Mixed Signals: Summer leaving

No. 40 – 10th of September, 2023

I'm back from the summer break. Just as summer seems to begin.

As usual, our summer was a blur of camping, sleepovers, rugby training, and far too much food (back to the gym routine for me).

I'm excited to be starting my psychology degree. I've wanted to do this for such a long time. I love following my curiosity, and it's led me to here (exactly where I need to be). It will now be nice to learn in a logical, foundational way.

This newsletter isn't going anywhere. And neither is The Clarified Company.

I'll be continuing with my side projects, and taking on client work (at a significantly reduced level... 24 hours in a day just isn't acceptable).

I would love to hear about your summer, and your plans for the (academic) year ahead.

Enjoy! ~ GKT 🧑‍🎓

AI disagree

“In this study, AI was more accurate than two thirds of radiologists, yet when radiologists had AI help their diagnoses did not improve. Why? Humans ignored the AI’s advice when it conflicted with their views.”

One of the less obvious complexities of inviting our robot overlords into more areas of our lives is how we behave in response to them. Computers can be programmed to behave in entirely logical ways. Us humans... less so.

From Axis of Ordinary.

Background check

One of my seemingly random interests is environment design. From the lighting we have in our home, to the way towns and cities can influence behaviour.

+ I've been using the brilliant Planner 5D to plan a redesign of my home office (which doubles as a playroom when the kids are home from school).

+ One area I'm focussing on is my video call background. As we continue towards remote working, home studio set-ups will become the new shiny car/fancy watch/expensive suit. Kevin Shen has some great threads on studio building.

+ It's hard to think about environment design without thinking about fengshui. Dear Modern is absolutely my new favourite YouTube star.

Work's greatest

In July, Paul Graham released an article he worked on for 7 months. And it's quite something. So much so, I printed it out. How to Do Great Work brings together some brilliant concepts around figuring out what you should be working on, and ensuring the work you do matters.

+ The article got me thinking again about Richard Feynman's 12 favourite problems.

+ And while I'm sharing work from Tiago Forte, his new book was a great read. The PARA Method builds on his previous book and courses. The more I lean into his way of thinking, the better my thinking gets.

+ Too many inboxes? Yep, me too. The Texts app is a game-changer.

+ We're starting to see what the new world of work might look like, and projects like Kindhaus make this interesting