3 Minute Monday
Hi friend,
I’ve had a wild week.
36 hours in NYC recording with Andrew Schulz for one of the most fun episodes I’ve done this year.
I did have to ignore the smell of Liver King’s musk while sitting down to record but managed to mostly get past that.
Schulz taught me a great lesson during our episode.
“A lot of the time, we believe that there is a grand plan at work to try and push a narrative or hurt people from a particular group.
From the outside, it looks a lot like a coordinated assault.
Collusion, orchestrated by some malign overlord conspiracy.
But on the ground it doesn’t look anything like that.
It’s just individuals trying to save their own skin and not get fired.
They’ve got an expensive house they can barely pay the mortgage on and a wife who wants a new car and a private school for their kids.
It’s much easier for them to adhere to whatever ideology will keep them in their job rather than go against it.
Sure, it might mean they push an unhinged story about trans story hour for toddlers or ban somebody for saying something innocuous from a platform.
But this doesn’t mean that they’ve been indoctrinated into some grand plan.
The incentives encourage execs, influential actors and the people in power to behave in particular, aligned ways, but their coordination is not consciously conducted, it’s just the path of least resistance for each person.”
Does this make them less culpable?
I don’t know, I’d say it makes them less malicious, and more cowardly though.
Two great mental models tie into this too.
Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity.
“Evil can be guarded against.
Stupidity cannot.
And the world’s few evil people have little power without the help of the world’s many stupid people.
As a result, stupidity is a far greater threat than evil.”
And Hanlon’s Razor.
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Replace stupidity for cowardice or compliance if you’d like.
MODERN WISDOM
I do a podcast which has had 100 million+ downloads. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
This week’s upcoming episodes:
Monday.
Andrew Schulz – 2+ hours with one of the fastest growing comedians in the world. Talking cancellation, dating, body positivity, Jews, Elon Musk, Mr Beast and more. Watch on YouTube for maximum 4K butteriness.
Thursday.
2022’s Biggest Lessons – I recap the best things I’ve learned over the last 12 months. Including insights from 3MM, Modern Wisdom and life in general. I really enjoyed this one.
Saturday.
David Senra – one of the best read men on the planet drops 2 hours of stories from histories greatest founders and thinkers on life, happiness, business, success and hard work.
THINGS I’VE LEARNED
1.
Firefighters over-perform in the dating market.
“Data from online dating sites suggests that a man who earned $60K in the hospitality industry would become more desirable, on average, if he earned the same amount as a firefighter than if he stayed in the same industry but upped his salary to $200K.
In other words, a male firefighter who earns $60K tends to be more attractive to the average heterosexual woman than a hospitality worker who earns $200K.” — Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
2.
Do not give your self-worth to the public.
“The mob on social media, and elsewhere, is a fickle beast; they’re rooting you on one day and tearing you down the next, and if your happiness and identity are tied to their opinions, they’ll move in a similarly undulating course.
When you’re down, you’ll be willing to do whatever it takes, including selling out your principles and tastes, to get back on top again” — Kyle Eschenroeder
3.
Hofstadter’s Law.
“A complex task always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law” — Douglas Hofstadter
LIFE HACK
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Phenomenal fit, comfort, colours and quality.
If you need to get someone a Christmas gift that will encourage them to go to the gym in January, Gymshark is the place to go.
They’ve got extended Free Returns until the 31st of January too.
Get 10% discount on everything worldwide and site-wide with code: MW10 (minimum cart size of £100/$100)
Check out my favourite picks for men & women – Shop on Gymshark
Big love,
Chris x
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PS
I’m off to Las Vegas on Thursday!