"Work on media literacy. Work on financial literacy. Education is a toolkit, and we have forgotten that, I think."
Fighting nihilism is such an uphill battle, getting people to read and research and educate themselves is a struggle in of itself. And then to have optimism in spite of that education! "If you stare too long into the abyss, the abyss stares back." The more you learn, the harder it gets to strive for the silver lining. But, I think it's the responsibility of us optimists to do a better job of painting that future we want to see come true rather than hyping up the doom.
"With every future we wish to create we must first learn to imagine it." - Chen Qiufan
Optimism is a major problem that led to this nightmare in the first place, The problem we face is that pessimism is shunned while optimistic outlooks reign supreme. Imagining a bright future does nothing to make it possible when the path to the future is more grim then ever.
As I tend to say "There is nothing more terrifying then being a wise and smart guy in a room surrounded by idiots." Because idiots do not like people smarter then them, but also love to claim that they are wiser then you, while having the worst track record imaginable when it comes time for a damage report. What I am describing is text book Darwinism. Too many people are more hell bent on being viewed as heroes than they are on being actual saviors. If everyone claims that they are the good guy, it is safe to assume that they are all the bad guy in some shape or form. Their refusal to believe what I say is emblematic of my point. Not all heroes succeed, nor do all good people.
If you haven't yet (oh no another addition to the reading list), Neil Howe's The Fourth Turning is Here has some insights on the generational aspect of why trust is declining. I am still not sure about his juxtaposition of the linear approach to life - we have agency to keep the futurer moving in a line - versus cycles - we move within them and they outweigh our agency (though don't remove it entirely). Glad you are back to the newsletter...
Love that you brought the idea of restoring agency. I feel like culturally, the US specifically has had a culture of consumerism and not builders. Consumers have little agency on the options we are given -- we saw this through the type of regulation of the past 40 years. Thinking the way builders do, one archives psychological agency. I'm not surprised that there are glimpses of more and more builders: from people making their own fashion clothes to people becoming more loud on their local urbanist culture. I hope we see our generation has a mindset revolution.
Why not promote agency through entrepreneurship? The idea of job security is eroding away and if people don’t learn to use AI tools to their advantage, they’ll lose to it. The ad was dramatic but it also shows how much you can do with 1 device, the things you can create and the businesses you can potentially start. Same applies to the embrace of trades. Being your own boss sounds like the only true agency to me.
all that happen because the rapid transformation and ongoing process with no certainty. that popular word -let it flows- isn’t really work right now. thank you kyla! congratulation on your new book, excited to read it anyway.
It feels like everyone is misunderstanding the point of the ad — it’s about creative destruction. Think about immense, uncomfortable loads of pressure on ordinary carbon creating precious diamonds. The ad is meant to convey Apple’s empowering a new generation of interdisciplinary creators by fusing the sum of human creative power into a single device. It’s beautiful and revolutionary and messy. It’s not an attack on human creativity. It’s the exact opposite.
Kyla, It is as though you are reading the same things I am reading, your takes on economics are suspiciously on par with what I have come to conclude based on what I have learned. Of course, I doubt you are reading exact same articles as me, but you appear to be paying an equal amount of attention to the over all economic outlook that I am. Which should come as a major compliment since I look at things from the outside in rather then inside out. And the outer picture looks very concerning as you have illustrated here. So much can go wrong with the US economy. To the extent that one is left wondering, how could you fix a situation that could fail in dozens of ways if you start at the wrong spot. I am a very thoughtful guy and even I am at a loss as to an actual solution. I have run numerous hypothetical scenarios through my mind and almost all of them end up with the same persisting problem. A labor crisis. The most positive path forward is also the most unlikely.
New reader here, just want to first express how moving and relatable this essay was. Thank you for the effort you clearly put into it, it somehow almost brought me to tears, which was confusing but cathartic.
It really does come down to “what do you think we should do, and what are you willing to sacrifice?” I realized that more obviously this year when i finally got on some antidepressants and my agency moved out of the red. It’s been actually exciting to join a union, start challenging social and political ideas at my church more directly, being more honest with my friends back in Texas about my political beliefs, etc. it’s such a hard step to take though, because the force truly does make you into a corpse. Please keep writing, have a good day, i’ll upgrade to paid as soon as i can afford it.
(Also, crazy to see a quote from Thomas Merton here along with everything else, beauty truly does belong to the world once it’s created huh)
Dear Ms. K, THANK YOU for returning to this long-form commentary. I missed you! It's sad that Apple took this odd turn but it's okay for us to recognize that humans sat around and considered the piece and ultimately approved it.
Hi Kyla! Great post as usual. I found the section on how we view our locus of control very interesting. I think the reasons you listed for the current prevalence of external locuses (loci?) make a lot of sense, given that our interpersonal interactions and choices are mediated by larger forces in more direct ways (i.e. through social media platforms) than ever before. I'm curious if you've done any thinking on how these narratives of agency have shifted through time. When I think about other moments in history when people felt powerless over the economy, it seems that in the long run things have tended to swing back politically (the new deal as a reaction to the depression is the most obvious example). Do you see any forces today which might propel people to feel or behave as though they have more agency in the future?
"Work on media literacy. Work on financial literacy. Education is a toolkit, and we have forgotten that, I think."
Fighting nihilism is such an uphill battle, getting people to read and research and educate themselves is a struggle in of itself. And then to have optimism in spite of that education! "If you stare too long into the abyss, the abyss stares back." The more you learn, the harder it gets to strive for the silver lining. But, I think it's the responsibility of us optimists to do a better job of painting that future we want to see come true rather than hyping up the doom.
"With every future we wish to create we must first learn to imagine it." - Chen Qiufan
Optimism is a major problem that led to this nightmare in the first place, The problem we face is that pessimism is shunned while optimistic outlooks reign supreme. Imagining a bright future does nothing to make it possible when the path to the future is more grim then ever.
As I tend to say "There is nothing more terrifying then being a wise and smart guy in a room surrounded by idiots." Because idiots do not like people smarter then them, but also love to claim that they are wiser then you, while having the worst track record imaginable when it comes time for a damage report. What I am describing is text book Darwinism. Too many people are more hell bent on being viewed as heroes than they are on being actual saviors. If everyone claims that they are the good guy, it is safe to assume that they are all the bad guy in some shape or form. Their refusal to believe what I say is emblematic of my point. Not all heroes succeed, nor do all good people.
If you haven't yet (oh no another addition to the reading list), Neil Howe's The Fourth Turning is Here has some insights on the generational aspect of why trust is declining. I am still not sure about his juxtaposition of the linear approach to life - we have agency to keep the futurer moving in a line - versus cycles - we move within them and they outweigh our agency (though don't remove it entirely). Glad you are back to the newsletter...
This essay is an example of beauty.
Love that you brought the idea of restoring agency. I feel like culturally, the US specifically has had a culture of consumerism and not builders. Consumers have little agency on the options we are given -- we saw this through the type of regulation of the past 40 years. Thinking the way builders do, one archives psychological agency. I'm not surprised that there are glimpses of more and more builders: from people making their own fashion clothes to people becoming more loud on their local urbanist culture. I hope we see our generation has a mindset revolution.
Why not promote agency through entrepreneurship? The idea of job security is eroding away and if people don’t learn to use AI tools to their advantage, they’ll lose to it. The ad was dramatic but it also shows how much you can do with 1 device, the things you can create and the businesses you can potentially start. Same applies to the embrace of trades. Being your own boss sounds like the only true agency to me.
all that happen because the rapid transformation and ongoing process with no certainty. that popular word -let it flows- isn’t really work right now. thank you kyla! congratulation on your new book, excited to read it anyway.
It feels like everyone is misunderstanding the point of the ad — it’s about creative destruction. Think about immense, uncomfortable loads of pressure on ordinary carbon creating precious diamonds. The ad is meant to convey Apple’s empowering a new generation of interdisciplinary creators by fusing the sum of human creative power into a single device. It’s beautiful and revolutionary and messy. It’s not an attack on human creativity. It’s the exact opposite.
A delight to read, every time. Thank you Kyla
Very excited about the book!
Kyla, It is as though you are reading the same things I am reading, your takes on economics are suspiciously on par with what I have come to conclude based on what I have learned. Of course, I doubt you are reading exact same articles as me, but you appear to be paying an equal amount of attention to the over all economic outlook that I am. Which should come as a major compliment since I look at things from the outside in rather then inside out. And the outer picture looks very concerning as you have illustrated here. So much can go wrong with the US economy. To the extent that one is left wondering, how could you fix a situation that could fail in dozens of ways if you start at the wrong spot. I am a very thoughtful guy and even I am at a loss as to an actual solution. I have run numerous hypothetical scenarios through my mind and almost all of them end up with the same persisting problem. A labor crisis. The most positive path forward is also the most unlikely.
New reader here, just want to first express how moving and relatable this essay was. Thank you for the effort you clearly put into it, it somehow almost brought me to tears, which was confusing but cathartic.
It really does come down to “what do you think we should do, and what are you willing to sacrifice?” I realized that more obviously this year when i finally got on some antidepressants and my agency moved out of the red. It’s been actually exciting to join a union, start challenging social and political ideas at my church more directly, being more honest with my friends back in Texas about my political beliefs, etc. it’s such a hard step to take though, because the force truly does make you into a corpse. Please keep writing, have a good day, i’ll upgrade to paid as soon as i can afford it.
(Also, crazy to see a quote from Thomas Merton here along with everything else, beauty truly does belong to the world once it’s created huh)
Dear Ms. K, THANK YOU for returning to this long-form commentary. I missed you! It's sad that Apple took this odd turn but it's okay for us to recognize that humans sat around and considered the piece and ultimately approved it.
I am queuing up Bluey right now!
awesome kyla love it
Hi Kyla! Great post as usual. I found the section on how we view our locus of control very interesting. I think the reasons you listed for the current prevalence of external locuses (loci?) make a lot of sense, given that our interpersonal interactions and choices are mediated by larger forces in more direct ways (i.e. through social media platforms) than ever before. I'm curious if you've done any thinking on how these narratives of agency have shifted through time. When I think about other moments in history when people felt powerless over the economy, it seems that in the long run things have tended to swing back politically (the new deal as a reaction to the depression is the most obvious example). Do you see any forces today which might propel people to feel or behave as though they have more agency in the future?
This might be my favorite article / email you’ve ever done. Well said 👏🏼
Amartya Sen in the time dimension?