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Sloww Sunday Newsletter 085 (Nov 21, 2021) — The Book of the Decade, Polarity Thinking, Bioelectric Networks, & More
Happy Sunday!
Here’s the latest from Sloww along with the most interesting things I discovered last week. To respect your time and attention, every newsletter can be read in under 5 minutes. 🙏
🌀 Sloww Stuff
A Mini Guide on Sensemaking:
50+ Deep Perspectives on Humanity’s Underlying & Ultimate Challenge (Hint: Ourselves)
The Lottery of Birth: All the Things You Don’t Control in Life
The Ovarian Lottery: A Thought Experiment from Warren Buffett
🔒 Is Free Thinking Even Possible?
🔒 Do You Control Your Life Path?
🧠 Modern Knowledge
The Matter With Things
90 mins | Rebel Wisdom (YouTube)
After a decade in the works, Iain McGilchrist’s new book, The Matter with Things, is officially here! This new interview with Rebel Wisdom is nicely done and covers: truth, mind, the sacred, opposites, polarization, and much more.
“We need to completely change the way we think of ourselves in the world … The whole point of my having squandered ten years of my life writing this book was to be able to take people by the hand and say, ‘Look at this.’ Because when you see ‘this,’ you will start to think differently about many things. And, as we think, we live. We then start to live differently.” — Iain McGilchrist
♾️ Timeless Wisdom
Polarity Thinking instead of Polarization
61 mins | The Stoa (YouTube)
Barry Johnson is on a mission to enhance our quality of life on the planet by supplementing “or” thinking with “and” thinking. Polarities are interdependent pairs like paradoxes, dilemmas, and tensions. They are energy systems all around us in our lives and work. In a modern world of polarization, polarity thinking can help us convert vicious cycles into virtuous cycles. It’s one of the most critical concepts to understand that I’ve come across this year.
Pair with: Polarity Thinking 101: An Introduction to the Power of Polarities (+ Visuals)
“We are in an evolving universe of interdependency. Everyone belongs. We belong to our own sub-group, and we belong to the universe. When we can see a person more completely, we see them as part of the larger universe in which our interdependence exists. All of us are connected, and all of us are unique—a key polarity.” — Barry Johnson
🤯 Mind Expanding
Bioelectric Networks & Collective Intelligence of Cells
70 mins | Foresight Institute (YouTube)
Dr. Michael Levin is one of the most fascinating humans I’ve discovered this year. His lab is investigating information storage and processing in biological systems—let’s just say his lab’s work is a reminder that the future is here now. Due to the subject matter of his work, I highly recommend watching a presentation with visuals (like the one linked above). If audio is your preference, here’s a recent podcast with Michael Levin from a few days ago. If you want to go deeper, check out his article The Computational Boundary of a “Self.”
Key Point: “Like the brain, somatic tissues form bioelectric networks that make decisions (about dynamic anatomy). We can now target this system for control of large-scale pattern editing to override genomic defaults, with many advantages for regenerative medicine and synthetic bioengineering.”
Say what?: “Like the brain, all of your body’s cells and tissues make decisions—and these are decisions about structure and function. We can now read the information processing that goes into those decisions and modify it rationally.”
🔒 Pair with: Michael Levin highlights in Sloww Sunday #060 & #062.
“We all start life as a single cell, and that cell self-assembles into a creature that can later say, ‘I am a centralized intelligence. I am a single I—a self.’ Yeah, that may be, but you’re made of a bunch of cells, and you used to be one cell and then a ball of cells. That whole process of how that unified self is arranged and supported by a collection of competent agents (cells) is very similar to how the pattern of the body is arranged by the collective intelligence of cells.” — Michael Levin
💡 New Learning
Cultural Universal (or Human Universal)
Wikipedia
· An element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all known human cultures worldwide (taken together, the whole body of cultural universals is known as the ‘human condition’).
· Those features of culture, society, language, behavior, and psyche for which there are no known exception.
PS: The Wikipedia link above lists hundreds of possible human universals to ponder.
More New Learnings: Wikipedia Wednesday Twitter thread
💭 Deep Thought
This is how many humans it takes for you to exist (Twitter).
💬 Wise Words
“The more you know, the less you need.” — Yvon Chouinard
Sharing: If you enjoyed this issue, please help grow Sloww by sending the email version of this issue to some friends and family. It’s free and easy for anyone to subscribe here.
Support: Sloww is a one-human labor of love. If you’re interested in supporting me, there are several financial and non-financial ways to support.
Feedback: Have something you want to say, or just want to say hi? It’s always much appreciated. Just send me an email or reach out socially.
Have a conscious week!
Kyle Kowalski
Synthesizer & Solopreneur, Sloww
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