The Mental Pivot Newsletter: No.10
In this issue: Cargo cults, what you don’t know, an exploding whale, and your weekly dose of curated links.
Recently, I came across references to “cargo cults” in a pair of unrelated articles. The term went over my head the first time I saw it, but on the second sighting, I realized I had no clue what the author was talking about. Thankfully, the internet rescued me from ignorance (here’s a succinct definition and a more substantial one). It was a good reminder of the many things I do not know—a fact I am reminded of daily.
In the 1990s, I was enrolled in a PhD program in musicology at Harvard University. To say that I felt out of place and intellectually outmatched is an understatement. I remember hearing words coming out of the mouths of peers and professors that weren’t on any SAT or GRE lists I’d encountered. I made a habit of discrete note-taking so I could consult the dictionary later and save myself from future embarrassment. During my qualifying exams, I was interrogated for several hours in front of a panel of distinguished professors. They asked challenging questions and I did my best to answer. They’d probe further and I’d try to respond until I exhausted my knowledge. Ultimately, I passed with flying colors, but I’ll never forget the feedback I was given—it had little to do with domain expertise. The panel was specifically impressed with my ability to say three words repeatedly and comfortably: “I don’t know.”
I didn’t finish the PhD program (I opted to roll the dice and head to Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom), but that lesson has always stuck with me. Being comfortable with what you don’t know is a kind of skill. And knowing what you don’t know is its own special kind of knowledge. Of course, not knowing something doesn’t mean you need to remain in a permanent state of ignorance, but it’s important to recognize that one cannot possibly know everything. It does mean you need to constantly look for your own blindspots and shortcomings. It also means that you need to rely on the wisdom and insights of others. It means you can ask questions earnestly and maintain a healthy intellectual humility. And for the things you think you know, it means you can’t be certain there isn’t a better answer waiting to be found. Yes, not knowing things can be embarrassing, but overcoming that hangup makes all the difference.
Speaking of learning new things, I learned this week that you can reply directly to this newsletter if you’re subscribed via email (the substack sender address forwards to my personal address). Thank you to the three readers—JK, LC, and SH—who showed me this. Should you want to drop me a line, hitting reply in your email client will do the trick.
Now onto the updates...
What’s New on the Blog:
1. Practical Recommendations from David Sinclair’s Lifespan
I decided to followup my book summary on Lifespan with a complementary piece that looks at the specific health advice scattered throughout the book. Note that Sinclair’s recommendations are geared for longevity (as opposed to weight loss or other health goals). For those who just want the tl;dr, here’s the short version:
Diet: Eat less (calorie restriction), eat healthy (more plants).
Exercise: High intensity is better than low.
Temperature: Expose your body to uncomfortable but tolerable cold periodically. Heat may also be beneficial.
Supplements: Some molecules mimic the benefits of diet and exercise. Some are controlled substances requiring a physician prescription (e.g. metformin). Others are available as dietary supplements that can be purchased online (e.g. NMN, NR and resveratrol).
Avoid things that damage DNA and the epigenome: don’t smoke, avoid unnecessary toxins (e.g. microwaved plastics) and radiation (UV, airport scanners, etc.).
The goal of the above activities is to encourage cellular repair, reduce cellular inflammation and autophagy (recycling and removal of unwanted cellular components). If you’re intrigued by the ideas of Lifespan, this post summarizes the actions a health conscious individual might take today.
2. Articles and Podcasts of Note (Week of 11/09/2020)
This is my weekly roundup of interesting links and internet finds. You can read the complete post on the blog, but here are the highlights:
Articles:
The Genes We’re Dealt: Bioethicist Eric Parens explores reconciling genetic differences with social outcomes and political agendas—the great nature vs. nurture debate continues.
The Great 21st Century Treasure Hunt: In 2010, an octogenarian published a memoir with a poem that held clues about a treasure worth millions buried somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. A look at the ensuing chase from the perspective of one intrepid hunter, Justin Posey.
The Joys of Being a Stoic: Massimo Pigliucci pushes back against the staid, humorless stereotype of the “stiff upper lip stoic.”
A Pacifist’s Plan to Survive the Violent World of Prison: A raw, powerful look at the mindset of being in prison (written by a man serving a 10-year sentence in Florida). If you find this kind of content interesting, check out the podcast Ear Hustle.
Personal Epistemology, Free Speech, and Tech Companies: Are we cognitive sheep? “The vast majority of people have pretty poor personal epistemic hygiene.”
When Money Is Abundant, Knowledge Is the Real Wealth: Interesting essay on the scarcity of knowledge.
Voting Systems: Examines the pros and cons of various solutions: plurality, ranked choice, Borda count, instant runoff, score and approval voting.
Podcasts:
The Lost Cities of Geo: An account of the impact of GeoCities which, in the 1990s, captured the imagination of early web-users and its equally rapid decline in the 2000s (and the efforts to archive its contents).
Monopoly and Academic Decathlon: Author John Green considers the venerable board game (and its true history) and then offers a touching reminiscence of high school. Shoutout to reader SH for the recommendation.
Resistance: Coach G: The eye-opening story of the only black man in the town of Harvard, Nebraska (population 1000) and the BLM rally he organized.
Odds & Ends:
Discoverpods announced their 2020 podcast awards. Over 30,000 votes were cast by podcast fans in a number of categories like best interview show, best sports podcast, best technology podcast and so on. It might help you find a new podcast to listen to.
Take a walk down memory lane by visiting the Museum of Obsolete Media. This museum features a collection of over 650 current and obsolete media formats (think audio, video, film and computer data). Hello 8” floppy disks and DAT.
Since longevity has been on my mind recently, Tim Urban, the mind behind the popular Wait but Why blog, wrote an interesting post years ago titled “Your Life in Weeks.” The post offers some compelling visualizations of human longevity.
Did you know Randall Munroe (XKCD cartoonist) has a New York Times column? I didn’t. The column is called “Good Question” and considers whimsical topics like “what makes sand soft?” and “how hot is too hot?”
In 1970, a dead whale washed ashore in coastal Oregon. The authorities, concerned by the smell of the rotting carcass decided that blowing up the whale with 20 cases of TNT was the optimal solution. Here’s actual footage of the live and surprisingly funny newscast of the infamous event (this month marks the 50th anniversary). It made me laugh out loud. In the words of the news reporter “the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds.” There’s even a Wikipedia article if additional background is desired.
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