Rabbit Holes a commonplace book,kept in the open
A hand-picked way in · five folios

Start with these.

The whole book is intentionally sprawling. These five leaves are a smaller door: enough to learn its rhythm without beginning at the beginning.

168 Link

On AI and job automation

If you’re thinking about starting an argument with “AI will eventually automate all jobs,” I’m begging you to (1) talk to a plumber and a kindergarten teacher, and (2) have an economist walk you through how a big increase in the efficiency of producing X impacts demand for not-X. “Not only do most jobs involve doing work in the physical world (plumbers), many jobs involve forming emotional relationships with other human…

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AIAutomation 4 threads →
049 Musing

Zero Sum thinking is ruining the world

The deepest divide in today's world, whether in economics, politics, investing, or even religion, seems to come down to those who view society as a zero-sum game and those who believe in shared growth. This is increasingly showing up everywhere, from relatively benign issues like tariffs and tax policy to more consequential debates over social rights and aid (and even territorial ambitions). Decisions being made seem shaped…

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PsychologySociety 4 threads →
039 Musing

We are borrowed stardust

I thought of Einstein, who at sixteen, lonely and introverted, began wondering about the nature of the universe by imagining himself chasing a beam of light through outer space; I thought of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, also lonely and also dedicated to the light, who at the same time was formulating his general theory of love as “two solitudes that protect, border, and greet each other.” And I thought about how love is…

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Philosophy 4 threads →
023 Musing

The weight of telling stories

Mo Amer: But no, if there is a scenario, if there's a world that would take place, then sure, we would explore that, considering that the show ends on October 6th. Like I very deliberately ended it that way at Tel Aviv airport when the camera pans over, whether people catch it or not. It ends in that way. But I do feel like it's important to, you know, be a part of the solution rather than be a part of the problem. I think…

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ArtComedyTV Shows 4 threads →
013 Reflection

Why read?

Rose: So what's happened to us that gives us that kind of society in which people of the best young minds have not read? Harold Bloom: Well, the screen. The screen, the screen. Television screen, movie screen, the television screen, the movie screen, and now overwhelmingly, computer screen, and yes, in particular, the great gray ocean of the Internet, which frightens me deeply because if young people go into, or onto,…

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ReadingBooksLiterature 4 threads →