Care is both a practice and a disposition – not just something we do, but a way of being in relation to others.

– Nel Noddings 

Featured artist: Sebastian Ariel Curi 

Dense Discovery
Dense Discovery
 

Welcome to Issue 320!

Jan 7 2025

As a timely nudge for the start of a new year, I enjoyed revisiting Adam Singer’s short piece Don’t let machines or the crowd decide your world. If anything, 2024 has repeatedly proven that our minds are now mediated by crowd consensus and algorithmic curation (which, as Singer points out, are frequently the same thing). We’re losing our ability to make genuinely independent choices.

“We’ve never had more freedom, more choices. But in reality, most people are subtly funneled into the same streams, the same pools of ‘socially approved’ culture, cuisine and ideas.... You might think you’re choosing, but you never really are. When your ideas, interests, and even daily meals are largely inspired by whatever was already approved, already done, already voted on and liked, you’re only experiencing life as an echo of the masses (or the machines, if personalized based on historic preference). And in this echo chamber, genuine discovery is rare, even radical.”

The allure of this algorithmic comfort zone is undeniable. There’s something reassuring about following the crowd, about letting machines curate our experiences. But it also robs us of the thrill of genuine discovery, making our lives feel more predictable, less vibrant, and increasingly driven by external agendas – often corporate ones.

“The machine goals are aligned with a company, the crowd is aligned with banality... In blending into the mainstream wasteland, you risk losing something deeply human: your impulse to explore, the courage to confront the unfamiliar, the potential to define yourself on your own terms.”

To reclaim that humanity, we ought to approach life with greater intention, treating curiosity and choice as conscious acts.

“Stop caring about if others already viewed something to determine if it’s for you. Step away from what’s trending, not just to be contrarian, but to reconnect with the human act of discovery in a way that’s unbiased by product signals, or even just (different from) what you’ve always done... There’s a huge world out there when you decide to have interests that are your own, where you’re actively choosing what to engage with, not just to get a fake feeling of connection.”

This newsletter has always aimed to be a small antidote to algorithmic curation – a space where you might encounter ideas and perspectives that haven’t been pre-filtered through popularity metrics or engagement algorithms. Thank you for joining me in this modest act of algorithmic rebellion. And happy new year! – Kai

 

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Apps & Sites

Mozi 

A social network for IRL meetups

I really like the sound of this new social app for friends: “Mozi is a private social network for seeing your people more, IRL. Add your plans, check who’s in town, and know when you overlap.” I also appreciate how they explain their plans for monetising the app: “We plan to be ‘Freemium’ eventually, by introducing new, premium features that are available for a subscription, similar to the business models of other apps we pay for and love, like Spotify, Oura, Insight Timer, Todoist and VSCO.”

Radiocast 

Global radio stations

A lovely, minimalist site to visually explore radio stations from all corners of the globe. Filter by mood or genre, and favourite the ones you like.

Amphetamine 

macOS keep-awake tool

Amphetamine is a free macOS utility app that prevents your Mac from going to sleep, dimming its display or activating the screensaver for a specified duration or until a certain condition is met, such as if your external display is connected.

Moon 

Interactive guide to the moon

Bartosz Ciechanowski is known for his interactive simulations and detailed explanations, whether it’s GPS, camera lenses or the internal combustion engine. In his latest post, he provides an in-depth exploration of the Moon, covering its orbit, phases, surface features and gravitational interactions with Earth. Nerdy and fascinating.

 

Worthy Five: Vincent Sanchez-Gomez

Five recommendations by co-founder of impact-driven design & tech studio Outside, Vincent Sanchez-Gomez.

A video worth watching:

In this TEDx talk, entrepreneur Melanie Riebeck shows that moving towards a more regenerative and redistributive economy isn’t simply about creating more startups with a social or environmental mission. It’s about structuring the finances and incentives of any business in a way that is non-extractive and post-growth. The conventional startup model is inherently problematic.

A question worth asking:

‘What leverage do I have, and how am I using it?’ This is a particularly interesting exercise in relation to employment, where talented individuals often assume their leverage can only be exchanged for more salary and responsibility. But what about fewer working hours for the same pay? How we utilise our leverage can align with our personal values and priorities, rather than simply move us up someone else’s ladder.

A concept worth understanding:

‘Luck surface area’ is a concept originated by author Jim Collins to describe the amount of exposure an individual or organisation has to opportunities and resources that can lead to success. Rather than simply focusing on outcomes we can directly control, this concept helps us consider what we can do to increase the likelihood of desirable outcomes we can’t directly control.

A word worth knowing:

Sobremesa is a Spanish word for the time immediately following a meal where you linger at the table over coffee, liqueur, cocktails, or even more food, and simply enjoy the company of others. With my family in Spain, a sobremesa can continue for hours, even blending into the next meal. It’s a nice counterforce to the productivity and efficiency oriented spaces many of us often find ourselves in.

An activity worth doing:

Resisting the urge to put your earbuds in the second you step outside. I have at times felt a sense of disconnect with my local environment, without considering the ways in which my own behaviour makes me less available to connection. It has been fun to see the number of interactions that happen organically simply by keeping my eyes, ears, and posture open as I walk around the neighbourhood.

(Did you know? Friends of DD can respond to and engage with guest contributors like Vincent Sanchez-Gomez in one click.)

 

Books & Accessories

A Physical Education 

Breaking free from diet culture

A memoir by Casey Johnston, detailing her transition from restrictive dieting and excessive cardio to embracing weightlifting. Through this journey, she challenges conventional diet culture and discovers empowerment in physical strength. “Combining wit, rage, and a reporter’s eye for detail, Johnston recounts how she learned the process of rupture, rest, and repair – not just within her cells and muscles, but within her spirit. A love letter to the science of female strength, this is a book for anyone who’s ever longed to return home to their own body.”

Breaking Together 

A freedom-loving response to collapse

In response to DD319 – on the topic of ‘collapse awareness’ – a reader recommended Jem Bendell’s book: a hopeful and empowering guide to navigating the challenges of our times and reimagining a more just, sustainable and ecologically conscious future through the lens of ecolibertarianism. “This book describes people allowing the full pain of our predicament to liberate them into living more courageously and creatively. They demonstrate we can be breaking together, not apart, in this era of collapse.”

 

Overheard on Mastodon

If we make it through all this (gestures widely), we might want to put some thought into designing systems that don’t reward malignant narcissism.

@leahmcelrath.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy 

 

Food for Thought

Don’t let machines or the crowd decide your world 

Read

Adam Singer warns against letting machines and popular trends dictate our choices, emphasising the importance of personal exploration and creativity. To find joy, actively seeking out unfamiliar experiences will become increasingly important in a world run by algorithms. “An easy way to think about this is many are constantly eating a form of cultural Big Mac every day, while Michelin-quality food is just a click away, but essentially invisible because it requires a tiny amount more work. They don’t even know they’re doing this, how this affects their mind, or what they’re missing.”

Sarah Mineko Ichioka on transitioning to a regenerative mindset 

Read

A thoughtful, enjoyable interview with writer and urbanist Sarah Mineko Ichioka who emphasises the need for a shift from a clichéd sustainability mindset to a regenerative one in design. She touches on the importance of incorporating First Nations knowledge and social aspects into regenerative practices, particularly in cities. “When it comes to de-energising our economies to live within planetary boundaries, the ‘developed world’ will have a lot to learn from places that haven’t had the lazy luxury of outsourcing work to fossil fuels. To paraphrase Kate Raworth, the author of Doughnut Economics and a huge inspiration for me: when it comes to creating truly life-centred systems, we are all ‘developing’ countries, as in – we all have work to do!” (via)

The Search for Stillness in a Mad, Mad World 

Read

A good piece on the need for stillness to help us regain mental clarity. The author, Peco, argues that modern secular approaches, like meditation, are lacking in depth and we expect too much of these techniques. “Many seek ‘transformation’ or ‘enlightenment’, but maybe we ought to have humbler expectations about how much a person can reshape the imperfect human condition through individual mental effort of any kind, meditative or otherwise.” I also loved this part: “Distracting people is an industry. Corporations fish billions of dollars out of our inner disquiet. We live not just in a culture of ambient distraction, but of Monetized Ambient Distraction. A mad culture, we might call it.” (via)

 

Aesthetically Pleasing

Enjoy this collection of Nature.com’s best science images of 2024. (Top by Alex Dawson in Greenland; bottom by Bertie Gregory)

I love browsing book covers. Here’s a list of 100 standout cover designs from 2024.

Just in time for those new year resolutions, Joan Cornellà has some sarcasm-flavoured motivational posters for you.

Weekend Grotesk is a bold sans serif font family that will grab your attention with its expressive, weird character. “If the overall vibe is too crazy for you, use the Boost Legibility Open Type Feature – even the most weird and illegible font becomes a legibility superstar, one alternate character at a time.”

 

Notable Numbers

83

Coffee beans are hitting record high prices not seen in nearly 50 years after difficult growing seasons. At the end of 2024, prices were up more than 83% compared the last year, with concerns over weather already being raised for this year’s harvest.

26

New data from Transport for London reveals that the number of cycle journeys have increased by 26% since 2019. The growth in cycle journeys comes after London’s Cycleway network surpassed 400 kilometres in September 2024, more than quadrupling its size since 2016 and making it longer than the London underground.

2,400

The latest numbers by Our World in Data shows that around the world, 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2,400 chickens get killed for meat every second. Recent estimates suggest that 99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed.

 

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The Week in a GIF

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