Hey all!
Instead of providing a heartwarming email intro, I will bless you with this 4min video on how all COVID commercials are the same. (“In these hard times, we must stick together” blah blah blah.)
First off, I wrote a piece that synthesizes the responses to Marc Andreessen’s “It’s Time To Build”. Check it out to learn about government vetocracy, the diminishing bits space in tech, and why changing humanity’s mindset is high-impact. It’s here: Building Paradigms.
Second, I’ve been continuing to work with The Bento Society. Our most recent piece (written by Yancey Stricker) is on changing our Values Stack.
If you’re interested in a meditation on these ideas, and in building your active awareness during COVID, join our weekly Bento at 11am EST this (and every Sunday). RSVP here.
Links
As always, my extensive (but still high-quality, I swear!) link dump is here. Top links:
In honor of Earth Day, here’s a 2min video where Stewart Brand explains how our first picture of the earth kickstarted the environmentalist movement.
I was impressed by Paul Romer’s 2018 Nobel Prize speech, on endogenous growth theory (video, paper). The theory explains how knowledge creates economic growth. "The nonrivalry of ideas is responsible for the rise in living standards over time." Most importantly, he connects this (the sharing of nonrivalrous ideas) to Egoistic Altruism, which is the strongest case for self-taxing and Stage 2 positive-sum games. The selfish case for generosity.
@patio11’s behind-the-scenes piece on the process of citizen journalism and the power of the "hash-as-signal-flare" tactic on Twitter.
Continuing on last week's notes on food shortages, here are two articles from the Guardian and NYT. 2x-ing acute food shortages from 130M to 260M. This shows an extreme case on the downsides of lockdown: “Instead of coronavirus, the hunger will kill us,” said Mr. Singh, who was hoping to eat his first meal in a day. (Related: Deep dive on COVID food shortages.)
UBI: A new plan to get $1,000 to 100,000 families in the next 100 days. It’s raised $55M of $100M.
The first essay from the Write of Passage Fellowship is live. Here’s Joseph Wells on the Compulsory Case for National Service.
From The Onion: DMT Researchers Advise Maintaining 6-Foot Distance From Own Body
List of available crypto folks to hire (post-layoffs)
Events
Berkman Klein conversation between Jonathan Zittrain and Microsoft President Brad Smith. April 29
Open 2020: Networked Commons (June 11-12)
Weekly Bento (recurring: 11am EST every Sunday)
Effective Altruist Events Calendar (recurring)
Interintellect Salons (recurring)
The Stoa (recurring)
Foresight Institute (recurring)
MUSIC
Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters is the first album to receive a 10 from Pitchfork since Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. I especially recommend the tracks: Relay, Shameika, and Under The Table.
Bye! 👋