Perspective Agents: July 15
Notes on DALL-E, growing disbelief in news, population declines, and more
[Here’s an end-of-week sample of perspective-altering news and takes. The links don’t imply critique or analysis of what’s happening. More developments that change how we see and experience a changing world.]
RECENT ESSAY
Wednesday’s post touched on the magic of DALL-E 2, creative automation, and why creators need to fully embrace new AI platforms. You can read the essay here.
(And here is more about the project that got me thinking about implications of human-machine tag-teams).
EDGE NEWS + VIEWS
An opening salvo from Seth Godin. As good a rationale for expanding perspectives as any. It’s easier when you know.
Some things we may never know. Check out pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope—a first into outer reaches of the universe ever seen.
Related. Best common sense tweet of the week.
First, there was IQ. Then, EQ. Now we have CQ. It stands for your crisis quotient—a critical new dimension of leadership.
Data finds kids and teens are being raised on TikTok. Per links last week, this may become a national security issue.
TikTok memes had teens flocking to the Minion’s premier. It had a record-breaking $125 million opening.
Wired has more on the meme machine behind it. Recommended.
Here’s one both under the radar and “in the mainstream.” Did you know TikTok is home to an immense witchcraft community? Just how big? The community identified by the phrase “WitchTok” and videos mentioning have over 26+ billion views on TikTok alone.
Metaverse/immersive/Web3. Whatever label you slap on it, the future of the Internet is 3D. Matt Ball’s book will be a good primer to make sense of it.
Speaking of Web3, South Park’s latest mocks crypto-hyping celebrities.
And more. Ways of owning things are changing. Web3, rental services, group buying, and secondary marketplaces are all creating alternatives to individual ownership. Recommended read.
Last week Gallup showed trust in news took a big downturn. This week’s polls show we’re tuning out. According to Politico, engagement with news content also plunged during the first half of this year
The advice we take 10,000 steps a day is more marketing than science. Did you know?
In population news, India will overtake China in 2023, according to the UN.
Related: China’s population is about to shrink for the first time in 60 years ago. It will have a profound impact on China’s economy.
For context: There are currently 100 working-age people available to support every 20 elderly people. By 2100, 100 working-age Chinese will have to support as many as 120 elderly Chinese.
Buddhism found a new institutional home in the West: The corporation.
Why outrage politics has such a grip on American life. We do need to chill.
Related. Is the world really falling apart, or does it just feel that way?
SomeMIT scientists think they’ve discovered how to reverse climate change. “Space bubbles, as call them, join together like a raft—a buffer the size of Brazil that blocks harmful radiation from the Sun.
Nobody knows how well homework works. Recommended, if anything for the highly engaged discussion in the comments.
Tech companies discover building a car business is hard work.
So to is building the “Peloton-of X” (Tonal just laid off 35 percent of its staff)
In counter-intuitive news, bookstores are booming. Maybe it’s not about content, but about re-discovering community spaces.
Gizmodo ranked 2022's new emoji finalists. They include:
Black Bird (For days like Friday the 13th)
Shaking Face (for psychological distress)
Ginger (you interpret that one)
Gray heart (A little less human, a little more machine)
Pushing hand (I need you to stop speaking)
Donkey (You’re an ass)
FINAL THOUGHT
A final find on counterintuitive ideas this week. According to Donald Hoffman, a professor of cognitive science at the University of California, we need to rethink what we believe to be real.
His research finds isn’t seeing clearly that counts, but rather interpreting the world in ways that allow us to navigate it efficiently. He generated a lot of attention with his book The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes. His Ted Talk here has racked up over 4 million views.
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