Don't Call My Name
w.205 | Psychedelics, Past-Due Mortgages, Depressive Symptoms, Everlasting Learning
Dear Friends,
I’m glad to be writing this on Saturday afternoon and right before my publish deadline given all the events of the week and their (relatively) quick resolution.
Speculation isn’t particularly productive, and, as usual, no one knows anything, but I did like this video on the Wagner Group: Inside Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s Secret War Company WSJ Documentary. H/T to Nick Gray for the recommendation.
I’ll use this as an opportunity to learn something new!
I hope you are enjoying the longest (and hopefully sunniest) of days this week.
Today's Contents:
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Terrifying Charts
Truism Tweets
Song of the Week: Don’t Call My Name
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
"Past-Due Mortgages Approach Recent Record Lows" in May This is a strong economic sign for the US.
7 Meta Themes Correlated to Outsized Returns. A tweet thread based on over pre-seed 250 investments.
Psychedelics Reopen the Social Reward Learning Critical Period. This scientific study published in Nature shows that during specific periods of brain development, the nervous system is more malleable for behavioral changes. These windows of time are called ‘critical periods.’
I’ve been thinking about how we medicate kids for ‘learning disabilities’ like ADD/ADHD with amphetamines. Wouldn’t it be more powerful if we considered the upside of learning enhancement instead?
An example of a ‘critical learning period’ that everyone understands is language learning. The ‘critical period’ of learning for language pronunciation is narrow. It ends around age 7 or 8. If I tried to learn Russian today and devoted myself to the study full-time, it’d be unlikely that I’d ever achieve a perfect accent.
What if you could re-open different learning periods beyond behavioral modification? We could have ‘learning enhancement' drugs instead of drugs to treat ‘learning disability’. It’d be far more productive to focus on the strengths and figure out learning plans accordingly than to manage symptoms focused on supposed weakness.
Also worth noting, the chart below shows the impact of LSD last much longer than Ketamine, which is currently widely approved for medicinal use.
Elements of Value - B2B and Consumer diagrams from Bain H/T to
I’m not going to include the picture because it’d be small and hard to read, but I thought it was smart and worthwhile to consider for teams and companies thinking through the value prop of their products.
Prompt-Driven AI UX Hurts Usability. Jargony title for an insightful article making an important point about adult literacy and furthering the definition of literacy with the addition of articulation (e.g., precision):
Writing new descriptive prose is more challenging than reading and understanding prose already written by somebody else. Thus, I suspect that the proportion of low-articulation users (to coin a new and unstudied concept) is even higher than that of low-literacy users.
Terrifying Charts
I’m just passing along the message. I don’t have the solutions.
Truism Tweets
Every Senior Job is a Sales Job.
Everlasting Learning from Warren Buffett. Great turn of phrase.
Song of the Week: Don’t Call My Name
Video on YouTube.
I let my music videos on YouTube linger. At some point, the algorithm took over and dished up this gem. I like the vibe and have been listening on repeat this week.
The Arabic writing on the picture translates to: “I hope life goes easy on those we love.” Nice sentiment.
“Don’t Call My Name” by Skinshape
Don't call my name
Don't pray for me
I'm set to go
But space I need
Don't wait for time
He can step to the side
Just be true to yourself
You've got nothing to hideSelfie of the Week
I briefly visited Minneapolis this week for ECMC & Generators Education And Workforce Innovation Conference. The city was in top form, and I met a slew of high-potential startups and founders. A highlight was hanging with one of my favorite people,
. Jake spoke on at least five different panels and is one of the foremost experts in combining workforce, skills, and government. He’s an executive at LinkedIn, but not your average corporate suit :)
BONUS pic. I visited my grandparents and family outside the city. Here is an insider Minneapolis secret for you - the best local bakery is Wuollet, and your cake order should be Princess Torte, Chocolate Mousse, and Red Velvet in that order.
Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch.
As always,
Katelyn