Radical Self-Betterment and More

Happy Sunday!

This week we’ve got essays on radical self-betterment and the pursuit of beautiful work. Plus, reflections on being cancer free and a review of a new book about human progress. But first: 

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Now, on to the posts! 

In Defense of Radical Self-Betterment

Gena Gorlin / Every

When we think about self-change, we tend to think of it as something incremental. We may be able to budge our tendencies slightly one way or the other, but on the whole, our personalities are more or less fixed. But UT Austin Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology Dr. Gena Gorlin argues that more dramatic transformation is more attainable than we think. 

She’s seen it herself, both in her practice and in famous examples like Steve Jobs and global peace activist Maajid Nawaz. In this post, Dr. Gorlin makes the case for raising the bar on your psychological ambitiousness—and lays out the steps for making it happen. 

Read.

Book Review: Slouching Towards Utopia

You may have noticed that things feel, well, a bit gloomy of late. Civil unrest, declines in life expectancy, stagnant GDP, and movie stars promoting their films by saying things like “societal collapse is in the air.” So what is going on? 

The new book Slouching Toward Utopia by J. Bradford DeLong offers a theory. DeLong’s argument is that human progress picked up dramatically—and then ground to a halt sometime around 2010. This week on Divinations, Nathan unpacks DeLong’s explanation in an effort to understand: How does human progress work? And what happens when it stops? 

Read.

Creative Extravagance

Dan Shipper / Superorganizers

Dan wants to learn how to create beautiful things. But where does beauty come from? 

One theory holds that it comes from discipline: from honing your craft, from singular, borderline maniacal focus on one single thing. But Dan has a different theory, one drawn from looking at nature itself. In Dan’s mind, the way to create beautiful things is to create everything. To revel in extravagance, in profligacy and, yes, sometimes in ugliness. Dan lays out his theory of beauty here. 

Read.

What I Learned from Being Cancer Free

Evan Armstrong / Napkin Math

This week’s edition of Napkin Math is a personal one. Last weekend marked seven years since Evan found out he was cancer-free. And, as it will, a life experience of that magnitude taught him a lot about life, work, and happiness—and he’s sharing some of what he’s learned. 

Among the lessons he shares: the real source of success (hint: it’s not smarts or hard work); why relying on the output equation is a losing battle; and the importance of a great life partnership. 

Read.

This week on Ordinary Astronauts: is Apple stuck?

Three topics this week on Ordinary Astronauts:

1. Is Apple Stuck? The Apple event this week was full of sustaining innovations—nothing revolutionary. It feels like radical new products are a thing of the distant past. Why?
2. Creative Extravagance. Some people say focus is key, that you can't do anything great unless you ruthlessly say no. But what if that's just not true? Dan's latest article makes a case based on nature (and the writing of Annie Dillard) for creative extravagance. Sometimes it's better to just throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks.
3. Book Review: Slouching Towards Utopia. A new book got published this week that tells a grand narrative about the 20th century, and helps explain why it feels like progress generally is faltering in the past decade or so. It's called "Slouching Towards Utopia" and it's well worth reading. Dan and Nathan discuss, and somehow end up in a debate over the role of the market and what degree of government intervention is most prudent.  

A Few More Recommendations

Interview: Vitalik Buterin, Creator of Ethereum | Noahpinion

With The Merge scheduled to complete in a matter of weeks, it’s a big moment for Ethereum. So what does its creator think of this moment, and the future of crypto overall? In this conversation with Noah Smith, Buterin covers everything from The Merge to the recent crypto crash to the potential of “startup societies.”  

Event: How is David Allen Getting Things Done? | RadReads

Are you ready to double-down on what matters most? Join a free productivity masterclass with David Allen, the bestselling author of Getting Things Done (aka GTD) which will cover how to hit your goals while avoiding burnout and overwhelm. The event takes place this Monday, 9/12 at 11 am EDT. Sign up.

The Every Talent Collective | Every

The Every Talent Collective on Pallet has amazing job opportunities across product, engineering, data, and design—all curated by the Every team. Take two minutes to fill out your profile and you can start fielding intro requests from companies like Atlassian, Snowflake, Box, and more. 

That's all for this week!