People try to do all sorts of clever and difficult things to improve life instead of doing the simplest, easiest thing—refusing to participate in activities that make life bad.
~ Leo Tolstoy
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On this day
July 24th45 – Trail run
(Part 2 of 46 in series, Level 52 countdown)
This is a local trail that I frequent. It’s a loop with ~60m of total elevation. Super easy, but it crushes me every time.
Tomorrow: A 15-minute drill (pick number, do that every minute, last minute do double) of pushups and squats.
Can I flip this?
I expend a lot of time and energy thinking about technology. I’m often trying to share some idea with others, or trying to make a change in the world. But year by year I’m shifting to spending more of that time and energy simply deciding what technology I want to adopt. Mastodon and the corresponding ActivityPub technology which creates the Fediverse is a great example. Should I join in on that new technology and create a presence there?
Grasping the value of new technology requires imagination. But unless you have skin in the game that doesn’t seem worth the effort because technology is supposed to make things easier and simpler, not wrack your brain.
~ Morgan Housel, from Why New Technology Is A Hard Sell
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Housel’s covers that, and three other intriguing points about why new technology is a hard sell. I’m left wondering could I use the points raised in the article to help me make decisions about technology? If I flip the article’s thinking over (from an others-directed “why doesn’t technology get adopted” direction to a self-directed “why I might not adopt technology” direction) then I can ask myself corresponding questions. For example, for the quoted point above, I can ask: Am I engaging my imagination at all when considering some piece of technology? (Aside: I decided, yes, and you can search for @craig@constantine.name wherever you are in the Fediverse.)
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Silence
True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
~ William Penn
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Get to work
Stop searching for magic tricks. Roll up your sleeves and get to work. The fool will find this idea depressing. The wise person will find this liberating. So it goes.
~ Hugh Macleod
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The Internet
Ultimately, the goal is not to stop using the internet, or even minimize its use, but to put it back into a box in the basement where it belongs. The first step is to discover what I’m up against. If I find a way to make the internet small again, I’ll write a book about it so others can do it too.
~ David Cain from, How to Make the Internet Small Again
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I’ve been beating this drum for years, (eg, here’s a search for “use you”.) I don’t want to put the Internet literally into a box and then stuff it in the basement. (Even setting aside that I don’t have a basement.) The Internet is nothing more than a tool. The Internet, but also TV, food, politics, religion, music, your car(s?), books, or even hoarding [sometimes misspelled “collecting”] things… one can have a dysfunctional relationship with anything. (Truth in blogging: My addiction is TV and snacking.)
Don’t think my little paragraphs here are meant to diminish what Cain wrote. Go read that, it’s better than what I’ve written here. Rather, my point is simply that we each need to figure out—for each of those things I listed above, and every other thing—are we using it, or are we letting it use us.
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Skepticism and cynicism
The result of this kind of influence is twofold: one is a skepticism and cynicism towards everything which is said or printed, while the other is a childish belief in anything that a person is told with authority. This combination of cynicism and naïveté is very typical of the modern individual. Its essential result is to discourage him from doing his own thinking and deciding.
~ Erich Fromm from, Erich Fromm on Why It’s Difficult to Think Originally and Critically in the Modern Age | The Art of Manliness
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Philosophical Skepticism, “is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge.” (That’s a quote from the Wikipedia entry. If you want to go deeper, try the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s entry for Skepticism.)
As far as I understand it—your mileage may vary—Fromm, in that quote, wasn’t condemning philosophical skepticism. Rather, and I agree, let’s all condemn the little-s-skepticism; the naivete driven, disbelieve everything, skepticism that turns away from anything it doesn’t understand.
I prefer to turn towards just about anything I don’t yet understand. (See: “Oh. That’s interesting…”) I’m am frequently asking myself: “What is true, and how do I know it’s true?”
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Do you have an “ask”?
I don’t always have an “ask.” But when I do, I make it clear and I usually lead with it. This plays out in countless ways, and I’m hoping it’s so obvious that I don’t need to give any examples. Rather, I’ll just go meta:
When you have an ask, is it clear—really clear—in your communication?
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Movers Mindset Team: Roles, remote work, and passion
What are the unique roles and collaborative processes behind the production of Movers Mindset podcast episodes?
In our special 50th episode, the Movers Mindset team gets together to discuss what we do, and how far we’ve come. Each team member explains what they do in the team, and how all of our roles fit together. We talk about working remotely, the freedoms and challenges that come with it, and some of the strategies we use to help with that. The team discusses favorite episodes, things we’ve learned, and what each of us has found to be very special about the project.
The thing that I’m really passionate about is that we have a platform, Movers Mindset is a platform that can give people a voice.
~ Melissa Way (10:27)
Movers Mindset team members explain how they balance creativity and organization while managing the complexities of remote podcast production.
There’s something really, really special about when— I don’t know, just the simple fact of somebody being very interested in what someone has to say.
~ Miguel Chero (11:58)
The conversation explores the inner workings of the Movers Mindset podcast, highlighting the roles and responsibilities of the team members. The team discusses the collaborative process that allows them to manage podcast production remotely, balancing creativity, technical tasks, and the logistics of releasing weekly episodes. They describe how each member’s unique strengths contribute to the overall success of the podcast.
I handle production. I handle social media. I’m also the ‘no’ to every idea Craig tries to throw at us.
~ Kristen Swantek (15:25)
Topics such as remote work challenges, the importance of guest relations, and the structured workflows that keep the project organized are examined. The team reflects on their passion for storytelling and their commitment to providing a platform for voices that may not otherwise be heard. Additionally, the group shares anecdotes about the joys and occasional chaos involved in producing the podcast.
Takeaways
Creating episodes in advance — The team often works two to three months ahead of the release schedule.
Collaborative remote work — Weekly meetings and consistent communication help keep the remote team aligned.
Role specialization — Each member focuses on different aspects such as editing, social media, guest management, and production.
Platform for voices — Movers Mindset provides a space for lesser-known individuals to share their insights alongside more prominent figures.
Structured workflows — The podcast production process follows a structured path with numerous checkpoints and collaboration steps.
Emphasis on storytelling — The passion for storytelling and listening to people’s experiences drives the podcast’s success.
Dynamic problem solving — The team adapts quickly to unexpected issues, often relying on each other to solve problems creatively.
Resources
Basecamp — Project management tool used by the Movers Mindset team to coordinate tasks and projects.
Overcast — Podcast player referenced for listening to episodes.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Warburg’s finding
In 1924 a scientist named Otto Warburg happened upon a counterintuitive finding. Cancer cells, even in the presence of sufficient oxygen, underwent a type of metabolism cells reserved for rapid energy demand – anaerobic metabolism. In fact, even when cancer cells were given additional oxygen, they still almost uniformly defaulted into using only glucose to make ATP via the anaerobic pathway. This is counterintuitive because this way of making ATP is typically a last resort for cells, not a default, due to the very poor yield of ATP.
~ Peter Attia from, Is there a way to exploit the metabolic quirk of cancer? – Peter Attia
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This is a simple introduction to the two methods our cells can use to get the energy they need to do everything; One way is efficient and one is not. It’s critical that our cells can switch between the two methods as circumstances change. The curious discovery made by Warburg is that cancer cells always use the inefficient method.
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Success
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
~ Winston Churchill
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Fear is not real
Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me danger is very real but fear is a choice.
~ Will Smith
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Morning “warm up” with Laurent
101, 11-21-31-21-11 :P Big thanks to Fagan for coming back to help me finish!
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Quèbec
Recalling a certain chilly trip today. I’m already thinking of September… not certain how I’m getting there, or who else I will get to join me. But get there I shall.
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