Iāll be aiming to publish there daily(!) for the month of June. Hoping quantity leads to quality. Iāll only include my favorites in this newsletter, every Tuesday.
š On my mind
šµ You are not built for 2020. A common theme across the books I read last month: civilization has lapped human evolution many times over. This is why minor issues can trigger asymmetric emotional responses. Your brain believes rejection is a matter of life and death because there was a time where exclusion from the tribe was death. Much of your current internal processes are leftovers from the past.
š„° Make your people feel like this emoji.That moment when youāre talking to someone and you internally compliment them? Stop doing thatāthey canāt hear you! I wrote this.
š Time doesnāt care. Choose to kill time or invest in time. Time doesnāt care what you choose, it will pass at the same speed regardless.
ā Curiosity as a cure to social anxiety. When youāre feeling socially anxious, youāre typically āin your own headā. Youāre playing defense, trying to anticipate the right thing to say or the right face to make in response to the person talking. Try playing offense by being curious. Ask questions you donāt know the answer to, or bring up a topic youāve been thinking about. You canāt be in your own head when youāre playing offense.
š Books of the week
The Way of Men by Jack Donovan. This book describes the historical role of a man, how thatās changed over time, and what that means for the future of society. It explains, in the authorās opinion, you can be a good manāa moral pursuitābut that doesnāt mean youāre good at being a manāa skill largely tied to strength, due to a manās responsibility to āprotect the perimeterā for his tribe. The author argues that our lives have become too comfortable and masculinity has suffered for it. An edgy read, but ultimately an interesting look at the role of men in society.
Reading now: The Power of Focusing: Finding Your Inner Voice by Ann Cornell. This book is every bit as āout thereā as it looks BUT Iām giving it a shot. Focusing, to me, seems to build on the Buddhist concept of recognizing emotions instead of identifying with them.
š See you next Tuesday!
Thanks for reading. Hereās a quote Iāve been thinking about this week, from a Nat Eliason tweet:
Boring people are the ones whose ideas you immediately know the source of.
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