RC #019
The Creator Middle Class, Crony Beliefs, The Art of Jackson Pollock
Hello friends,
Hope you're doing fantastic!
This issue is particularly special to me for two reasons:
It is the last email I'll be sending your way this year
As I write it, I'm 99% sure I have COVID-19
My wife tested positive on Christmas Eve and even though I'd spent the last few days living in our living room, away from her, I woke up this morning feeling awful — intense body aches, cough and fever. I haven't received the official verdict yet (I got tested yesterday morning and expect to get the results in 2-3 business days). But telling from how crappy I feel, I'm pretty sure I have it.
I'm trying to look at the bright side, though: I'll have two weeks of (much needed) free time to work on my side projects AND at least now I get to sleep — and work — on my more-comfortable bed instead of the couch.
So now that you know the big news, let's get down to business.
Growth 💸
This week I finally read Li Jin's latest essay The Creator Economy Needs a Middle Class, where she explores ways in which creator platforms could help close — or at least reduce — the huge, financial gap that exists between established, top creators and the new, up-and-coming players. The piece is a must-read for anyone (creator or otherwise) trying to make sense of the Passion Economy and the Future of Work.
Ever since I joined the no-code community I've been meaning to learn how to use tools like Zapier and Airtable to automate some parts of my workflow. So when I found this free video guide to Airtable, I was ecstatic. I haven’t started taking the lessons yet, but it looks promising. I’m really looking forward to it.
Another cool, no-code related thing I found this week was this introductory video presentation by Tom Osman. For the past 14 months, Tom has created over 100 no-code tutorials as part of Makerpad's education team. So I’m expecting his guide to be a comprehensive introduction to the no-code tools and community.
Rationality 🧭
Why do people believe in crazy stuff like conspiracy theories? How come do we all, no matter how smart or educated, end up adopting irrational views and beliefs? Those are the questions that Kevin Simler attempts to answer on his thought-provoking essay Crony Beliefs. Using a illustrative metaphor, he puts forward a theory that explains our predisposition to believe irrational stuff in a way that both makes sense and gives some hope.
Before reading the essay above, though, I suggest you start with this other one called Are Beliefs Like Clothes? by Robin Hanson. Using a different but equally powerful metaphor, Hanson explains the functional and social nature of beliefs and makes the perfect introduction for Kevin’s essay.
Creativity🎨
This week I learned more about American painter Jackson Pollock, one of the most controversial and fascinating artists of the 20th century. Known for his “drip technique” and his highly abstract work, Pollock was anything but a conventional painter. In this mind-blowing video, YouTuber Nerdwriter1 explains how Pollock’s work was the logical consequence of art history, and why Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) is the only abstract painting that has actually made him feel something. By the way, if you’re left feeling creative after watching the video, you can use this website to make your own Pollock-style painting. Have fun!
Last night I stumbled upon this Casey Neistat’s classic and after watching like three times in a row I couldn’t resist the temptation to include it in this issue. If there’s anything I wanna say to y’all now that we're closing 2020 is this: Keep creating, keep doing the work. And never forget, you don't have to listen to anyone. Because in this new world, no one knows anything. And if you haven’t started yet, do it. As soon as possible. Stop waiting for the perfect moment. Stop waiting for the fear to disappear — it won’t. Start working on the things you wanna work on. And if they tell you can’t do that, then fucking do what you can’t.
Curiosity🤯
Startup Cemetery is a great resource that analyzes the reason(s) why 100+ startups have failed. Some interesting case studies include Myspace, Vine and Quibi.
Turns out mushrooms are evolutionary more closely related to animals than plants.
During the Prohibition era, the U.S. Government allowed drugstores to sell alcohol due to its alleged "medical benefits". Historians estimate that, as a result, Walgreens grew from 20 retail stores to almost 400.
Around the same time people started using Arabic numerals in northwestern Europe, Cistercian monks developed their own numeral system that could express any number up to 9,999 in a single character.
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Keep it the hell up Daniel. That Neistat video was incredible.