issue # 29
stuart evans down the sensemaking rabbit hole, why invention is rare, and measuring well-being
Welcome to the startupy newsletter, a laid back column about very serious ideas. Every week, we curate the hottest links from our universe and share them with you here.
Also, wait. What’s startupy? Startupy is where curious humans curate and interconnect the best of the Internet. We're on a mission to build a more human and nourishing Internet - we're currently in private beta.
If you're feeling the vibe, consider joining the membership to get unrestricted access to our collective intelligence engine and community.
Mood
Cool things curated in our universe
_
On why invention is rare and how we can fix the market for solutions
A great piece on why the steam engine wasn't invented earlier - which applies to many more things.
The tl;dr: Because people so rarely try to improve or invent things, the low-hanging fruit can be left on the tree for decades or even centuries.
Pair with this excellent essay on how we can fix the market for solutions.
_
On measuring well-being > economic productivity
A very very thoughtful and well-researched essay that breaks down why the ways in which we measure economic productivity are not accurate, and why we should measure well-being instead.
_
On our collective under-reaction to current geopolitical events
An interesting post by Venkatesh Rao that nails the psyche of the moment - a collective under-reaction to current geopolitical events.
He writes: This week is probably the closest we’ve ever gotten in my lifetime to the brink of nuclear-powered World War 3, yet people seem strangely indifferent to the developments. I share in this under-reaction. Shouldn’t we, I don’t know, have a stronger collective reaction?
His view is that we've given up on the prospect of actually solving or managing most of the snowballing global problems and crises around us and concluded that the rational response is to restrict our concerns to a small subset of local reality - which he calls an ark - large enough for ourselves and some friends.
Reading this essay reminded me of the movie Don't Look Up - a deeply anguished comedy about a killer comet approaching Earth, while Americans return to their phones with a collective “meh”.
_
On our default lifestyle vs. the lifestyle science says we should lead
Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist, tenured professor at Stanford, and host of the wonderful Huberman Lab podcast. It's worth falling down the rabbit hole, but for now this table is a great summary of his ideas.
Curator spotlight
Stuart Evans
instagram.com/kingdomkeyspiano
Rabbit hole: Sensemaking
_
Why is sensemaking interesting?
Sensemaking is a topic that anyone can relate to. Whether content creator, startup founder, software engineer, brand strategist, artist, or whatever else we might do, we are all humans living on planet earth. And we are living in a time when it is both increasingly difficult and necessary to be able to make sense of things, whether that be our information ecology, life experiences, global crises, or just our very own selves.
Perhaps we feel disoriented, distracted, disconnected, confused (see topic: meaning crisis). Sensemaking is about recognizing the signal within the noise, embracing complexity, honest communication, and cultivating wisdom, to name a few. It begins with open curiosity and grows into sovereign agency.
Sensemaking is a skill—a practice. And it’s one we must develop and put into action if we want to make better decisions, decipher truth from bullshit, and build a thriving future.
_
A podcast worth listening to on the topic?
Rebel Wisdom hosts excellent conversations exploring a variety of significant questions around sensemaking, collective intelligence, culture, psychology, etc.
A perfect starter film of theirs in this vein is The War on Sensemaking with Daniel Schmachtenberger. It explores how sensemaking is connected to the information ecology and the meaning crisis.
_
Things worth reading and watching on the topic?
The War on Sensemaking by Andrew Sweeney provides an excellent overview of sensemaking, describing both key aspects and adjacent themes. It’s centered around the film mentioned above.
Rebel Wisdom’s Sensemaking Companion unpacks sensemaking from first, second, and third person perspectives, sharing the ideas, practices, and frameworks they’ve found most useful for diving into it.
The Liminal Web: Mapping An Emergent Subculture Of Sensemakers, Meta-Theorists & Systems Poets by Joe Lightfoot maps the social scene of people and projects in which sensemaking has taken a strong root.
_
Projects worth following?
I’m convinced Inqwire is building one of the most useful and user friendly technologies for cultivating the art of sensemaking. Their mission is to provide tools, training, and environments that help people making sense of things individually and collectively.
“The Stoa is a place.” The Stoa hosts conversations around an eclectic variety of subjects, including many with those in the sensemaking sphere.
A think tank exploring and publishing research on the meta-crisis and the sensemaking required for addressing it.
If you’re a regular reader, we hope you consider joining the startupy membership.
What's startupy?
Startupy is your refuge from the noisy Internet. We're building a new space for people in love with interesting ideas to curate, explore, and interconnect the best knowledge on the Internet.
Thank you so much for being here, and for letting us be a part of your week! If you liked this installment, please tap the little heart at the top of this email.
And if you regularly enjoy these dispatches and would like to support our work, consider joining the startupy membership