TLDR : Thinking about influences, especially after the last post : Media scripts humans

It’s hard to pick out who has influenced you. Partly because it is time dependent (certain ideologies and messages resonate at a certain age), and partly because there are too many.

I thought I would list some, partly to acknowledge their outstated influence, and partly just to be aware of how some of my views were formed.

Humans do emulate people around them. You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Mimetic theory : you essentially copy your desires from other people.

I’ve spent a lot of time virtually/through words with the people below.

Tim Ferris

His podcast has had the biggest influence on my life - I’ve been exposed to ideas and people that I would have never been exposed to. Although conventionally ‘successful’, I’d argue he lives an unconventional life. His ‘clickbait’ / marketer persona can put people off, but there is gold here. Seriously. His long form conversations are with some of the most interesting people in the world. Quick maths - 500 podcasts- average 2 hours. So I’ve spent at least 1000+ hours listening (not to mention relistening)

Sam Harris

A pHD in Neuroscience, and essentially spent his 20’s exploring Eastern spirituality. His podcast and books are deeply influential. He’s highlighted the importance of ‘good faith’ conversation in changing the world. Conversation is the only tool we have to cooperate. The idea of ‘steel manning’ alone changed my conversations. He challenges heated topics (religion) and his views are often misrepresented, but he remains graceful and articulate despite that.

J.Krishnamurti

An Indian philosopher who died in the late 1900’s. Had a stance of epistemic humility and skepticism. ‘Truth is a pathless land’. A facilitator of first person introspective exploration. I actually heard about him through Thomas Metzinger - a German philosopher - discussing Spirituality and Intellectual honesty. I would include Alan Watts alongside, who communicated Zen Buddhism in a beautiful way.

He’s not the clearest - and probably won’t make much sense to most.

Naval Ravikant

Probably the largest influence in the recent years. Interesting takes on a range of topics from cryptocurrencies to the human condition. Articulates his thoughts incredibly well, and that alone is something worth emulating. This podcast episode in particular caught me at the right time in medical school.

Yuval Noah Harari

A major influence on my thinking, mainly through his books and lectures. I would say he is seriously unconventional. The man spends 2 hours a day in meditation, and goes on 60 day retreats a year. Intense. He manages to condense complex topics into bitesized understandable takes with humorous examples.

Conclusion

There are a lot of interesting humans out there. I’ve only listed a few influences, but I know there are literally 100’s of people who have shaped my ideologies and dispositions.

Every time I meet someone new, I’ve found myself being captured by their life story and trajectory.

There is something to learn from everyone.

TLDR : Exploration of ideas and memes (I use the terms interchangeably)

If code scripts machines, media scripts humans" - Balaji Srinivasan

I’ve been thinking about media consumption in general, and how its evolved over the course of history

In the past, access to information was scarce. The ability to read was incredibly rare, and information was siloed by establishments such as the Church. You believed what other people in your locality believed. Ideas were location based.

With the advent of the printing press, books become more widespread. Ideas could be shared down generations more easily, and horizontally across cultures. You no longer had to rely on memory (for example, many early religious teachings were passed down verbally)

You then had a giant leap forward. Radio became another vehicle for propagation of ideas. You could speak to millions (e.g. Fireside Chats of FDR) and spread ideas that way. Then came television, and you could add moving images to this.

The truly exponential change though was the internet. Information and memes could be propagated at a scale never before seen. We have access to :

• Books
• Blogs/Websites
• Podcasts
• Youtube/Videos/Netflix
• Tik Tok
• Twitter/Social media

The library of Alexandria is at your fingertips.

I think these are all incredibly valuable, they are vehicles for propagating ideas. There can be a sentiment that ‘books’ are better than blogs or videos etc, but that is parochial.

I think a good Netflix series can be infinitely more immersive than a novel. There is no moral hierarchy in this. But I think the medium does affect the message.

• If you want complexity–> consume books
• If you want information density –> consume blogs
• If you want practical skills –> YouTube
• If you want long form video –> Youtube
• If you want conversation –> Podcasts
• If you want to spread memes/short ideas –> Tik Tok, Twitter

The shorter the attention span required, the easier a message will spread. To ‘code’ humans as Balaji describes, services like Tik Tok / Twitter are how the zeitgeist of a generation is created.

Fewer and fewer people are consuming longer form content in the form of books. I think something is lost, and the capacity for single focused attention may be impaired in some ways.

But we do get the ability to ‘jump to the heart of the matter’. You don’t need a 500 page dead tree book to tell you about woodworking. You can watch a YouTube video.

This is magical. Literally awe inspiring, that I have access to the collective wisdom of humanity in a black rectangle in my pocket. The 21st century is so cool.

Media creates culture - it changes language, it spreads ideas and memes. It’s powerful, and the future of humanity is going to be determined by spreading ‘good memes and ideas’. The internet has amplified the propogation of ideas.

For example, you can spread the idea of a hopeless future where you’re working in a capitalist society until you die. I know this might be a joke, but subtly, you are spreading an idea. The best ideas often have an element of truth in them.

Or you can spread alternate ideas. For example, my youtube algorithm recently showed a creator/medic called Ali Abdaal. He’s spreading a set of ideas about content creation/creativity/how to learn etc, that is undoubtely inspiring for teenagers and students. Others may find this extremely cringey (clickbait titles and the cult of productivty). No judgement from me.

I recently read this short story by Greg Ewan titled ‘Unstable Orbits in the Space of Lies’. It’s sci fi short story where humanity undergoes a shift in consciousness, where people ‘cluster around common ideologies’ geographically. They are called ‘attractors’. So for example, a set of people are drawn to the attractor of ‘Christianity’, another by ‘Communism’ etc, competly out of their volition. Humanity splits off into physical echo chambers based on ideas. The story follows a group that is ‘inbetween attractors’, they haven’t been pulled by any ideology (only to discover that they might be trapped in an ideology themselves).

Media is scripting ideologies into humans. It is spreading ideas. Ideas create behaviour. Behaviour and actions change the world.

What you consume you become. We are conditioned

This isn’t exactly new information, I guess apparently Buddha did say ‘your thoughts create your reality, we are what we think’.

What you consume does matter- it scripts you. I can point a lot of my influences back to certain books and ideas, even early youtube bloggers that I used to watch in 2010 (Tessa Violet). The word influencer is quite literal.

On one hand, it is terrifying, to know how easily you are influenced. There is an invisible set of beliefs that is programmed into current ‘Abhishek’ that can be hard to see. Those beliefs have come from a myriad infinite number of influences (genes, memes) that is hard to pinpoint, but has led me to where I am now.

On the other hand, there is some level of agency in the beliefs you program into yourself. (Let’s not get into free will yet)

One interesting question is : Are certain beliefs ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than others.

I think so. Clearly the meme of Nazism is worse than the meme of veganism, in terms of suffering of sentient beings. Secular humanism I think is a better meme than fundamentalist Islam in that you don’t have religious violence, burkas etc. The net suffering caused by certain ideas is more or less than others. It’s a moral landscape as Sam Harris describes.

There is a trajectory of ideas that leads collectively eudemonia (human flourishing). There are right and wrong answer to moving in this space. Would it be a good thing for everyone to believe that homosexuality is a sin. No, because it creates immense amounts of guilt, seperation, and seperation leads to violence.

Youtube / Books/ TV / Podcasts/ Tik Tok/ Instagram/ Radio - are all vehicles to spread this meme.

Individuals are becoming media companies

When I look at influencer culture, single individuals are having massive impact over the ideas and memes that are spread.

What’s more interesting, is that it is completely permission less. There is no bureaucratic tape. No legacy institutions. On one end, it does mean that it might be less rigorous in terms of facts etc. But on the other hand, the market knows what it wants.

Slightly alarming is the algorithmic curation of content, which pushes towards extreme views. But I think that is a problem we can solve.

TLDR

The conclusions I want to make is that

• Media scripts humans
• Ideas are spread more rapidly more than ever
• What you consume you become
• There is a moral landscape of good and bad ideas
• We should aim to spread good memes in the sense that they reduce suffering
• We are blind to our own belief sets and conditioning - can you respond to events without conditioning?

TLDR : A few musings on design that I aspire towards

Bad architecture is in the end as much a failure of psychology as of design. It is an example expressed through materials of the same tendencies which in other domains will lead us to marry the wrong people, choose inappropriate jobs and book unsuccessful holidays: the tendency not to understand who we are and what will satisfy us.” ― Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness

I’ve been thinking about how to decorate space. Your external environment often ends up being a reflection of your internal environment, and as Alain de Botton puts it, we should aim to “mould the material world towards graceful ends”

This is a personal aesthetic that is individual, but I want to articulate what works for myself

biophilic design

This aesthetic involves integrating nature with the built environment. I could cite studies that show ‘happier’ people, but you don’t need this. Subjectively, one can tell that being surrounded by nature is inherently peaceful.

minimal

Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Minimalism can be described as an art style. I’m referring instead to a personal view where space is utilised effectively to create an illusion of more space. Not emptiness for the sake of emptiness

I like the Japanese use of space.

wood, glass, brick and high ceilings

I’m not a fan of modern architecture and ’new builds’. I like keeping the external aesthetic of a building intact and congruent with its surroundings.

My favourite materials : Wood, Brick, and enough glass for natural light

High ceilings to create the illusion of space

walkable cities

Having walkable cities tends to create a sense of community. It’s the opposite of urban sprawl

Examples : London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Florence, Paris, Edinburgh. You can rate your preferences using this tool.

woods >

I would like to live in a large metropolis for part of my life (London, Tokyo, NY) But longer term, forests and mountains have a natural pull on me