This is a collection of the content I found most interesting in the past week: articles, quotes, videos, divided by macro categories.
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In this article, author Cal Newport introduces the concept of failed simulation, a psychological effect that makes us think 'how did he do that?' when faced with someone achieving big accomplishments. Newport breaks down what he believes makes for the elicitation of the failed simulation effect and how we can all apply them to be impressive without putting in an impressive amount of work.
"The key, we now understand, is to push activities into a realm where most people cannot easily imagine the steps that got you to your destination."
A lengthy, sophisticated, and worth reading essay by Oliver Burkeman from The Guardian, this article makes great points against the 'productivity' and 'efficient time-management' epidemic we have been experiencing in the past couple of years.
At the very bottom of our anxious urge to manage time better – the urge driving Frederick Winslow Taylor, Merlin Mann, me and perhaps you – it’s not hard to discern a familiar motive: the fear of death.
A worth-reading essay exploring the modern view of leisure time, so valuable and yet considered futile (because it doesn't make money) and spent in a passive state of slothful and sedentary consumption (generally speaking).
Work is results-driven. You work towards an outcome, which doubles as the measure for how well you’ve spent your time. In contrast, well-spent leisure should be valuable in itself. Staying active doesn’t guarantee leisure, but it should bring us alive because the heart dies in moments of sloth. If work is guided by utilitarian outcomes, leisure is driven by intuitive awareness. Leisure is not a time to retreat from the world. Rather, it’s a time for poetry, prayer, and philosophy — a chance to reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.
A book about the culture of safetyism that has been spreading in the US in the past couple of years, the Coddling of the American mind is an eye-opener on the direction our society is heading towards when it comes to parenting, college campuses management and the current situation children and teenagers are in. It not only depicts the big picture regarding the culture of safetyism and overprotection, but also provides advice on how to act on that, wisen up, and try to establish an improved society, together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4NemuqlZc0&list=WL&index=3
If only it were so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.
THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO, ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN