SD#76: Strange world, empty offices and time billionaires
November 26, 2023
Welcome to the 76 edition of Seven Dawns, a weekly newsletter by me, Tomas Ausra, with a focus on getting better every day. A very warm welcome to the new subscribers who joined since last week. I’m glad you’re here.
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Hi friends,
It’s nearly winter time, trees are losing colour as their rainbow leaves scatter into the air leaving branches naked for the upcoming winter harshness. Have you stopped for a moment to breathe in here and now? Not the future checklist of things to do before the week ends. Nor the memories of past guilt-tripping us to wonder ‘what if’. What if the future and the past didn’t matter for one moment? Would you sit down on a bench to watch the world go by? Or pet a cat to feel the warmth of her purr?
🔎 Our seven ideas this week:
1. The world is far stranger and more absurd than it normally seems. Most of the time, however, we ascribe a kind of logic and order to the world that it doesn’t have, so that we’re not constantly bewildered by it If aliens came to earth and saw people walking dogs, they would assume the dogs are the leaders. The dog walks out front, and a gangly creature trailing behind him picks up his faeces and carries them for him. Let’s consider how strange streets are: flat strips of artificial rock embedded in the earth so that our travelling machines don’t get stuck in the mud. Everything else seems strange too. Metal poles bending over the road, tipped by glowing orbs. Rectangular dwellings made of lumber and artificial rocks. The background noise is always the hum of distant travelling machines, and all of this stuff was built and operated by a single species of ape. The world is far stranger and more absurd than it normally seems. Most of the time, however, we ascribe a kind of logic and order to the world that it doesn’t have, so that we’re not constantly bewildered by it. Sometimes we momentarily lose track of that logic, and the true strangeness of life is revealed. In these moments, we see the world as it is when it’s been “stripped of any of the prejudices and stabilising assumptions lent to us by our day-to-day routines.” In other words, we occasionally see the world as if for the first time, which could only be a very strange experience indeed. Embracing the weirdness takes the edge off of everything, even death. Whenever you’re worried about “big picture” ideas, such as war, climate change, crime, corporate greed, you can remember that this whole weird thing called life just happened, and it’s always fresh and interesting, even though nobody really asked for it. And in that light, the thought of it ending one day doesn’t seem distressing at all—when your time comes, all you can do is say, “Wow, that was odd.” 👉 Raptitude |
2. When you stop trying to nail down your narrative and focus only on the most obvious relationships, life becomes a giant sandbox where we can learn anything, grow in any direction, and connect with anyone “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Adults often ask this question when chatting with a kid. We keep doing this to each other as adults too. “What do you do for a living?” and “Where do you work?” are some of the most common conversation starters when meeting someone for the first time. When you’re a kid, the world is full of possibilities. Nothing seems to be impossible. No question or topic seems trivial enough not to wonder about it. It’s a wonderful exploratory phase. You may want to try a different sport every week. You have a new best friend every month. You’re into board games and then realize that painting is more your thing. For now. So why do we later insist on this fabricated idea of having one calling in life? Often, as soon as you start showing a sustained interest in a specific area, adults push you to practice and improve. To make it your thing. It comes from a good place, of course, but it stems from the idea that the more “defined” you are as a person, the better. The pyramid of life normally works in this order: as a child, you explored; as a student, you specialised; now, as an adult, you can easily define who you are to yourself and other people. Why should we look for our one true calling in the first place? Why not invert the pyramid? As a child, we are full of potential. As a student, we can explore our affinities. As an adult, we open up a world of opportunities. Maybe then, instead of asking, “So, what do you do for a living?” we’ll start asking: “So, what makes you feel alive these days?” 👉 Ness Labs |
3. Do you want to be helped, heard, or hugged right now? – a framework for responding to a loved one in a way that can resonate with the needs of the moment Your daughter comes home with a troubled brow and downcast hazel eyes. You ask her how her day at elementary school went. She tells you about mean girl shenanigans and atrocities. Indignation builds, and you find yourself laying out a plan of defence for her, followed by some lines of counterattack. Your daughter looks up at you with confusion. She says But Dad, those girls are my friends. The hairpin turn is vertiginous, and you are left as confused as she is. Perhaps you should have refrained from offering reactionary, guerrilla/gorilla solutions, and instead said something like this: Sounds like you had a tough day. Do you want to be helped, heard, or hugged right now? Most of the time we can default to first listening, and then intuitively offering support. But other times, when emotions are really swirling, our own discomfort compels a response that seems best to us. Instead, we might first take a breath, and then figure out what this person really wants back from us. Asking works. Used judiciously this can be transformational. 👉 Examined |
4. Happiness appears to love company more so than misery A little while ago I focused an entire newsletter around the concept of proximity to friends and the benefits it brings. I’m glad Bloomberg is catching up on the trend. When it comes to friendship, closeness matters. Emotional closeness, sure, but also — whether we like it or not — physical proximity. Researchers talk about an ideal “friendship radius” that even the internet hasn’t made obsolete. It can vary by person and location, but at a basic level, the closer you are, the better. A happy friend living within a mile of you is enough to increase your chances of being happy by 25%. If your neighbour is happy, that ups your chances by 34%. An article on the findings in the Harvard Gazette sums it up well: “Happiness appears to love company more so than misery.” There are unique benefits to living close by to a friend. Being neighbours can build comfort through the regularity of your hangs. It can also make them more spontaneous. It’s a lot different to bump into somebody frequently because they happen to live on your street, and you can sort of see them on a random day without planning. Any time you have to plan, there’s more possibility that the planning itself is going to thwart getting together. 👉 Bloomberg |
5. Could we turn empty office space into farms? Although the COVID-19 pandemic drove workers out of their offices over three years ago, many office buildings remain deserted. According to data gathered in 10 major US cities, office usage rates just crossed 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels in late January, and these numbers seem to be stalling only a few months later. Nearly 20 percent of office space is empty across the United States, and some projections suggest that more than 300 million square feet of US office space could be obsolete by 2030. The pandemic has shown that people can work in a remote setting. Modifying an existing building is less expensive than rebuilding, turning offices into residential space can be costly, as most office spaces are laid out differently from residential buildings. But there are other options for these empty offices — such as farms. 👉 Modern Farmer |
6. We don’t relate to ourselves as the “Time Billionaires” that we really are. Most of us fail to realise the value of this asset until it is gone A million seconds is 11 days. A billion seconds is slightly over 31 years. In our culture, we’re so obsessed with money. And we deify dollar billionaires in a way. What about time billionaires? When you see 20-year-olds, the thought should be that they probably have two billion seconds left. But they aren’t relating to themselves as time billionaires. The central point is – time is our most precious asset. When you’re young, you are literally rich with time. At age 20, you probably have about two billion seconds left (assuming you live to 80). By 50, just one billion seconds remain. But we don’t relate to ourselves as the “Time Billionaires” that we really are. Most of us fail to realise the value of this asset until it is gone. 👉 Sahil Bloom |
7. Mundane brands and products can achieve surprising levels of success and thrive far beyond their inherent life expectancy with the advantage of aesthetic distinction Very ordinary people shrouded in extraordinary beauty have been able to maintain control of our most powerful institutions. The power of artistry in creating the perception of holiness and authority is so strong that over the centuries millions have been willing to give their lives for the glory of the most unexceptional of kings and spiritual leaders. Even the popes and kings didn’t recognise the role that aesthetics have played in bestowing the illusion of virtue and authority on them. For twenty years or more, the advertising industry has been steadily devaluing the importance of aesthetics in our business in favour of rational and easily measurable characteristics. It ought to be clear to marketers that without the benefit of swords, harnessing the power of the creative arts is among the most effective ways to maintain relevance and market dominance. But most marketers don’t see it that way. They are under the delusion that their products are unique and can stand and thrive on the strength of their rational attributes – their utility, their practical benefits, and their “brand meaning.” Very few understand the power of artistry in market competition. When they are faced with the reality of deteriorating customer loyalty, marketers have a hard time understanding it. If they appreciated the role that aesthetics play they might recognise the powerful relationship between creativity, human connections, and market power. 👉 Bob Hoffman |
👨🏫 Quote of the week:
“A healthy man wants a thousand things; a sick man only wants one.”
Confucius
🎁 Fun things to click on:
The Public Domain Review is a free website that features fascinating material discovered in the public domain. A lot of it is curious illustrations, vintage images, oddball visuals, but also forgotten literature, weird poems, and excellent essays. How to slow down. Some fun and easy-to-use tools like font detector, URL summarizer or privacy policy generator.
Thanks for reading! If you have any learnings you’d like to share with me, or disagree with any of the ones above then do drop me a message.
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Speak soon,
Tom