Four Thousand Weeks
- Rebranding of the gig economy as hustle culture and labelling it as an exhilirating life choice.
- I like the idea around the limit-embracing life: the problem isn't around limited time, but a pressure to realise our own delusions of grandeur.
- I appreciated the study from Yale University law professor Danil Markovits who showed that those who make the elite university and reap the rewards of high salary find that they face perpetual pressure to work with "crushing intesity" to maintain standards.
- I appreciated the highlight on technology and nth-degree outcomes, like dating apps being a gateway the idea that the grass is always greener, but I think that is obvious.
- I also enjoyed the callout that although Tristan Harris from the Center of Humane Technology sometimes has the doom-and-gloom narrative about social media gamefying attention, that there is also responsibility on us facing our own boredom. I don't think I am polarised either way, but think that is it a combination of both.
- I thought the callout on secularity leading towards more confrontation with our finality to be an interesting take.
- "Not knowing something is broken until we find a better way."
- "Pay yourself first." Reminds me of the compound effect in concepts.
- The loneliness of the digital nomad -- Mark Manson.
- Enjoyed the idea of cosmic insignificance.
- You're always doing a lot of "last time" things.
Things I wasn't sure about:
- Driving the idea that perennially incomplete todo lists lead to perennial misery. I agree that hoarding incomplete tasks would lead to stale backlogs when not pruned, but I believe taking time to outline intention helps with recalibrating direction: incomplete todo lists for me are a helpful reminder of what the book conveys that it is impossible to get everything done.
- "We rarely stop to consider things so rationally, though, because that would mean confront the painful truth of our limitations." I agree that we do not stop, but I disagree that it is due to the pain of confronting limitations. I personally think that we are creatures of habit, and when we enforce particular monotony (regardless of duration), we can also just drone into a state where we are not confronting limitations.
- Didn't agree with the hot take that we are fearing to accept finitude when we are in another state.