#004 Friday's Findings
Discover more from The Meandering Mind
#004 Friday's Findings
Looking back at my trip to Lago di Garda, The 'Feynman Method' and more.
Hello everyone! Happy Friday.
You will find that I have made a few changes.
I removed the logo to make it a personal letter. I am also trying a new form of Friday’s Findings without three visuals. Instead, you will find more suggested readings, a visual in the header, and sounds—as you will see in this issue just as well.
This means you will get more value and more exploration. I encourage you to listen to the sounds on your commute home—or whenever you get the chance.
From now on, you’ll also read the issue's contents in the description.
As I was making these changes, a particular memory came to mind. One that reminded me of when I felt most free.
I adore going for walks whenever I get the chance. It feels like a ritual—when I travel somewhere new… I simply must explore the space. Once, a few years back, my family and I were traveling somewhat south of Lago di Garda in Italy—close to Verona—and I went exploring.
It felt so liberating.
The Italian vineyards and olive gardens were breathtaking… away went all the hurry and worries from my everyday life. The leaves were ruffling gently, as a free-flowing breeze joined in. It was on a warm midafternoon—but not to any extent unbearable. As I was strolling, there was only the present moment.
At another moment, in my beloved hometown, I was strolling down the streets lighted only by the beautiful moon and the ambient street lamps—completely free of all movement and sounds but myself.
It is, as I decided on these days, the ideal place for exploring new thoughts in a reasonable manner—an unhurried place where one can meander the world.
And so, as we explore thoughts and ideas together in this newsletter—let us take an imaginative stroll in an unhurried manner, if only for a minute, for that is the ideal place to speculate the wonders of the world.
Suggested readings
We often don’t understand things as well as we think we do. How often have you “learned” something you can’t fully recall later, or that you can’t explain to someone else? While we’ve previously suggested that you write down or discuss a detailed version of your understanding, there’s a related and simpler way of filling gaps in your own knowledge: the Feynman technique. This comes from physicist Richard Feynman’s observation that if you can’t explain a complex concept at a simpler level, you probably don’t understand it well yourself. Or to put it another way: Teaching others can be the best way to learn… (Use the 'Feynman Method' to Learn New Things)
Creativity is a mysterious and often elusive concept, but also one that is essential for progress in a variety of fields. From art and design to business and technology, creativity is a driving force behind innovation, change, and beauty in the world. The traditional view of creativity is that it is a matter of chance or talent, something that can’t be studied or understood. I disagree – I think it’s something we develop through our actions over time. Through experimentation and reflection, I’ve discovered what I believe to be a powerful framework: creativity as a system… (Creativity as a system)
As an employee, your job will be reduced to barking a couple of fuzzy commands, from time to time. ChatGPT will read, think and write for you. It’s only a matter of time, until ChatGPT graduates from Office to Windows itself, runs the whole system, and makes the idea of apps look as old-fashioned as cassette tapes… (The End of Writing)
Is it possible to live a meaningful life without suffering? To psychologist Paul Bloom, suffering and meaning are often inextricably linked. “I think the way people think about meaning — our very notion of what a meaningful experience, or meaningful goal, or meaningful life is — is that it requires some degree of suffering, where suffering could be physical pain, it could be difficulty, it could be worrying, it could be the possibility of failure,” Bloom told Big Think... (Why a meaningful life is impossible without suffering)
The dodo was perfectly adapted to its environment. It was us humans who had to come along and ruin everything with our hunting, murdering, plundering ways. But now a biotech startup called Colossal Biosciences is trying to make amends for humankind’s past sins: It wants to de-extinct the dodo… (Why Bother Bringing Back the Dodo?)
A quote I’m contemplating: “Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
Tools and Proposals
The Sample — I suggest you subscribe to this unusual newsletter. The Sample curate articles from hundreds of blogs and newsletters and send you the ones that match your interests.
Simone Weil - Philosophize This! (Spotify) — I recommend you to listen to this podcast episode on Vessels of God from Simone Weil. I truly enjoy how Stephen West explains these things.
Coolors — I encourage you to try this color website. This website allows you to create powerful color combinations that look swell but also allows you to pick variations and harmonies. It was on this site that I picked the color for this newsletter.
Sounds
Until next time,
Magnus