Welcome to the forty-sixth edition of '3-2-1 by Story Rules'.
A newsletter recommending good examples of storytelling across:
Let's dive in.
Such a cool visual to show the differences in daylight hours. I wonder how southern California gets more sunlight than Florida and Texas...
I couldn't agree more with Mr Harari when he implores scientists to improve their storytelling skills.
Topographic maps are so cool! I'd love to 3D print one... and stare at it for hours.
a. Post against communism by Devon Eriksen
Sometime back a kerfluffle erupted on Twitter when Emmett Shear (ex-CEO of Twitch and briefly the CEO of OpenAI) made a radical suggestion:
This led to several reactions, but most memorably from a sci-fi author named Devon Eriksen. You can read the entire thread here.
What fascinated me was one of the long tweets by Devon - almost like an article - which makes a impassioned case against advocating the forced redistribution of all wealth (a.k.a. communism):
Brutal.
b. How the Internet Destroys Your Focus (and How to Get It Back) by Thomas Frank
(Hat/tip: Swanand Kelkar, through #ROTD)
Some interesting insights on how our tools can influence our brains:
I also liked the idea of top-down control vs. responding to bottom-up stimuli:
The article ends with 10 specific tips to reclaim our attention spans from the internet.
Celebrated biographer Walter Isaacson got unprecendented access to Elon Musk for writing his biography. What's remarkable was how Musk agreed to Isaacson's conditions:
Musk is a remarkable person - especially given the severe trauma he went through during childhood. He does drive himself and his team crazy, but his vision, drive and skills have given some incredible gifts to humanity.
I loved Isaacson's response to the last question (emphasis mine):
That's all from this week's edition.
Ravi
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A Storytelling Coach More details here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravishankar-iyer/
Earlier this week, I saw this fascinating movie called 'CTRL' on Netflix. Boy, was my mind blown. Sure, you could say that it was Black-Mirror-inspired. But the way it was adapted for the Indian context was superb. The writing was gripping throughout. The cinematography (mostly using phones or involving laptop screens) was raw and authentic. And the acting was fabulous - I'm a fan of Ananya Panday for her unfiltered and vulnerable portrayal of the young Nella Awasthi. Catch it if you haven't...
Maharashtra becomes magical in the monsoons. Last weekend we did a small walk up the Vetal Tekdi hill in Pune. This picture (from the Chaturshringi end of Vetal Tekdi hill) overlooks the institutional areas of NCL, IISER, IITM etc. Zoom in and check it out. Gorgeous stuff. And now, on to the newsletter. Welcome to the eighty-fourth edition of '3-2-1 by Story Rules'. A newsletter recommending good examples of storytelling across: 3 tweets 2 articles, and 1 long-form content piece Let's dive...
Last week I attended a cool event - 'Science on Tap', where a scientist talks about his or her work over beers. This talk was by Ganesh Bagler of IIIT Delhi who spoke about 'Computational Gastronomy' (essentially the use of AI for analysing and recommending food recipes). It was fascinating. For someone like me, events don't get much better. A thought-provoking topic, good storytelling, a lovely setting, delicious food, and most of all, some great beers (specifically, IPAs). Can't ask for...