Weekend Reads

This Week on the Lindy Newsletter

1) The Permanent Now

It’s easier than ever to think that the current world has always existed. Social media algorithms want to keep you interested in the current thing, meanwhile major publishers are updating language in books to make them appropriate for people today. Getting out of this permanent now head space is integral for mental health.

2) Can We Replace a Tree?

I write about two useful concepts in response to liquid trees in Belgrade. Fractal fluency and the Doorman Fallacy. Both of these concepts can change the way you look at the world.

Weekend Reads

The Georgetown neighborhood in Washington DC is one of the most pleasant neighborhoods in America. It’s very wealthy but there’s no large mansions or massive homes. The architectural style and urban density are quite well preserved. It feels like you are transported into a Norman Rockwell painting. The neighborhood aesthetics are enforced by historic preservation laws. Recently. a preservation board voted against a Georgetown University neuroscientist’s request to keep a pair of massive Transformers. It seems to go against property rights. It’s your home, you should do whatever you want on it. And yet, I have to agree with the board here. The transformers must be removed. As I get older I value beauty even at the expense of certain rights.

New huge meta-analysis of alcohol and all-cause mortality was released in the prestigious journal JAMA. It stated moderate drinking is bad for your health. Previous research either stated it had no affect or was good for you. However, someone on twitter debunked the study. Sometimes a random person on Twitter can expose a study when every mainstream institution is broadcasting it. Amazing.

Italy elected a right wing nationalist Prime Minister this year and we are seeing the results. The Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words. I do not think you can ban the lingua franca of the world unless you go full North Korea. People will use it regardless if the government bans it. That’s how culture works.

This tweet argues that AI will not eviscerate the legal profession as commonly believed. Instead, AI will contribute to the generation and processing of increasingly long and complex contracts, resulting in a tenfold increase in lawsuits and a booming legal business as a significant part of GDP. Until AI comes, Big Law will continue to be an intense place to work.

 What’s the most beautiful cathedral in the world? Is it the Monreale Cathedral? Built mostly by the Norman King William II in the late-12th century, it has 68,243 square feet of gold mosaics, with two and a half tons (4,850 pounds) of gold used. That in and of itself communicates a powerful impression of God’s resplendence, but it’s what the mosaics depict that overwhelms more.

A new paper is out on Frontier History and Gender Norms in the United States. The distinctive features of the American frontier shaped many aspects of individual and social life, including gender roles. There was less women on the frontier, which affected everything.

The Gambler Who Beat Roulette. For decades, casinos scoffed as mathematicians and physicists devised elaborate systems to take down the house. Then an unassuming Croatian’s winning strategy forever changed the game.

The rise of therapy speak. Why are people talking about their “attachment style” or “boundaries” and “triggers”? Therapy speak, both online and IRL, has become a normal part of our daily discourse. It’s something you can see everywhere.

Even the plants are trying to kill you in Australia. That continent seems to have a bonanza of deadly critters. A woman has explained what it was like to fall into one of the world's most-deadly plants: Australia's infamous Dendrocnide moroides, more commonly known as the stinging tree. Recent research (2020) revealed these plants contain a potent protein neurotoxin

Music

Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter leaves behind electronic music and goes full acoustic. He releases a classical music album.