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Expectations

November 21, 2021

Welcome to Sunday Brain Food: a weekly newsletter full of timeless ideas and insights for life and business.

(Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.)

FS

“Expectation is the grandfather of disappointment. The world can never own a man who wants nothing.”

— Aphorisms for Thirsty Fish

TKP

“The signal in a James Brown recording, the actual signal, is his soul reaching up for that note. That’s why they call it soul. It’s that reaching that we’re hearing, and that’s what makes his interpretation of the song different than Britney’s, different than Ariana’s. We auto-tune everybody in our music, we’re trending toward auto-tuning everybody in their lives.”

— Douglas Rushkoff came on The Knowledge Project to offer an in-depth take on the connection between modern-day technology and the problems caused by polarized extremism. (FS | YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Get a transcript).

Explore Your Curiosity

“In my experience, the debate over labor and leisure is often fought between the Self-Helpers and the Socialists. The Self-Helpers say that individuals have agency to solve their problems and can reduce their anxiety through new habits and values. The Socialists say that this individualist ethos is a dangerous myth. Instead, they insist that almost all modern anxieties arise from structural inequalities that require structural solutions, like a dramatic reconfiguration of the economy and stronger labor laws to protect worker rights.”

— Why You Never Have Time

“More people determine the fates of others without having to pay the consequences. Skin in the game means you own your own risk. It means people who make decisions in any walk of life should never be insulated from the consequences of those decisions, period. If you’re a helicopter repairman, you should be a helicopter rider.”

— Never Borrowed a Cent

Insight

“You can’t replace reading with other sources of information like videos, because you need to read in order to write well, and you need to write in order to think well.”

— Paul Graham

I think this relates:

Writing is often the process by which you realize that you do not understand what you are talking about.

Tiny Thought

Intensity is overrated. Consistency is underrated.

Et Cetera

  • The Haddon Matrix — We spend a lot of time trying to prevent events, but this simple model can help you handle the event.
  • Discipline creates skill.
  • How Your Ego Controls Your Life (And How to Stop It)

Stay safe,
— Shane

P.S. A pretty cool video explaining the vaccine.

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