Reads that have profoundly impacted my thinking

Reads that have profoundly impacted my thinking

Modestly long article (under an hour). Every person who has an opinion on how companies work should read this.

Long-form multi-part article (few hours). Far from a settled matter, but this long breakdown was thought-provoking in getting me to question assumptions about our biology. What if we’ve been “looking under the street lamp” on obesity?

Moderately short but easy to read book (few hours). The seminal work on how human psychology and persuasion works.

Short article (under an hour). A great breakdown on how inequality has been the norm, not the exception; and how we have been living in a period of unique prosperity in the second half of the 19th century. This is not saying how it should be — instead, just pointing out historical norms so we can make more educated decisions about socioeconomic policy.

Moderately long multi-part article (couple of hours). I didn’t understand how seismic a shift Artificial Superintelligence could be until I read this. This has become a lot more obvious since late 2022 when ChatGPT came out and the AI race kicked off in earnest… which makes Tim Urban’s work all the more prescient.

Short article (five - fifteen minutes). Honorary mention for an excellent summary, even if the individual points weren’t perspective-shifting (summarization is an art form):

Short blog (five - fifteen minutes). A list of things that have been built fast, across the world, over the last couple of centuries… contrasted by more recent, sclerotic development in today’s society. Calls into question whether we simply have political will to build great things anymore.

Long-form multi-part article (a few hours to digest properly). A brilliant, deeply detailed breakdown of of “rhyming” themes in Star Wars.