Wisereads Vol. 24 — Chris Perry's Perspective Agents, Microsoft's future of work report, and more
Last week, we shared a chapter of Noah Kagan’s guide to launching a business in 48 hours, Million Dollar Weekend. This week, we’re sharing a preview of Perspective Agents, a guide to “The Autonomous Age” by Chris Perry.
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Most highlighted Articles of the week
A unified theory of fucks
Mandy Brown contemplates our finite mental and emotional resources, concluding that only connections with the living can replenish our capacity to care. “If you give your fucks to the unliving—if you plant those fucks in institutions or systems or platforms or, gods forbid, interest rates—you will run out of fucks… But if you give a fuck about the living, about all your living kin in all the kingdoms, they will give a fuck right back.”
The Acceleration of Addictiveness
Paul Graham's latest essay explores the paradox of tech advancement: we get what we wished for, yet we often end up wanting more than is good for us. “People commonly use the word ‘procrastination’ to describe what they do on the Internet. It seems to me too mild to describe what's happening as merely not-doing-work. We don't call it procrastination when someone gets drunk instead of working.”
Intel’s Humbling
Ben Thompson analyzes Intel’s collaboration with United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) and their transition from integrated device manufacturing to a foundry model. “This deal — which is for a new, designed-for-external-customers 12nm process — brings together the two companies’ core capabilities: UMC is the customer service organization, and Intel is the manufacturer.”
Most highlighted YouTube Video of the week
Is Obsidian the True Second Brain? ft. Nick Milo
Obsidian newbies can learn alongside Tiago Forte as he and Nick Milo of Linking Your Thinking explore the basics of sense-making through backlinking, content maps, and evergreen notes. “[Obsidian] allows us to think not so much through time, but through relationships. Evernote, for everything that it does right, doesn't quite give us this digital workbench.”
Most highlighted Twitter Thread of the week
Last January, I noticed something peculiar in my 2yo’s bedroom
Radiolab podcast co-host, Latif Nasser, leads us down a delightful astronomical rabbit hole to discover Venus’s “Zoozve” quasi-moon. “Contrary to the posters, we don’t live in a big clockwork, we live in a dance club, and while some of us are doing the same old waltz with our same old moon, there are bodies out there do-si-do-ing their way all over the solar system.”
Most highlighted PDF of the week
Microsoft New Future of Work Report 2023
Microsoft's annual report compiles key findings from 2023's LLM research, covering adoption trends and strategies for AI integration in the workplace. “With content being generated by AI, knowledge work may shift towards more analysis and critical integration… The future of work is a choice, not a predetermined destiny. Instead of ‘How will AI affect work?’, the question should be ‘How do we want AI to affect work?’”
Hand-picked book of the week
Perspective Agents
Chris Perry, chairman of Weber Shandwick Futures' media lab, guides leaders through the complexities of modern communication and creativity. His new book, Perspective Agents, explores how to navigate the liminal space on the cusp of “The Autonomous Age."
“The temporary nature of our liminal state is a transitional phase, a rite of passage requiring adaptation and evolution. Adjusting our lens to recognize new patterns doesn’t solely apply to C-suite leadership; it’s relevant to all of us. A different world is coming to life. It’s apparent to those watching the signs. Arundhati Roy, the best-selling author and activist, captured the emergence from liminality, voicing, ‘Another world is not only possible, she is on her way... On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.’”
Chris is kindly sharing the second chapter of Perspective Agents with the Readwise community. If it sparks your interest, we invite you to consider purchasing the full copy here, available now. 🙏
Handpicked RSS feed of the week
Perspective Agents
Chris shares additional insights on the changing nature of culture and communication on his Substack, also named Perspective Agents. From Reality Distortion Fields: “Steve Jobs was once described by a colleague, Bud Tribble, as possessing a "reality distortion field" (RDF). Tribble said Jobs' field-building combined rhetorical flourish, indomitable will, and inclination to bend facts to the purpose.”