We tend to think of children’s brains as yet to be fully developed versions of adult brains (as a father of two small kids, I can confirm that it definitely feels like this). This hour-long interview with psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik gave me a new perspective. Children’s brains have some unique capabilities that fade in adults and that artificial intelligence can learn from. Newsletter writer’s adult mind: blown. Listen to it now.
From Weekly Filet #344, in April 2021.
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I don’t think you need to become a superforecaster. However, knowing how to make good guesstimates is a valuable skill, and this article has some good rules to follow.
From Weekly Filet #342, in April 2021.
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It’s usually a good idea to start running when someone wants to tell you about a formula for living the best life you could possibly live. It’s worth making an exception for this one, though. 1. Because it’s well argued. 2. Because combining mirrored reciprocation with compound interest is not your usual carpe diem type of bullshittery. 3. Because what’s not to love about an ode to generalism and multidisciplinary thinking.
From Weekly Filet #337, in March 2021.
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In this podcast episode, you’ll understand new things about Covid, science, disinformation, herd behaviours and authoritarianism, but the biggest insights are on the meta-level: Ezra Klein takes you inside the mind of one of the great generalist thinkers of our time, Zeynep Tufekci.
From Weekly Filet #333, in February 2021.
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Here’s a rule of thumb I use when evaluating information from a field I know little about: Trust the people who doubt. The Correspondent’s «Numeracy correspondent» wrote a beautiful ode to doubting and explains why people who doubt tend to make better decisions.
From Weekly Filet #308, in June 2020.
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I’d love to say otherwise, but I plead guilty. I invest too little time (and empathy) in really trying to understand people who hold opinions that differ from mine. And of course, I’m not alone. It’s easier to argue against and even easier to write off somebody else’s views than to try to understand what they are based on. That’s what this piece is about. Key passage: «A dare for the next time you’re in discussion with someone you disagree with: Don’t try to ‹win›. Don’t try to convince anyone of your viewpoint. Don’t score points by mocking them to your peers. Instead try to ‹lose›. Hear them out. Ask them to convince you and mean it.»
From Weekly Filet #247, in September 2017.
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I tell you this is a great essay. Then I tell you that I just made up that appraisal, it’s completely random. You still believe me. And now you probably want to read it to understand why.
From Weekly Filet #229, in February 2017.
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What if you countered islamic radicalisation with…empathy? That’s how two Danish policemen started a fascinating experiment in Aarhus, after dozens of young men had gone missing, presumably joining ISIS in Syria. A brilliant episode of the always fascinating Invisibilia podcast.
From Weekly Filet #-1, in August 2016.
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A podcast from the very loved crew at «This American Life». This podcast asks the question why, although we always discuss and argue with people who have different opinions than we have, we never really change our minds. And if, rarely, we do, why that happens.
(Actually, in the process of choosing this link for the Weekly Filet, I first wanted to share a different link; a video showing breathtaking, rare footage of postwar Berlin. But then I changed my mind. Or, as the great spoken word artist Taylor Mali says in one of his most famous poems: «Changing your mind is one of the best ways of figuring out whether or not you still have one.»
From Weekly Filet #207, in May 2015.
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Smart essay on connecting the dots and why predicting the present is nearly as hard as predicting the future.
From Weekly Filet #201, in March 2015.
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Make sense of what’s happening, and imagine what could be.
Carefully curated recommendations on what to read, watch and listen to. For nerds and changemakers who love when something makes them go «Huh, I never thought of it this way!».
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