psychopaths, drawing bicycles & tortillas
CC#38 - Maker vs. Manager Schedule, the Risks of Remote Collaboration & Getting Inspired by Powerful AI
Hey there and welcome to ✨ CuratedCuriosity - a bi-weekly newsletter delivering inspiration from all over the internet to the notoriously curious.
Things I Enjoyed Reading.
😱 Are all world leaders psychopathic?
I don’t fully agree but there is definitely a bit of truth in it - leading up to the question: How can the system be changed to enable honest people to rise to the top without being formed into psychopaths?
Just take a moment to think through what it takes to get to the top of the political pyramid, in any supposedly democratic country like the United States, Australia, the UK, Canada, the Ukraine, Russia etc. Think through who that kind of person needs to be (…) Because I promise you this: nowhere in the world does an honest and compassionate person of integrity make it to the top of a structure like that. Impossible. The system is wired against such a thing occuring. The reason politics is such a cutthroat business is because everybody is hyper-manipulative – it comes down to who’s better at it, and who’s better at hiding their secrets. The reason I wrote this article is that while I might have focused on Putin previously, I believe that all world leaders are psychopaths: that’s the most simple way I can put it.
📅 Maker vs. Manager: How Your Schedule Can Make or Break You
The fact that different schedules work better for different task types is probably not news to you. Nonetheless, I found it helpful for understanding my own and other people’s scheduling needs better to think of it in terms of maker & manager schedules.
There are two key reasons that the distinction between maker and manager schedules matters for each of us and the people we work with. First, defining the type of schedule we need is more important than worrying about task management systems or daily habits. If we try to do maker work on a manager schedule or managerial work on a maker schedule, we will run into problems. Second, we need to be aware of which schedule the people around us are on so we can be considerate and let them get their best work done.
🧪 The Only True Wisdom is Knowing that You Can’t Draw a Bicycle
An article questioning the current meaning of ‘truth’ in science + a bold proposal for redefining it: A finding should only be regarded as confirmed if it can be replicated by ‘outsiders’ i.e. if everyone can see for themselves.
We find it kind of concerning that “does replicate” or “doesn’t replicate” have come to be used as synonyms of “true” and “untrue”. It’s not enough to say that things replicate or not. Blondlot’s N-ray experiments were replicated hundreds of times around France, until all of a sudden they weren’t; van Leeuwenhoek’s observations of tiny critters in pond water weren’t replicated for years, until they were. The modern take on replication (lots of replications from big labs = good) would have gotten both of these wrong.
Food for Thought.
💻 Semi-good news for the future of remote work & collaboration
🔫 Uuugh… If that chart isn’t the ultimate wake up call to finally ban weapons in the U.S. then I don’t know…
💸 By now, micro-loans are highly controversial. This thread points towards evidence that (in the U.S.), despite good intentions, they might lead to some unintended second-order outcomes…
Random Stuff.
🖼️ Midjourney is a research lab that gives users access to an image generating AI. And I have to say the results are simply mind-blowing. I asked it to generate a logo for this newsletter (somehow combining a book and a bird, because why not?) and a fantasy scene of a girl in a library. Here is what I got -what do you think about it?
Also definitely check out this twitter thread to see what Midjourney produces out of emoji prompts:
🔍 I guess (econ-) scientists can relate? Read if you need some beginning-of-the-week motivation.
🕰️ Can you read the time?
Personal Update.
Spent last weekend in Spain visiting a friend (that’s also why this newsletter comes out a little late).
🇪🇸 Takeaways:It’s always worth to plan reunions!
The best way to plan travels with friends ahead of time is to simply put a date in everyone’s calendar - you can always reschedule if something comes up but that way you make sure you actually follow through with your plans!
You can always eat Tortillas (no matter if its for breakfast, lunch or dinner) and I should definitely learn how to make a decent one!
Price differences across Europe are bigger than I expected. After paying €2.50 for a cappuccino & a tortilla, it will take some time until spending €5.30 (aka 40 DKK) for a cappuccino alone won’t cause me to cringe internally anymore…
Looking forward to a programming-heavy but hopefully productive June!
Currently reading ‘The Scout Mindset’ by Julia Galef about bias, decision making and good judgment. Would 10/10 recommend - definitely more entertaining to read than Thinking Fast and Slow while offering more concrete ideas for improving your judgement.