Links

A running list of links I find worthwhile, RSS feed included. Previously these were saved to Pinboard but more recently they're saved directly to this site through a simple WordPress plugin. This section of the site is still a work-in-progress.

Is Jane Austen the Antidote to Social Media Overload? →

These constant retreats into self constitute the most significant difference between Austen’s world and ours: people spend so much time quietly sitting and thinking, if only because there’s nothing else to do.

Alexandra Samuel

September 29, 2021 attention, society

Meet Ana Lorena Fabrega, the Educator Focused on Independent Thinking and Mental Models →

A case for schools to serve as places for kids to ask questions (even unpopular ones) and learn how to change their mind.

September 29, 2021 education

Who is the Wealthiest Generation? →

Looking at the exact same data (from the Fed Distributional Financial Accounts) from a different perspective gives us a much different picture of recent history. In this version, Gen X is now richer (30% richer!) than Boomers were at the same age (late 40s). Millennials don’t yet have a year of overlap with Boomers, but they are tracking Gen X almost exactly. There is no reason they won’t continue to track Gen X, and therefore exceed Boomers as well when they are in their late 40s (which will happen in about 2037 for Millennials).

Jeremy Horpedahl

September 8, 2021 economy

How The Bobos Broke America →

The creative class was supposed to foster progressive values and economic growth. Instead we got resentment, alienation, and endless political dysfunction.

David Brooks

August 30, 2021 society

The New American University →

Learning about ASU helped me reexamine my assumptions around the role of universities in a modern world, as well as how to build successful organizations: the idea that prestige doesn’t have to correlate to exclusivity; that longstanding institutions are capable of reinventing themselves; that my values aren’t as divergent from academia as I previously thought; and that there is, perhaps, hope for universities after all.

Nadia Eghbal

August 27, 2021 education

Why Computers Won’t Make Themselves Smarter →

Our overly optimistic views about the power of artificial intelligence can mask just how truly difficult it is to model human intelligence. A singularity-like event is perhaps much further away than AI-proponents like to say.

April 1, 2021

Writing Tips for Ph. D. Students →

Such a good set of writing tips from John Cochrane. It’s oriented toward Ph. D. students but has a lot of overlap with what makes for good, clear writing in business or otherwise.

April 1, 2021 writing

The future of work is written →

This short essay resonates with my own experience this last decade. I also think it’s a big part of what can make a liberal arts education valuable in the modern era.

April 1, 2021 work, writing

On Horseback Among the Eagle Hunters and Herders of the Mongolian Altai →

This whole series by the New York Times has been fantastic. This one visits with the people of western Mongolia and the rural (by an understatement) lives they lead.

April 1, 2021 photography, travel

Looking Closely is Everything →

Craig Mod’s essay introducing a new, quirky, and fun newsletter about noticing the small details in your surroundings.

April 1, 2021 newsletters, photography