I’m advanced in years but still working as a management consultant. I am agog at the works of fiction, long reads and podcasts I didn’t have time to consume. Now that I do, my work is much more informed by the “humanities “ , more grounded in the frailty of being human in the world of work and far more tilted towards social justice than ROI.
Wish corporate me had known what I know now: ROI is a far more complex calculation than it’s current iteration
Carol, this is a beautiful line: "more grounded in the frailty of being human in the world of work." I was just minutes ago reading one of Isabel Allende's nonfiction, memoir-ish works of memory and storytelling, and I think you expressed the feeling it gave me better than I had in my own head. Really appreciate you sharing this thought here.
I'm mid-career and also working as a management consultant; I had a powerful realization a few years back, that risk is (and, therefore, all financial decisions are) client-specific, not absolute truths. If Apple wants to spend $1Mn on an idea that has a 1/100 chance of yielding a $1Bn payout, that's a sound business decision. If I tried to do the same, it would be unwise, at best. That's partly about our respective financial circumstances and the diminishing marginal utility of wealth, but also about how we view our roles in the world; I've never worked with Apple as a client, but I suspect that they view shareholder wealth creation and pushing the boundaries of innovation as core elements of who they are. I try to focus more on "do no harm" and "help people."
I have two practices that help. The first is tithing my time to the (often crazy) projects of friends. It's a diverse bunch and over the years I've learned things I didn't realized existed - from film animation to building blood glucose monitors to the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs and so on.
The other practice is to drop in on talks far removed from my field. The imposter syndrome often crops up, but I've come to recognize it as an invitation to learn.
This is just a great phrase: "tithing my time to the (often crazy) projects of friends." I love it! This also reminds me that the single most useful thing I ever did for my writing was help a friend (who had repetitive stress injury) edit a documentary. He was the brains, and I was just the motor skills, but it changed my frame for thinking about narrative. Also: I want to hear more about the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs. .... Regarding talks, one of my favorite things about doing some public speaking is seeing other talks that I'd never encounter otherwise. And I also suffer from a lot of imposter syndrome, but I also find that it doesn't actually stop me from doing anything, it's just kind of unsettling.
I'm afraid this got buried. On the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs. A close friend is a world champion beach volleyball player and two time Olympian. She's also wicked smart and has lots of good questions. It turns out volleyballs have interesting behavior with spin and zero-spin. I was aware of work on soccer (football to everyone else) balls and baseballs, but wanted to see how far I could get by myself. (I'm a physicist). It turns out Princeton has a nice collection of sports science material. I found some notes (in Chinese) with some low speed wind tunnel testing on a variety of spots balls. A student translated what I needed, so I dived in. There were some parameters I didn't have a good handle on but to a first approximation a volleyball goes from turbulent to laminar flow around 13 - 15 meters per second. Laminar flow sees drag increase by about a factor of 4 and, at the critical point, a spinning ball is turblent on one side and laminar on the other.. a nice way to get the ball to drop dramatically from its expected trajectory with top spin. Zero spin float serves are more interesting. An unstable oscillation with a period of about 10 to 15 meters can set in creating something like a screwball - only it's more pronounced in volleyball than in baseball .. up to about 1.5 times the diameter of the ball once its near the other side of the court. It's very unpredictable and not easy to serve.
Both effects are more pronounced at ball speeds in the women's pro game than the men's. I wanted better data and managed to talk some folks in Japan into runs in their low speed wind tunnel. A really fun excursion! The beach game is even more unpredictable with wind. It's stunning to watch the great athletes do what they do. And my friend has taught me quite a bit about strategy and what she does. I recommend watching both the indoor and beach games.
Fluid dynamics is can be brutally difficult so it be a mix of math and experimental observations. I've used some of the thinking worrying about the relativistic atmosphere surrounding neutron stars. Not related, but the thinking one does offers approaches.
Another note on the imposter syndrome. It tells me the other person has probably spent a lot of time and effort getting to the point where their subject seems natural. That can be an invitation to learn from them - or at least it should be.
> Both effects are more pronounced at ball speeds in the women's pro game than the men's
Would that mean I, as a man, would want to hit the ball with slightly less force to get more unstable oscillation on my serve? Trajectory would make a difference, too, I suppose, as a rainbow doesn't seem to oscillate as effectively as a line drive, which speaks to the benefit of a jump float serve—though doing it comes at a considerable cost of control.
Thanks for getting my mind spinning! (or screw balling?)
I'm also pumped to learn more about the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs. Please enlighten us Steve!
Not sure if you're aware, but the #1 beach volleyball manufacturer, Mikasa, released a dramatic new design this year. Added dimples. Maybe something to ask your friend about, then pass on to us here?
The balls "feel" very different. I have the impression she likes Mikasa and dislikes Wilson (AVP). She has something of a canon for a left arm and has good zero spin float and jump serves. When we tested in a Japanese wind tunnel a variety of dimple types and panel orientations were tried. I think the current Mikasa is less sensitive to panel orientation.
I set out several years ago to read one book from each aisle of the university library I have access to. I allow myself to pick the book, I allow myself to read other things as well, but it's been a great construct to get me to read things I wouldn't have sought out otherwise, that I "didn't know I was interested in." ~100 books in, I've learned about Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dominican Saints' Lives, the Battle of the Somme, and Islamic finance, among other things. To Nolan's point, the "purpose" is perhaps more personal growth, than anticipated professional gain; I can't charge it as billable time to a client, it's not targeted research, but it helps me understand myself and the world a little better, a little more broadly.
Jacob, I love this. Did any particular event precipitate your decision a few years ago? ...And you've got me curious about Islamic finance, so if you have any recommended reading, I'd be happy to have a suggestion.
I had started working for the university a year before, and loved the feeling of wandering the library (when I was a kid I spent hours skimming my family's World Book Encyclopedia, and un-queried knowledge has always felt magical to me), but wanted to put it in the context of something bigger. It was also during the run-up to the 2016 election, and I'd been reading about algorithmic recommendations from some tech platform (I think Netflix or Amazon, but possibly Facebook) and felt that I needed to push myself out of my mental silos a bit.
As far as Islamic finance, the book I read was "Islamic Finance and Economic Development: Risk, Regulation, and Corporate Governance" by El Tiby and Grais (https://worldcat.org/title/880451432). I haven't read enough on the topic since to know if it's a particularly great text, but I found the subject matter thought-provoking, and I'd recommend it as an intro.
You do a good job in specifying what probably comes natural for Nolan. Take, for instance, the average American who watches vast amounts of shows and movies with no purpose. Somehow they don't become Nolan or produce Oppenheimer... There has to be an intense curiosity, a passion, and ,unfortunately for many, an intellect behind this so-called purposeless perusing.
Paul, great point. This reminds me of some writing Dan Coyle did about the difference between watching TV or listening to music with your brain turned on for learning versus just passively zoning out and letting it wash over you. Not that I don't think there's a place for both of these, but one reason I tend to favor reading over listening or watching (although I certainly do all of them) is that I find I pretty much have to have my brain turned on when I'm reading.
Good point, Paul. I also doubt the TV Nolan purposelessly watches is all the same as the average American.
You think Nolan's active purposless consumption comes natural? I suppose it was a slight personality/curiosity edge he had from the beginning that strengthened and strengthened over decades. But maybe the rest of us can foster it with a little push to start?
Chris, I certainly don't have a definitive answer to this, but just to point out one thing I found personally useful: when a writer I admired told me how he's always thinking about structure no matter what he's watching or reading. As Nolan has said, narrative is "the controlled release of information." I find that when I approach material with a general interest in structure, I find it more interesting in terms of thinking about my own work, and I think my brain engages somewhat more actively.
Thanks David! I suppose "How to craft a narrative?" is one of the top Feynman-ian "open questions" Nolan and your friend have running in their brain. And they've probably had it running since early days, which partially explains their extraordinary ability.
Ha, great point Leon. I hope this newsletter is McLuhanesque, in that sense. ....Sorry, I'm not sure I'll ever get a chance to use that word (probably for good reason), so I had to try it out. ...Although now having use it in a medium-is-the-message sense, I think it's more confusing than clarifying.
I read and live with an intention. That no day is mundane. No day is same. No place revisited twice is same . As our layers to that time and place is evolving. I think nolan is that way . He makes you go through mundane but in new ways and stories.
I've been taking writing classes to expose me to new topics/writers as well as improve my own writing of course. The latest was a micro-memoir class, where we started by writing 6 word stories! That sent me down the lovely rabbit hole of flash nonfiction, a genre I didn't even know existed. I'm also reading from The Best American Science & Nature essay series, because I get a slice of so many different topics quickly.
I love your idea of reading bits of lots of different books--it makes me feel less guilty about quitting books I'm reading. Now I'll just tell myself it's an intentional Ranging technique. Ha! Thank you for making every newsletter a surprise. It's a real gift.
Cool!! Were you given the famous Hemingway, devastating six-word story? And also: any chance you'd be willing to share your six-word story? ...Flash fiction is so cool, and if you get into it, Lydia Davis is a master, and I've enjoyed Osama Alomar as well. I'd also count some of Borges's work as flash fiction, and he might be my favorite writer of all. ....I have released all guilt about not finishing books, and I appreciate what I do get from those parts. I've found this very useful;) Finally, thanks for the encouragement about making each newsletter a surprise! Obviously, there are recurring themes and thoughts, and I recognize the audience-development reasons for having a sort of "contract" with the audience where they know what to expect. But that just doesn't fit with my goals for having a newsletter, so nice to know that it still works (at least sometimes).
Oh, we know what to expect without a doubt! It’ll be very interesting, shorter or longer, and have great discussion in the comments! You are very predictable!
Haha...Katie, I hadn't thought about it that way, so thanks! And, as I've said before: the comments have been the great unexpected surprise of doing this newsletter. I had grown accustomed to comments sections online just being, shall we say, dispiriting. I'm really appreciative of the thoughtful people in this one.
You have a really good thing going here for sure. And your dedication to staying so involved in the comments surely plays a large role in their success. Thank you!
The comments are a treat! As they've become more numerous, I haven't been able to respond to all of them every time lately. But I do read every one, and hope to keep that up.
Yes, you can't have a flash fiction example without that killer Hemingway example. Thanks for the other author suggestions--I'll definitely check them out. And happy to share a couple of my 6-word stories, but will do so privately, since I want to send some to Narrative magazine for possible publication. Check your Twitter DM (assuming you're still on the site).
On the writer-audience "contract" I suspect many of your readers share your curiosity and desire for breadth. So we expect and appreciate the unexpected. I have only a handful of newsletters where I read every post. The majority are at the other end of the spectrum, where I rarely open them, much less read them. So I have to think, from my data point of one, that you're doing something right! Haha!
I was watching soccer last night (Inter Miami because who wants to miss Messi?) and guess what? An interview with Derek Jeter in which he references the same attitude that Roger Federer had towards sports: trying as many sports as he could before he settled with Baseball. He also played soccer when he was a teenager. What comes to mind? David Epstein and the "Range" book. Fascinating! That's why I'm reading next about the East India company, but only because I know nothing about it and it's something I've never read anything about it before.
Thanks for keeping me believing in being a generalist David. It's one of the best things I've done in my life!
Didn't know that about Jeter! Very cool, and thank you for sharing. I'm going to go look for that interview. ...That's so cool to hear that you're reading about the East India Company. And you've got me curious. It's one of those topics I'm superficially aware of, and aware that it had a huge impact on humanity, but I'd like to know more. Thanks for sparking this for me, and for your kind words!
Another great post! I switch ruthlessly between different podcasts, TV shows, and movies. If something doesn't hold my interest why continue with it when there's so much great stuff out there. Eventually good and disparate writing ideas come out of this when you're not actively thinking about any one thing.
Evan, I totally agree. I'm surprised how many people feel some sense of failure if they don't finish a book. I admire their intentions, but I definitely don't have that feeling. Actually, I often don't finish books even if they really do interesting me, because I got something great from them and some other interesting thing is available. That makes me sound like I'm pin-balling all over, which is also not the case, but, for example, I recently picked up a Pulitzer-finalist biography of Bach. It's quite long, and dense, so I perused a bit and then read sections I thought were most in line with my interest. I'm sure the entire book would interest me, but I feel like I got something great out of it as it is. ...and I totally agree about the disparate ideas coalescing (often when I'm on a run or walk).
My "problem" is I really like to read books cover to cover, so I don't mind quitting, but I also don't like skipping around. Do you do the same with academic papers? And how does this influence your note-taking process?
Great question. For academic papers, it really depends. If I know some paper is particularly important in a field, or was recommended to me by someone in response to questions or some interest, I'll tend to read the entire thing start to finish, while paying attention to other papers cited therein. If I'm more in general exploratory mode of a topic, I'm going through a lot of abstracts, and for those that seem interesting or related, maybe I'll skip down to check out some results, or figures, or discussion, and if it still seems of interest (whether because it comports or doesn't with my own thinking), I'll go back to the beginning and read in order. Although, I may also peruse the methods a bit before starting at the start, to look for certain red flags in certain kinds of work that it may not be done particularly rigorously. (Some of these I'm aware of because I did them myself, unwittingly, as a grad student!) In terms of my note-taking, I certainly don't have a perfect process by any stretch, but in keeping with my "master thought list," I'll generally connect something about an interesting paper to other things I've been reading, and put something in a relevant area of the master thought list. I guess that's a key for me, always connecting my notes to some topic of interest, sort of like building a wiki of my brain. I described that master thought list a bit in a previous post, and I know at least once before in an interview I can look for if you're interested: https://davidepstein.substack.com/p/dont-let-good-ideas-get-away
As soon as I read David's phrase "to find something that stimulates you but that you couldn’t have known to look for," my mind jumped to a description of creativity from Tim Harford's book Messy. Harford likens the limits of our natural talent/ideas to "local optimum" points in a mountain range; it takes effort to get there, but it won't get you to the higher peaks you would ideally like to summit. Using examples like Keith Jarrett and Brian Eno, he says that great musicians, for example, often find that challenges or counterintuitive prompts challenge them to put things together in unexpected ways and thus end up doing some of their best work.
As a dad of several young children, I don't have the time to browse freely in bookstores like I once did, but I found a helpful heuristic that approximates this in less time: the library reservation shelves. I place online holds for titles I want--Range was one :)--and while picking up my books I also look around at the titles other people are passionate enough about to place holds on them. Of course, I am not allowed to check these books out right then, but I have found books and topics that I later reserved myself or researched.
I use to a wide range of podcasts while I am driving. If an idea jumps out at me while I am driving I flip on my voice recorded and capture a thought. I usually let the notes sit in my recorded for days or even weeks. When I looking for new ideas I listen back to the voice notes. If I find I am not getting much from a particular show I scroll the charts on Apple to test out something new.
I make Curiosity my guide and Range my proxy for exploration. Working in AI research, I usually end up conversing with other PhD students whose enthusiasms hints at that they are doing something interesting.
I found on multiple occasions that if we share curiosity, my collaborators and I can end up at novel places. To actively foster this attitude, I aim to apply what I call the barbell strategy of research, which balances low-hanging fruits while satisfying my curiosity with high-risk ideas. The barbell, inspired by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, helps me avoid too much stress, since I always have an "insurance policy," even while exploring.
Patrik, I love this. I'm used to thinking of the barbell strategy with regard to financial investing, but I think it's an even better frame for investments of time, energy, and curiosity. This will definitely stick in my head. Thanks for sharing it.
It reminds me of our conversations about constraints: pursuing a lack of constraints is what helps guide you to the most salutary constraint. Freedom leads to structure, and structure leads to freedom.
Ruth! Wonderful to see you here. (Although, I just had a sinking feeling that I may owe you an email or something...[gulp]). I just mentioned you in a comment somewhere else here, discussing editing. I was noting that I didn't expect to have you editing my newsletters, but I turned out to love having you do that. (And not just because I don't know formal grammar;)
Huzzah! It is grand to be here. Participating in the editing of these newsletters was both an honor and a joy, which I miss. Glad I still get to read them!
And let there be no sinking feeling. Email is a black hole. Run for your life towards the light of deep focus! (Though if you do ever want to discuss constraints further, I'm here;)
Hey David 👋 thanks for this post, I like the short ones that can get you thinking (and hopefully acting on the thinking). One of my favourite quotes from Range is 'we learn who we are in practice not in theory' apologies, I don't have the name of the person whom it's attributed to. But reading about your passion for reading so widely so as to discover new avenues to explore/enjoy I wonder how you manage to balance the voluminous amounts of reading and research with getting out and visiting places of interest, 'doing' things and 'practicing' if you get me. Another big balancing act I imagine? I'm an introvert myself (recently picked up Susan Cain's Quiet as it's sounds fascinating) so between that and a few other issues I struggle to get out and put the theory into practice regarding certain areas of life. Ps you referenced the start of a new book in a comment from the last post, I hope you don't feel any time pressure as the quality of your work can't be churned out quickly! Hope it's not rude to ask but I'd love to know if you have decided upon an area of interest for the book topic?
William, that's also my favorite quote! And that idea is from Herminia Ibarra. And enjoy Quiet! I refer to myself as a "Susan Cain introvert," because I felt very seen by that book. I tend to think that her approach to the topics she choose, and her style of investigating them, is about as similar to mine as any writer I can think of. (Also: she's a wonderful person, which is always a nice bonus.) Regarding the balance of reading and research and getting out and doing, to a large degree becoming a journalist basically solved that for me. I'm very curious about things, but also introverted, so traveling around talking to strangers is a great thing for me, but not my first instinct. But when I have a project, I have to do it. The reading and research ultimately leads me to people and places I realize I have to visit. And that takes a lot of energy (again: introvert), but I'm grateful to have work that pushes me to do it. I suppose one other important aspect is that I used to have a diversity of projects going at any one time, and now while I tend to have one main project, it's usually so amorphous that it encompasses a wide breadth of learning. Too wide, most of the time, which leads to my current book topic: how constraints can be useful, rather than just limiting. For me, a main, or perhaps THE main challenge of my book projects is figuring out where to draw the boundaries of the project so that the investigation feels tractable at all. There's definitely a component of "mesearch" in it, but it's also a topic, as with Range, that allows me to explore in the arts and science, and some topics that I'm interested in for my own self-improvement. As to time pressure, I always feel it. No matter the book deadline, as soon as I've signed a contract, my brain goes: "It's due tomorrow." I'm doing a much better job of balancing work and life than in my previous books (and have to, now that I'm a parent), so I guess I'll find out if I can do that while also doing a decent job on the book.
One last point that might be interesting to you: I read a book by (avowed introvert) Shonda Rhimes in which she talked about saying "yes" to everything for a year, because she usually said no to invites and wanted to use the time as a sampling period to figure out what was worth investing time in in the future. I think her "year of yes" is obviously unique and extreme, but it did nudge me to say yes more often (when I was between books) to things I'd previously said no to. I find, as an introvert, for almost anything my initial instinct is that I don't want to do it, but then once I'm there, I often love it. A party being the simplest example; my first reflex is almost always to say no, but when I go, I usually love parties by the end. So I think I just have more recognition of my own reflexes, and how they can get in my way at times.
Wow David, your considered replies always impress me, thanks so much for taking the time. That makes a lot of sense that your work as a journalist and preparing for books means you have to go to various places and meet numerous people, I remember you saying that you worked as a reporter for a newspaper covering overnight (crime related I think) work so I guess that kind of forced you out there too, I never really considered the travelling part of researching and preparing for a book, that's very interesting! I guess I had this idea of you being locked up in research mode during the whole process! I'm glad to hear that about Susan's book (and that she's a lovely person! - side note I just saw today that she had a new book out recently...) and just to mention that I recently read 'Good To Go' by Christie Aschwanden on your recommendation and I absolutely loved it! Also started 'Deep Work' by Cal Newport and really liking that too so thanks. I love books that are rigorously researched and a form of 'investigative reporting' is great too. Very excited to hear that you've come down on a book topic! Can't wait! (But actually I can which is what I meant in my above comment but I totally get the time commitments involved and deadlines must be crazy... I just noticed you had a comment after the previous post that suggested that you were a bit stressed out, I guess that goes with the territory) speaking of your book topic, it sounds nice and broad (similar to Range) and even here the idea of introversion comes to mind, I'm interested to pick up 'Quiet' now especially after your endorsement but part of the appeal was the idea that introversion need not be a negative (for some reason I think it's considered one) and for example the things that introverts are perhaps better equipped to deal with/do/even enjoy.. perhaps I'm jumping ahead in my mind and seeing a small space for an introvert discussion in your new book with Susan similar to 'learning fast and slow' with Daniel Kahneman and 'Superforecasters' and Philip Tetlock! Thanks David and I'm sure that becoming a parent will only add to your outlook and viewpoints and your writing will continue to be magnificent (no pressure meant!).
Victoria, I like to joke that I'm single-handedly keeping my local indie in business. Definitely not true, although I no longer have to give my name when I arrive to pick something up;) I order things there, but constantly walk out with something I didn't come for, and some of those unexpected purchases have led to writing topics for me.
Oh me too! The good news is that we have two indies in our town with a third opening up soon. That's more unstructured browsing for me. I've been thinking a lot lately about how browsing online is not really random and how it may affect creativity. I much rather spend my time in a bookstore or library.
I’m advanced in years but still working as a management consultant. I am agog at the works of fiction, long reads and podcasts I didn’t have time to consume. Now that I do, my work is much more informed by the “humanities “ , more grounded in the frailty of being human in the world of work and far more tilted towards social justice than ROI.
Wish corporate me had known what I know now: ROI is a far more complex calculation than it’s current iteration
Carol, this is a beautiful line: "more grounded in the frailty of being human in the world of work." I was just minutes ago reading one of Isabel Allende's nonfiction, memoir-ish works of memory and storytelling, and I think you expressed the feeling it gave me better than I had in my own head. Really appreciate you sharing this thought here.
Very kind of you! Thanks for sharing your (our) feeling . Made my day.
I'm mid-career and also working as a management consultant; I had a powerful realization a few years back, that risk is (and, therefore, all financial decisions are) client-specific, not absolute truths. If Apple wants to spend $1Mn on an idea that has a 1/100 chance of yielding a $1Bn payout, that's a sound business decision. If I tried to do the same, it would be unwise, at best. That's partly about our respective financial circumstances and the diminishing marginal utility of wealth, but also about how we view our roles in the world; I've never worked with Apple as a client, but I suspect that they view shareholder wealth creation and pushing the boundaries of innovation as core elements of who they are. I try to focus more on "do no harm" and "help people."
This is a cool, and very well-written addition to this conversation. Thank you Jacob!
Excellent!
I have two practices that help. The first is tithing my time to the (often crazy) projects of friends. It's a diverse bunch and over the years I've learned things I didn't realized existed - from film animation to building blood glucose monitors to the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs and so on.
The other practice is to drop in on talks far removed from my field. The imposter syndrome often crops up, but I've come to recognize it as an invitation to learn.
This is just a great phrase: "tithing my time to the (often crazy) projects of friends." I love it! This also reminds me that the single most useful thing I ever did for my writing was help a friend (who had repetitive stress injury) edit a documentary. He was the brains, and I was just the motor skills, but it changed my frame for thinking about narrative. Also: I want to hear more about the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs. .... Regarding talks, one of my favorite things about doing some public speaking is seeing other talks that I'd never encounter otherwise. And I also suffer from a lot of imposter syndrome, but I also find that it doesn't actually stop me from doing anything, it's just kind of unsettling.
I'm afraid this got buried. On the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs. A close friend is a world champion beach volleyball player and two time Olympian. She's also wicked smart and has lots of good questions. It turns out volleyballs have interesting behavior with spin and zero-spin. I was aware of work on soccer (football to everyone else) balls and baseballs, but wanted to see how far I could get by myself. (I'm a physicist). It turns out Princeton has a nice collection of sports science material. I found some notes (in Chinese) with some low speed wind tunnel testing on a variety of spots balls. A student translated what I needed, so I dived in. There were some parameters I didn't have a good handle on but to a first approximation a volleyball goes from turbulent to laminar flow around 13 - 15 meters per second. Laminar flow sees drag increase by about a factor of 4 and, at the critical point, a spinning ball is turblent on one side and laminar on the other.. a nice way to get the ball to drop dramatically from its expected trajectory with top spin. Zero spin float serves are more interesting. An unstable oscillation with a period of about 10 to 15 meters can set in creating something like a screwball - only it's more pronounced in volleyball than in baseball .. up to about 1.5 times the diameter of the ball once its near the other side of the court. It's very unpredictable and not easy to serve.
Both effects are more pronounced at ball speeds in the women's pro game than the men's. I wanted better data and managed to talk some folks in Japan into runs in their low speed wind tunnel. A really fun excursion! The beach game is even more unpredictable with wind. It's stunning to watch the great athletes do what they do. And my friend has taught me quite a bit about strategy and what she does. I recommend watching both the indoor and beach games.
Fluid dynamics is can be brutally difficult so it be a mix of math and experimental observations. I've used some of the thinking worrying about the relativistic atmosphere surrounding neutron stars. Not related, but the thinking one does offers approaches.
Another note on the imposter syndrome. It tells me the other person has probably spent a lot of time and effort getting to the point where their subject seems natural. That can be an invitation to learn from them - or at least it should be.
> Both effects are more pronounced at ball speeds in the women's pro game than the men's
Would that mean I, as a man, would want to hit the ball with slightly less force to get more unstable oscillation on my serve? Trajectory would make a difference, too, I suppose, as a rainbow doesn't seem to oscillate as effectively as a line drive, which speaks to the benefit of a jump float serve—though doing it comes at a considerable cost of control.
Thanks for getting my mind spinning! (or screw balling?)
I think it’s a strategic combination of a variety of types. And then there are skyballs:)
I'm also pumped to learn more about the fluid dynamics of beach volleyballs. Please enlighten us Steve!
Not sure if you're aware, but the #1 beach volleyball manufacturer, Mikasa, released a dramatic new design this year. Added dimples. Maybe something to ask your friend about, then pass on to us here?
The balls "feel" very different. I have the impression she likes Mikasa and dislikes Wilson (AVP). She has something of a canon for a left arm and has good zero spin float and jump serves. When we tested in a Japanese wind tunnel a variety of dimple types and panel orientations were tried. I think the current Mikasa is less sensitive to panel orientation.
I thought "Without Purpose" was a book and I was like, "I have not heard of that book" LOL
Hahaha...score one for my ambiguous grammar serving as click bait!
I set out several years ago to read one book from each aisle of the university library I have access to. I allow myself to pick the book, I allow myself to read other things as well, but it's been a great construct to get me to read things I wouldn't have sought out otherwise, that I "didn't know I was interested in." ~100 books in, I've learned about Cornelius Vanderbilt, Dominican Saints' Lives, the Battle of the Somme, and Islamic finance, among other things. To Nolan's point, the "purpose" is perhaps more personal growth, than anticipated professional gain; I can't charge it as billable time to a client, it's not targeted research, but it helps me understand myself and the world a little better, a little more broadly.
Jacob, I love this. Did any particular event precipitate your decision a few years ago? ...And you've got me curious about Islamic finance, so if you have any recommended reading, I'd be happy to have a suggestion.
I had started working for the university a year before, and loved the feeling of wandering the library (when I was a kid I spent hours skimming my family's World Book Encyclopedia, and un-queried knowledge has always felt magical to me), but wanted to put it in the context of something bigger. It was also during the run-up to the 2016 election, and I'd been reading about algorithmic recommendations from some tech platform (I think Netflix or Amazon, but possibly Facebook) and felt that I needed to push myself out of my mental silos a bit.
As far as Islamic finance, the book I read was "Islamic Finance and Economic Development: Risk, Regulation, and Corporate Governance" by El Tiby and Grais (https://worldcat.org/title/880451432). I haven't read enough on the topic since to know if it's a particularly great text, but I found the subject matter thought-provoking, and I'd recommend it as an intro.
I love this idea too!
You do a good job in specifying what probably comes natural for Nolan. Take, for instance, the average American who watches vast amounts of shows and movies with no purpose. Somehow they don't become Nolan or produce Oppenheimer... There has to be an intense curiosity, a passion, and ,unfortunately for many, an intellect behind this so-called purposeless perusing.
Paul, great point. This reminds me of some writing Dan Coyle did about the difference between watching TV or listening to music with your brain turned on for learning versus just passively zoning out and letting it wash over you. Not that I don't think there's a place for both of these, but one reason I tend to favor reading over listening or watching (although I certainly do all of them) is that I find I pretty much have to have my brain turned on when I'm reading.
Good point, Paul. I also doubt the TV Nolan purposelessly watches is all the same as the average American.
You think Nolan's active purposless consumption comes natural? I suppose it was a slight personality/curiosity edge he had from the beginning that strengthened and strengthened over decades. But maybe the rest of us can foster it with a little push to start?
Chris, I certainly don't have a definitive answer to this, but just to point out one thing I found personally useful: when a writer I admired told me how he's always thinking about structure no matter what he's watching or reading. As Nolan has said, narrative is "the controlled release of information." I find that when I approach material with a general interest in structure, I find it more interesting in terms of thinking about my own work, and I think my brain engages somewhat more actively.
Thanks David! I suppose "How to craft a narrative?" is one of the top Feynman-ian "open questions" Nolan and your friend have running in their brain. And they've probably had it running since early days, which partially explains their extraordinary ability.
It's funny how many things fit into the sphere of just being open to new ideas. Ranging widely indeed
Ha, great point Leon. I hope this newsletter is McLuhanesque, in that sense. ....Sorry, I'm not sure I'll ever get a chance to use that word (probably for good reason), so I had to try it out. ...Although now having use it in a medium-is-the-message sense, I think it's more confusing than clarifying.
Brilliant use of McLuhanesque! Very word of the day, but also works great haha
I read and live with an intention. That no day is mundane. No day is same. No place revisited twice is same . As our layers to that time and place is evolving. I think nolan is that way . He makes you go through mundane but in new ways and stories.
Well, that is a lovely way to put it. If you're not a writer already, I'm sure you could be if you wanted.
Thank you, I am humbled to read your comment. Have been reading your newsletter since last year and read about you via TED .And yes , i am a writer. If you want to read my latest -non fiction tribute- here it is . https://mariamsaeedkhan.medium.com/the-mighty-tree-dhoop-ka-tukra-ef0832942245
I've been taking writing classes to expose me to new topics/writers as well as improve my own writing of course. The latest was a micro-memoir class, where we started by writing 6 word stories! That sent me down the lovely rabbit hole of flash nonfiction, a genre I didn't even know existed. I'm also reading from The Best American Science & Nature essay series, because I get a slice of so many different topics quickly.
I love your idea of reading bits of lots of different books--it makes me feel less guilty about quitting books I'm reading. Now I'll just tell myself it's an intentional Ranging technique. Ha! Thank you for making every newsletter a surprise. It's a real gift.
Cool!! Were you given the famous Hemingway, devastating six-word story? And also: any chance you'd be willing to share your six-word story? ...Flash fiction is so cool, and if you get into it, Lydia Davis is a master, and I've enjoyed Osama Alomar as well. I'd also count some of Borges's work as flash fiction, and he might be my favorite writer of all. ....I have released all guilt about not finishing books, and I appreciate what I do get from those parts. I've found this very useful;) Finally, thanks for the encouragement about making each newsletter a surprise! Obviously, there are recurring themes and thoughts, and I recognize the audience-development reasons for having a sort of "contract" with the audience where they know what to expect. But that just doesn't fit with my goals for having a newsletter, so nice to know that it still works (at least sometimes).
Oh, we know what to expect without a doubt! It’ll be very interesting, shorter or longer, and have great discussion in the comments! You are very predictable!
Haha...Katie, I hadn't thought about it that way, so thanks! And, as I've said before: the comments have been the great unexpected surprise of doing this newsletter. I had grown accustomed to comments sections online just being, shall we say, dispiriting. I'm really appreciative of the thoughtful people in this one.
You have a really good thing going here for sure. And your dedication to staying so involved in the comments surely plays a large role in their success. Thank you!
The comments are a treat! As they've become more numerous, I haven't been able to respond to all of them every time lately. But I do read every one, and hope to keep that up.
Yes, you can't have a flash fiction example without that killer Hemingway example. Thanks for the other author suggestions--I'll definitely check them out. And happy to share a couple of my 6-word stories, but will do so privately, since I want to send some to Narrative magazine for possible publication. Check your Twitter DM (assuming you're still on the site).
On the writer-audience "contract" I suspect many of your readers share your curiosity and desire for breadth. So we expect and appreciate the unexpected. I have only a handful of newsletters where I read every post. The majority are at the other end of the spectrum, where I rarely open them, much less read them. So I have to think, from my data point of one, that you're doing something right! Haha!
I was watching soccer last night (Inter Miami because who wants to miss Messi?) and guess what? An interview with Derek Jeter in which he references the same attitude that Roger Federer had towards sports: trying as many sports as he could before he settled with Baseball. He also played soccer when he was a teenager. What comes to mind? David Epstein and the "Range" book. Fascinating! That's why I'm reading next about the East India company, but only because I know nothing about it and it's something I've never read anything about it before.
Thanks for keeping me believing in being a generalist David. It's one of the best things I've done in my life!
This is the book I’m reading. It was recommended to me by a British friend from a south Asian heritage. https://images.thenile.io/r1000/9781408864388.jpg
Didn't know that about Jeter! Very cool, and thank you for sharing. I'm going to go look for that interview. ...That's so cool to hear that you're reading about the East India Company. And you've got me curious. It's one of those topics I'm superficially aware of, and aware that it had a huge impact on humanity, but I'd like to know more. Thanks for sparking this for me, and for your kind words!
Another great post! I switch ruthlessly between different podcasts, TV shows, and movies. If something doesn't hold my interest why continue with it when there's so much great stuff out there. Eventually good and disparate writing ideas come out of this when you're not actively thinking about any one thing.
Evan, I totally agree. I'm surprised how many people feel some sense of failure if they don't finish a book. I admire their intentions, but I definitely don't have that feeling. Actually, I often don't finish books even if they really do interesting me, because I got something great from them and some other interesting thing is available. That makes me sound like I'm pin-balling all over, which is also not the case, but, for example, I recently picked up a Pulitzer-finalist biography of Bach. It's quite long, and dense, so I perused a bit and then read sections I thought were most in line with my interest. I'm sure the entire book would interest me, but I feel like I got something great out of it as it is. ...and I totally agree about the disparate ideas coalescing (often when I'm on a run or walk).
My "problem" is I really like to read books cover to cover, so I don't mind quitting, but I also don't like skipping around. Do you do the same with academic papers? And how does this influence your note-taking process?
Great question. For academic papers, it really depends. If I know some paper is particularly important in a field, or was recommended to me by someone in response to questions or some interest, I'll tend to read the entire thing start to finish, while paying attention to other papers cited therein. If I'm more in general exploratory mode of a topic, I'm going through a lot of abstracts, and for those that seem interesting or related, maybe I'll skip down to check out some results, or figures, or discussion, and if it still seems of interest (whether because it comports or doesn't with my own thinking), I'll go back to the beginning and read in order. Although, I may also peruse the methods a bit before starting at the start, to look for certain red flags in certain kinds of work that it may not be done particularly rigorously. (Some of these I'm aware of because I did them myself, unwittingly, as a grad student!) In terms of my note-taking, I certainly don't have a perfect process by any stretch, but in keeping with my "master thought list," I'll generally connect something about an interesting paper to other things I've been reading, and put something in a relevant area of the master thought list. I guess that's a key for me, always connecting my notes to some topic of interest, sort of like building a wiki of my brain. I described that master thought list a bit in a previous post, and I know at least once before in an interview I can look for if you're interested: https://davidepstein.substack.com/p/dont-let-good-ideas-get-away
As soon as I read David's phrase "to find something that stimulates you but that you couldn’t have known to look for," my mind jumped to a description of creativity from Tim Harford's book Messy. Harford likens the limits of our natural talent/ideas to "local optimum" points in a mountain range; it takes effort to get there, but it won't get you to the higher peaks you would ideally like to summit. Using examples like Keith Jarrett and Brian Eno, he says that great musicians, for example, often find that challenges or counterintuitive prompts challenge them to put things together in unexpected ways and thus end up doing some of their best work.
As a dad of several young children, I don't have the time to browse freely in bookstores like I once did, but I found a helpful heuristic that approximates this in less time: the library reservation shelves. I place online holds for titles I want--Range was one :)--and while picking up my books I also look around at the titles other people are passionate enough about to place holds on them. Of course, I am not allowed to check these books out right then, but I have found books and topics that I later reserved myself or researched.
I use to a wide range of podcasts while I am driving. If an idea jumps out at me while I am driving I flip on my voice recorded and capture a thought. I usually let the notes sit in my recorded for days or even weeks. When I looking for new ideas I listen back to the voice notes. If I find I am not getting much from a particular show I scroll the charts on Apple to test out something new.
I make Curiosity my guide and Range my proxy for exploration. Working in AI research, I usually end up conversing with other PhD students whose enthusiasms hints at that they are doing something interesting.
I found on multiple occasions that if we share curiosity, my collaborators and I can end up at novel places. To actively foster this attitude, I aim to apply what I call the barbell strategy of research, which balances low-hanging fruits while satisfying my curiosity with high-risk ideas. The barbell, inspired by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, helps me avoid too much stress, since I always have an "insurance policy," even while exploring.
Patrik, I love this. I'm used to thinking of the barbell strategy with regard to financial investing, but I think it's an even better frame for investments of time, energy, and curiosity. This will definitely stick in my head. Thanks for sharing it.
It reminds me of our conversations about constraints: pursuing a lack of constraints is what helps guide you to the most salutary constraint. Freedom leads to structure, and structure leads to freedom.
I saw Oppenheimer -- but now I want to see Tenet!
Ruth! Wonderful to see you here. (Although, I just had a sinking feeling that I may owe you an email or something...[gulp]). I just mentioned you in a comment somewhere else here, discussing editing. I was noting that I didn't expect to have you editing my newsletters, but I turned out to love having you do that. (And not just because I don't know formal grammar;)
Huzzah! It is grand to be here. Participating in the editing of these newsletters was both an honor and a joy, which I miss. Glad I still get to read them!
And let there be no sinking feeling. Email is a black hole. Run for your life towards the light of deep focus! (Though if you do ever want to discuss constraints further, I'm here;)
Hey David 👋 thanks for this post, I like the short ones that can get you thinking (and hopefully acting on the thinking). One of my favourite quotes from Range is 'we learn who we are in practice not in theory' apologies, I don't have the name of the person whom it's attributed to. But reading about your passion for reading so widely so as to discover new avenues to explore/enjoy I wonder how you manage to balance the voluminous amounts of reading and research with getting out and visiting places of interest, 'doing' things and 'practicing' if you get me. Another big balancing act I imagine? I'm an introvert myself (recently picked up Susan Cain's Quiet as it's sounds fascinating) so between that and a few other issues I struggle to get out and put the theory into practice regarding certain areas of life. Ps you referenced the start of a new book in a comment from the last post, I hope you don't feel any time pressure as the quality of your work can't be churned out quickly! Hope it's not rude to ask but I'd love to know if you have decided upon an area of interest for the book topic?
William, that's also my favorite quote! And that idea is from Herminia Ibarra. And enjoy Quiet! I refer to myself as a "Susan Cain introvert," because I felt very seen by that book. I tend to think that her approach to the topics she choose, and her style of investigating them, is about as similar to mine as any writer I can think of. (Also: she's a wonderful person, which is always a nice bonus.) Regarding the balance of reading and research and getting out and doing, to a large degree becoming a journalist basically solved that for me. I'm very curious about things, but also introverted, so traveling around talking to strangers is a great thing for me, but not my first instinct. But when I have a project, I have to do it. The reading and research ultimately leads me to people and places I realize I have to visit. And that takes a lot of energy (again: introvert), but I'm grateful to have work that pushes me to do it. I suppose one other important aspect is that I used to have a diversity of projects going at any one time, and now while I tend to have one main project, it's usually so amorphous that it encompasses a wide breadth of learning. Too wide, most of the time, which leads to my current book topic: how constraints can be useful, rather than just limiting. For me, a main, or perhaps THE main challenge of my book projects is figuring out where to draw the boundaries of the project so that the investigation feels tractable at all. There's definitely a component of "mesearch" in it, but it's also a topic, as with Range, that allows me to explore in the arts and science, and some topics that I'm interested in for my own self-improvement. As to time pressure, I always feel it. No matter the book deadline, as soon as I've signed a contract, my brain goes: "It's due tomorrow." I'm doing a much better job of balancing work and life than in my previous books (and have to, now that I'm a parent), so I guess I'll find out if I can do that while also doing a decent job on the book.
One last point that might be interesting to you: I read a book by (avowed introvert) Shonda Rhimes in which she talked about saying "yes" to everything for a year, because she usually said no to invites and wanted to use the time as a sampling period to figure out what was worth investing time in in the future. I think her "year of yes" is obviously unique and extreme, but it did nudge me to say yes more often (when I was between books) to things I'd previously said no to. I find, as an introvert, for almost anything my initial instinct is that I don't want to do it, but then once I'm there, I often love it. A party being the simplest example; my first reflex is almost always to say no, but when I go, I usually love parties by the end. So I think I just have more recognition of my own reflexes, and how they can get in my way at times.
Wow David, your considered replies always impress me, thanks so much for taking the time. That makes a lot of sense that your work as a journalist and preparing for books means you have to go to various places and meet numerous people, I remember you saying that you worked as a reporter for a newspaper covering overnight (crime related I think) work so I guess that kind of forced you out there too, I never really considered the travelling part of researching and preparing for a book, that's very interesting! I guess I had this idea of you being locked up in research mode during the whole process! I'm glad to hear that about Susan's book (and that she's a lovely person! - side note I just saw today that she had a new book out recently...) and just to mention that I recently read 'Good To Go' by Christie Aschwanden on your recommendation and I absolutely loved it! Also started 'Deep Work' by Cal Newport and really liking that too so thanks. I love books that are rigorously researched and a form of 'investigative reporting' is great too. Very excited to hear that you've come down on a book topic! Can't wait! (But actually I can which is what I meant in my above comment but I totally get the time commitments involved and deadlines must be crazy... I just noticed you had a comment after the previous post that suggested that you were a bit stressed out, I guess that goes with the territory) speaking of your book topic, it sounds nice and broad (similar to Range) and even here the idea of introversion comes to mind, I'm interested to pick up 'Quiet' now especially after your endorsement but part of the appeal was the idea that introversion need not be a negative (for some reason I think it's considered one) and for example the things that introverts are perhaps better equipped to deal with/do/even enjoy.. perhaps I'm jumping ahead in my mind and seeing a small space for an introvert discussion in your new book with Susan similar to 'learning fast and slow' with Daniel Kahneman and 'Superforecasters' and Philip Tetlock! Thanks David and I'm sure that becoming a parent will only add to your outlook and viewpoints and your writing will continue to be magnificent (no pressure meant!).
Yes! This is why I love to wonder indie bookshops and small town libraries. You often find something you didn't know you were looking for.
Victoria, I like to joke that I'm single-handedly keeping my local indie in business. Definitely not true, although I no longer have to give my name when I arrive to pick something up;) I order things there, but constantly walk out with something I didn't come for, and some of those unexpected purchases have led to writing topics for me.
Oh me too! The good news is that we have two indies in our town with a third opening up soon. That's more unstructured browsing for me. I've been thinking a lot lately about how browsing online is not really random and how it may affect creativity. I much rather spend my time in a bookstore or library.