Weird how worried Wall Street is about DeepSeek, weren’t they just saying AI innovation is good even if it harms some people in the short term
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
@askpang.bsky.social
I run programs at 4 Day Week Global. Author of WORK LESS DO MORE (2023), SHORTER (2020), REST (2016) and THE DISTRACTION ADDICTION (2013).
now that DeepSeek has completed AI, we hope that Silicon Valley will turn its attention to the next best thing: investing in rural history museums
On the Grand Theft Auto theory of careers, inspired by my own recent history: open.substack.com/pub/askpang/...
The Grand Theft Auto theory of careers
Drive it like you stole it
open.substack.com
Posting this for absolutely no reason whatsoever harpers.org/archive/1941...
Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson
harpers.org
“I hate writing; I love having written” is a real thing (even if Dorthy Parker never actually said it).
Kate Marvel@drkatemarvel.bsky.social · 2y agopeople tell you the best thing about having written a book is getting to call yourself a published author or sharing your vision with the world but really the best thing about having written a book is that you don't have to write it anymore
The thing about Vivek's "white Americans are being pushed towards mediocrity by the culture" argument is its also the thesis of Hillbilly Elegy
End-of-year articles about work and rest have me thinking about how we now think about “productivity” all wrong, and what we can do about it: askpang.substack.com/p/my-hope-fo...
My hope for productivity in 2025
tl:dr we're thinking about it all wrong.
askpang.substack.com
I didn’t think I’d find an essay about telemarketing quite so entertaining, but life is full of surprises. “Everyone said that telemarketing was the worst job in town, and for once, everyone was right…” slate.com/life/2024/12...
In My Life, I’ve Witnessed Three Elite Salespeople at Work. You Won’t Like Their Secret.
My wayward months as the best telemarketer in America.
slate.com
“If someone makes $50 million on a speculative asset, then some other set of people must have lost that $50 million. They just don’t know it yet:” open.substack.com/pub/davekarp...
Bitcoin is worth $100,000. It still doesn't have a single legitimate use case
It's speculation all the way down
open.substack.com
Wild Geerters@steinkobbe.bsky.social · 2y agoHaliey Welch one year ago: We have our $50M scheme ready to go. Now we just need to manufacture a viral tiktok moment for step one of our plan
This tracks with what I’ve seen when working with 4-day week companies: “improved performance on a 4-day working week arises through two psychological mechanisms of recovery and motivation: because better rested, better motivated brains, create better work:“ www.cell.com/trends/cogni...
How can a 4-day working week increase wellbeing at no cost to performance?
The 4-day working week is gaining interest, with international trials reporting enhanced staff wellbeing and performance, despite spending less time on the job. Here, we argue that improved performance on a 4-day working week arises through two psychological mechanisms of recovery and motivation: because better rested, better motivated brains, create better work.
cell.com
Apparently the lesson of “Don’t Build the Torment Nexus” continue to be misunderstood:
Republicans Are Confused About the Concept of Bad Guys
Some conservatives are embracing the villains in what are supposed to be cautionary tales.
theatlantic.com
Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 2y agoWrote about what’s behind conservatives watching movies and shows warning about the dangers of fascism and somehow coming away thinking the fascists are the good guys, and they should follow their example www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The only appropriate response is Nicolas Murray Butler’s when asked if he’d read Thornstein Veblen’s last book: “By God, I hope so.”
Sahil Kapur@sahilkapur.bsky.social · 2y agoInbox: "Tomorrow at 4:30 PM, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV) will deliver his final speech as a United States Senator on the U.S. Senate floor."
My conversation with Ian Bogost about the value of popped up on @theatlantic.com today: www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...
Best of How To: Rest
Getting rest and going to the dentist aren’t as different as you might think.
theatlantic.com
You think you’re working on your syllabus? You’re working for ME. Time for scritches, human!
If you don’t think a black-and-white concert film consisting of one person and a piano could be completely absorbing, you haven’t seen Opus, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s final performance: youtu.be/OyhTmH92Ljc?...
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS - Official US Trailer
YouTube video by Janus Films
youtu.be
The Golden Police Department just released a report on its 4-day week trial. It was a success: response time down, code enforcement up, resignations down by 50%: ehq-production-us-california.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/cfbe4617ccc6...
It’s never too soon to start thinking about how to spend the weekend well! www.ted.com/talks/alex_s...
How rest can make you better at your job
Yes, you need to take breaks at work. Not only is resting good for your brain — it might even make you more creative. Here are consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang's four tips to help you step away and ...
ted.com
A new video on work and rest (recorded last year, but TED created a lot of good stuff so it takes a while to get published)!
How rest can make you better at your job
Yes, you need to take breaks at work. Not only is resting good for your brain — it might even make you more creative. Here are consultant Alex Soojung-Kim Pang's four tips to help you step away and ...
ted.com
Dude just biked by wearing noise canceling headphones, holding his iphone in one hand, dictating an email. The Apple goggles are going to be an asteroid-level threat for the distracted.
“you can’t be expected to contextualize your own life as a child.”
A Writer Scrutinizes Privilege, Starting With His Own
In “Quiet Street,” Nick McDonell reflects on America’s most entrenched elite and his place within it.
nytimes.com
This is the perfect local news story, we can all give up now.
The brilliant Yael Schonbrun advises on “How to make tough choices in relationships:”
Advice | How to make tough choices in relationships
Take actions such as slowing down and clarifying values when you face difficult decisions.
washingtonpost.com
Power is out here in my little corner of Silicon Valley, so working by LED camp light and getting by on two bars of cell service, like a 12th century Norman scribe.
This is an early signal that many creatives won’t necessarily be replaced by AI, but their industries well be drowned by AI sludge that looks just similar enough to familiar work, and costs 0.001% to produce and sell.
Casey Newton@caseynewton.bsky.social · 3y agoI wrote about how Amazon’s bookstore is filling up with deepfaked authors and AI sludge — an early warning of the challenge that text generation poses to platforms. https://www.platformer.news/p/writers-are-getting-deepfaked-on
What I don’t get about worldcoin is the design decision to put their iris scanning tech in these orbs. Did they never read any science fiction or fantasy? It teaches us that whether it’s metal, or crystal, or has an eye made of fire starting back at you, NEVER STARE INTO THE MYSTERIOUS ORB.
Kenya halts Worldcoin amid clamour for free money - BBC News
The authorities say they have data privacy concerns over Sam Altman's new cryptocurrency project.
bbc.com