“My conclusion: It wasn’t so much what I was doing as what I wasn’t doing. Whether I was reading, working on my computer, or brushing my teeth, I was “monotasking,” concentrating on one thing at a time. Not being able to move quickly or turn my head had the effect of forcing me to focus. I remembered that I really like my work when I can do it in a focused manner and at a steady pace. I think the discomfort even helped: If I started to multitask, I could feel pain and tingling near the stitches. It was like I suddenly had some sort of multitasking monitor implanted in my skin.”
(David Epstein, The Secret to Success Is ‘Monotasking’)
“That impulse to go to the garage and just start something is what differentiates us humans from machines. We need to feel we are making our way through the world, not just existing in it. We need to feel a sense of autonomy and progress that orientates us in time and space. And here’s the thing that all those people who are using AI to write their books and Substacks don’t seem to understand: The act of doing, creating, and plodding along is actually more important than the finished outcome. If you skip that part, you’ve just skipped the whole damn point.”
(Rosie Spinks, A Project Will Save You)
“I wrote something a few years ago along the lines of how a good newsletter exit strategy is hard to find, which was merely based on the premise of “but what happens when you want to quit and everyone’s already paid for those annual subscriptions.” So it seems the whole monetized direct relationship thing is hairy in many ways.”
(Delia Cai, Everyone Looks Stupid Over Text)
“My Casio is on my wrist right now.
It’s telling me what time it is. That’s all it’s telling me. It collected no data while I slept. It has no report to show me. It has no opinions about my health, my habits, or my attention. It is, in this moment, asking absolutely nothing of me.
And that absence, the peace of a thing that does what it does and then shuts up, feels like the most luxurious thing I own.
Not because it’s retro. Not because it’s minimal.
Because it’s done.”
(Terry Godier, The Last Quiet Thing)
“Rachel taught me that so much of what’s happening now is put upon the individual to fix the system, but the system that’s broken needs to be fixed by other systems. At the same time, individuals can be a part of that reconstruction. That’s the conversation of streaming right there—what are we supporting that produces weapons? Is it actually everything? Is it our appliances, our cars, our shoes, our music, our entertainment? How deep does this go? It goes everywhere now.”
(Ryan Dombal, Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew on Making a Band of Friends Last Forever)
“But here, in its original form and with all of the original bells and whistles intact, I can see that it is earnestly trying to give me something more than mere offal and empty spectacle. I’m not just beating up whoever’s on the opposite side of the screen, I’m competing in a tournament, and Mortal Kombat really wants to make this as complete and immersive an experience as possible. That hushed “Ohhhh” when an uppercut sends someone flying into the air, the satisfied “Excellent!” of a powerful blow, the ominous laughter when life hits that danger state. It’s as if I’ve just pleased an unseen force.”
(Kimimi, Mortal Kombat: Excellent)
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