Wisereads Vol. 84 — Dan Koe's Purpose & Profit, George Mack on High Agency, and more
Last week, we shared a full copy of Middlemarch, George Eliot's classic English novel. This week, we're sharing the entirety of Dan Koe's newest release, Purpose & Profit, a collection of essays on finding your calling.
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Most highlighted Articles of the week
High Agency In 30 Minutes
George Mack spent seven months writing the essay he wished he had as a young adult—a guide to the value found at the intersection of clear thinking, disagreeability, and a bias toward action: high agency. "Optimism states the glass is half full. Pessimism states the glass is half empty. High agency states you’re a tap. You look in the mirror and see a giant tap staring back at you."
Jevons Paradox: A personal perspective
Tina He, co-founder of Station Labs (acquired by Coinbase), now leads developer tools at Base. In a recent essay—discussed on Packy McCormick’s new podcast, Hyperlegible—she examines why integrating AI into work may lead us to work more, not less, through the lens of Jevons' Paradox. "The term arrived in 1865 when William Stanley Jevons noticed something peculiar about coal: make it more efficient to use, and people burned more, not less. This paradox has shadowed every technological leap since. Efficiency doesn't tame our appetites; it whets them. Our innovations become trampolines for our desires."
A Deep Dive Into MCP and the Future of AI Tooling
What APIs did for software, MCP could do for AI models: create a shared language for communication, explains a16z Partner Yoko Li, an engineer by trade. "MCP’s dev experience reminds me of API development in the 2010s. The paradigm is new and exciting, but the toolchains are in the early days. If we fast-forward to years from now, what would happen if MCP becomes the de facto standard for AI-powered workflows?"
Most highlighted YouTube Video of the week
NotebookLM Just Got HUGE! 5 Game-Changing Features
Since its launch, NotebookLM has rapidly added new features that Tiago Forte demos in his latest video: a 25M-word context window, the option to jump in during audio overviews, and more. "You can see here it has now generated a 21 minute, 12 second podcast conversation... But you know what? You can even customize this further, and that is through a beta feature called interactive mode, where believe it or not, you can actually click a button and join the conversation in real time yourself."
Most highlighted Twitter Thread of the week
How to be more emotionally intelligent (without trying so hard)
Father, husband, and coach to leaders at OpenAI, Google, and beyond, Joe Hudson shares sharp insights on emotional intelligence, including: "Constantly trying to make sense of your emotions prevents you from hearing their wisdom," and "There is no way of getting it perfect. There is no complete, no finish line, no done. There is simply 'What’s the next experiment?' There is only play."
Most highlighted PDF of the week
Humanoid Robotics: A Rare 0-to-Trillion Opportunity
If you've ever started your car to get the A/C running before hopping in, thank Chicken Genius—he invented the first automotive remote start 27 years ago. Today, he’s channeled that ingenuity into legendary shitposting and breaking down top investment opportunities in humanoid robotics. "You don’t need the highest tech robot to perform 100% of the task. You just need enough tech to perform 99% of the task. It’s like asking a PHD Harvard professor to make a sandwich. Optimizing for the last 1% requires 1000% effort."
Hand-picked book of the week
Purpose & Profit
We want our work to matter. We want to make money. But for some reason, combining the two makes us squirm. In Purpose & Profit, Dan Koe untangles that discomfort and demonstrates how to turn your work into a calling—and build a life where purpose and profit go hand in hand.
"Humans love to solve problems, but not just any problem, problems we deem meaningful and interesting. The right problems narrow our attention and allow us to forget our worries. The wrong problems enslave our attention and amplify our worries. The difference between the two is that one is chosen, and the other is assigned. Problems are the limits on your mind and potential. Once solved, they allow for growth, expansion, and evolution."
Also the author of The Art of Focus, Dan has generously released Purpose & Profit online for free. You can support his work by purchasing a paperback, leaving a review, listening to the audiobook on YouTube, and more here.
Handpicked RSS feed of the week
the night crazies newsletter
Hilary Gridley, product director at Whoop, writes about the things that keep her up at night—technology, career growth, and health & wellness. From speak up!!!!!!!!!: "Something I've observed repeatedly: the people who end up with influence aren't necessarily the most brilliant or even the most articulate. In fact, people tend to dislike the person who swoops in with the 'well, actually' perspective that makes everyone else feel diminished. The ones who gain real influence are those who build on others’ ideas, ask clarifying questions that untangle confusion, or synthesize disparate viewpoints into a clearer path forward."