@arunbains
You're More Stressed Than Ever - Let's Change That
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
When it comes to willpower, it’s best to avoid situations where it’s required and the same goes for stress - the best thing to do is all together avoid the environments that are unproductively stressful. Certainly there will be times where this isn’t possible and that’s where reframing the stressor comes in. For me I find it helpful to view the stressor as a challenge to overcome or simply take a step back and recognize that ultimately this isn’t that important. Daniel Kahneman coined the term the focusing illusion which states that nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you’re thinking about it. Reminding myself of this makes it much easier to understand the ephemeral nature of any particular stressor.
On Paperbacks and TikTok
Cal Newport
Besides being a place to foster more meaningful connection - i.e. we learn a lot more about friends through their recommendations than we do by seeing cherry picked highlights from their lives - Rhome is also meant to be the antidote to the proliferation of short-form. It is a place to find the so-called "hardcovers". The only way a piece of media makes it onto Rhome is through a recommendation, and because we don't recommend things unless we believe they are high quality, "slop" has no way of making its way onto Rhome.Sidenote: hope everyone is enjoying the new update! We believe deeply that what we feed our minds shapes who we are and what we think, so we've tried to add more context to each post to help you make more intentional choices about the media you consume. If anyone has any feedback, please feel free to let me know. At the end of the day this is your platform and we are just trying to build the space you want.
How to be Rational about Rationality
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Over time I have come to believe rationality is acting in accordance with one’s objectives. In this article, Taleb, rightly so, talks of rationality in relation to the ultimate goal: survival. In order to achieve anything, first you must survive.What I think is so interesting about looking at rationality this way is that it manifests in different ways for every person - particularly when moving to objectives beyond survival. What is rational for one person may be irrational for another. To me this seems an argument for greater empathy and curiosity - not judgment. An argument for understanding - not projecting our beliefs onto others.
AI and the Human Condition
Stratechery by Ben Thompson
An interesting and thought provoking look at some possibilities for our future with AI.