Mighty Minds Club — Newsletter #1 (Or is it #2?)
Hello! You're getting the email because you've either (1) joined The Mighty Minds Club, (YAY!!) or (2) asked to be notified about The Might Minds Club at launch.
This is the second newsletter. But the first one not coming from my personal email, which I suppose makes it the first official newsletter…? Anyway, the ethos behind ButtonDown (tool for producing newsletters) seems to align with some of my values, so we'll give it whirl. Hopefully this works out!
A few quick updates & announcements:
The first report will be out this week. It may be a 'slow-tired-crawl-across-the-finish-line-by-midnight-Friday-night-publication' (hopefully not!), but it will be released this week. I worked on it over the weekend and I believe the information is coming together rather nicely. Here are a few sneak peeks:
When this report is published, I'll send an email to all paid members to let you know and tell you how to access the report.
What else?
- Reminder: If you've signed up, be sure to complete the "on boarding" items, which will get you set up in Slack and a few other niceties. The link to sign in is here
- Speaking of Slack, quite a few of you shared "a book that has had the most significant impact on you" (in the #Introductions channel). What a solid list. Keep them coming! And, I'm sort of regretting that choice for a question—I'm afraid there are now even more books I need to make time for! :-P Look for a new 'Question of the Week' sometime tomorrow.
Oh, and…
- LAST CALL!! If you have not yet signed up to become a member, today (Monday, midnight CST) is the last day to do so. After tonight, enrollment will close until later in the Fall. You'll miss out on the first three reports, all at the ridiculously low price of $2 . I'm nearly giving everything away for free (for the first 3 months), to get as many people in as possible. ♪ So don't delay, act now, supplies are running out ♫ Sorry, Smash Mouth moment. But seriously, go sign up, before it's too late.
Interesting things I've been reading / learning about:
GPT-3
GPT-3 is the latest version of OpenAI's text-generating algorithm, and… WOW, has it blown up over the past several days. Most of the tweets I've seen show quick experiments and example use cases. And it looks impressive. By simply describing what you want, GPT-3 can create a design in Figma for you, or even build a functioning React app. There's more, such as this very conversational UI that lets you: "Learn about rockets from Elon Musk? How to write better from Shakespeare? Philosophy from Aristotle?"
For context on where all this could go, you might find my my SXSW talk on "The Future of Design: Computation & Complexity" to be a relevant read about now. :-)
Two New Toolkits:
It's a good week for new physical things to think with. First, we have the Ethical Explorer Pack.
Get The Pack - Ethical Explorer
The Ethical Explorer Pack is your go-to tool for building tech that values fundamental human rights, empowers users, and creates healthy online experiences.
Next, we have the My Therapy Cards, described as "The first self-exploration card deck created by a black female psychologist for other women of color."
Obsessive Experimentation
This is a great thread about what happened when Allen Hemberger became obsessed with re-creating all 107 recipes in the Alinea cookbook. I love how it touches on so many topics: Obsession, perfectionism, breaking the rules, improvising, learning, becoming a creator, and more. (H/T Pavel A. Samsonov)
Speculative Fiction
It looks like a Twitter thread by Sayed Tabatabai, MD, about 'A Future After COVID', caught the attention of NPR's Weeekend Edition. Through the magic of radio, we can all enjoy this creative bit of speculative fiction.
Texas Doctor Tells Story Depicting A Future After COVID-19 : NPR
Dr. Sayed Tabatabai narrates his speculative fiction Twitter thread on what the world will look like post-pandemic.
A Good Message
Seems like a version of this would be good in many places.
(source)
Avia Pervia
Something my wife shared with me: "Avia Pervia" is apparently Latin for "let's make easy the things that are difficult". Sounds like a nice phrase for this group!
On Listening.
Since writing "The Dudes Who Won't Wear Masks" for The Atlantic, Julia Marcus, PhD, MPH has "been contacted by a whole lot of dudes who won't wear masks." In this Twitter thread, Marcus shares what she's learned from these conversations. I was curious to understand why someone would choose to not wear a mask; I was inspired by how she demonstrates compassion and listening skills (not to mention patience!), especially for a group that's so easy to demonize.
Speaking of listening…
Personal Matters
This past week (T-Th), our family drove out of state for my nephew's funeral. The funeral was hard, especially given the tragic circumstances. On the bright side side, I did get to spend most of three days, or about 35 hours, alone in the car with my father-in-law—which was a real treat. We discussed all sorts of things, from the people who have influenced us to an exploration of personal and generational values. We also discussed the various positions he's held: his time in the Air Force, a career with IBM, his decade as a cattle rancher, and his recent adventures as an independent investment broker. As you’d expect, we have different views on some things, especially political matters, but we both approached things with genuine curiosity and a desire to learn from each other. All in all, this time alone together—to simply talk and be—was a true delight. I also picked up some incredible anecdotes that might show up in future talks or reports. ;-)
If you enjoy a good geography puzzle, here's one: On our little road trip, we passed through Lebanon, Cuba, Miami, and Prague. Uranus, too. Where did we go and what route did we take?
Random
- Is people management getting harder?
- For the Star Trek fans.
- “Ok, now do a silly one”
- A SCUBA adventure to remember!
(H/T to Laura Yarrow for lifting my day with that last link!)
Kate Rutter wrapped up her sketchnote series chronicling 100 days in the life of an avocado pitt. It's been a real delight watching 'little pitt' grow up!
Quote of the Week:
"Our experiences inform our ideas, so the more experiences you have, the more ideas you’ll have." (source)
This is my second Mighty Minds Club newsletter. A wee bit longer than last week. And with a few link previews. Please, let me know what you thought, what you'd like to see more of or less of. How frequently would you like to receive these, and more. And thank you to those of you who wrote back to me with kinds words and feedback last week.
Cheers!
Stephen P. Anderson