Wisereads Vol. 1 — A new newsletter by Readwise
Welcome to the first Weekly Wisereads! 🙂
In this newsletter, we’ll be sharing the most highlighted documents in Readwise during the past week. Readwise users are among the most elite readers on the web, so the things they actually read and highlight — as opposed to merely save or like — represents the highest signal-to-noise content on the internet.
Otherwise, please don’t hesitate to reply to this email with any feedback you might have!
Most highlighted Articles of the week
How to Be Successful
Originally published more than 5 years ago, Sam Altman’s timeless advice on success (loosely defined by him as either making a huge amount of money or creating something important) still ranks among the most highlighted articles this week. "Entrepreneurship is very difficult to teach because original thinking is very difficult to teach. School is not set up to teach this—in fact, it generally rewards the opposite. So you have to cultivate it on your own."
Why Does Everyone Feel So Insecure All the Time?
In an essay adapted from her upcoming book The Age of Insecurity, Astra Taylor argues that insecurity is becoming as urgent a personal and political problem as the more generally accepted issue of inequality. "Where inequality encourages us to look up and down, to note extremes of indigence and opulence, insecurity encourages us to look sideways and recognize potentially powerful commonalities."
Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule
As Elon's ventures have become too-big-to-fail in critical sectors such as transportation, energy, media, space, and beyond, Ronan Farrow (son of Mia Farrow & Woody Allen) explores what it means for a single entrepreneur to wield so much influence. "In the past twenty years, against a backdrop of crumbling infrastructure and declining trust in institutions, Musk has sought out business opportunities in crucial areas where, after decades of privatization, the state has receded."
Most highlighted YouTube Video of the week
How To Remember Everything You Learn
The prominent productivity YouTuber, Ali Abdaal, has a new video filled with practical tips on how to learn more effectively (including our favorite: low friction resurfacing with Readwise 😛). "Remembering stuff isn't about trying to cram more things into your brain. It's instead, somewhat counterintuitively, about trying to get stuff out of your brain."
Most highlighted Twitter Thread of the week
My definition of “Life’s Work”
Building upon the wisdom of philosopher-kings — such as Steve Jobs, Isaac Asimov, Joseph Campbell, and others — Patrick O'Shaughnessy shares his framework for a Life’s Work: "A lifelong quest to build something for others that expresses who you are."
Most highlighted PDF of the week
Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence
What constitutes "consciousness" in an artificial intelligence was once a question explored mostly in science fiction. As we bake in the hottest AI summer ever, it's now a question examined mostly in research papers. "There are scientific theories of consciousness that enjoy significant empirical support and are compatible with a range of views about the metaphysics of consciousness. Although these theories are based largely on research on humans, they make claims about properties and functions associated with consciousness that are applicable to AI systems."
Hand-picked book of the week
Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words
While there's no shortage of biographies or biopics on Steve Jobs, there's sadly no autobiography. Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words is the closest we’ll ever come. "The best way to understand Steve is to listen to what he said and wrote over the course of his life. His words—in speeches, interviews, and emails—offer a window into how he thought. And he was an exquisite thinker."
Handpicked RSS feed of the week
RyanHoliday.net
Ryan Holiday authored many of the most highlighted books in Readwise including The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, and others. In this RSS feed, Ryan applies his distinct modern stoic perspective to personal experiences involving parenting, marketing, money, writing, and more. "Will you be a ghost or an ancestor to your children? Will you leave the kind of legacy that will guide them? Or will you haunt them with your mistakes, with the pain you inflicted on them, with the things left unsaid or unresolved?"