The Tyranny of Facts
Earlier this month, I spent a week touring the Mississippi Delta and exploring its blues tradition. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of blues. If you’re into it, I made a Spotify playlist to get you started.
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Personal Updates:
I’ve increasingly been obsessed with the divisive rhetoric of our time, the bifurcated reality it seems to create, and what we as individuals can do to disagree better. My latest: The Tyranny of Facts: Being “Right” is Not Enough. The premise: Sharing facts with our opponents should be enough to convince them. But when was the last time you did a 180 from a poll, study, or fact that someone shared? Debating and discussing controversial topics is much more complicated than that.
- Also: There's an entire other school of thought that suggests that our "facts" aren't even all that "fact-y." Take, for example, this comical take on how statistics can be manipulated.
- Also also: Why do historians and professors think they can judge the "historical ramifications" of what is happening in real time?
When a news event like Brexit occurs and totally floors you, you ever wonder why? I’ve launched a new side project titled “Well, Actually” a newsletter that surfaces the best writing from viewpoints that you’re not reading. First issue was on Brexit, check that here. The next one will be out in a week or so — so subscribe here. I'm aiming to send one out every month-ish, as the news cycle allows.
I was on Bloomberg Markets’ "Odd Lots" podcast (~20 mins, listen here) to discuss the virtues of considering the “Other Side.” We touched on Brexit, how we can solve the terrible state of online discourse, and why this doesn’t just apply to the cosmopolitan/non-cosmopolitan axis.
I was ALSO on “Through Process,” a podcast (~50 mins, listen here) for designers, design students, and educators to discuss my essay on the “Bullshit Industrial Complex” with a side of career advice. Since publishing that essay I’ve changed my mind on some of its points, and I expand upon them in the conversation with hosts Mitch and Joshua. We also discuss the question I ponder every week of my working life: Are conferences worth it?
Total aside, but a goal of mine is to get better at articulating my ideas on the fly in the interview format, like the podcasts above. All constructive/entertaining criticism welcome!
- Also: There's an entire other school of thought that suggests that our "facts" aren't even all that "fact-y." Take, for example, this comical take on how statistics can be manipulated.
- Also also: Why do historians and professors think they can judge the "historical ramifications" of what is happening in real time?
When a news event like Brexit occurs and totally floors you, you ever wonder why? I’ve launched a new side project titled “Well, Actually” a newsletter that surfaces the best writing from viewpoints that you’re not reading. First issue was on Brexit, check that here. The next one will be out in a week or so — so subscribe here. I'm aiming to send one out every month-ish, as the news cycle allows.
I was on Bloomberg Markets’ "Odd Lots" podcast (~20 mins, listen here) to discuss the virtues of considering the “Other Side.” We touched on Brexit, how we can solve the terrible state of online discourse, and why this doesn’t just apply to the cosmopolitan/non-cosmopolitan axis.
I was ALSO on “Through Process,” a podcast (~50 mins, listen here) for designers, design students, and educators to discuss my essay on the “Bullshit Industrial Complex” with a side of career advice. Since publishing that essay I’ve changed my mind on some of its points, and I expand upon them in the conversation with hosts Mitch and Joshua. We also discuss the question I ponder every week of my working life: Are conferences worth it?
Total aside, but a goal of mine is to get better at articulating my ideas on the fly in the interview format, like the podcasts above. All constructive/entertaining criticism welcome!
The links:
Long read alert: Chuck Close has become a bit of a patron saint to us at 99U, with his enviable creative output and catchy quips on creativity. But as he enters the twilight of his life, he's upended everything: those he keeps close to him, where he lives, and how he works. The New York Times, profiles the aging legendary artist, and why we humans sometimes thrash around when faced with the prospect of our end.
Bomani Jones is one of my favorite writers of late, often writing and speaking about sports, race, and American culture in a bracing way (I highly recommend his Twitter account). And in the wake of the events of the past few weeks there's been a bubbling discussion: Where is Ta-Nehisi Coates? Jones heads to Paris to interview Coats for Playboy (no NSFW material but your work network may block the domain). Choice moment on whether Coats is frustrated about being seen as "the voice" for Black America: "A book can’t carry the entire weight of all the nuance and texture of the black community. It’s just one dude who not too long ago was on unemployment. What people need to do is read other folks. This is not the only African American memoir. There’s other stuff out there that should be explored."
Turns out Millennials like the idea of being an entrepreneur way more than actually starting a business. So, we don't vote AND don't start businesses? C'mon guys!
- Related: 99% of all recent job growth has gone to Americans with some college experience.
Long-time newsletter subscribers know that we're strictly against all Scandinavia/USA comparisons around here. The latest: a video that wonders "Why isn't bicycling in the US like biking in Denmark?" One reason: Denmark is little smaller than the combined land mass of Vermont and New Hampshire. While America is, you know, way bigger and not navigable by bike. Only 40 percent of Danes own a car, while the US clocks in at around 80 percent. So if we shrink the size of the country dramatically and take half of our cars off the road, sure, maybe we could be more like Denmark.
🚨🚨🚨 White straight guy writing about identity politics alert 🚨🚨🚨 But what if gender isn't a spectrum? What if it really is binary? I've been thinking a lot about the role identity has in solving or not solving conflicts. The idea: compromising means, by definition, giving up part of our identity (i.e. "Being against new taxes is part of who I am!") So do we need to give up parts of our identity to solve problems with people that don't share our identity? Would love any smart thoughts or writing you've come across here!
Ending on a positive note: what are the best parts about America? Reddit asks some first generation immigrants. You'll never take a free public restroom for granted again.
Bomani Jones is one of my favorite writers of late, often writing and speaking about sports, race, and American culture in a bracing way (I highly recommend his Twitter account). And in the wake of the events of the past few weeks there's been a bubbling discussion: Where is Ta-Nehisi Coates? Jones heads to Paris to interview Coats for Playboy (no NSFW material but your work network may block the domain). Choice moment on whether Coats is frustrated about being seen as "the voice" for Black America: "A book can’t carry the entire weight of all the nuance and texture of the black community. It’s just one dude who not too long ago was on unemployment. What people need to do is read other folks. This is not the only African American memoir. There’s other stuff out there that should be explored."
Turns out Millennials like the idea of being an entrepreneur way more than actually starting a business. So, we don't vote AND don't start businesses? C'mon guys!
- Related: 99% of all recent job growth has gone to Americans with some college experience.
Long-time newsletter subscribers know that we're strictly against all Scandinavia/USA comparisons around here. The latest: a video that wonders "Why isn't bicycling in the US like biking in Denmark?" One reason: Denmark is little smaller than the combined land mass of Vermont and New Hampshire. While America is, you know, way bigger and not navigable by bike. Only 40 percent of Danes own a car, while the US clocks in at around 80 percent. So if we shrink the size of the country dramatically and take half of our cars off the road, sure, maybe we could be more like Denmark.
🚨🚨🚨 White straight guy writing about identity politics alert 🚨🚨🚨 But what if gender isn't a spectrum? What if it really is binary? I've been thinking a lot about the role identity has in solving or not solving conflicts. The idea: compromising means, by definition, giving up part of our identity (i.e. "Being against new taxes is part of who I am!") So do we need to give up parts of our identity to solve problems with people that don't share our identity? Would love any smart thoughts or writing you've come across here!
Ending on a positive note: what are the best parts about America? Reddit asks some first generation immigrants. You'll never take a free public restroom for granted again.
Official Newsletter Flag (for now):
I've never been to the Dominican Republic, but boy do I enjoy its flag. First, it is the rare bird that has the flag on its flag (yes, so you can flag while you flag). Additionally, see that open book in the coat of arms? The constitution mandates that it's a Bible that when you zoom in a bunch, displays a passage from the Gospel of John 8:32 "conocerán la verdad, y la verdad los hará libres" or (according to Wikipedia) "and will know the truth and the truth will set you free."
Knowing you read and enjoy this newsletter sets me free,
Sean Blanda
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