Putin’s "3-day" war on Ukraine has now lasted longer than Russia fought Germany in either WWI or WWII.He has spent more time utterly failing to subdue Ukraine than the USSR spent defeating the Wehrmacht.The man is a laughing stock on history’s stage.
Theory: We replaced "experiencing art" with "having opinions about art" and this explains why everyone has takes on movies they haven't seen.You don't need to read the book anymore, you just need to know which side you're on.
I've been writing a weekly essay for a while now. Tech, culture, the stuff that keeps me up at night. People seem to like it.It's free to subscribe: https://www.joanwestenberg.com
this entire week has been one single PSA: "the cloud" just means "someone else's computer" and that "someone else" is one of three companies and they don't give a s**t about you
'Follow your passion' is advice from people whose passions happened to be monetizable. Nobody tells the guy whose passion is Pokemon card collecting to quit his job, but that's statistically most passions
The Internet: 'We need less performative activism'someone does quiet, effective charity workThe Internet: 'Why isn't anyone talking about this issue?'someone talks about the issueThe Internet: 'Ugh, performative'"
Controversial opinion: The reason everyone thinks they're above average at driving is because "good driving" has no agreed-upon metric. You think it's speed. The guy going 45 in a 65 thinks it's safety. You're both wrong. It's whoever causes me specifically the least inconvenience.
Philosophers 300 years ago: "Is life inherently meaningful, or do we create meaning through action?"Philosophers now: "Use code MEANING for 20% off on Squarespace"
“He’s playing 4D chess while society plays checkers” okay but have you considered that if everyone else is playing checkers and you show up with a chess set, you’re not a genius, you’re just the guy who can’t read the room? Like the optimal strategy for a checkers game is not “bring chess pieces and move them diagonally while muttering about zugzwang” that’s just losing at checkers with a superiority complex
Social media gave everyone a printing press, then we discovered that most people use printing presses the same way they use bathroom stalls: to write inflammatory things they'd never say to someone's face...
Every few months I remember that we solved scurvy 250 years ago, then forgot how we solved it, then had to solve it again, and I think about what other obvious things we're probably getting catastrophically wrong right now...
Reminder that 'correlation doesn't imply causation' doesn't mean 'correlation implies no causation.' Sometimes correlated things are actually related! This has been your daily dose of statistical nuance that will be ignored by 99% of social media. As you were.
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