The Dice — 029

December sure is a bleak month for anyone reading The Daily Stoic because each day drives home the point that we’re all going to die. I don’t know if this is to counterbalance consumer index insanity or the miracle birth story that dominates this time of year. No matter it’s a good month to block out the noise and focus on what’s most important, ourselves.

That’s not to mean be selfish but you can do a much better job of providing care if you’re tending to your own. Reflection takes many shapes and having a framework can be useful. With that in mind, Brett and I created an activity I’d love for you to check out and use. It’s called Recall and Reset for 2025 and we’re going to share it with the world a few days from now. Even if you don’t use it, I encourage you to set time aside on your calendar soon to celebrate your wins and consider your challenges in preparation for the new year.

Alright, lets roll.

We’re all lonely. At least more than we were [insert your own time span here] ago. A new documentary on the work of Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community helps to explain why. Despite all of the “social media” we’re more isolated than ever. Join or Die is a must-see documentary on Putnam’s work on the topic of communities and the positive impacts they have on our well-being and that of society. Read this interview with Putnam, watch the documentary, and find a club to join.

Coincidentally Ev Williams just announced the launch of his latest venture called Mozi, an app for Making “Social” Social Again. “After a lifetime working at mattering, I realized I had under-invested in what really mattered: Relationships.” While this might be a step in the right direction, I’m kinda app’d-out when it comes to social interactions, and as Simon Collison put it so well, “other things deserve my energy.”

And I’ll leave this here: Your 2024 Therapy Wrapped

Related but in a category of its own is Joan Westenberg’s article Why Your Social Capital is Probably Worthless makes a solid case for reducing our use of LinkedIn. “We’ve built a fragile pyramid scheme of fake connections, propped up by the fear that if you don’t play along, you’ll miss out. Everyone maintains their LinkedIn connections because everyone else maintains their LinkedIn connections. It's a giant game of professional FOMO. Basically - we’re drowning in network pollution.” Joan goes on to suggest more human ways of forming better connections and—you may see where this is going—it has little to do with the platform: “The solution isn't to optimize your fake network; it's to stop pretending it's real in the first place.”

Roll these two dice together and We’re Still Lonely at Work.

“People often make assumptions about behavior, and those assumptions often turn out to be wrong. Something I’m guilty of as much as anybody else,” writes Adrian Howard in his post, Two Useful Prompts to Explore Intent & Behaviour. “I use two prompts a lot to get over this. Anybody who has worked with me will have heard them way too many times. Because they’re so darned useful.” I don’t want to spoil the framework but it is useful indeed. Pair his two prompts with Occam’s Razor and you have a solid poor assumption smasher.

I’d just like to point out that these tools are so useful because humans are complicated beings and even though we’ve gone through several evolutions and version numbers, we’re still not great at communicating. This is why my friend Brett and I have stood up a business aimed at helping humans learn how signal intent and behavior. And when they do the outcomes are outstanding.

David Letterman shared his thoughts on retirement and moving past the idea of retiring at all in a interview with GQ magazine.“Retirement is a myth. Retirement is nonsense. You won't retire. The human mechanism will not allow you to retire. As long as you are healthy, you still want to produce. And you will find ways to, once I stopped doing the show, it took me a couple of years to figure out that, oh, this is a completely different rhythm. And without the rhythm that you're accustomed to, largely unsatisfying. So you got to find something that's important to you.” Dave’s thinking on retirement echoes those of another industrial giant, Milton Glaser, who never stopped working. “If I woke up in the morning and didn’t have a place to go, I’d go nuts. It’s a great reason to keep on living. Retirement is a trap.”

So what is Dave up to now? Aside from talking to people—which Dave is known for—he’s a partner in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

If you’re not sure what in the hell you’re going to do instead of retiring, I suggest reading and engaging with Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. My results: Creating communities, publishing, and owning a race car team.

Esses is a new magazine for “the people, culture, and lifestyle of Grand Prix racing.” The “inaugural edition, which will take you from Seoul to Austin, covering everything from the man who convinced Formula 1 to race through the streets of Long Beach in 1976 to the tragic story behind the 1955 Le Mans disaster.” As a fan of motorsport of course I found those stories interesting, but I was not expecting to come across articles like Inside the Formula 1 CEO’s Private Dining Room. “The most difficult country to get the ingredients they want? ‘Honestly I’m sorry to say the USA, but America has the worst,’ Canessa says. In Australia, in Arab countries, around the world, it’s not hard to get the quality charcuterie, cheeses, and produce to make a meal shine. But in the U.S., the chefs agree, nothing is guaranteed.”

When you're done reading that article, move on to Racing Lines on abstract paintings by Giana Gyr that capture iconic moments in Formula 1. Though I don't often find myself fretting over the quality of local charcuterie, I do find Esse's editorial direction interesting. I might have to subscribe.

Thanks to Luke I now have a better understanding of my attraction to a line of Apple devices because they were all designed by the same guy, Hartmut Essingler. As a kid, I used to daydream about owning an Apple IIc because it is—to this day—so damn cool looking. The closest thing to that iconic design today is the iPad Pro paired with a white Magic Keyboard. Harmut was the Johnny Ive of Apple back the 80s. To give Apple it’s unique look and feel, Harmut created the Snow White design language. “The scheme has vertical and horizontal stripes for decoration, ventilation, and to create the illusion that the computer enclosure is smaller than it actually is.” If you don't rememebr what this looked like, take a look. One concept designed by Harmut but never manufactered was the original Apple MacBook or “Flat Mac.” Until now.

Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to Tony Thriller Chill Beats Co. Presents: A Lofi Christmas Story, Vol. 1.