I spend several hours every week exploring and discussing content on technology, business, and society, with a focus on mindfulness and well-being.
Every other Sunday, I send out a summary of the best material and themes I've found over the previous two weeks and some new ideas from me. These can include articles, podcasts, books, shows, gadgets, research papers, quotes, practices, practical tips, and more.
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Hi friends 👋,
Here are some resources I’ve been pondering on over the last couple of weeks and some practical ideas to try out.
3 Top Picks
I. 📉 Trend: purpose-driven creators and communities
From Winner Take All to Win and Help Win: the Original Vision of the Internet is Making a Comeback by @sariazout and @jad_ae.
💡 Ideas
The essay makes the case for 3 major cultural and technological trends:
1) A renaissance of individualism on the Internet that changes the definition of talent.
2) A shift away from ad-funded models towards creator empowerment.
3) Web3 technologies that unlock infinite remixability and more granular distributions of value.
While all three are fascinating and worth exploring, the one that I’d like to focus on for now is the first, a “renaissance of individualism on the Internet”.
For the creator middle class to rise, we need to see higher resolutions of taste preference and a breakup with singular, discriminatory platform algorithms and the opinion of the ‘few’ that arbitrate taste and force today’s dominant aesthetic.
This unbundling of large, incumbent internet communities is fascinating because it unlocks several benefits:
An entire new class of creators, leaders, and facilitators (the “creator middle class”) will be able to express themselves and create profitable personal business models on the internet.
The new communities will be smaller (not only and necessarily in size, but in granularity of content and focus) and more intimate. They are created around a shared purpose and built together with their members (not “for them”).
The level of creativity, intimacy, and personal growth can potentially become much deeper and more fulfilling. On the downside, yes, there are arguments to be made on the risks for tribalism and confirmation bias, which should be taken into account.
💭 Reflection
What online communities are you part of? What is their core theme and purpose? How do you interact with other community members and facilitators? How do they evolve over time? And, most importantly, how do you feel when you’re interacting and sharing with these communities?
🔗 Links
The Ultimate Guide to Unbundling Reddit by Greg Isenberg - a step-by-step guide on how to create communities around a core topic or interest, leveraging Reddit.
II. 📧 Do you suffer from “email apnea”?
Coined in 2008 in Just Breathe: Building the case for Email Apnea by @LindaStone, the term email apnea describes the phenomenon of shallow breathing or breath-holding while doing email, or working or playing in front of a screen. It turns out that an estimated 80% of us seem to do it.
Email apnea can be caused by things like bad posture while using devices, which causes restricted breathing, and our modern tendency for continuous partial attention.
This detrimental behavior increases stress levels, it impacts our attitude, our sense of emotional well-being, and our ability to work effectively.
The body becomes acidic, the kidneys begin to re-absorb sodium, and as the oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2), and nitric oxide (NO) balance is undermined, our biochemistry is thrown off.
Breath-holding impacts the vagus nerve, the orchestrator of or autonomic nervous system. Shallow breathing, breath-holding, and hyperventilating trigger the sympathetic nervous system, causing a "fight or flight" response: the liver starts dumping glucose and cholesterol into our blood, our heart rate increases… even though we’re just working in front of a screen!
🧘♂️ Practice
Throughout the workweek, periodically bring attention to the breath while performing tasks in front of a computer screen. Notice the quality and pace of the breath. Make sure that it’s slow and steady, ideally 5.5 seconds in, 5.5 seconds out (5.5 breaths per minute).
If you find it hard to observe the breath without modifying its default behavior, you can also rely on technology: I’m experimenting with a pulse oximeter to find out if the oxygen saturation changes while working.
🔗 Links
Are you suffering from Continuous Partial Attention? Linda Stone #195 (Zestology podcast)
If you want to learn more about all things breathing, check out my previous update: Mindful Nerd #010 - On breath, breathing, and breathwork.
III. 🏁 Documentary on presence, focus, and emotional intelligence
Formula 1 - Drive to Survive on Netflix. This amazing show documents what happens behind the scenes of each season of Formula 1 racing. Even though it touches on a variety of interesting themes and perspectives, the most interesting to me is the investigation of the personal journey of the drivers. Particularly their inner journey.
It’s a masterclass in cultivating presence and training attention to the limit of human abilities. It also tells the story of the wide range of emotions that these world-class high-performers consistently experience and the qualities - like resilience, growth mindset, emotional intelligence - that the most successful exhibit in order to win.
Even if you, like me, are not a Formula 1 fan, I highly recommend checking it out. If you’re not into watching multi-season shows, a great starter episode could be Season 2, Episode 4: Dark Days (on psychological challenges and negative emotions) or Season 2, Episode 6: Raging Bulls (where a new pilot describes his pre-race meditation practice and the theme of death suddenly comes into picture).
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Be well and be kind,
Matteo