Mars, Pink Floyd's Marooned, commonplace books, supreme courts, and more

Seven links to worthwhile thin(g/k)s

Hello dear reader,

We are past the mid-point of February, we’re still in a pandemic, and we’re now on Mars. What times we live in.

Here are seven links to bits of the world I have been exploring this week, shared with the hope that you will find them to be an inspiring springboard for deeper thinking.

1. Commonplace books: I learned this week there was a formal term for doing what so many writers and creatives do when they engage in a sort of scrapbooking, or collecting writings under a common theme. It’s called commonplacing. Here’s one by American writer Denis Johnson on writing.

2. A 25-Year-Old Bet Comes Due: Has Tech Destroyed Society?

3. Martian landing: Some of the first high-res color images of Perseverance on Mars. Incredible. Couple it with Pink Floyd’s Marooned and you’ve got a stellar soundtrack to our exploration of Mars (and an exploration of ourselves as tiny specks of insignificance, or hope, depending on your perspective ;))

4. How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division

5. Supreme Court of Facebook: I first heard of Mark Zuckerberg’s answer to Facebook’s unaccountable freedom of speech mess in the midst of political scandal when he said in an interview a couple of years ago that he planned to create a Facebook Supreme Court. People scoffed and considered him over his head. Yet, here we are, in full force.

6. Deduction, induction, and education: When it comes to education, do you agree that America is application-first, and other parts of the world such as Russia and Germany are principle-first?

7. Wikenigma: As a nod to brilliant, intelligent friends telling me they suffer paralysis and don’t know what fresh research to present to the world, here we have a curiosity catalyst “documenting fundamental gaps in human knowledge.”

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Readers’ Circle

If you’d like your response to be shared anonymously in upcoming newsletters, in the spirit of connectivity in this digital landscape and to recover from pandemic blues, drop a line (or a few!) via email to anielizaveta@gmail.com sharing where you are from or how you would introduce yourself. (Alternatively, you can include contact info if you’d like others seeing this newsletter to connect with you.)

Grateful for you, dear ones. Here is this week’s note from a fellow reader:

Hi Ani,

I'm from Mumbai, India but now live in South Germany. I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoy receiving your beautiful little newsletter, Postscript, and the joy it adds to my weekends. 

Every Friday I am excitedly checking my mail, waiting to read about the topics that Ani has chosen to share this week. I love reading and writing, which is why I absolutely enjoy reading your blog, newsletter and Instagram feed. This Friday's newsletter is a real classic. Incidentally, I was thinking about habits and the power they have to transform our lives. And then I got further insights on habits through the link you shared. Isn't it wonderful when the power of intention makes us receptive to the messages we need to hear? 

I love talking and reading about Deep Thinking, Mindfulness and Art, so I hope we can be in touch. Have a lovely weekend.  

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Until next week,

Ani