Things I Can't Stop Thinking About: Issue#1
The Siren's Call, Christianity in Silicon Valley and Social Currency.
3 reads that are worth your time.
The Sirens’ Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource by Chris Hayes
"As is so often the case, our revealed preferences are different than our stated ones. And who is to say what’s our real and true desire?"
Synopsis:
Chris Hayes, an MSNBC reporter, presents a sharp reflection on the slot-machine-like experience that is social media today. He explores why we're hooked, and what it takes to reclaim our attention. (Read here)
Standout Quotes:
On conspiracies: “Our theories of the world, imbued with neat causation, render the world legible—we will hold on to that legibility even at the cost of our lives.”
On reclaiming our minds: “If attention is the substance of life, then the question of what we pay attention to is the question of what our lives will be.”
On relationships: “We pay for a good with money, and we pay for our relationships with our attention.”
My Take:
It made me rethink how “free time” on social media is never actually free. Attention is currency, and we’re constantly spending it, even when we think we aren’t.
Christianity Was “Borderline Illegal” in Silicon Valley. Now It’s the New Religion.
“I guarantee you,” one Christian entrepreneur told me, “there are people leveraging Christianity to get closer to Peter Thiel.”
Synopsis:
In Silicon Valley, founders are swapping hoodies for halos, reshaping their identities, and even their faith, to align with the icons and investors who hold the power. (Read here)
My Take:
The most fascinating part is how AI’s rise has forced moral and ethical questions back into tech after a decade of growth-at-all-costs. It’s a weird, almost dystopian collision of innovation and belief.
Social Currency with Sammy Cohen
"It is in the interest of most social media companies to have unhealthy users."
Synopsis:
Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest, shares data and insights about controversial changes he’s made since taking on the role, including banning users under 16, and why going against rage-bait algorithms has actually paid off for the business. (Listen here)
Thoughts & Questions:
Are algorithms optimizing for time spent or time well spent?
Pinterest says yes to healthy users:
8 straight quarters of record-high user growth.
Gen Z is now their largest demographic.
You’ll look longer at things that trigger you.
On TikTok, the only thing you choose is how long you watch, not what you see.
Apart from drug dealers, tech companies are the only ones who call their clients "users."
My Take:
I love that Pinterest is confirming that ethical tech can still be profitable.