[Soulful Computing] 100 Days and a Restart
Hello friend,
It’s been over a year since I last visited your inbox. If you don’t remember me or simply don’t want to receive any more of these letters every week, just click unsubscribe. No hard feelings.
On Friday, we launched a new MIT Museum website, and started our 100 day countdown to the opening of the Museum in its new building at Kendall Square in Cambridge, MA (October 2! If you’re in Boston around that time, hit me up and I’ll make sure you have a ticket waiting).
Below is an image from the first floor “Commons,” which serves as a gathering space, portal into the museum offerings, and the hub of retail activity (tickets, museum store, and a cafe).
You can see how the staircase acts as a gravitational pull into the first of many gallery, engagement, and event spaces, just at the top.
The team has been working hard on this for many years. I might add, we’ve done much of this remotely through a pandemic. Opening day will be a miracle, no matter what happens.
However, it doesn’t seem right to call the next few months at the Museum “the homestretch”, because there is still an unending list of projects that need to be completed before we are ready for the public. Sometimes it feels like we’re just beginning. Getting these systems up and running will be the dominant focus of my work life from now until October.
In many ways, this final push inspires me to reinvigorate my newsletter. I’ve been doing most of my writing on Twitter since the beginning of the year. I’ve watched my follower count rapidly grow there, but I’ve also watched myself cater to the The Twitter Algorithm™. The Algorithm™ rewards platitudes and headlines. The Algorithm™ does not appreciate nuance and depth or whatever it is that I think I’m doing in this newsletter.
Algorithm™ Algorithm™ Algorithm™
I miss longer form, difficult writing like I used to put in this newsletter. That’s not to say Twitter is “easy.” It’s far from it - it takes skill to craft like a copywriter. Every tweet must be an eye-catching headline in a river of trash posts and memes.
I’ve just been itching to spend more time writing deeper and more creatively. I love the satisfaction of pushing “publish” after a lot of research and learning. I get fired up knowing I’m delivering some small sense of value out of respect for your time and attention. The Museum is a long-term project. Writing is my immediate feedback loop among friends.
That said, I don’t think I can sustain writing the 5000 word essays on single topics like I was sending around previously. My letters shouldn’t feel like homework to you, either!
I’m going to optimize for less friction and more consistent weekly (and sometimes more) delivery of these letters. I’ll be experimenting with a few structures with sections that I might develop throughout the week, not in a marathon session on Thursday night.
Don’t get me wrong, I still intend to do some well researched essays and short stories in the coming weeks. However, I’ll likely post those on my website and point to them from these emails.
So:
My newsletter is about the intersection of human beings and technology, with a focus on productivity and how we work together. I’ll share what I’ve been learning and thinking about on this topic. I’ve also been dabbling in the “creator economy” over the past year (taking courses, learning new techniques, etc.), so I’ll talk about some of that too. I might share behind the scenes of opening a museum and an occasional robot or two.
If any of that sounds interesting to you, I hope you stick around. If not, please wish me luck, and you can always unsubscribe.
As ever, I love to hear your feedback. Just hit “reply” on this email, and your response will go straight into my inbox.
Lots of fun stuff on its way.
Until then, have a great week!
David
I was listening to “Starting Over” by Chris Stapleton on repeat as I wrote this newsletter.
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