podcast appearances and mentions of Venkatesh Rao

While at Devcon 2024 I spoke to Sarah Friend,an artist and software developer from Canada and based in Berlin. In 2023, she was a research fellow at Summer of Protocols, led by Venkatesh Rao and the Ethereum Foundation, studying the death of protocols and published a paper on "Good Death".We discussed her findings in her research on how and when protocols are considered dead, how different human cultures view death and the silliness behind the longevity movement.If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit and Discord to join the discussion.Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who's work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

This week on Future Fossils, I meet with the wonderful Tim Adalin of Voicecraft. Watch us get to know each other a little bit better on a swapcast (his edit here) that throws a long loop around the world. Tim is precisely the kind of thoughtful investigator I love to encounter in conversation. Enjoy!✨ Support This Work• Buy my brain for hourly consulting or advisory work on retainer• Become a patron on Substack or Patreon• Help me find backing for my next big project Humans On The Loop• Buy the books we discuss from my Bookshop.org reading list• Buy original paintings and prints or commission new work• Join the conversation on Discord in the Holistic Technology & Wise Innovation and Future Fossils servers• Make one-off donations at @futurefossils on Venmo, $manfredmacx on CashApp, or @michaelgarfield on PayPal• Buy the show's music on Bandcamp — intro “Olympus Mons” from the Martian Arts EP & outro “Sonnet A” from the Double-Edged Sword EP✨ Chapters00:00 Introduction to Lifelong Collaboration and Innovation 01:18 The Role of Art and Holistic Processes in Innovation 01:37 Challenges in Fostering Collective Intelligence 03:37 The Intersection of Science and Art 03:49 Introduction to the Special Episode with Tim Adelin06:36 Exploring Technology and Human Civilization 07:27 The Importance of Trust and Dialogue in Organizations 42:41 The Rise of Wise Innovation 43:34 The Information Scaling Problem 44:49 The Epidemic of Loneliness 46:58 The Obsession with Novelty 50:21 The Role of Cultural Intelligence 53:25 The Finite Time Singularity 01:01:15 The Future of Human Collaboration✨ Takeaways* Wise innovation requires reconnecting with the purpose and mission of organizations and cultivating a field that allows for the ripening of ideas and contributions.* The tension between exploration and exploitation is a key consideration in navigating large networks and organizations.* Play, creativity, and the integration of holistic, playful, and noisy approaches are essential for innovation and problem-solving.* Deep and authentic relationships are crucial for effective communication and understanding in a world of information overload.* The need for wisdom to keep pace with technology is a pressing challenge in the modern world. Innovation is a crossroads between the need for integration and the obsession with novelty and productivity.* Different types of innovation are needed, and movement in one dimension is not equivalent to movement in another.* The erosion of values and the loss of context can occur when organizations prioritize innovation and novelty.* A tripartite regulatory structure, consisting of industry, art/culture/academia, and government, is necessary to prevent the exploitation of power asymmetries.* Small-scale governance processes and the importance of care and balance in innovation are key to a more sustainable and wise approach.✨ MentionsAlison Gopnik, Iain McGilchrist, Brian Arthur, Bruce Alderman, Andrew Dunn, Turquoise Sound, John Vervaeke, Naomi Klein, Erik Davis, Kevin Kelly, Mitch Mignano, Rimma Boshernitsan, Geoffrey West, Brian Enquist, Jim Brown, Elisa Mora, Chris Kempes, Manfred Laubichler, Annalee Newitz, Venkatesh Rao, Daniel Schmachtenberger, Nate Hagens, Yanis Varoufakis, Ferananda Ibarra, Josh Field, Michel Bauwens, John Pepper, Kevin Kelly, Gregory Landua, Sam Bowles, Wendy Carlin, Kevin Clark, Stuart Kauffman, Jordan Hall, William Irwin Thompson, Henry Andrews This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelgarfield.substack.com/subscribe

Dan and Ian discuss the biggest money problems they've seen in their own business and hundreds of other bootstrapped businesses. Learn how to craft a sustainable financial model, the importance of owner compensation, how to avoid being under-invested, and more. Dan & Ian's Stuff: Our book: Before the Exit (https://www.amazon.com/Before-Exit-Thought-Experiments-Entrepreneurs/dp/1980628823/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E5PMCCM0TDZ0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GnIb36rltn6NgcjHBCs8zg.waeKvE3zKoAbCt6Adoo5o5vv7M4PDyOj9pMXE7dM82A&dib_tag=se&keywords=before+the+exit+dan+andrews&qid=1711510466&s=books&sprefix=before+the+exit+dan+andrews%2Cstripbooks%2C101&sr=1-1) The Newsletter (https://tropicalmba.com/subscribe) “The DC” (https://dynamitecircle.com/join-dc/) DC Accelerator (https://dynamitecircle.com/dc-accelerator) DC Black (https://dynamitecircle.com/dc-black) Global events (https://dynamitecircle.com/events) Hire remote talent (https://remotefirstrecruiting.com/) Find a remote job (https://dynamitejobs.com/) Listen on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialTropicalMBA) Follow on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/tropicalmba/) @TropicalMBA (https://twitter.com/TropicalMBA) @AnythingIan (https://twitter.com/AnythingIan) Chapters ● (00:00:45) Introduction and Setting the Stage ● (00:01:13) The Importance of Money Attitudes and Metaphors ● (00:16:08) The Startup Spending Mindset in Bootstrapped Businesses ● (00:29:39) Focusing on the Wrong Problems ● (00:31:25) Strategies for Affording to Start a Business ● (00:34:28) Starting Early and Investing in Yourself ● (00:38:18) The Importance of Owner Compensation ● (00:41:15) Setting a Salary Cap ● (00:45:12) Avoiding Being Under-Invested Links: - Derek Sivers article “Shed Your Money Taboos” (https://sive.rs/mn1) - Venkatesh Rao article “Ancient Rivers of Money” (https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/11/05/ancient-rivers-of-money/) Past guests on TMBA include Cal Newport, David Heinemeier Hannson, Seth Godin, Ricardo Semler, Noah Kagan, Rob Walling, Jay Clouse, Einar Vollset, Sam Dogan, Gino Wickam, James Clear, Jodie Cook, Mark Webster, Steph Smith, Taylor Pearson, Tommy Griffith, Justin Tan, Matt Gartland, Travis Jamison, Ayman Al-Abdullah, Tynan, Lucy Bella Simkins, Brian Balfour, Nick Huber, Mike Michalowicz, Greg Crabtree, Jordan Gal Additional episodes you might enjoy: Unlock Wealth Through Financial Fluency (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/unlock-wealth-financial-fluency) The Secret Weapon for Pricing Power (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/secret-weapon-pricing-power) How Healthy is Your Business? (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/how-healthy-is-your-business)

November is synonymous with Black Friday, great deals but what cost? Over consumption is endangering our already fragile planet. Is it time to change our ways? This week Do You Really Know is highlighting concepts and initiatives about reducing our consumption. You might not be able to afford a Balenciaga coat, a Prada bag or a Chanel suit, but you could probably stretch to a branded baseball cap, pair of socks or some other small accessory. According to blogger Venkatesh Rao this is the definition of ‘premium mediocre' a term he came up with to describe the illusion of luxury without the price tag. Is premium mediocre just for fashion? What is the problem with premium mediocre? Why do people purchase premium mediocre products? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: What are the health impacts of taking public transport? Does true crime help us fall asleep? What is goblin mode? A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. First broadcast: 22/10/2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“There is this move from generality in a relative sense of ‘we are not as specialized as insects' to generality in the sense of omnipotent, omniscient, godlike capabilities. And I think there's something very dangerous that happens there, which is you start thinking of the word ‘general' in completely unhinged ways.”In episode 114 of The Gradient Podcast, Daniel Bashir speaks to Venkatesh Rao. Venkatesh is a writer and consultant. He has been writing the widely read Ribbonfarm blog since 2007, and more recently, the popular Ribbonfarm Studio Substack newsletter. He is the author of Tempo, a book on timing and decision-making, and is currently working on his second book, on the foundations of temporality. He has been an independent consultant since 2011, supporting senior executives in the technology industry. His work in recent years has focused on AI, semiconductor, sustainability, and protocol technology sectors. He holds a PhD in control theory (2003) from the University of Michigan. He is currently based in the Seattle area, and enjoys dabbling in robotics in his spare time. You can learn more about his work at venkateshrao.comHave suggestions for future podcast guests (or other feedback)? Let us know here or reach us at editor@thegradient.pubSubscribe to The Gradient Podcast:  Apple Podcasts  | Spotify | Pocket Casts | RSSFollow The Gradient on TwitterOutline:* (00:00) Intro* (01:38) Origins of Ribbonfarm and Venkat's academic background* (04:23) Voice and recurring themes in Venkat's work* (11:45) Patch models and multi-agent systems: integrating philosophy of language, balancing realism with tractability* (21:00) More on abstractions vs. tractability in Venkat's work* (29:07) Scaling of industrial value systems, characterizing AI as a discipline* (39:25) Emergent science, intelligence and abstractions, presuppositions in science, generality and universality, cameras and engines* (55:05) Psychometric terms* (1:09:07) Inductive biases (yes I mentioned the No Free Lunch Theorem and then just talked about the definition of inductive bias and not the actual theorem

"Oozification is the process of recursively replacing systems based on numerous larger building blocks, governed by many rules, with ones based on fewer, smaller building blocks, governed by fewer rules, thereby increasing the number of evolutionary possibilities and lowering the number of evolutionary certainties." Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode, we're discussing Fear of Oozification, an article by Venkatesh Rao. Get ready to explore the concept of ooziness in technology, learn the signs of oozification, and uncover why the ooze should (or should not) be feared. We cover a wide range of topics including: How oozification applies in technology, nature, and more The contrast between progressification and oozification Challenges in preserving our knowledge over time Humans' natural fear of unpredictability and uncertainty Why authority and trust may be victims of oozification And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Fear of Oozification Chrony Beliefs (0:32) (Book Episode) Oozy Intelligence in Slow Time (7:32) Sopranos Autopsy blog (30:44) StumbleUpon (31:27) The Honey Diet (35:57) Vesuvius Challenge (45:24) Phorevr (49:05) The Gervais Principle (51:48) The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial (51:51) Books Mentioned: The Three-Body Problem (1:42) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Permutation City (1:44) (Book Episode) Flowers for Algernon (1:48) (Book Episode) East of Eden (1:52) Logicomix (2:01) Seeing Like A State (23:30) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) The Anthology of Balaji (38:22) Flatland (58:14) Watchmen (58:30) V for Vendetta (58:55) People Mentioned: Venkatesh Rao @anabology (32:06) Show Topics: (0:00) Welcome back to Made You Think! We kick off this episode by sharing our reading progress for the upcoming books on the podcast as well as anything else we're reading (or re-reading) outside of it. (5:32) Nat notes his experience with re-reading The Three-Body Problem series, the different pacing of each of the books, and other minor details that stuck out while going through it a second time. (6:43) Today, we're covering Fear of Oozification, an article by Venkatesh Rao. Nat, Neil, and Adil dive into the author's definition of oozification, and more specifically, how it applies within certain technologies such as the computer and phone. (10:52) What makes something more or less oozy? We think of the ooziness of nature where we frequently envision stable environments such as a forest or meadow. However, when a major change or catastrophe takes place, the landscape has to evolve and its trajectory changes. (14:36) Progressification vs oozification: In contrast to oozing, you can make steady and predictable progress within technology, for example. (16:50) We share our main takeaways from the article, debate what the author's view on oozification is, and how the author got his argument across.  (23:18) How oozification will happen regardless of the natural linear progression that we're on in the world of technology. As we progress and create new technologies, each new piece of tech will ooze in its own way. (26:27) Naturally, we fear the unpredictability of the future. What is it about oozification that we are more fearful of than just the unpredictability of the future? Plus, the new era of the internet vs. how things used to be in the world of blogging and social media. (31:43) Decentering and simplifying. We talk a bit about an individual health blog written in just plain text. Check it out here if you're curious! (37:39) Trust and authority, and how that links in with oozification. Nowadays, it's nearly easier to verify truth and accuracy in individuals rather than in large accredited institutions. (41:06) When something is oozed so far away from the fundamental state that we won't know how to recreate the original anymore. Plus, what really is the best way to transmit human knowledge? (46:07) How memories have traditionally been stored through photographs, both digital and physical, and what the future of storing our memories and artifacts may eventually look like. (51:37) We chat a bit about some of Rao's other articles, discuss the contrast in the way that technology and government oozifies, and provide our final thoughts of the article. (55:46) In true Made You Think fashion, we ask ChatGPT for its take on the article! (57:45) That wraps up this episode! Next up, we'll be reading Logicomix followed by East of Eden. Make sure to grab a copy of those books and read along with us. Head on over to our new website to see what's next, listen to previous episodes, and send any book suggestions our way! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

“I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel alone.” Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! Today, we're delving into Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Join us as we take you through the journey of an intellectually disabled man who undergoes a procedure with the hopes of increasing his mental abilities. We'll unpack several themes that resonate deeply with the human experience, and seek to get our questions answered on what it truly means to be intelligent. We cover a wide range of topics including: The relationship between intelligence and loneliness Whether the experiment actually made Charlie worse off Influence of social norms and media on individual beliefs and behaviors The existence (or lack of) internal dialogues How handicapped people are often viewed and treated And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: Apple Vision Pro (0:01) Rabbit (0:56) Playdate (2:41) Slack (3:54) Lambda Technologies (4:16) Discord (5:17) Flowers for Algernon Wiki (14:41) Internal dialogues (42:01) Reddit thread on Internal Dialogues (43:45)  Texas Tower shooting of 1966 (53:49) The Crowded Room (1:14:04)  Books Mentioned: Flowers for Algernon Infinite Jest (Book Episode 1) (Book Episode 2) (Nat's Book Notes) Enders Game (30:45) The Three-Body Problem (30:46) (Book Episode) (Nat's Book Notes) Permutation City (31:36) (Book Episode) Straw Dogs (48:02) (Book Episode) The Minds of Billy Milligan (1:13:42) East of Eden (1:18:12) (Nat's Book Notes) Logicomix (1:21:02) People Mentioned: Daniel Keyes Sam Altman (5:53) Sam Harris (53:24) David Foster Wallace (58:49) Michael Chang (1:15:02) John Steinbeck (1:17:15) Show Topics: (0:00) We open the show by talking about new hardware innovations on the horizon from Apple's Vision Pro to the pocket-sized Rabbit.  (3:23) As it's become increasingly easier to make software, what will this mean for SaaS companies and the future of software? (6:18) Today we're talking about Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. The book takes us on the journey of a severely handicapped man who enters into an experiment in order to increase his intelligence. There will be spoilers so if you're planning on reading the book, we suggest you do that before listening to this episode! (12:28) Through Charlie's progression and regression, we get a glimpse into his levels of intelligence, awareness, and loneliness. He finds himself lonelier the more intelligent he becomes because as he gains more awareness, he learns that some people aren't truly his friends. (13:21) There seems to be a human desire to improve no matter what. Nat, Neil, and Adil debate whether Charlie was better or worse off in the end than he was at the start of his journey. (18:35) We discuss some of the other characters in the story and what their relationship with Charlie is like. Notably, Alice is one of the only people who saw him as a person throughout his whole life, even before he gained his intelligence.  (22:00) Charlie's family life and how the author wrote each of their closures with Charlie, or lack thereof.  (25:12) Despite Alice being a very positive figure in Charlie's life, you could make the argument that he didn't treat her very well. Regardless, Alice kept her hope and optimism in every situation. (28:18) Though the book is classified as science fiction, it also poses instances of moral philosophy. Showcased by the author were examples of how people with mental or physical disabilities are treated by others, both obviously and subtly.  (32:52) One of the symbols in the story was a window that Charlie would watch the world through. It was a way for him to interpret his disconnection from society. Throughout the story, Charlie makes progress once he acknowledges himself and his past rather than running and hiding from it.  (36:54) The progression of Charlie's intelligence vs. his emotional intelligence and how they changed at different rates. Plus, we talk about the role of the researchers and how he treated them. (40:02) Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about their interpretation of one of the earlier scenes in the book. In the background was some type of educational tape played for Charlie, but it could have also been symbolized to be his internal monologue. (41:40) Does everyone have an internal dialogue? We dig into a tangent of internal dialogue and why it may be that not everyone has one. (50:13) We break down the different versions of Charlie throughout his life and how his character changed throughout the story. (53:20) Recalling the Texas shooter from the 1960's who was found to have a brain tumor. This brings up many moral dilemmas as to whether someone like him should be allowed to walk after having the brain tumor removed. (56:02) Similarly, what is the tipping point for something small to snowball into a very dangerous idea? We continue with a discussion on the role of social norms and social media. You can live very close proximally to someone but be engaged in completely different social worlds. It's all about who you choose to follow and what types of content you engage with. (1:03:03) Where should the line be drawn in giving punishments to someone who has some type of illness in their brain, such as a brain tumor or lead poisoning? Let us know what you think! (1:09:13) Adil shares his experience with re-reading the book as well as ChatGPT's take on Charlie's sessions with his psychiatrist. (1:13:36) We talk about the author's writing career, including one of the other pieces that he has written. In fact, Apple TV came out with a mini-series based on one of his books!  (1:18:46) That wraps up this episode! We've got an exciting lineup for our next few episodes, beginning with Venkatesh Rao's essay, Fear of Oozification. Down the line, we'll also be covering Logicomix and re-reading East of Eden. Stay tuned and read along with us. You will not want to miss these! If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

The world is changing fast. Technology can be used to empower us -- and also to hack our brains & our lives. What laws do we need to protect our freedoms? Rahul Matthan joins Amit Varma in episode 360 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his work on privacy -- and on a new, subtle approach towards data governance. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)   Also check out: 1. Rahul Matthan on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Trilegal, Substack and his own website. 2. Privacy 3.0: Unlocking Our Data-Driven Future -- Rahul Matthan. 3. The Third Way: India's Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance -- Rahul Matthan. 4. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan -- Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 5. Sudhir Sarnobat Works to Understand the World -- Episode 350 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. Roam Research. 7. Zettelkasten on Wikipedia. 8. Tana, Obsidian and Notion. 9. Getting Things Done -- David Allen. 10. The Greatest Productivity Mantra: Kaator Re Bhaaji! -- Episode 11 of Everything is Everything. 11. Hallelujah (Spotify) (YouTube) -- Leonard Cohen. 12. Hallelujah (Spotify) (YouTube) -- Jeff Buckley. 13. The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" -- Alan Light. 14. Hallelujah on Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell. 15. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life -- Anne Lamott. 16. The New Basement Tapes. (Also Wikipedia.) 17. Kansas City -- Marcus Mumford. 18. The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial -- Venkatesh Rao. 19. Vitalik Buterin Fights the Dragon-Tyrant — Episode 342 of The Seen and the Unseen. 20. Paul Graham on Twitter and his own website. (His essays are extraordinary.) 21. Ribbonfarm by Venkatesh Rao. 22. The Network State --  Balaji Srinivasan. 23. Marc Andreessen on Twitter. 24. The Techno-Optimist Manifesto -- Marc Andreessen. 25. Siddhartha Mukherjee and Carlo Rovelli on Amazon. 26. For the Lord (Spotify) (YouTube) -- Rahul Matthan. 27. Predicting the Future -- Rahul Matthan (on Asimov's concept of Psychohistory etc). 28. Gurwinder Bhogal Examines Human Nature — Episode 331 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Looking-Glass Self. 30. Panopticon. 31. Danish Husain and the Multiverse of Culture -- Episode 359 of The Seen and the Unseen. 32. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 33. We Are All Amits From Africa — Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy). 34. Nothing is Indian! Everything is Indian! — Episode 12 of Everything is Everything. 35. The Right to Privacy -- Samuel D Warren and Louis D Brandeis. 36. John Locke on Britannica, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia and Econlib. 37. Build for Tomorrow -- Jason Feifer. 38. Ex Machina -- Alex Garland. 39. Arrival -- Denis Villeneuve. 40. The Great Manure Crisis of 1894 -- Rahul Matthan. 41. Climate Change and Our Power Sector — Episode 278 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshay Jaitley and Ajay Shah). 42. The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect -- Judea Pearl. 43. The New World Upon Us — Amit Varma on Alpha Zero. 44. Brave New World -- Vasant Dhar's podcast, produced by Amit Varma. 45. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare -- Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 46. The Colonial Constitution -- Arghya Sengupta. 47. Beyond Consent: A New Paradigm for Data Protection -- Rahul Matthan. 48. The Puttaswamy case. 49. Judicial Reforms in India -- Episode 62 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alok Prasanna Kumar.) 50. Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility among India's Professional Elite --  Swethaa S Ballakrishnen. 51. Magic Fruit: A Poetic Trip -- Vaishnav Vyas. 52. Hermanos Gutiérrez and Arc De Soleil on Spotify. 53. The Travelling Salesman Problem. 54. The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet -- Jeff Kosseff. 55. Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace -- Lawrence Lessig. 56. Financial Inclusion and Digital Transformation in India -- Suyash Rai. 57. No Time for False Modesty -- Rahul Matthan. 58. In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 59. Once Upon a Prime -- Sarah Hart. 60. The Greatest Invention -- Silvia Ferrara. 61. Surveillance State -- Josh Chin and Liza Lin. 62. Surveillance Valley -- Yasha Levine. 63. Sex Robots and Vegan Meat -- Jenny Kleeman. 64. How to Take Smart Notes -- Sönke Ahrens. 65. The Creative Act -- Rick Rubin. 66. How to Write One Song -- Jeff Tweedy. 67. Adrian Tchaikovsky and NK Jemisin on Amazon. 68. Snarky Puppy. on Spotify and YouTube. 69. Empire Central -- Snarky Puppy. 70. Polyphia on Spotify and YouTube. 71. The Lazarus Project on Jio Cinema. This episode is sponsored by the Pune Public Policy Festival 2024, which takes place on January 19 & 20, 2024. The theme this year is Trade-offs! Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! Episode art: ‘Protocol' by Simahina.

Tim Beiko, who runs the core protocol meetings for Ethereum, teams up with writer and consultant Venkatesh Rao to discuss their “Summer of Protocols” research program. This initiative brought together 33 researchers with a wide range of expertise to investigate protocols across several domains. Join us for an in-depth exploration of protocols: understanding what they are, their importance, why they can go wrong, and much more! Important Links: Summer of Protocols Protocolized Newsletter Venkatesh's previous episode Venkatesh's Website Ribbonfarm Venkatesh's Substack Venkatesh's Twitter Tim's Twitter Show Notes: Why We Should Care About Protocols Protocols, Narratives & World-Building The Three Preconditions of a Protocol "Civilization progresses by increasing the number of actions we can do without thinking about them.” When Protocols Go Wrong More Protocols = Less Agency? Workplace Safety & Protocol Complexity How to Build Good Protocols; Building Protocol Literacy Why Aren't More People Talking About Protocols? How to Encourage Protocols-First Thinking Protocols Have Long Timelines Protocols in Fiction Protocol Hunting In Silico Determinism, Open Environments & Evolution How to Hack Protocols Agility Isn't Always the Answer Memory: The Most Valuable Asset in a Civilization Next Steps & How to Learn More MORE! Books & Essays Mentioned: The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates; by Howard Bloom Hope Runners of Gridlock; by Simon de la Rouviere High Rise; by J.G Ballard The Drowned World; by J.G Ballard The Drought; by J.G Ballard A Burglar's Guide to the City; by Geoff Manaugh The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering; by Frederick Brooks In the Beginning Was the Command Line; by Neal Stephenson Slow Ideas; by Atul Gawande Nakatomi Space; by Geoff Manaugh Base Layers And Functional Escape Velocity; by Vitalik Buterin

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After some weeks of nativity bliss and medical drama we are back! A joy to invite Venkatesh Rao to take us down a number of his bunny trails, focussing initially on his great piece The Permaweird, the latest in his Great Weirding series. We discuss the tendency to call "crisis!", a generally ambient sense of weirdness, and how the latest developments in AI suggest that isn't slowing down anytime soonThe Permaweird: https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/p/the-permaweirdSubscribe to Ribbonfarm: https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/Follow Venkatesh on twitter: https://twitter.com/vgr 

Venkatesh Rao is a writer, consultant, and author. He has been writing about indie consulting for years and has recently published The Art of Gig, Volumes 1 & 2, which together take an in-depth look at the gig economy. Venkatesh joins the show to discuss tragic luck, becoming slightly nonsensical, the advantages of mediocrity, and a whole lot more! Important Links: Venkatesh's Website Venkatesh's Blog Venkatesh's Substack Venkatesh's Twitter The Art of Gig The Art of Gig: our synthesis The Gervais Principle Show Notes: Origins of The Art of Gig Paycheck People Learning how to take risks Is there a risk-taking gene? The case for fixed-point futurism Finding meaning Personality types, narrative, and becoming a courageous thinker Don't get tragically lucky Generational agency Sparring, pressure and meaning-making Be slightly nonsensical Teaching others to appreciate randomness Towards infinite games; be mediocre Understanding divergentism MUCH more! Books Mentioned: The Art of Gig: Volumes 1 & 2; by Venkatesh Rao The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich; by Tim Feriss Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself; by Daniel H. Pink The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life; by Paul Millerd Tempo: timing, tactics and strategy in narrative-driven decision-making; by Venkatesh Rao The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By; by Dan P. McAdams Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life As Play and Possibility; by James Carse Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity; by David Allen

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How can newly minted futures and foresight folk make their mark and attract the right work? What does it take to assemble an informal group of independent thinkers to collaborate at the frontier of change?Today's guest is Venkatesh Rao - writer, consultant, and Yak Herder at the Yak Collective. To go further into Venkat's back catalogue, I have 3 book recommendations:- Tempo explores timing, tactics, and strategy in narrative-driven decision-making- The Gervais Principle is a internet cult classic using The Office to explore organisational dynamics, and a fantastically entertaining read- The Art of Gig - a 2 volume philosophical guide to the modern gig economy for independent consultants.Links from today's showYak Collective: https://www.yakcollective.org/The Art of Gig: https://artofgig.com/Tempo: https://amzn.asia/d/77AlQ1xThe Gervais Principle: https://amzn.asia/d/0JDGd54https://venkateshrao.com/Support FuturePod: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=12821399

Venkatesh Rao is a writer and consultant based in Los Angeles. The bulk of his consulting practice comprises 1:1 work with senior executives as a conversational sparring partner, to stress test and improve the rigor and quality of their ongoing thinking about their evolving challenges. The Art of Gig is a two-volume guide to the modern gig economy, with particular emphasis on independent consulting. It is intended to serve as a philosophical companion for a life of free agency and help you develop a sensibility of work attuned to both the poetry and practicalities of life beyond paychecks. The essays included in these volumes were originally published over two years in a weekly email newsletter. They have been carefully updated, sequenced, and structured for this compilation. This first volume, Foundations, comprises thirty-two essays that aim to help you develop a solid grasp of the fundamentals of surviving and thriving in the gig economy. Topics include: getting oriented, bootstrapping, managing perceptions, mental fitness, and sparring with executives. The second volume, Superstructures, covers themes that become salient once strong foundations are in place. You can find Venkatesh at ribbonfarm.com, venkateshrao.com, on Twitter @vgr, and on Substack at https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/.  Joseph Fridman is a researcher, science communicator, media producer, and educational organizer. You can follow him on Twitter @joseph_fridman, or reach him at his website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Venkatesh Rao is a writer and consultant based in Los Angeles. The bulk of his consulting practice comprises 1:1 work with senior executives as a conversational sparring partner, to stress test and improve the rigor and quality of their ongoing thinking about their evolving challenges. The Art of Gig is a two-volume guide to the modern gig economy, with particular emphasis on independent consulting. It is intended to serve as a philosophical companion for a life of free agency and help you develop a sensibility of work attuned to both the poetry and practicalities of life beyond paychecks. The essays included in these volumes were originally published over two years in a weekly email newsletter. They have been carefully updated, sequenced, and structured for this compilation. This first volume, Foundations, comprises thirty-two essays that aim to help you develop a solid grasp of the fundamentals of surviving and thriving in the gig economy. Topics include: getting oriented, bootstrapping, managing perceptions, mental fitness, and sparring with executives. The second volume, Superstructures, covers themes that become salient once strong foundations are in place. You can find Venkatesh at ribbonfarm.com, venkateshrao.com, on Twitter @vgr, and on Substack at https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/.  Joseph Fridman is a researcher, science communicator, media producer, and educational organizer. You can follow him on Twitter @joseph_fridman, or reach him at his website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/economics

Venkatesh Rao is a writer and consultant based in Los Angeles. The bulk of his consulting practice comprises 1:1 work with senior executives as a conversational sparring partner, to stress test and improve the rigor and quality of their ongoing thinking about their evolving challenges. The Art of Gig is a two-volume guide to the modern gig economy, with particular emphasis on independent consulting. It is intended to serve as a philosophical companion for a life of free agency and help you develop a sensibility of work attuned to both the poetry and practicalities of life beyond paychecks. The essays included in these volumes were originally published over two years in a weekly email newsletter. They have been carefully updated, sequenced, and structured for this compilation. This first volume, Foundations, comprises thirty-two essays that aim to help you develop a solid grasp of the fundamentals of surviving and thriving in the gig economy. Topics include: getting oriented, bootstrapping, managing perceptions, mental fitness, and sparring with executives. The second volume, Superstructures, covers themes that become salient once strong foundations are in place. You can find Venkatesh at ribbonfarm.com, venkateshrao.com, on Twitter @vgr, and on Substack at https://studio.ribbonfarm.com/.  Joseph Fridman is a researcher, science communicator, media producer, and educational organizer. You can follow him on Twitter @joseph_fridman, or reach him at his website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Venkatesh Rao is an essayist and author focused on organizational psychology and strategies for freelancers. I've been a fan of his work for almost 2 years and wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to have this conversation. Highly recommend you check out his new book The Art of Gig Volume 2. Venkatesh can be found on Twitter and Substack. 2:15 - 5:30 Intellectual Sparring 5:35 - 8:10 Being Slightly Evil 8:10 - 9:50 SBF v. Elon 9:56 - 10:30 Effective Altruism 10:40 - 13:30 Cold-blooded Listening 13:30 - 17:50 Charismatic Megagigs 18:00 - 21:00 Upward Managing your Clients 21:10 - VGR's Average Day 24:15 - 26:10 Deep work Jason Levin is the writer behind Cyber Patterns, a newsletter with 2,500+ subscribers focused on how to win the great online game. You can find him posting growth tactics and dumb tech bro jokes on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This episode was a delight. Venkatesh Rao is the creator of Ribbonfarm and has been writing about the internet, technology, and gig life. This conversation focuses on his recently published book, The Art of Gig.  If you are thinking about working independently, becoming a freelancer, or are interested in consulting, you should definitely buy his book: The Art of Gig, Foundations The Art of Gig, Superstructures WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/KC63HrF8V4EYou can find Venkatesh: on Twitter @vgr on RibbonFarm (blog and substack) His consulting website: venkateshrao.com Links Mentioned: How Karate Kid Ruined The Modern World (Cracked) Lords of Strategy What Theorising Is, Theorising Is Not Tempo, by Venkatesh Jim Keller Squad Wealth We talked about:1:00 The scripts Venkatesh grew up with 5:05 Preparing for the leap, Dan Pink's books 10:48 Predictable income vs adventure18:58 Is $100 enough to build confidence in a project?21:08 Understanding the big consulting companies 27:18 The positioning vs people's school33:34 "Avoid polished deliverables" 42:17 Helping the executives take a step back 47:54 Systematic doubt and systematic confidence 51:40 What is "the clutch class" and why does it matter? 59:34 "What the clutch class is doing on evenings and weekends everyone will be doing in 10 years" 1:01:54 Keeping a 10-foot pole between your public identity and freelance gigs 1:03:38 How does Venkatesh work with clients? 1:07:53 The Yak collective and the future of indie consulting 1:12:34 Why the gig economy will outgrow the paycheck economy?

November is synonymous with Black Friday, great deals but what cost? Over consumption is endangering our already fragile planet. Is it time to change our ways? This week Do You Really Know is highlighting concepts and initiatives about reducing our consumption. You might not be able to afford a Balenciaga coat, a Prada bag or a Chanel suit, but you could probably stretch to a branded baseball cap, pair of socks or some other small accessory. According to blogger Venkatesh Rao this is the definition of ‘premium mediocre' a term he came up with to describe the illusion of luxury without the price tag. Is premium mediocre just for fashion? What is the problem with premium mediocre? Why do people purchase premium mediocre products? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the latest episodes, click here: What is Gross National Happiness, a potential alternative to GDP? Why are my ears ringing? Why is Elon Musk's Twitter takeover causing concern? A Bababam Originals podcast, written and produced by Amber Minogue. In partnership with upday UK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tiago Forte is the creator of Building a Second Brain. Originally an online cohort-based course on using digital notetaking to transform your life, it has now turned into a book. Tiago himself called this "one of the deepest interviews he's done." In this conversation, we spoke about where Tiago's background in teaching, his inspiration to dream big, why he's sought out danger in his own life, how to interview your family, tips for a Vipassana retreat, why it's important to help today, and much more. (0:00) Intro (0:36) The power of meetup (3:00) Tiago's first entrance into teaching (5:31) Helping to your days (7:02) Ukraine (9:00) “We're so comfortable here” (12:10) Dangerous neighborhoods creating better communities (18:55) Venkatesh Rao's endorsement (21:02) Endorsing other people (24:08) Education vs. entertainment (30:40) What inspires Tiago to dream big? (32:32) Tiago adopting Neurolink? (33:58) Documentary about Dad (I was 10 times more present) (37:12) How to interview family? (39:43) How much does raising a child teach you about yourself? (41:30) Breaking down with tears on a plane (46:55) The growth of more in touch with feelings (51:02) Opening up your vagus nerve (56:30) Tips for Vipassana retreat (59:41) Tiago on Twitter vs. Tiago in real life (1:02:11) “To have profound insights, you need a quiet mind” (1:04:06) How do we get better at applying what we capture? (1:05:39) “Don't trust anyone over 35 who doesn't have kids giving life advice” (1:08:42) How does access to large datasets impact decisions? (1:12:38) What is Lindy? (1:13:08) Focus on quantity, not quality (1:19:28) Why do we feel shame around sharing our work? (1:21:10) We look down upon manufacturing for no reason (1:27:13) “Email is the elephant in the room of modern productivity” (1:30:15) “We're internet people” (1:33:01) Creators are being too strategic (1:35:50) Learning patience (1:38:01) Outro Building a Second Brain (book): https://www.amazon.com/Building-Second-Brain-Organize-Potential/dp/1982167386 Tiago's Twitter: https://twitter.com/fortelabs Tiago's Website: https://fortelabs.co/ Continue the conversation with me...

Ep. 29 (Part 1 of 2) | Rebel Wisdom co-founder Alexander Beiner has his finger on the cultural pulse of our times. Here he explores key challenges we face as a global community: sensemaking and truth finding in an culture that has lost its coherence as well as its sense of the divine, and what role psychedelics might play both therapeutically and spiritually in healing our culture. He discusses the need to go beyond the intellectual to find clarity and coherence, using embodied practices like meditation and inquiry, and explains how modalities such as these are an essential container for therapeutic psychedelic experiences. What if deep, spiritual, psychotherapeutic group processes were to inform political decision making? Are commodification and economics going to subvert the benefits of the psychedelic renaissance? Let's start asking, what do we want these substances to bring to the culture, and who has the authority to decide what psychedelics are used for? Ali brings keen insight and the wisdom of a dedicated contemplative to asking the important questions and offering up some answers as well. Recorded September 27, 2021. (For Apple Podcast users, https://deeptransformation.io/alexander-beiner-1-truthfinding-sensemaking-psychedelic-renaissance-how-to-heal-culture/ (click here to view the complete show notes on the episode page.)) Topics & Time Stamps - Part 1The evolution of the internet—from optimistic to dark and addictive—and its effect on culture (03:50) The crisis of trust in institutions creates a Wild West of narratives: Where do we get truth from? (07:03) Rebel Wisdom asks, how can we use the attitudes of the personal growth world and ancient wisdom to help us get into a new dialogue with each other? (08:50) The necessity to go beyond the intellectual to find clarity and certainty: that's where practices come in (like meditation and inquiry) (13:35) Rebel Wisdom's online course Sensemaking 101 moves from the inside out, creating a state of presence before tackling making sense of the news (15:55) The value of contemplative practices: they help you zoom out to a metaperspective and cultivate perspectival fluidity (17:07) The importance of bringing the spiritual worlds and political worlds together (people in the spiritual worlds are reluctant to go too far into the political and vice versa) (20:02) Danger of using meta as a “bypass”: focusing on how to make a better world rather than focusing on the realities of what is happening right now (20:57) The cycle of withdrawal and return: going within to come back to the world with more wisdom to give and going without to connect more deeply with ourselves (22:20) On allowing deep, spiritual, psychotherapeutic group processes to inform political decision making (23:52) What would an effective meta practice for people entail at this point? An ecology of practices (27:26) The therapeutic potential of the psychedelic experience combined with different modalities, i.e. inquiry + psychedelic experience (30:58) Resources & References - Part 1https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/ (Rebel Wisdom) podcast website Rebel Wisdom's https://rebelwisdom.co.uk/hidden (Sensemaking 101) (8-week process begins June 18th) Alexander Beiner on https://alexander-beiner.medium.com/ (Medium.com) Alexander Beiner on https://substack.com/profile/8136787-alexander-beiner (Substack.com) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_McKenna (Terence McKenna), ethnobotanist, author, and advocate of using psychedelic plants, https://amzn.to/3meZgHT (Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness)* with Rupert Sheldrake & Ralph Abraham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary (Timothy Leary), Harvard psychologist and LSD advocate, https://amzn.to/3x5iMeR (Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out)* Tristan Harris, “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UksAHxVsEQ (Persuasive Technology and the Race to the Bottom of the Brain Stem)” https://en.everybodywiki.com/Venkatesh_Rao_(writer) (Venkatesh Rao),...

Welcome to the Convivial Society, a newsletter exploring the relationship between technology and culture. This is what counts as a relatively short post around here, 1800 words or so, about a certain habit of mind that online spaces seem to foster. Almost one year ago, this exchange on Twitter caught my attention, enough so that I took a moment to capture it with a screen shot, thinking I’d go on to write about it at some point. Set aside for a moment whatever your particular thoughts might be on the public debate, if we can call it that, over vaccines, vaccine messaging, vaccine mandates, etc. Instead, consider the form of the claim, specifically the “anti-anti-” framing. I think I first noticed this peculiar way of talking about (or around) an issue circa 2016. In 2020, contemplating the same dynamics, I observed that “social media, perhaps Twitter especially, accelerates both the rate at which we consume information and the rate at which ensuing discussion detaches from the issue at hand, turning into meta-debates about how we respond to the responses of others, etc.” So by the time the Nyhan quote-tweeted Rosen last summer, the “anti-anti-” framing, to my mind, had already entered its mannerist phase. The use of “anti-anti-ad infinitum” is easy to spot, and I’m sure you’ve seen the phrasing deployed on numerous occasions. But the overt use of the “anti-anti-” formulation is just the most obvious manifestation of a more common style of thought, one that I’ve come to refer to as meta-positioning. In the meta-positioning frame of mind, thinking and judgment are displaced by a complex, ever-shifting, and often fraught triangulation based on who holds certain views and how one might be perceived for advocating or failing to advocate for certain views. In one sense, this is not a terribly complex or particularly novel dynamic. Our pursuit of understanding is often an uneasy admixture of the desire to know and the desire to be known as one who knows by those we admire. Unfortunately, social media probably tips the scale in favor of the desire for approval given its rapid fire feedback mechanisms. Earlier this month, Kevin Baker commented on this same tendency in a recent thread that opened with the following observation, “A lot of irritating, mostly vapid people and ideas were able to build huge followings in 2010s because the people criticizing them were even worse.” Baker goes on to call this “the decade of being anti-anti-” and explains that he felt like he spent “the better part of the decade being enrolled into political and discursive projects that I had serious reservations about because I disagreed [with] their critics more and because I found their behavior reprehensible.” In his view, this is a symptom of the unchecked expansion of the culture wars. Baker again: “This isn't censorship. There weren't really censors. It's more a structural consequence of what happens when an issue gets metabolized by the culture war. There are only two sides and you just have to pick the least bad one.” I’m sympathetic to this view, and would only add that perhaps it is more specifically a symptom of what happens when the digitized culture wars colonize ever greater swaths of our experience. I argued a couple of years ago that just as industrialization gave us industrial warfare, so digitization has given us digitized culture warfare. My argument was pretty straightforward: “Digital media has dramatically enhanced the speed, scale, and power of the tools by which the culture wars are waged and thus transformed their norms, tactics, strategies, psychology, and consequences.” Take a look at the piece if you missed it. I’d say, too, that the meta-positioning habit of mind might also be explained as a consequence of the digitally re-enchanted discursive field. I won’t bog down this post, which I’m hoping to keep relatively brief, with the details of that argument, but here’s the most relevant bit:For my purposes, I’m especially interested in the way that philosopher Charles Taylor incorporates disenchantment theory into his account of modern selfhood. The enchanted world, in Taylor’s view, yielded the experience of a porous, and thus vulnerable self. The disenchanted world yielded an experience of a buffered self, which was sealed off, as the term implies, from beneficent and malignant forces beyond its ken. The porous self depended upon the liturgical and ritual health of the social body for protection against such forces. Heresy was not merely an intellectual problem, but a ritual problem that compromised what we might think of, in these times, as herd immunity to magical and spiritual forces by introducing a dangerous contagion into the social body. The answer to this was not simply reasoned debate but expulsion or perhaps a fiery purgation.Under digitally re-enchanted conditions, policing the bounds of the community appears to overshadow the value of ostensibly objective, civil discourse. In other words, meta-positioning, from this perspective, might just a matter of making sure you are always playing for the right team, or at least not perceived to be playing for the wrong one. It’s not so much that we have something to say but that we have a social space we want to be seen to occupy. But as I thought about the meta-positioning habit of mind recently, another related set of considerations came to mind, one that is also connected to the digital media ecosystem. As a point of departure, I’d invite you to consider a recent post from Venkatesh Rao about “crisis mindsets.” “As the world has gotten more crisis prone at all levels from personal to geopolitical in the last few years,” Rao explained, “the importance of consciously cultivating a more effective crisis mindset has been increasingly sinking in for me.” I commend the whole post to you, it offers a series of wise and humane observations about how we navigate crisis situations. Rao’s essay crossed my feed while I was drafting this post about meta-positioning, and these lines near the end of the essay caught my attention: “We seem to be entering a historical period where crisis circumstances are more common than normalcy. This means crisis mindsets will increasingly be the default, not flourishing mindsets.”I think this is right, but it also has a curious relationship to the digital media ecosystem. I can imagine someone arguing that genuine crisis circumstances are no more common now than they have ever been but that digital media feeds heighten our awareness of all that is broken in the world and also inaccurately create a sense of ambient crisis. This argument is not altogether wrong. In the digital media ecosystem, we are enveloped by an unprecedented field of near-constant information emanating from the world far and near, and the dynamics of the attention economy also encourage the generation of ambient crisis. But two things can both be true at the same time. It is true, I think, that we are living through a period during which crisis circumstances have become more frequent. This is, in part, because the structures, both social and technological, of the modern world do appear increasingly fragile if not wholly decrepit. It is also true that our media ecosystem heightens our awareness of these crisis circumstances (generating, in turn, a further crisis of the psyche) and that it also generates a field of faux crisis circumstances. Consequently, learning to distinguish between a genuine crisis and a faux crisis will certainly be an essential skill. I would add that it is also critical to distinguish among the array of genuine crisis circumstances that we encounter. Clearly, some will bear directly and unambiguously upon us—a health crisis, say, or a weather emergency. Others will bear on us less directly or acutely, and others still will not bear on us at all. Furthermore, there are those we will be able to address meaningfully through our actions and those we cannot. We should, therefore, learn to apportion our attention and our labors wisely and judiciously. But let’s come back to the habit of mind with which we began. If we are, in fact, inhabiting a media ecosystem that, through sheer scale and ubiquity, heightens our awareness of all that is wrong with the world and overwhelms pre-digital habits of sense-making and crisis-management, then meta-positioning might be more charitably framed as a survival mechanism. As Rao noted, “I have realized there is no such thing as being individually good or bad in a crisis. Humans either deal with crises in effective groups, or not at all.” Just as digital re-enchantment retrieves the communal instinct, so too, perhaps, does the perma-crisis mindset. Recalling, Baker’s analysis, we might even say that the digitized culture war layered over the crisis circumstances intensifies the stigma of breaking ranks. There’s one last perspective I’d like to offer on the meta-positioning habit of mind. It also seems to suggest something like a lack of grounding or a certain aimlessness. There is a picture that is informing my thinking here. It is the picture of being adrift in the middle of the ocean with no way to get our bearings. Under these circumstances the best we can ever do is navigate away from some imminent danger, but we can never purposefully aim at a destination. So we find ourselves adrift in the vast digital ocean, and we have no idea what we are doing there or what we should be doing. All we know is that we are caught up in wave after wave of the discourse and the best we can do is to make sure we steer clear of obvious perils and keep our seat on whatever raft we find ourselves in, which may be in shambles but, nonetheless, affords us the best chance of staying afloat. So, maybe the meta-positioning habit of mind is what happens when I have clearer sense of what I am against than what I am for. Or maybe it is better to say that meta-positioning is what happens when we lack meaningful degrees of agency and are instead offered the simulacra of action in digitally mediated spheres, which generally means saying things about things and about the things other people are saying about the things—the “internet of beefs,” as Rao memorably called it. The best we can do is survive the beefs by making sure we’re properly aligned. To give it yet another turn, perhaps the digital sea through which we navigate takes the form of a whirlpool sucking us into the present. The whirlpool is a temporal maelstrom, keeping us focused on immediate circumstances, unable to distinguish, without sufficient perspective, between the genuine and the faux crisis. Under such circumstances, we lack what Alan Jacobs, borrowing the phrase from novelist Thomas Pynchon, has called “temporal bandwidth.” In Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), a character explains the concept: “temporal bandwidth is the width of your present, your now … The more you dwell in the past and future, the thicker your bandwidth, the more solid your persona. But the narrower your sense of Now, the more tenuous you are.” Paradoxically, then, the more focused we are on the present, the less of a grip we’re able to get on it. As Jacobs notes, the same character went on to say, “It may get to where you’re having trouble remembering what you were doing five minutes ago.” Indeed, so. Jacobs recommends extending our temporal bandwidth through a deliberate engagement with the past through our reading as well as a deliberate effort to bring the more distant future into our reckoning. As the philosopher Hans Jonas, whom Jacobs cites, encouraged us to ask, “What force shall represent the future in the present?” The point is that we must make an effort to wrest our gaze away from the temporal maelstrom, and to do so not only in the moment but as a matter of sustained counter-practice. Perhaps then we’ll be better equipped to avoid the meta-positioning habit of mind, which undoubtedly constrains our ability to think clearly, and to find better ways of navigating the choppy, uncertain waters before us. Get full access to The Convivial Society at theconvivialsociety.substack.com/subscribe

https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/book-review-the-gervais-principle I. The Gervais Principle, by postrationalist heresiarch Venkatesh Rao, claims to be a business book. It claims a lot of things, actually. According to its introduction: By my estimate, the material in this book has already triggered . . . hazardous reflection for thousands of people over the past four years. It has triggered significant (and not always positive) career moves for dozens of people that I know of. And: There is a cost to getting organizationally literate. This ability, once acquired, cannot be un-acquired. Just as learning a foreign language makes you deaf to the raw, unintelligible sound of that language you could once experience, learning to read organizations means you can never see them the way you used to, before. Achieving organizational literacy or even fluency does not mean you will do great things or avoid doing stupid things. But it does mean that you will find it much harder to lie to yourself about what you are doing and why. It forces you to own the decisions you make and accept the consequences of your actions…So to seek organizational literacy is to also accept a sort of responsibility for your own life that many instinctively reject. This power can have very unpredictable effects. You may find yourself wishing, if you choose to acquire it, that you hadn't. So acquiring organizational literacy is what some like to call a memetic hazard: dangerous knowledge that may harm you. A case of “where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.” […] But I believe, unlike Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, that almost everyone is capable of “handling the truth”. Sure, some of you may end up depressed, or make bad decisions as a result of this book, but I believe that is a risk associated with all writing of any substance.

As a consultant, I read many corporate documents and pieces of management writing that are really good and worth sharing. Unfortunately, the stuff tha... Coordination HeadwindsVenkatesh RaoCoordination HeadwindAlex KomoroskePlatform Ranta compilationThe Science of Muddling ThroughlinkRibbonfarm Studiobecome a paying subscriber.

Happy Fall, y'all! On today's episode, we discuss the impact of the divisive American female archetype-turned-meme: Christian Girl Autumn. We dive into the domestic coziness of mommy blogging, Target's neo-hearth-and-home merchandising, growing up in proximity to youth group sex cults, and the infallible glam of crypto-Mormon influencers. Following our spiritual tithes to the reigning queens of fall The Pioneer Woman and Miss Christian Girl Autumn herself, Caitlin Covington, we wage war against Phoebe Bridgers and the notion of ‘spooky season,' question the efficacy of ‘chosen families,' forecast Protestant work ethic-chic as the next esoteric aesthetic, and doxx our Starbucks orders.. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .Links:Image references for this episode (essential viewing!!!): https://www.pinterest.com/nymphetalumni/ep-15-christian-girl-autumn/Domestic Cozy by Venkatesh Rao: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/series/domestic-cozy/Christian Girl Autumn meme explainer: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/8/14/20804030/christian-girl-autumn-meme-hot-girl-summer-explainedBiz's essays on alt-trad fashion and Godposting:https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/g5b4d9/catholicism-alt-fashion-trend-think-piecehttps://various-artists.com/godposting/Caitlin Covington's blog: https://www.southerncurlsandpearls.com/ The Pioneer Woman: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/ (she's on tour rn...)

Listen to the Infinite Loops podcast: https://www.infiniteloopspodcast.com/alex-danco-everyones-job-is-world-building-ep53/ (40mins in)Read the full essay: https://alexdanco.com/2021/01/22/the-michael-scott-theory-of-social-class/See tweet reactions: https://twitter.com/swyx/status/1424953927426928646Transcript  [00:00:00] Hey everyone today, I'm about to break one of the core rules of this mixed tape, which is that episode should come in at around 10 minutes. Uh, this is a 25 minute rant from Alex Danco, which is still one of the best essays I've read of the year. He posted it on January 22nd, and I think it's still resonating.  It basically is a theory of social class that is both entertaining and actually strangely true. Just don't think too hard about it because if you do you will realize how true it is. Maybe this is a good segue into the other thing that I feel like we were theoretically supposed to talk about this podcast episode,  which was the Michael Scott theory of social class, which again is like another example of the power of world-building in this  case, it's the power of  world-building as applied to the phenomenon of middleman. Right, right. Like, what is middle management? If not world built real, because that's all you've got right. Is this  world you've constructed. So originally a missile, who's  going to fill the forms out. I mean, come on.  It's not, it's not anything who's going to fill the firms out. It's like, who's going to create the meaning. It's like I forgot who described middle  management as the control rods and a nuclear reactor. It's like, but the point of them is to slow things down so that it doesn't run out of your control and blow up. So,  okay. So I wrote this piece, the Michael Scott theory of social class,  which is basically a re skinning of Venkatesh Rouse article that your base principle, which itself was a re-skinning of Holly White's book, the organization, man. Oh, so that's the actual source material is the organization, man. Have you read the organization, man? Do you know that book?  I don't have notes on it. So that means I didn't take it seriously. It's so good. It's so  good. It's in the list of  books that I recommend to everybody. So I'm going to have, I'm going to have to read it again. What's remarkable about the organization, man is  simultaneously how in a literal sense. It did not get the future. Right.  But at a second  order sense, it just nailed the future so hard. They got it. So, so, so right, just at a slightly different abstraction layer than people realize. So the general thesis of the organization, man,  is that all organizations  that survive have stratified into three layers. You have the bottom layer, the middle layer and the top layer. The bottom layer is the people who do the actual work. This is the majority of people. Their lives are spent doing literal things. So these are line workers, frontline people,  anybody who is  actually producing something. Literally there are the people at the bottom there, the majority of  people at the top, you have the exact. They actually have a lot in common  with the people at the bottom  in the sense that they have very  literal roles and responsibilities and very real stakes involved. And they see the world very clearly as it is, but the people at the bottom and the people at the top see the world through clear eyes with clear actions and consequences, but there's this group of people in the middle called middle-management that is really, really different than either of those groups. And their job is to intermediate between  the people at the top and the people at the bottom by basically constructing this reality called middle management that does not literally produce anything nor have any literal  stakes or consequences, but whose job is  effectively to mediate like the control rods in the reactor to say like, look,  the goal here is to create a stable system  that perpetuate. Regardless of how efficient it is or how complicated it is or anything just like, can you get something to persist? This group of people will always emerge in one form or another. So in the 1950, in the early  fifties, when Holly white wrote this book, this was in the era  of these mega mega conglomerates, like Dow DuPont, us steel, general motors, like this was the field. Like the current mindset was that. The frontier of progress was mega organizational dynamics. It was scaled to get scaled, to get scaled. This is how everything works. Eventually everything will be run by four corporations because we figured out the science of how management works. And specifically we figured out what middle-management. We created this whole world  of middle management that has sense of purpose and a sense  of identity. And it was fed through these institutions called business schools and the NBA. And this whole  idea that like middle manager was actually this craft more or less independent of the  industry. It's like, what do you do? Oh, you're a manager. Oh, like what kind of industry do you manage? It doesn't matter. Like I do manage. Right. That was the thing that you can learn. Do you go to management school and learn management regardless of where you were from? You remember in the office?  I'm just sitting here because I love that movie. There was one particular episode of the office  where David Wallace, a CFO brings in a new boss for Michael. Who is Idris Elba who comes in as like the professional manager. And Michael's like, where are you from? He's like, oh, steel.[00:05:00]  Um, but anyway, so this is idea. It's like, like as Holly white describes  it, William H. White, he went by Holly white as  he describes it. Right? So the whole book is about this three layer system. And this three  layer construct where you have the people at the bar. Who again are doing all the actual work and have no path to leverage. And the people at the top  who have all the leverage, but  are very deeply suspicious of everything and are perpetually trying to acquire and keep control over this huge sprawling.  Basically those two sides in order  to not fly apart at a hundred miles an hour, need this mediating influence in the middle called the middle management. But in order for that to exist, there needs to be a purpose for the middle managers to have. And hence, what you have to do is you have to build a world in which management is.  So, this is where you get this world of  Taylorism and like management as a science,  which sort of expanded and grew and grew and grew into this really self  perpetuating construct where it's like, where, what happened  with middle management is we were able to create a world where management  was a challenge that was considered a worthy challenge that people would go into, put all of their identities into, and then it would perpetuate and perpetuating. So, if you look at some of the really good books on how to manage, like Andy Grove, like a high output management, things like that is almost like a return w w Hyatt management, the thesis of that book. If you haven't read it is basically like we figured out how to manage production. It's called factory. Everything can ultimately be understood  in terms of like how production management works in terms of buffer capacity, in terms of like how you set challenges and how you like arrange for like, thinking about like how you manage the output of an organization. The whole thesis here was that this is equally applicable to management and like talent and hiring people. And like all these supposedly soft skills that didn't work like factories. Andy is like, I actually, like I made Intel, like I've.  But nonetheless middle-management does this construct, which  again, if you fast forward to today, you can just replace with product management in a tech company or any of these other venture capital associates, any of  these positions where you are  not literally in charge of anything, nor are you literally making  anything, your job is to intermediate in some way. And hence. You live,  this is a very roundabout way to get into the thesis  of the article. You live in a world  that is entirely a construct of your own creation, right? There's nothing  literal in your world. Your world is entirely defined and surrounded  by fairly arbitrary challenges and goals and measuring sticks  that have been  created in a self perpetuating sense and are not the very literal things by which anything is. One of the two core theses of the Michael Scott  article was that there is a reason  why these worlds, again, always back to world building what makes these worlds perpetuate? What makes Michael Scott's world have purpose and have ongoing perpetuation? That self reinforces is linked.  Have you read  Venkatesh Rao's original article that your face principle, is that  something you're familiar with? Okay. Yeah. So for audience, if you haven't read  this, go Google that your base principle, your face, like reheat your face from the office and go read that at some point on your set aside a couple hours, it's really been through this series of articles. It gets really esoteric, but like, it's fantastic. So it's going through the office as a theory, the office, the American TV show the office as a  comprehensive  cynical theory of management. That is again, it's like, it's a re-skinning of the organization, man. It says like, look like you have these three fundamental groups of people in the TV show the office at the bottom. You have group of people called. We're not uncool, but they're economic losers, no path to leverage. Fundamentally their work output is realized holy by someone else. They are fundamentally paid on cost based pricing, not value-based pricing, et cetera. And this is the majority of the people in the office. They see the world through clear eyes and they cope. This is like Stanley Pam, Darryl. Most of these people they're there at the bottom there, the losers of the office, they occupy most of the positions. At the top, you have the people who are the sociopaths. They are the people in charge. What they care about is power. And they occupy this other role in the show, which is there the other group of people that sees the world through clear eyes. So in the show, this means David Wallace, the CFO, the authority figure Jan, before she becomes Michael's lover and is in a mental breakdown. Ryan, I do  need to interject here. I loved that segway for GP. Because she did go from a sociopathic  control freak to yeah. Mass complete this complete master Ryan, the temp, right. Is the most important example of somebody who brilliantly grabs real power and then immediately squanders it. And then finally,  the last sociopath character  is actually the real drama of the show. By the way, is the, will he, or won't he go over to the dark side? Jim is the real villain of the office. Once you realize this, it actually sort of reshapes a lot of the [00:10:00] shows that Jim is the felon. Jim is actually a complete asshole. He's horrible to Dwight. He's really arrogant. He's kind of mean to everybody. He doesn't actually treat Pam very well for that. No. So Jim is actually like the secret sociopath where the real drama of the office, as he will hear, won't he explicitly go over to the dark side. Right. But then, so both  of those two groups of  people see the world through clear eyes as it is, but then in the middle you have three characters and fundamentally the office is a show about these three people. Yeah. Michael Deno.  And Andy, the central drama  of the show by the time the office really, really hits a stride. And season three is when it's established this relationship. It is about Michael Dwight and Andy's search for meaning in a world that is entirely their own construct,  right? It cannot escape because they are compulsively forced to double  down on reaffirming, the  meaningless  meaning that they are creating for themselves. And each of them expresses this in a different way. Michael it's in the form of  like, it's everything about Michael. Everything about Michael's world is this world of his own creation that he's made in this bubble around him. But same for Dwight and same for Andy all in their different. It sort of shows up in all  of the, sort of the meaningless talking and the jokes that don't make any sense and the constant, please,  for people to pay  attention to them. Andy's anger management issues.  Dwight's LARPing about like  being a first responder, all of these things, but especially about Michael and his self identity that is  wrapped up in being in. There was this really notable tweet  about there's this  argument that happened on Twitter about whether Michael Scott would know how to use chopsticks. Does Michael know how to use chopsticks? Yes or no? And the answer  is obviously yes, of course he does. He takes  enormous pride in knowing how to use chopsticks and tells everybody. And like, he probably learned it from watching TV or in his apartment by himself.  Right. She had this cast of three characters, Michael Dwight, and. And they inhabit this world that they have built for  themselves and that other people happily help them build because it helps everybody fulfill their own respective  purposes. This senior people up top indulgent support Michael's world-building because they need somebody to  oversee the branch and make sure that it stays in more or less the same state as they expect it to be. Whenever they come down to Scranton from New York, the people doing the actual. Pam Darryl in the warehouse, all the salespeople, everybody need Michael to stay in his state of delusion because it gets him out of their  way. Pam in the show takes  the defacto role of narrator. She's the one who basically narrating to the audience, all of  the things that they do to support  and create and perpetuate this little delusion inside Michael's little world and also. I remember the point I was getting to, it was around language. The most brilliant part  of Venkatesh Rao's piece is the sub  chapter in the Jabez principle around language and how people talk to each other and the five different coded languages that are used between different groups of people talking to each other. You have these three. You have the senior sociopath's you have the people at the bottom who do the actual work, both of whom are literal. And then you have the middle managers in the middle who clueless. So  there are five  possible languages that are spoken in the intersection  of these three groups. The first language  that's spoken is something called posture talk. That is the language that is spoken by the clueless people who are in this world of their own construction. So it's everything spoken by Michael . To anyone, including themselves. It's basically meaningless babbling that has no grounding in reality whatsoever,  but makes sense. Inside this world they've created for themselves. That is what, how they talk both  internally and projecting  out. Meanwhile, everybody who talks to them speaks the  language called baby. Which basically goes there. They're like, you don't know what you're talking about, but like there it's soothing. It's like, just stay in your little box. Like, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. Just please don't screw this up. It's how you talk to kids when they're actually capable of causing danger and you want them to stay. Yes. The other three languages spoken by the way are, um, there's the internal language among all the losers, which is like, you're okay. It's just basically like getting themselves through the day in group self-referencing and self. You have the internal language of the sociopath, which is called Powertalk, which is all about information gathering, right. And retroactive deniability. And then you have the  rarest language of all, which is straight talk, which is the only  time that language happens. That's not encoded at all, which is the rare instance where the senior execs talk to the line workers, which is unincorporated straight talk like what the fuck happened. Here you go fix it  by. It's the only time that's straight talk  is the accidental occasions where senior management ends up confronted with frontline [00:15:00] workers because Michael screwed something up in variable, right? That's the only situation in which that happens. So let's look at the office as this little three layer system where you have the Michael Dwight's and Andy's in the middle who live in this world of their own construct, where it is entirely an exercise, both for them. And for those around them of world. Just to create and perpetuate any kind of purpose that maintains coherence sandwiched between the group of people on the bottom and the top who actually have fairly literal roles and responsibilities.  No, you can take that and actually extrapolate  that onto the American class system, more or less facing. So you have, again, it's like talking in broad strokes here. It's like you have the people at the bottom who is the majority of people, people who earn income through labor and who there's a ladder that you can climb up from at the bottom. It's like working very, very hard hourly or informal jobs. You work your way up through blue collar jobs at the top of this ladder. As you work up, you do own property. You own an F-150. You might own a vacation home. You have a nice life. Like you can work your way up to being well off in this group of people, but fundamentally. Fairly literal. And you have not created any paths to leverage for yourself. That's this group of people. It's the majority of people. It's everybody who doesn't live on the coast basically is in this group of people more or less the coast or core coastal like towns skipping the middle group for a second. The people at the top, who again, are like the elites in power who are sociopath's right. This is just all about, like,  I keep saying sociopath. I am a highly functioning sociopath.  I'm not sure you're in this group because you're on Twitter. I think you're actually the king of the middle people. We'll get to that in a second. We'll get to that in a second. We'll  get to that.  The kingdom of the Michael Scott's. So you have the people on the top who are like, this is a path that starts out, like the entry point into this path is either being born rich or being a junior. Either you look into the path or you have to just brutally work your way to the top at either like a white shoe law firm or like investment banking, or now actually starting a startup. Can conceivably get you into this path, although it's still relatively uncommon,  but nonetheless it's like, this is also a group of people that when you're  in the world of real power, you actually do see the world more or less as it is. And you do see stakes more or less. But in the middle, you have this group of people. This is the Michael Scott group of people, which is the bourgeoisie. This is the upper middle-class who live in the world of whole foods and farmer's market and virtue signal performance saying.  And where everything about your life is the statement about  values you have that are expensive. Were  you in all likelihood people in this job. And then there are some  exceptions. So like there are some jobs where like economically  speaking would put you in the middle, but socially  are not. Doctors are actually one of these groups. Like doctors do something very, very real, but whose jobs put them in the upper middle-class,  but mostly if you're an upper middle class person, like. You have some absolutely made up job.  You work  in  digital marketing or you were a product manager or you work actually like many people in law or in various forms of  this, or you work in some form of business development or you work in much  of sales is not in this group. A lot of sales is very, very real and literal, but some sales is very made up. There's some sales that's very, very much in this world of like upper middle class permissive.  We're again, like in this group, the fundamental feature of this group. So if you were to stratify this group  along the ladder, as you work your way up the entry point to this group, if you were not born. So the main way you get into this group is you're born there. You're born into upper middle-class parents. And so, hence you are upper middle-class, but you can enter the group by going to. If you're the first in your family to go to college, you can enter this group and you will have quite a culture shock when you do about what people are like in those groups.  But as you work your way up, you don't work your way up this ladder by making more money. This cultural ladder definitely does not organize by income. It organizes by how interesting you are and how detached from reality. So  like people with, like, if you're pursuing a  PhD, very high status  absolutely could be a totally meaningless and contrive pursuit. Right. It could just be the most nonsensical thing,  but it's very high status to be doing your PhD blue check marks on Twitter. Same thing. It doesn't mean you owe  money. It doesn't mean you. It doesn't mean it doesn't mean it's like, if there's a particular kind of. The  top of  this ladder,  by the way, the  absolute top of this ladder people I'd say the litmus test is could  you write an op-ed for the New York? Would that make sense? Again, people at the bottom group don't do this  people in the top group also don't do this because the New York times won't  let them because they're bad. Right? It's like someone like Jon Stewart is probably like the absolute top of this group. There's someone like that, right? Like, um,  just total cultural relevance  and lore  among this particular group of people and bringing this back to the principle thing and the office. What [00:20:00] fundamentally defines  this group of people of which I absolutely am. One, by the way, like me and everybody in my neighborhood, around me and in my job around me. And like everyone I surround myself with is in this group of people, by the way. So this is a group of people where it's like a Subaru is a higher status car than a capital. And I'd say that's a good litmus test. If you would never be seen dead riding, driving a Cadillac, but you would drive a Subaru and brag about it. That's me. Like I drive a Subaru Outback. That's my car. That's broken that the mechanic had to come fix. Another one is like, would you be mortified showing off a $10,000 watch, but excitedly brag about $150,000 kitchen rental. Then you're in. Because again, it's like, you're not showing off how much money you spent, even though you clearly are. It's all about like, here's how interesting and unique I am. Right. And it's all  about like advancing in this group is all about detaching yourself from re. So remember 50 years  ago, what this meant was leaving the reality of the dirty cities and moving out to the detached from reality place of the suburbs. Now let's the other way around. It's detaching yourself from the reality of chain, restaurant gas, guzzling, suburban car, hell and moving back to walkable neighborhoods. It's all about detachment from reality. And again, it's like, it's not only like this whole idea of like, oh, I'm detaching myself from reality. This is something  that you brag about. If you are like, oh, like I shop at the local  farmer's market so I can do a hundred mile diet. That is you detaching yourself from reality and telling everybody about it. Yeah. I think it says something about you. It's a challenge that you're doing. It gives you meaning and it gives you purpose. Or it's like, if you do triathlons,  you know, people who do triathlons gym, like I actually shut the fuck up about triathlons. Oh, well, yeah, it's fine. It's fine. But it's like, at some point it's like people who are really, really into these things. Well, you notice about them as they start to talk weird. They develop these speech patterns that at first are only visible when they're talking  about whatever it is, they find really meaningful, but eventually it just takes over everything. And the reason why it's not only because they have this internal language that they talk  in, that it's all about like validate my pursuit. Meaning that I've constructed for myself. That's meaningless to everybody else, but it's a beg for acknowledgement  for the meaning that they've created. And you know how people talk back to them. It's baby talk. It's Uber driver talk. It's like, I'll entertain this conversation, but like, please give me five stars. Like I need it. Please write it. Or  like it's all the advertising of prestige.  You are so smart for watching Fargo. You are so sophisticated for watching house of cards. Like  come on this whole idea of world-building right? It's like the reason why world building is so important and it is especially important in worlds of plenty  and worlds of material, abundance  and worlds, where everything is basically provided. But what is scarce and valuable is actually  meaning it's challenges that you identify with and your sense of accomplishment upon challenging them. That is what people really want when their basic needs are taken care of. And it's in fact, what  people are most desperately seeking when you enter this world of upper-middle-class dumb, it becomes entirely about this search for. Not only like ways to find  meeting, but like around with like, what is the way that you are going to detach yourself from reality and create this construct of meeting around yourself, the author who  wrote about this amazingly? Well, what it  was, it was David Brooks a long time ago. Back when David Brooks could really throw fastballs Bobos in paradise, paradise, paradise, amazing black, an incredible line from Bobos. Is that the highest possible  compliment in this group is to call someone  serious. He's a serious kite boarder, or she's serious about cooking healthy meals. That is the highest possible compliment. You can give someone because this is the ultimate form of validating their. Which is all we just desperately  want. Right? So you take, so the thesis of my Michael Scott article was that as you  ascend the ladder and the ranks of the upper middle-class more and more of your life becomes the self-defined. Recursive quest  for meaning in a construct of your own creation that is reinforced by your language progressively becoming posture talk, please validate my pursuits and other people talking back to you in baby talk. They're there. Like everything you do is made up. It'll be okay. Just stay in your little box and don't cause problems, right? Therefore  reinforcing and  reinforcing itself until eventually you become Michael  Scott. Listen, man, I think you just did a hard close. Yeah.  That's Michael Scott. So  do you have more than 10,000 followers on Twitter? You're Michael Scott, you have an opinion about  what is the right amount of hops in an IPA mascot. You were Michael Scott.  Do you, if you drive a Subaru and you are overly  concerned with the all wheel drive mechanics between like the new versions versus the old versions for your ability to get to the cross country [00:25:00] ski trails, you're making. I am all these things, by the way, are you pursuing a PhD in anything? Absolutely. Michael Scott, do you read my newsletter? You're Michael Scott. Um, we are all Michael's. If you listened to this mix tape, you're absolutely Michael Scott, if you're entertained by it, you're absolutely Michael Scott and from one Michael Scott to the other, I appreciate you. 

Paul Millerd is a Curious Human & Solopreneur, Writer, Host of the Reimagine Work Podcast, Teacher at Strategy U, Independent Consultant and Adviser (for companies like VIVO, Wrangler, Russel Reynolds Associates, Good Jobs Associates among many others), and a Career Coach for people who carve their own paths beyond the default path. In his past life, Paul worked for companies like General Electric, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and studied at the University of Connecticut and MIT. Links: Find Paul: think-boundless.com - the home for the creative and curious rebels carving their own path Join our community: forms.gle/3gmq2WahzJZZ9Bny9 We were recently featured in the top 10 Utopia Podcasts in Feedspot! Check it out here: blog.feedspot.com/utopia_podcasts/ Instagram/Twitter: @utopiaisnow Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 4:00 - Why did Paul leave BCG & McKinsey to live a Pathless Path? 8:05 - What path should you take in life? 11:43 - Management Consulting & what made Paul leave it? 16:30 - Paul coaches Shashwat over his career dilemma 20:33 - What do work & career REALLY mean? 30:59 - The false dichotomy of Work-Life Balance 33:58 - Traditional vs Unconventional Lifepaths 39:20 - How to embrace your weirdness and follow your heart? 46:15 - What does Paul's life look like right now? 49:58 - Philosophy of Life: Work vs Leisure 54:57 - Future of Work 58:06 - Bridging the gap between Education & Work 01:05:44 - How to find your life path? 01:09:47 - Do we owe any responsibility to our economy to continue traditional work? 01:11:48 - Paul's views on Utopias Mentioned in this Episode: Alan Watts was a British writer, speaker & philosopher Roman Krznaric is an Australian public philosopher Venkatesh Rao is an Indian-American author and consultant Peter Albert David Singer AC is an Australian moral philosopher John Rawls was an American political philosopher in the liberal tradition Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher David J. Deming is an American Economist and Professor Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature Ryan Bourne is a British Economist and Author who works at Cato Institute Credits Art Work: The Road Not Taken - Michael Cook Music Credits: A Journey Through The Universe – Lesion X --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/utopia-is-now/message

First I talk about God and my new “routine,” which is unrelated to God. Or is it? Then Dr. Mindy Netiffee and I talk about the article, “Pandemic Time: A Distributed Doomsday Clock” by Venkatesh Rao.We talk chronos versus kairos time and what it all means in this liminal space we’re in right now. Chronos says, “Let’s meet at 5pm.” Kairos says, “I’m going to go over there right now.” The great news is that we can live in harmony with both. You can meet me at 5pm on Saturday. and, as long as it’s not 5pm on Saturday, you can go over there if that’s what feels right. (It'll makes more sense when you listen to the episode.)Mindy is a poet, storyteller, artist educator, and depth somatic practitioner. She holds a doctorate in Depth Psychology with a specialization Somatic Studies. Her doctoral research investigates the sensory capacities of the voice and the role they play in trauma healing and integration. She is a practicing Somatic Movement educator and practitioner, training in the trauma resolution modality Somatic Experiencing.You can get more Mindy at https://thecultofmindy.com/ and @thecultofmindy on IG.

Rebel Wisdom's Sensemaking Series is all about the problem of Truth in the digital age.   This film looks at how the alternative media creates and enforces tribal boundaries, and argues that some kind of mediation is needed to tackle the spiral of polarisation and division.   The first film 'What the F**k Is Going On?' looked at the crisis of traditional media, and has had 330,000 views in a month: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkKnO...   Other films and articles referenced in this film: 'Culture War 2.0' Peter Limberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHGbA...   Check out Peter's Stoa project: https://www.thestoa.ca/   Internet of Beefs, Venkatesh Rao: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2020/01/16...   Matt Taibbi & Bret Weinstein, The Dark Horse Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojSW...   Matt Taibbi 'The Left is Now the Right': https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-lef...   'What the Right Gets Wrong about Social Justice Culture', Quillette: https://quillette.com/2020/07/20/what...   Can Truth Survive Big Tech? Tristan Harris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHQQF...   Humanity's Phase Shift, Daniel Schmachtenberger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQRzx...   Legacy of Integral, Jamie Wheal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4krRS...   Glitch in the Matrix II, The Origin of the Intellectual Dark Web: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKeMI...   'Is the Intellectual Dark Web an Integral Conversation?' Ken Wilber: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2XK8...   To get access to more exclusive content, become a Rebel Wisdom subscriber: https://www.rebelwisdom.co.uk/plans    

David Fuller shared a piece on Twitter by Venkatesh Rao called "The Internet of Beefs" and it colonized me HARD. I suddenly had language for what I had been watching and it connected up with Jesus. Jesus doesn't want mooks. The Internet of Beefs https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2020/01/16/the-internet-of-beefs/ Colin Wright on Twitter https://twitter.com/SwipeWright/status/1281345124941717504 The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis https://amzn.to/2Odp6Lr Click here to meetup with other channel viewers for conversation https://discord.gg/jdVk8XU If you want to schedule a one-on-one conversation check here. https://paulvanderklay.me/2019/08/06/converzations-with-pvk/ There is a video version of this podcast on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/paulvanderklay To listen to this on ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/paul-vanderklays-podcast/id1394314333 If you need the RSS feed for your podcast player https://paulvanderklay.podbean.com/feed/ All Amazon links here are part of the Amazon Affiliate Program. Amazon pays me a small commission at no additional cost to you if you buy through one of the product links here. This is is one (free to you) way to support my videos. To support this channel/podcast on Paypal: https://paypal.me/paulvanderklay To support this channel/podcast with Bitcoin (BTC): 37TSN79RXewX8Js7CDMDRzvgMrFftutbPo To support this channel/podcast with Bitcoin Cash (BCH) qr3amdmj3n2u83eqefsdft9vatnj9na0dqlzhnx80h To support this channel/podcast with Ethereum (ETH): 0xd3F649C3403a4789466c246F32430036DADf6c62 Blockchain backup on Lbry https://lbry.tv/@paulvanderklay https://www.patreon.com/paulvanderklay Join the Sacramento JBP Meetup https://www.meetup.com/Sacramento-Jordan-Peterson-Meetup/ Paul's Church Content at Living Stones Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh7bdktIALZ9Nq41oVCvW-A  

Please note that this week we are launching a new feature for the newsletter. You may now choose to listen to the opening essay by clicking play above. Next week it will also be possible to find the audio in your favorite podcast apps. In 1934, T. S. Eliot published Choruses from “The Rock,” a collection of choruses Eliot composed for a play he wrote called “The Rock,” which explored the history of the church and its plight in the modern world. Although the work is relatively obscure compared to many of Eliot's better known works, it yielded some rather well known lines. It is in the first chorus, for example, that we read, The endless cycle of idea and action,Endless invention, endless experiment,Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,But nearness to death no nearer to God.Where is the Life we have lost in living?Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuriesBring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.These lines, best remembered for the distinctions they make among information, knowledge, and wisdom, would repay our careful attention. But it is to another set of lines that we will turn. In the sixth chorus, Eliot wrote, Why should men love the Church? Why should they love her laws?She tells them of Life and Death, and of all that they would forget.She is tender where they would be hard, and hard where they like to be soft.She tells them of Evil and Sin, and other unpleasant facts.They constantly try to escapeFrom the darkness outside and withinBy dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.But the man that is will shadowThe man that pretends to be.Once again, Eliot gives us much we could reflect upon in these few lines, but let us focus on his claim that, in the modern world, human beings “constantly try to escape / From the darkness outside and within / By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.” These lines aptly capture what we might think of as the technocratic impulse in western society, the idea that it is possible to engineer an ideal society independently of how human beings act. Or, worse yet, that human action itself can and ought to be engineered by the application of social techniques. Such an impulse can take on an obviously totalitarian quality, but it is present in subtler forms as well. Most notably, it is evident in mid-twentieth century theories of behaviorism and in the more recent nudging approach to design and policy popularized by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler and championed by many in the tech industry. In this approach, small and often subtle interventions in the form of automated positive reinforcements or periodic reminders are seen as the path toward managing and shaping human behavior. Similarly, in their 2018 book, Reengineering Humanity, philosopher Evan Selinger and legal scholar Brett Frischmann documented the countless ways in which modern digital technology aims at what they called “engineered determinism.”Historically, the technocratic impulse is evident in the evolution of the rhetoric of progress throughout the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. The earlier Enlightenment notion of progress viewed technology as a necessary, but not sufficient cause of progress which was understood as a movement toward a more just, democratic society. This political vision was gradually replaced by a technocratic notion which measured progress by just one metric: technological innovation. The cultural historian Leo Marx put it this way: “the simple [small-r] republican formula for generating progress by directing improved technical means to societal ends was imperceptibly transformed into a quite different technocratic commitment to improving ‘technology' as the basis and the measure of — as all but constituting — the progress of society.” Accordingly, technological innovation becomes a substitute for genuine political, economic, and social progress. Underlying this view is the accompanying desire for freedom without responsibility, or what, riffing on philosopher Albert Borgmann, we have called regardless freedom. To dream of systems so perfect no one will need to be good, as Eliot put it, is to dream of systems that underwrite irresponsibility. Such systems would function whether or not human beings act virtuously and responsibly, but such systems do not exist. They remain a dream, or, better, a nightmare. Virtue, as we will always re-discover, is an irreducible component of any rightly ordered society. If we are indeed in a moment that affords the possibility of reimagining and reforming our social structures, then we must resist the temptation to offload the necessary intellectual and moral labor to technical systems and solutions.To be clear, personal virtue is a necessary rather than sufficient cause of a just society. Modern societies do, in fact, require systems, institutions, and bureaucracies of varying scale and power. And it is possible that such systems not only fail due to a lack of virtue, but that they actively sustain and encourage vice and injustice. The well ordered society requires both virtue and a just social infrastructure. The classical or cardinal virtues of temperance, prudence, fortitude, and justice have long offered a foundation for civic order. These virtues encourage restraint, sound judgment, moral courage, and the desire for an equitable social order. To cultivate such virtues is to assume personal responsibility for the functioning of society. Beyond these cardinal virtues, the Church has always recognized the theological virtues: faith, hope, and love. These remain indispensable for the church, and, while they cannot, in their explicitly theological character, be expected or demanded of the wider public, Christians can, by their participation, leaven the civic order with these virtues. But it can do so only to the degree that it cultivates these virtues in her people. Study Center ResourcesPascal's is open for both online ordering and dine-in service. Please do feel free to spread the word that we are open and ready to serve.In this week's Dante reading group, we will be covering cantos 17-19 of the Inferno. If you'd like to connect with group, please email Mike Sacasas at mike@christianstudycenter.org.Be sure to check out the archive of resources available online from the study center. Classes and lectures are available at our audio archive. You can also peruse back issues of Reconsiderations here.Recommended Reading— Adam Elkus on the emergence of the “omni-cris”:When social constraints are weakened, the aggregate predictability of human behavior diminishes. Why? The weakening of constraints generates confusion. Things have always worked until they suddenly break. Things have always been decided for you until you have to suddenly decide on your own. Another way of thinking about social constraints – with a very long history in social science – posits them as involuntarily assigned expectations about the future. Prolonged and severe disruption of expectations without immediate prospect of relief accordingly should create greater variance in potential outcomes. The simplest way to understand the omni-crisis is as the sustained breaking of expectations and disruption of the ability to simulate the future forward using assumed constraints.— Taylor Dotson on “Radiation Politics in a Pandemic”:The inherent uncertainties in the science of impending dangers complicates government officials' ability to achieve public buy-in. Because empirical evidence is almost always incomplete or not totally convincing, officials must rely on trust, on their own legitimacy. The trouble […] is that trust is gained in drops but lost in buckets. Storming in to save the day with science is great — until some of the facts turn out wrong. British radiation scientists could have instead worked alongside sheep farmers in finding the pertinent scientific facts, recognizing that the farmers had something to contribute. Instead of expecting the farmers' deference, this approach would have gone a long way toward earning their trust in the scientists' own areas of expertise.— Venkatesh Rao on “Pandemic Time: A Distributed Doomsday Clock”:Whether or not the stars foretold our present condition, we will be living for the foreseeable future in a distorted temporality shaped by the progress of COVID-19 across the globe. Like the distorted time around a supergiant star going supernova and collapsing into a black hole, “pandemic time” is anything but normal. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christianstudycenter.substack.com

Have you all read Uncanny Valley? Because this episode is a long way of saying, “Wow, you really should.” We are bubbling over with thoughts about Silicon Valley, gender and tech, and Anna Wiener’s all-around exceptional writing. Oh, and we also have something to say about going to the doctor during these times, as people who’ve had to go on multiple occasions.   The linkage:   You got a dreamy VM you want to leave? 833-632-5463—come on.   Two companies doing a good job thinking about medical solutions during this time: Capsule Pharmacy and Thirty Madison, with its online urgent care.   A case for taking babes to the doctor: this NYT story about vaccine rates dropping among kids.   Breaking news alert: Erica is now the proud owner of the jumbo tin of Luxardo cherries (and is stocked-up on her favorite GF pasta, too). Put your Luxardos in a Tom Collins!   Read o’ the week: Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener. If you want a taste, it was excerpted in The New Yorker (and also started as an n+1 essay).   Here’s the “Measles for the One Percent” article from New York mag that Claire references.    Glossary of the references in the book if you wanna check your answers.   Such good writing about premiocre by Amanda Mull and Venkatesh Rao!   Whip up some Sun Basket. Get $35 off your order with the code ATHINGORTWO. Treat your hair to Nutrafol—20% off with the code ATHINGORTWO. YAY.   Produced by Dear Media

My guest today is Tiago Forte. He runs an online course called Building a Second Brain, which I took in August of 2017. I went from being overwhelmed by information to being in control of it. My writer’s block disappeared and my productivity skyrocketed. Tiago changed the way I thought about work and my relationship with information. Fast forward to today, and Tiago and I are business partners. He helped me create my online writing course, Write of Passage and together, we’re building the infrastructure required to scale an online education business. Tiago is one of my closest friends and the person who shaped my career more than anybody else. In what’s becoming a tradition, Tiago and I used this podcast to reflect on our work together. First, we talked about what we’ve learned about email marketing. Then, we moved onto ideas like leadership, working in small packets, and personal growth. Please enjoy this window into our work and friendship. __________________________________ Links: ConvertKit MindValley  Great Assistant No code  Things  The Decadent Society  David Allen- Getting Things Done  Venkatesh Rao  Teachable  Tyler Cowen- Emergent Ventures  ________________________________________ SHOWNOTES 1:54 Being a Citizen of the Internet. The role that ConvertKit provides for Tiago’s team. How thinking systematically changes how we work for the better. 14:05 The difference between training and teaching through SOP’s. Why David and Tiago hired expensive personal assistants. Why David and Tiago have the goal of only doing something once before finding an automation solution.  27:07 What David and Tiago have learned about running online courses. How online teaching has changed since Tiago and David began their school. What role entertainment and community have in the structure of their courses. 35:05 The dangers of only formulating for ease. The psychology of pricing. The benefits of small, self-motivated teams when you work remotely. 45:05 How “reusable packets” are the backbone of David and Tiago’s work. The “lego block” technique of creating content. How Tiago orients using objects, not humans as linchpins in his business. How David writes first and researches second.  56:33 How the “beginner’s mind” aids David and Tiago write well. How David takes 5 observations a day to create deep and insightful content.  1:04:00 Why books are a mark of legitimacy. The illogicality of fashion. Why publishers want a sure bet. 01:11:40 The next chapter of online education. How scarcity can make time important again. Tiago’s theory about how you to be your full self online now. How instinct works online. 1:23:40 The hero’s journey of sharing your authentic self online. How Tyler Cowen’s mentorship changed David’s life. How Venkatesh Rao changed Tiago’s life. 1:33:22 The shift from interchangeable courses to interesting and specific courses. Why Forte labs is creator-focused, not curriculum-focused. Why building a business is an act of discovery at Forte Labs. 1:42:16 Why David and Tiago are looking for people who have vision combined with passion. Why innovation is directly related to intuition. How to learn faster. 1:53:43 How growth is paying attention to what you are not capable of doing. The skill of knowing the difference between a challenging situation and a fundamentally incompatible one. How the internet can help people create their own definition of success.

Writer, consultant, and Ribbon Farm founder VENKATESH RAO speaks with New Models about memetics & institutions, virality & democracy, Log Level thinking, BIOS Level politics, and how to navigate reality in a time when we're all NPCs in a world going "brrrrrrrrr.” ⛓️This conversation was recorded April 7th, 2020. FOR MORE: https://twitter.com/vgr https://venkateshrao.com/ https://breakingsmart.com/ https://ribbonfarm.com/ https://artofgig.substack.com/

Scroll to the bottom for the community update. On a walk a few days ago, I spotted this sign on a shuttered restaurant front that I thought really cap... Get FatVenkatesh RaoCash, Control, and CommunityCovid19 Case Studies pageTake a Gig/Leave a Gig pageDiscord Chat Schedule@artofgigHere is the Discord invite linkThe Art of Gigbecome a paying subscriber.

In the Bradbury Building in downtown Los Angeles, famous as the shooting location for science fiction films set in the future, I talked with the author and public intellectual Venkatesh Rao about his mind-bending and time-bending project on the history and possible future of temporality. For full show notes, go to: http://thaddeusrussell.com/podcast/102/

Today my guest is Venkatesh Rao.Venkat is a writer and independent management consultant focusing mainly on the “challenges at the intersection of technology, strategy, and organizational development, at midsized or large companies.”You can find Venkat’s writing on Ribbonfarm, Breaking Smart, and The Art of the Gig.We cover a wide range of topics in this conversation from The Genius and Shadow of Gen Z, the relative importance of embodiment in the digital age, and Venkat’s diagnosis for the most likely Apocalyptic Scenario.Please Enjoy and Share!

Writer and management consultant Venkatesh Rao talks about Waldenponding with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Rao coined the term Waldenponding to describe various levels of retreating from technology akin to how Thoreau extolled the virtues of retreating from social contact and leading a quieter life at Walden Pond. Rao argues that the value of Waldenponding is overrated and that extreme Waldenponding is even somewhat immoral. Rao sees online intellectual life as a form of supercomputer, an intellectual ecosystem that produces new knowledge and intellectual discourse. He encourages all of us to contribute to that intellectual ecosystem even when it can mean losing credit for some of our ideas and potentially some of our uniqueness.

Jess explains how the myth of the Disney Princess intentionally obfuscates the reality: a world where silver-haired billionaire princes are actually rapists of children. Teen agrees. A long discussion about power, corruption and lies. Told through the dark, despairing tale of Jeffrey Epstein. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Jess (@cogitatotomato) Teen (@mont_jiang) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Rebecca Kavanaugh's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrRJKavanagh The Gervais Principle by Venkatesh Rao: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-principle/ SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

From self-help and Venkatesh Rao to side hustles and mistakes at work, this episode hits many of the core questions that all professionals have at some point in their careers.

On episode 73, the Escape From Plan A crew of Teen, Diana, Oxford, and Mark talked about their high school memories and how formative those experiences were in shaping racial identities. Now, the same gang is back to talk about college. Discussions are had about being confronted with class consciousness, racial incidents, and general disillusionment with the college experience. This Side of Paradise? More like This Side of Parasites. Intro/Outro Music: "I Love College" by Asher Roth Intro Voice Track: Scene from "The Gang Reignites The Rivalry" from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3XC6ftpaXo) TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Diana (@discoveryduck) Oxford (@oxford_kondo) Mark (@snbatman) REFERENCED RESOURCES: The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial by Venkatesh Rao: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-life-of-maya-millennial/ Mast Bros. chocolate fraud: http://dallasfood.org/2015/12/mast-brothers-what-lies-behind-the-beards-part-1-tastetexture/ Liberal Arts movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_Arts_(film) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com

Venkatesh Rao is an author, consultant and the founder of the hugely popular blogs Ribbon Farm and Breaking Smart. Ribbonfarm is a multidisciplinary blog focused on strategy and decision-making, while Breaking Smart is devoted to in-depth explorations of the emerging digital economy. Venkat is also the author of the highly acclaimed book on decision-making, Tempo, and offers consulting services in organisational development, strategy and executive coaching, working with a number of prestigious clients like famed VC firm Andreesen Horowitz. In this episode we discuss:  - Venkat’s lessons about the creative process from years of writing on his two blogs - The conditions needed to generate insight from conversation and how Venkat works with the likes of Marc Andreesen from Andreesen Horowitz - Why dialectic is the driving force of any good relationship and a healthy society   This conversation was a lot of fun to record and it was great to chat to Venkat while he was visiting here in London! Whether you want to have more insightful conversations or know what it takes to run a hugely popular blog, this episode has you covered.

On this week’s show, Matt & Chris discuss the fascinating article Survival of the Mediocre Mediocre by Venkatesh Rao. We also have the second edition of I Must Read It Again, this week with Tom Geraghty talking about The Phoenix Project. You can find out more about Tom at http://www.tomgeraghty.co.uk/ ****Transcript created by http://otter.ai – […]

I discovered Tom by reading a piece he wrote on freelance consulting.  I was fascinated with his approach and how similar it was to mine - especially coming from a completely different perspective - digital marketing & content.  We talk in depth about how he thinks about content in today's world, his thoughts on personal branding, how writing helps him create and leads to serendipitous connections and how he manages a diversity of interests.  We also geek out about our love of all things Ribbon Farm and Venkatesh Rao.His Advice For Careers: Go work somewhere interesting rather than something that is safe. Earlier in your career, Tom pushes people to sacrifice revenue or stability in favor of learning and growth.Podcast Information: #BoundlessPodSupport: Support The Podcast For $1 a MonthLinks: Tom Critchlow & @tomcritchlow Field guide for Independent Consultants by Tom Critchlow The Consultant's Grain by Tom Critchlow Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed  Venkatesh Rao on The Knowledge Project Podcast Blockchain Man by Taylor Pearson RibbonFarm Blog

Venkatesh Rao defies labels - he's a blogger, thinker, consultant whose ideas span the digital economy, science, philosophy, and the zeitgeist. Rao is the creator of Ribbonfarm and Breaking Smart and we discuss “paycheck addictions” and the wave of transformation that's going to hit the economy. Is becoming a free-agent a way to stay ahead of the curve? How should a mid-career executive prepare? An immersion in the technology conversation is a must - but so is the ability to emotionally self-regulate. + SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/radpod27 + JOIN THE COMMUNITY: radreads.email

Learn more about Venkatesh and Ribbonfarm Twitter Ribbonfarm

Mike Dariano is a writer, an educator, and a creator. He writes about productivity and better work at Productivityist and edits the site 27GoodThings.com which features good things to read, watch, and use. He also writes at The Waiter’s Pad – a blog that shares in depth notes from podcast interviews around the web.   He has written a few books including; My Meditations: What a Roman Emperor Taught me About Parenting, Read More Books: Hijack your Habits, Tame your Time, and Find Better Tools for Reading More Books, and Children’s Poems for the Couch on a Sunday Afternoon.   Mike’s Challenge; Read more books.   Mentioned Media Helsinki Bus Station Theory Gary Vaynerchuk on Rich Roll podcast Venkatesh Rao on the Tropical MBA podcast   Check out Mike’s Book; 28 Lessons from Startups that Failed     If you liked this interview, check out episode 46 with Taylor Pearson where we discuss entrepreneurship and the future of the economy.  

http://www.tropicalmba.com/ribbonfarm/ On this week's episode, Dan is speaking with Venkatesh Rao, Venkat is the author of RibbonFarm, a philosophy blog about technology and entrepreneurship. He recently launched an essay series called Breaking Smart, that explores the relationship between humanity and technology. Today's conversation covers a whole plethora of philosophical heuristics, including blind spots in the digital nomad community, the difference between passion and work ethic, what it means to be power-literate and so much more.

In this episode, Venkatesh Rao, founder of Ribbonfarm and author of the book Tempo discusses the 3 types of decision-makers and shares how to adopt useful mental models GO PREMIUM: Support the podcast, get ad-free episodes, transcripts, and so much more: https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-premium/

Venkatesh Rao is the founder of Ribbonfarm and the author of Breaking Smart. “I would say I was blind and deaf and did not know anything about how the world worked until I was about 25. It took until almost 35 before I actually cut loose from the script. The script is a very, very powerful thing. The script wasn’t working for me.” Thanks to MailChimp and CreativeLive for sponsoring this week's episode. Show Notes: @vgr Ribbonfarm Rao on Longform [3:00] "Seeking Density in the Gonzo Theater" (Ribbonfarm • Jan 2012) [5:00] "You Are Not an Artisan" (Ribbonfarm • July 2013) [6:00] Breaking Smart: Season 1 [11:00] "Why Software Is Eating the World" (Marc Andreessen • Wall Street Journal • Aug 2011) [19:00] Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction (Philip E. Tetlock • Crown • 2015) [31:00] "The End of History?" (Francis Fukuyama • The National Interest • 1989) [pdf] [39:00] Quora [48:00] "Deep Play" (Aeon • Nov 2013) [48:00] "The American Cloud" (Aeon • July 2013) [48:00] "Why Solving Climate Change Will Be Like Mobilizing for War" (The Atlantic • Oct 2015)

This week we bring you a special "best of psychology and human behavior" episode.  Travel back to the beginning of Smart People Podcast with us and enjoy some of the best clips regarding psychology, the human brain, the decision making process, passion and more.  This is a can't miss episode packed full of great information with none of the fluff. Here is a brief overview of what this episode entails, what order it's in, who are guests are, and where you can find the whole episode.  Enjoy! Part 1 - Clips from Episode 58 with Jesse Prinz.  Jesse gets us started by telling us how awesome and unique humans are! Part 2 - Clips from Episode 51 with Srini Pillay.  Srini gives some of the best advice I've EVER heard about how to live an exceptional life.  He also dives into what passion is and how to utilize it properly.  Don't miss this! Part 3 - Quick clip from Episode 13 with Kathryn Schulz.  Kathryn explains why we need to make mistakes and learn from them. Part 4 - Clips from Episode 41 with David McRaney.  Listen and then go pick up his book if you like psychology! Part 5 - Clips from Episode 83 with Venkatesh Rao.  What can robots teach us about how we make decisions? Part 6 - Clips from Episode 43 with Barry Schwartz.  Are you a maximizer or a satisficer?

Venkatesh Rao: Author of Tempo: timing, tactics and strategy in narrative-driven decision-making & independent researcher. How many decisions do you think you make in a day? What about an hour? Well, if you want to do the math – go ahead, because all I know is you make about 1,400 decisions a MINUTE.  With that many...