Can you still be human?
September 19, 2025 • #Iain McGilchrist on the threats to our humanity with the coming AI wave.
Topic / culture
19 posts✦
March 12, 2025 • #
Great interview with the author of one of my favorite books from the last several years, Joe Henrich. The WEIRDest People in the World is a fascinating look at the origins of human culture and the evolution of human psychology.
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August 25, 2024 • #
Wrote this week about the problems with feeds, algorithmic discovery, and passively letting the machines define your taste.
We all need a return to active participation in what we consume.
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August 24, 2024 • #
“Pace layers”
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The Whole Earth Index
October 17, 2023 • #The full archive of the Whole Earth Catalog.
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Areopagus
August 23, 2023 • #A newsletter on culture, art, music, and history.
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The Case for Muddling Through
April 18, 2023 • #Brink Lindsey on our current crises, with a ray of optimism we'll get through it.
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Architecture from Every Country
September 12, 2022 • #The Cultural Tutor's architecture examples from every country.
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Weekend Reading: Readwise's Next Chapter, Reviewing Revolt of the Public, and the Helicopter State
September 17, 2021 • #Readwise launches a reading app, Scott Alexander reviews Martin Gurri, and Jonah Goldberg on the helicopter state.
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Weekend Reading: NBA Bubble, Digital Homesteads, and Amateurs vs. Professionals
October 10, 2020 • #Life in the NBA bubble, homesteading on Twitter, and what separates professionals and amateurs.
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The Prophet of the Revolt
September 30, 2020 • #An interview with Martin Gurri.
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Weekend Reading: Looking Glass Politics, Enrichment, and OSM Datasets
July 18, 2020 • #Gurri on private vs. public emotions, McCloskey on the boom of modern progress, and Facebook's work on OpenStreetMap data.
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The Heaving Sea of Twitter
July 16, 2020 • #Tanner Greer on how online discourse has changed with the expansion of social media.
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Cultures That Build
June 24, 2020 • #Tanner Greer's analysis of what we've lost to be a culture of builders.
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Michele Gelfand on Tight and Loose Cultures
March 20, 2020 • #The difference between 'tight' and 'loose' cultures — conformists vs. non-conformists.
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Weekend Reading: Internet of Beefs, Company Culture, and Secular Cycles
January 18, 2020 • #Venkatesh Rao's theory of internet beef, the impacts of company culture, and Turchin's Secular Cycles.
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Weekend Reading: Figma Multiplayer, Rice vs. Wheat, and Tuft Cells
November 23, 2019 • #How Figma built their multiplayer tech, rice vs. wheat and influence on culture, and how tuft cells communicate threats to the immune system.
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Hamilton
February 24, 2019 • #“Seeing the touring production of Hamilton.”
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Cargo Cult Science
February 3, 2019 • #Text of Richard Feynman's 1974 commencement address on cargo cult science.
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