#010 Friday's Findings
Discover more from The Meandering Mind
#010 Friday's Findings
The security of the internet, negativity bias, true success and more.
Hello everyone!
Today is a very eventful Friday.
My lovely mother turns 50 years old - a huge milestone for her. I am also currently working on a new project for my upcoming exam, but one that I am extremely excited to be doing in my personal time as well. This project is creating a digital chat portal for freelancers (and all the rest) to communicate with each other.
What is more is that it is easter holiday next week, during which I will be continuing my work on this chat portal, but I will also make sure to go for walks often - because that is important.
Make sure to be grateful for your friendships! You never know when it is over, and then it will certainly be too late.
Today, I am also ready to make my first investment after some deliberation. For now, of course, I will be experimenting to get a feel of how this thing works.
Enjoy the weekend and easter!
Suggested readings
If you use Google, Instagram, Wikipedia, or YouTube, you're going to start noticing changes to content moderation, transparency, and safety features on those sites over the next six months. Why? It’s down to some major tech legislation that was passed in the EU last year but hasn’t received enough attention (IMO), especially in the US. I’m referring to a pair of bills called the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and this is your sign, as they say, to get familiar… (The internet is about to get a lot safer)
Theologians sometimes argue that, without the existence of God, life would be meaningless. Some secular people agree. For instance, in his book An Atheist’s Guide to Reality (2011), the philosopher Alex Rosenberg claims that, because the observable physical universe is all that exists, human life is meaningless. Whether you accept this philosophical claim or not, the fact that many people seem to believe that God or other supernatural entities are necessary for life to be meaningful suggests that, psychologically, there is some important connection between religious faith and the sense of meaning in life… (Religion gives life meaning. Can anything else take its place?)
It’s one thing to know what makes people happy, but quite another to live a happy life oneself. I didn’t get a true taste of happiness until I quit my decade-long career as a happiness academic, packed all I’d need for many months onto a bicycle, and began meandering my way around the world to Bhutan. Below are some of the important things I learned on a journey for happiness… (I’ve spent years studying happiness. Here’s what actually makes for a happier life)
Particularly when it comes to the future. And perhaps about the past. More often than not, we find ourselves in situations where we don’t know. Where we can’t know... (“I don’t know”)
An international survey from Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism last year found that in almost every country surveyed, trust in media is falling, and more people are saying they’re avoiding news. Why? Because, respondents say, it “has a negative effect on their mood.” So … why are we like this? Are we journalists just a miserable lot who insist on spreading our neuroses to the rest of the world? Are readers, despite their protestations to the contrary, likelier to click on news that’s negative or dire? It’s, of course, both, and the supply- and demand-side reasons might come from the same source. Humans, it turns out, have what social psychologists call a “negativity bias”: We tend to pay more attention to bad-seeming information than good-seeming information. That could be a root factor for why the news is so goddamned depressing. That’s what we’re looking for. (Why the news is so negative — and what we can do about it)
A quote I’m contemplating: “True success is exiting some rat race to modulate one’s activities for peace of mind” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Tools and Proposals
Revolut (referral) — I suggest you try this bank service! I just started using this service, and if you join via this link, we can both get perks.
Hostinger — I recommend you check out this tool for web hosting. It is what I use to host all my sites now - I do not recommend using Namecheap for hosting, but Hostinger will give you everything you need. I have been extremely satisfied with their services.
Unicopy — I encourage you to try this website I created. It allows you to easily copy Unicode characters and symbols, just by clicking.
Sounds
Until next time,
Magnus