What I Read This Week - 6.2.24
Weekly finds from across the internet.
Hey everyone!
Happy Sunday, and welcome back to the weekly newsletter.
I mentioned in last week’s edition that my family I were out at Pebble Beach for Memorial Day on a belated birthday celebration for my dad and I. It was an epic and unforgettable experience with some great golf (I mean the courses, perhaps not the play itself…). Few things will compare to playing Pebble on Sunday afternoon - especially walking down the 18th fairway as the sun was setting. Magnificent.
I mentioned I would report back on how we faired on #7, and am happy to say that no balls were lost by the Gunn men on the hole (a rarity!). And last but not least - a very special thank you from Dad and I to both of our ladies for making a true bucket list trip come together in spectacular fashion. The memories from last week will last us all a lifetime, and beyond thankful we got to share the experience together as a group!
Now, let’s get on to this week’s letter. I didn’t intend for this going in, but it turned out to be a more philosophical edition centered around the topics of AI, hard vs. soft skills, and the humanities - and what each means for the future. If you are interested in where we are going in the next 5-10 years, and what that means for how we should develop ourselves, this is the edition for you.
Look forward to hearing any thoughts/comments, and see you all next week!
- CG
Health/Fitness
How Exercise Prevents & Reverses Heart Aging w/ Benjamin Levine, MD - Dr. Rhonda Patrick (~18 min)
Starting on the health side of things, this was a great listen packed with insights on the role cardiovascular exercise plays in health and longevity from the perspective of Dr. Benjamin Levine. Dr. Levine is a renowned sports cardiologist with a unique perspective - not only does he have an extensive research background as an author on over 300 peer-reviewed studies, but he also has spent decades working alongside high level athletes at various levels of sport - including the NCAA, NHL, NFL, and US Olympics. Few people are better qualified to give advice on how to maintain a youthful heart & cardiovascular system to fight against the aging process, for both the average person and competitive athlete alike.
Some of the standout points from the interview from my perspective:
Inactivity is a Cardiovascular Stressor - Lack of cardiovascular exercise causes both weakening and atrophy of the heart. The 1966 Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study showed that after three weeks of bed rest, cardiorespiratory fitness for participants declined by 27 percent. According to Dr. Levine in the aftermath of a series of follow-up studies, “three weeks of bed rest at age 20 years was worse for the body’s ability to do physical work than 30 years of aging.”
Exercise Keeps the Heart Loose and Pliable at a Minimum Threshold of 4-5x Per Week - The heart operates like a rubber band, such that its ability to stretch and compress is a direct indicator of its health. The further it can stretch while maintaining its strength, the more efficiently it can compress to pump blood through the body. But as we age, that rubber band effect starts to decay - our hearts become stiffer, less pliable, and less powerful. In his research, Dr. Levine has shown that cardiovascular exercise blunts this atrophying effect, such that individuals with 4-5 days per week of physical activity start to show greater heart resiliency and pliability.
Optimal Health Means Engaging in Both Resistance and Aerobic Training, Not One or the Other - If you are only strength training in lieu of cardio work - or vice versa - you are missing out on key longevity promoting effects. This is because the heart is a muscle with a structure that responds differently to different types of exercise. Cardio/endurance exercise overloads the heart from a volume standpoint, leading to increase in chamber size and wall thickness, whereas strength training overloads the heart with pressure, resulting in increases in wall thickness but not chamber size. Your heart needs ‘remodeling’ in both areas to stay healthy.
Dr. Levine’s Prescription for Life - Born from his experience with both average individuals and competitive athletes, Dr. Levine has synthesized an exercise regimen he believes to be the most beneficial for preserving heart health:
One long (60 min+), easy aerobic session per week (think a long walk/bike ride)
One high intensity exercise session per week (Z5 training, discussed here before)
2-3 sessions of moderate intensity exercise (Z2 training, also discussed here before)
2-3 sessions of resistance training weekly
The Future (AI, Tech, etc.)
Math and Verbal Skills in the AI Era - Peter Thiel (~2 min)
I’ve been spending a good deal of time recently thinking about the implications an AI centric world will have on the distribution of human skills. And while it is difficult to predict the exact course the future will take, I do think there is a rough outline starting to show itself today.
Our ability to see it requires a willingness to set our egos aside and recognize the skills where computers possess clear advantages over humans. We can think about these skills on a spectrum - ranging from “harder” (such as math, science, or coding) to “softer” (such as leadership, or communication). The world has always been a balance of both, but it’s fair to say the scale has tilted heavily towards the former in recent years. With the proliferation of technology, we’ve seen programming and analytical experience become highly desirable traits - often at the expense of some of the more ‘human’ skills.
But what happens when computers start to catch up? We are already seeing AI tools capable of writing code more effectively than humans, and the higher levels of math are soon to be under siege as well. If AI is decreasing the barrier to technicality, what does that mean for the spectrum of skills in the future?
In my opinion, it means the following: we are in for a long-overdue ‘rebalancing’ of society from a skill perspective. As Peter Thiel says in this interview, “AI seems much worse for the math people than the word people”. When AI allows everyone to code or perform complicated math problems, these skills cease to be critical separation points. If everyone is technical, then no one is.
Instead, future leverage will lie in the things that computers cannot master - the softer skills that make humans human. Even in a world of incredible machine intelligence, we will always have an innate attachment to human interaction. And with that comes a need to proficient in speaking to people, not machines.
I think this is a good thing, and hope it brings us back to an equilibrium point. The world operates best in balance, and the skill distribution of society is no exception - we need a healthy tension between the technical perspective and the verbal, between the hard skills and the soft.
As I’ve written before, the future will be best as a pairing between human and machine. So let this be a call for each of us to lean into the the things that make us human in the first place.
A Bull Market in the Humanities - Luke Burgis (~6 min)
A logical segue from the above conversation on human skills in an AI world, this was a great piece from Luke Burgis (author of one of my favorite books - Wanting) on the role that the humanities will come to play in the future.
Luke’s perspective is that we are about to experience a renaissance in the humanities, which he defines as the exploration of what it means to be human - subjects such as art, philosophy, religion and the like (you know, the classes most of us tried to avoid in our college studies). To him, these topics constitute the real world - the things that technology cannot be a substitute for, and thus the things that will never become outdated or automated. They are old studies of old problems, ones that have shrunk into the shadows but whose lessons carry more significance now than ever.
He argues that the education of the future will come in the form of sensory perception - namely, the ability to observe the world for what it truly is and not as what we wish it were. And as such, AI doesn’t mean that we will see a bull market for those who are good at calculating thought. Instead, those capable of meditative thought are likely to reap most of the rewards.
As a graduate from a liberal arts school with a degree in mathematics, this struck a cord with me. While in college, most of the courses I sought out on my own were of the calculating variety - those centered around ‘harder’ skills such as math, science, and statistics. I still use these frequently in my work today, yet as I look back on that time I find myself most thankful for the meditative courses instead: the Classics course that gave me an appreciation for ancient literature; the Italian language courses that opened up my understanding of a different culture; the European studies course that was a gateway to history on the surface and a workshop on how to write underneath it.
Both perspectives are valuable, certainly. And even more so when combined together - meditative and calculating thought complement each other like the perfect wine and steak pairing at dinner.
But in today’s world, I share Luke’s opinion that we can all benefit from drawing the slider back towards the meditative perspective. Not only because the world has pushed us too heavily towards the calculating, but also since the future is likely to demand it. Because as Luke writes, when AI comes for one, we’d be wise to lean into the other:
The most fundamental response to this electronic age should be a return to the most personal, affective, human part of our existence.
I couldn’t agree more.
Personal Growth
As we’ve established, it looks increasingly likely that the world will make a shift back towards valuing verbal/soft skills at a higher premium than in recent years. But how do we prepare for that future when the present rewards the opposite, in an education environment that biases towards technicality and a digital landscape that puts up constant barriers to real-world interaction?
Simply put, we study those that have figured it out. And that’s exactly what this guide from Polina does, in which she dives deep into the commonalities that underlie some of the most charismatic people on the planet. Think of this as a starter kit of principles for building energy and connection with the people around you - and a recipe for cultivating better personal skills for the future. The 9 techniques she identified, with my personal favorites bolded/italicized:
Set the energy when you walk into a room
Say people’s names a lot
Remember the small talk details
Commit random acts of kindness
Know how to tell a compelling story
Romanticize risk
Anticipate the joke - and tell it better
Avoid one-upping in conversations
Be comfortable as your awkward, imperfect self