I just realized that it's been nine years and about a month since I launched The Monday Kickoff. A bit has changed since the first edition in 2018, but core idea of the letter has stayed the same. Here's to another nine years. And more!

With that out of the way, let's get Monday started with these links:

What is Japanese Tradition? — It's a question that you can ask about other countries and cultures as well, and the answer isn't as straightforward as it might seem.

From the article:

Tradition is an essential part of culture, but culture also means coexistence between continuity and change. Tradition is not static; it evolves as generations pass it down, and new traditions are always forming. Before we speak of what is traditional, we should reflect on what we mean by tradition. And resist using the word as a tool of exclusion or a false logic of isolationism. What history makes clear is that Japan’s tradition lies not in resisting change, but in its flexible interpretation of diverse influences. It is the balance of preserving and inventing that creates the kind of tradition that lasts.

The Renaissance book that heralded growth — A look at where it all started — it being the beginnings of the modern march of progress. It's debatable whether that was good or bad (or a bit of both).

From the article:

These images represent what is sometimes called Smithian growth, in which wealth arises from expanded markets, the division of labor, and, implicitly, the synergy of new ideas. In Stradanus’s work, argues Boumediene, ‘rather than a new technique being immediately imposed as a discovery, its true effects are revealed over time’, as when the magnetic compass enables bolder navigation of the seas. ‘Its true power can only be measured when its action is combined with others’.

The shape of time — An exploration of how we've come to view the passage of time as a line heading in one direction, and the effects that model has had on many aspects of human thought.

From the article:

Within history, conceiving of time as a line helped to fuel the notion that humanity is making progress. Joseph Priestley, our timeline inventor, is partly responsible for this. The man once listed inventions that have made people happier, including flour mills, linen, clocks, and window glass. His Chart of Biography evidenced this positive take on human progress. It places figures into groups, such as ‘Artists & Poets’, ‘Mathematicians & Physicians’, ‘Divines and Metaphysicians’. If you look back to his Chart, you’ll see that, as time goes on, increasing numbers of these figures appear. This confirmed Priestley’s belief that humanity is improving.

Why your brain has to work harder in an open‑plan office than private offices — As someone who's worked in both cubicle farms and open plan offices over the span of a few decades, I prefer the former to the latter mainly because of the cocooning effect of a cubicle.

From the article:

In the work pod, the study found beta waves – associated with active mental processing – dropped significantly over the experiment, as did alpha waves linked to passive attention and overall activity in the frontal brain regions.

This meant people’s brains needed progressively less effort to sustain the same work.

The open-plan office testing showed the reverse.