Hello everyone,
We can interpret human behavior as a collection of programs, but what mechanism selects which ones to run? We aren't hyper-cognitive beings. We don't evaluate and calculate every possible outcome before acting. But neither are we automatons at the mercy of our impulses. To find the right answer, we must look into the nervous system.
What I'm working on:
This week I updated chapter 4 of the 5 acts model, which outlines how our species orients and selects what to act on. There are quite some unintuitive nuances within these processes that have helped me sharpen my worldview. I hope it does the same for you.
You can read it inside of this Google Doc, and I'd be happy if you left some feedback/questions while you're at it! Instructions can be found at the top of the document (note: if you haven't read chapter 3, I recommend reading it first):
Interesting finds of the week:
🔊 Listened to:
The Data Highway in Space with Privateer’s Steve Wozniak, Alex Fielding, and Dr. Moriba Jah
Privateer is a company founded by Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) with a mission to enable a sustainable and safe environment in Space. It's as interesting as it sounds:
🔗 Link to the podcast episode
📖 Read:
I won't let you pay me for my open-source - Long article by DHH (David Heinemeier Hanson)
This is about more than open source. It's about the history of economic systems and the influence of software, with zero-marginal reproduction costs, on those systems.
🔗 Link to the blog post (at the bottom, there's a link to the audio version)
The end of the system of the world - by Noah Smith
A thorough and objective assessment of globalization and the role of centralized large powers in the past and future.
🔗 Link to the newsletter edition
🌊 Resurfaced:
How to Speak - MIT Professor Patrick Winston.
Patrick Winston's How to Speak talk was an MIT tradition for over 40 years. The talk is intended to improve your speaking ability in critical situations by teaching you a few heuristic rules.
🔗 Link to the Youtube clip
Jordan Peterson's Harvard lecture on Perception
Jordan Peterson articulates the neurological process of perception in a very interesting and understandable manner.
🔗 Link to the Youtube clip
That’s a wrap
I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can leave a comment on Substack, send me a private message or simply reply to this e-mail. See you next week!
, Edwin