Medley 32: Abstraction, gender picking, and water

Happy Monday! Just a couple more days till summer here...

New Article : "Learning Through Layers of Abstraction."

This article is about how we learn, and how we frequently try to learn the wrong way. Many people try to approach artistic nuanced skills at too deep in the pyramid of complexity, leading to frustration and burnout before they ever get started. The better tactic is, well, learning through the layers of abstraction.

Feather vs. Bowling ball : I imagine you know that without any air resistance, a feather and a bowling ball should fall at the same speed because gravity doesn't care how heavy something is. Well, just to make sure that was right (and to get a cool video) these guys actually tested it and it's pretty fun to watch.

Gender Neutral Babies : An oldie but a goodie from The Last Psychiatrist on the absurdity, narcissism, and harm of trying to raise a genderless child. "She is... sacrificing her child's reputation, subjecting him to potential ridicule and god knows what else, not for his benefit but in order to promote her own identity."

This is Water : David Foster Wallace's commencement speech to Kenyon college in 2005, a few years before he committed suicide, is powerful and fascinating partially because we know what happens next. It's useful and insightful without that knowledge, but with it, it adds an extra layer. Give it a listen if you haven't before.

Randomness : Apparently many uber-expensive condos are bought up in cities like NYC as a way for foreign businesspeople in countries with corrupt governments (e.g. China) to hide their money in safer countries. Sometimes these multimillion dollar apartments never get used! Kind of a shame, really.

Have a great week,
Nat