Content I consumed in February.
Here are some of the top reads or videos I consumed in February 2021.
My Dear Friends
Hope you are doing well.
Substack has been acting weird lately in terms of sending these emails, so here I am sending you mid way.
I strongly believe that the content you consume directly affects the content you create. I try to read and watch as much as I can. I have a massive appetite for content, I do prefer certain types of content to others but overall any good content appeals to me. I was caught up in a lot of things in January and hence was not able to read much and I compensated for it by reading more in February. Here are some of the best pieces of content that caught my eye this month, some of these are niche blogs, others more general, and some quite fun and refreshing.
“The success of TikTok is a source of real anxiety inside Facebook, where employees ask CEO Mark Zuckerberg a question about it during nearly every all-hands Q&A session. The company has deployed a competitor, called Reels, inside of Instagram, and perhaps it will find a way to succeed. But the larger point is that, whatever the odds, Facebook now has to compete against TikTok, or risk losing the next generation.”
This is an amazing piece about how the power dynamics and hegemonies are playing out amongst social media sites. Apparently, Facebook no longer has a monopoly over the growing consumer base. Companies were busy re-purposing every successful feature in order to adapt to the scene but now it seems, platforms with completely different interfaces and types of content are gaining ground.
“Leaders are mostly in autopilot mode which means they will keep on doing repetitive work which keeps them busy but avoid the difficult work which is outside of their comfort zone but is massively needle moving. They are happy being busy, but busy (or hard work) != best outcomes”
This is a must-read article for founders, leaders, and entrepreneurs. It talks about how to churn out ideas effectively by recommending a 3 step work structure- Iconic Goals, Running Document, and a Database for Ideas. It has tons of actionable suggestions on how to be more efficient with ideation and execution.
“Most influencers, Bilton tells us—even, reportedly, mega-successful ones, like Kim Kardashian—have expedited their climb to the top of the social-media pyramid by purchasing followers, in order to inflate their engagement metrics. It’s in the best interest of social-media companies and their Wall Street investors to turn a blind eye to this practice, Bilton explains, as whirring stacks of hundred-dollar bills flash on the screen, because these puffed-up numbers equal increased proceeds.”
This article gives you a closer look at the viciousness of the global influencer economy. Nick Bilton, calls his HBO documentary, ‘Fake Famous’ a “social experiment” in order to understand the mechanics of the influencer industry by casting 3 individuals and documenting their journey towards fame by capitalising on the currency of likes and followers.
I have never heard of more realistic advice. The internet is filled with motivational cheerleaders, who show you this glamorous picture of following your passion. Passion is also very misinterpreted in our society and hence so many people fail to find success doing something they love.
“While the church might be gone, Levandowski still believes in its premise. AI will fundamentally change how people live and work, he noted. Levandowski said he didn’t have any plans to rebuild the church, but the lack of a church hasn’t changed his ideas about AI. He believes that artificial intelligence can be positive for society, but noted it’s not guaranteed. Even without Way of the Future, Levandowski said he’s focused on making that happen.”
Anthony Levandowski is a former Google engineer, he created a church that placed Artificial Intelligence as a God. The church created a lot of stir in the tech industry and obviously a string of controversies and lawsuits followed! He had to close it recently. Read this brilliant piece to know the details of the event.
“These companies have distinct atomic concepts from Adobe. The primitives that their products are built around are fundamentally different from those of Adobe’s product lineup. It’s these different fundamental atomic concepts that turn Adobe’s advantage of an established product and existing userbase into a weakness that hinders their ability to counter these upstarts. The opportunity for these new atomic concepts to thrive is driven by the new use cases and types of users unearthed during market transitions.”
This article talks about different how software like Figma, Sketch, Canva are emerging as dominant players in the design industry. It talks in extensive detail about the various features of these apps which provide them an edge over Adobe. If you are a designer or a visual artist, this is a must-read for you.
“People say that your first reaction is the most honest, but I disagree. Your first reaction is usually outdated. Either it’s an answer you came up with long ago and now use instead of thinking, or it’s a knee-jerk emotional response to something in your past.”
I guess you know that I am a podcaster, and apart from hosting When We Met, I am also hosting Pepper Spotlight these days. And I like to keep honing my skills by constantly reading about them, adapting according to the trends. I stumbled upon this article about podcasting, and honestly, it's so detailed and full of insights. You can also read this article if you want more tips about podcasting.
“...the crypto art scene uses blockchain technology to authenticate and identify a single, unique piece of digital art. To understand how that piece of art sells for the price of a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, one needs a brief primer on something called nonfungible tokens, or NFTs—digital goods that are bought and sold on emerging websites like Nifty Gateway, which hosted the Beeple auction. Nifty Gateway was founded in 2018 by the absurdly named Duncan Cock Foster, twenty-six, and his twin brother, Griffin. When asked to explain NFTs, Duncan used this analogy: Imagine you owned a pair of expensive Air Jordans. If Nike went out of business, those sneakers wouldn’t suddenly disappear from your closet. Why should digital goods—like a Fortnite skin or an original Beeple—be any different?”
There is some crazy shit happening in the world; people are paying millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for digital art that they can see for free via Instagram! Sounds crazy, right? Though it is bizarre, it is also an indication of how the world of art and money is changing. Read this article to know in detail how Beeple rose to such fame and influence with his digital artwork and how he is pioneering a revolution in the world of art.
“We’re on the precipice of a creative explosion, fuelled by putting power, and the ability to generate wealth, in the hands of the people. Armed with powerful technical and financial tools, individuals will be able to launch and scale increasingly complex projects and businesses. Within two decades, we will have multiple trillion-plus dollar publicly traded entities with just one full-time employee, the founder.”
This article is your ultimate guide in comprehending the myriad changes taking place in the creative economy. Cryptocurrency and alternative models of monetisation like NFTs and DeFi are completely changing the way we approach passion economy and SaaS platforms. Read this article to understand how all the laws of the creative ecosystem are being re-written, the basic functionalities will undergo massive changes.
“Lying to oneself about an apocalypse that didn’t happen is silly, but the ability for self-deception can, at times, be a surprisingly valuable asset. Steve Jobs, for instance, was said to have a “reality distortion field” that gave him the power to mysteriously manipulate others into working on seemingly impossible tasks and timelines. By getting others to believe in his version of reality, they sometimes put their doubts aside and took his confidence in faith. According to his former publicist, Andy Cunningham, “When you worked with Steve Jobs, everything that seemed impossible he made possible, or he made you make it possible, which was even more important.”
This is perhaps one of my favorite articles of the month. It is not something extraordinary neither does it deal with rocket science, it talks about the simple act of lying and different types of people who lie. I never really thought that such definitions can distinguish liars, but I have been proven wrong. This article talks about four types of liars - Deceitful, those who lie to others about facts; Duplicitous, those who lie to others about values; Delusional, those who lie to themselves about facts; Demoralized, those who lie to themselves about values. It also lays out how we can avoid being any of these liars and the instances when lying is actually beneficial.
“Studies have shown that content that outrages are more likely to be shared. Users who post angry messages get the status boost of likes and retweets, and the platforms on which those messages are posted gain the attention and engagement that they sell to advertisers. Online platforms, therefore, have an incentive to push forward the most extreme versions of every argument. Nuance, reflection, and mutual understanding are not just casualties of the crossfire, but necessary victims. But it would be a profound mistake to conclude from all this that we are arguing too much. The hollow outrage we see online is actually evidence of the absence of real, reflective disagreements: fight as a smokescreen for flight.”
The internet is a great place to be. It magnifies connections, networks, and communities but at the same time, it magnifies animosity and disagreements. But are disagreements as ubiquitous as it seems? Are we really at each other’s throats at all times? And if so, is it only the fault of the internet, or are we hardwired in a way that makes us hostile towards each other? Read this article by The Guardian to understand why the internet seems so negative and how we are falling prey to its mechanism.
“And there lies an epidemiological mystery. The usual trend of death from infectious diseases—malaria, typhoid, diphtheria, H.I.V.—follows a dismal pattern. Lower-income countries are hardest hit, with high-income countries the least affected. But if you look at the pattern of covid-19 deaths reported per capita—deaths, not infections—Belgium, Italy, Spain, the United States, and the United Kingdom are among the worst off. The reported death rate in India, which has 1.3 billion people and a rickety, ad-hoc public-health infrastructure, is roughly a tenth of what it is in the United States. In Nigeria, with a population of some two hundred million, the reported death rate is less than a hundredth of the U.S. rate. Rich countries, with sophisticated health-care systems, seem to have suffered the worst ravages of the infection.”
I was completely oblivious to the fact that things like cohabitation, median age, etc play such a crucial role in the infection and death rate of Covid-19. I was of the opinion that it was a matter of administration and a foundational health care system. But turns out it's so much more than that. This New Yorker article talks about how some countries are hit harder by the pandemic and how there are layered socio-biological reasons behind it.
“Life in the warmer months of 2022 should be normal, or at least whatever qualifies as normal post-pandemic. The virus will still exist, but one possibility is that it will be less likely to make people severely ill and that it will, like the flu, circulate primarily in the colder months; some people would still die from COVID-19, but the virus wouldn’t rage out of control again. Meanwhile, Americans should be able to do most, if not all, of the things that they missed so much in 2020 and 2021, mask- and worry-free.”
Hold on to your seat tightly, this pandemic loves us too much to let go of us so easily. According to experts, things are not likely to get back to normal before summer 2022. Things are going to be more complicated for a country like India, with less efficient administration and a higher population. Read this article to get a month-to-month breakdown of what the coming year is going to look like.
“Increasingly known as hybrid events, the opportunity to deliver a meaningful event that offers great value to both in-room and virtual attendees is not just a pandemic-enforced next step for the event sector, but a huge opportunity to permanently enhance the entire future of the sector.”
As I mentioned earlier, that even though we are making progress, we are not going back to normal anytime soon. Thus Hybrid events are here to say. As a community leader who was busy planning events all around the country before the pandemic hit, I can testify that in-person events were a lot of chaos, too many logistical details and so much more costly. Yes, virtual events are not so engaging but it has other advantages. And a hybrid event would retain the best of both and looks quite promising.
“By limiting social engagements, leisure activities, and travel, the pandemic has forced many people to live a more muted life, without the normal deviations from daily monotony. The result is a collective sense of ennui — one that is shaping what we do and what we buy, and even how productive we are.”
It is quite peculiar but the fact that even during a worldwide pandemic, economic stagnation and growing unemployment people have been spending more and more money, especially to indulge in luxury. The lack of social stimuli has forced us to engage in other means of entertainment and fulfillment, and shopping tops the list. Read this article to know more about how boredom is acting as a major economic booster.
“Poverty is a complicated thing. It can be generational or situational and temporary—or anything in between. For me, climbing out of poverty has been as much about mindset as it has been about the dollars in my bank account.”
This article recounts the story of a woman who became homeless, and how she struggled for years working minimum wage jobs to make ends meet. She also talks about how poverty can cause PTSD and how that trauma transforms you not only physically but also physiologically.
“Pauli Murray went to battle for people of color, women, elders, and what they coded as “other minorities” when referencing LGBTQ+ communities in the courtroom, in the pulpit, and on the page. These multi-generational, multifaceted, and intersectional skirmishes left deep scars on their psyche and well-being.”
Pauli’s story is one of perseverance and immense courage. How they defied the norms of color, gender and sexuality is one of exemplary feel and needs to be known and celebrated. They kept fighting even at the cost of their own physical and mental health so that they could leave a better world than the one they inherited.
What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.” - Lucille Clifton
“In repeated studies, the social cost of negotiating for higher pay has been found to be greater for women than it is for men. Men can certainly overplay their hand and alienate negotiating counterparts. However, in most published studies, the social cost of negotiating for pay is not significant for men, while it is significant for women.”
Women are not shy in asking for more money they are only wary of its consequences. Read this article to know more about why women don't like negotiating salary. I also heard something on similar lines on Tanmay Bhatt’s podcast episode on money.
“Many have pointed the finger at rising levels of bureaucratic processes in medicine as discouraging a more human touch. Tempting though it might be, resisting standardization and quality measurement is a fool’s errand. Not only are they deeply ensconced, but they have also proven benefits. Instead, a kinder delivery system might provide structures to support it. ”
I strongly believe that kindness is a quality that you have to actively practice. It’s not a dormant emotion, we have to show it through our actions. Read this article to find out how empathy plays a major role in better treatment of patients and sadly how it’s on a decline in today’s highly mechanized world. The corporates and bureaucrats are endangering these human instincts to be kinder towards each other, but we must preserve them within ourselves.
“In October, more people died from suicide than had died from COVID-19 in Japan in all of 2020. Studies show that loneliness has been linked to a higher risk of health issues like heart disease, dementia, and eating disorders.”
More than 541,000 people in Japan are living in isolation. This is not in the light of the pandemic, this is a mass phenomenon called, “hikikomori”, where people shut themselves in for long periods of time consensually. Nearly 35% of the people who shut themselves in, did so for more than 7 years. This is also a leading reason for increased suicides in Japan. It made me wonder, that why is it that a country like Japan, highly developed and industrialized unable to sustain happiness for its citizens? One can also see the contrast between India, with the highest suicide rates in the south Asian region, and Japan. The former battling poverty and underdevelopment the latter one of the most developed countries in the world. What are countries across the spectrum doing wrong?
“Consciousness then can be envisaged as a 3D grid system superimposed overall energy patterns, Wayne writes. Using mathematics, each plane of the grid system can then reduce the data to a 2D form. Our binary (go/no go) minds can then process the data and compare it to other historical data saved in our memory. Our reality is then formed by comparisons. The right hemisphere of the brain acts as the primary matrix or receptor for this holographic input. The left hemisphere then compares it to other data, reducing it to its 2D form.”
This article practically blew my mind, it is so crazy and interesting. It is filled with a lot of jargon and is a lengthy read but if human psychology and cognitive analysis interest you, then surely give this a read.
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