In Vaclav Smil’s book: How the World Really Works, he argues that modern society isn’t possible without cement, steel, plastics, and ammonia.

There’s no conceivable present or future where we don’t need increasing amounts of these building blocks, and all are heavily reliant on fossil fuels.

These days, we’re all mired in an onslaught of digital problems and digital solutions. We tend to lose sight of the big picture.

I’m reminded of a line in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist: “The Secret of Happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon.”

This means yes, we should focus on all the many wonders of our digital age. But we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that every great advancement in AI is backed by a giant, fossil-fuel-guzzling super plant.

Can we embrace the miracles of our technology, while still remembering that we are sustained by the finite resources of a pale blue dot, drifting through space?

Alt title: Why the roads are empty at 3:30 AM.

When booking a flight, why would anyone choose to wake up at three in the morning to head to the airport?

Now being a little extra tired on any given morning isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s certainly more of a pain than sleeping in. It’s not much friction, but it’s enough for the roads to be largely empty.

So much of our society and culture is shaped by things that the vast majority of us “kinda don’t feel like doing” at any given moment.

Our collective reactions to a series of slight inconveniences define our public life.

Correlation ≠ causation. This much we know.

But why is it every time my child watches an hour of iPad, her tantrums seem to skyrocket?

So we took away the iPad for most of this summer.

The result? My daughter read literally dozens of books. She basically couldn’t stop reading. The number of meltdowns went near zero.

And still she wonders why she’s being punished with no iPad time.

But as a parent, it’s hard to see your kid thriving as a “punishment”.

AI means that none of us will have to read… anything. We’ll get the CliffsNotes of the CliffsNotes.

But at what emotional cost?

…needs more people who know the trades. Plumbers, electricians, and carpenters aren’t going to be out of work any time soon, no matter what AI does.

But repeat after me:

“The world needs what I have to offer, too.”

Alt title: David Blaine is a madman

In the limited series Do Not Attempt, David Blaine travels the world in search of magicians and maniacs.

In the final episode, he travels to Japan. He finds a man who can cut a wooden baseball bat in half with his bare hands.

Blaine asks him what the secret is to destroying anything with your fists, and he says that if you try to punch a target, you won’t get very far. Instead, you have to envision a spot past the target so that you can punch through it with the proper speed.

When we have a goal, we need to aim far beyond it if we want to reach it.