Friday Links 09-01-23

From the Web

How Much Money Do You Need – An interesting perspective from Chris Guillebeau as he explores the three ways you can plan you finances. In running this website, I have a lot of flexibility for income, depending on how much I want to work and where I want to put my focus. But if my goals for money aren’t tied to my lifestyle, I might end up broke or burning myself out to make money I don’t need.

Interview with Me – I did an interview with Alex Shalman for a podcast recently.  Check it out.

Ben Casnocha and Cal Newport – Two of my favorite bloggers have a video conversation. Great thoughts about being interesting versus impressive, and what it means to be successful.

Learn Any Language in Three Months – Great words from the octolingual Tim Ferriss about learning any language.  It’s definitely worth the read for anyone who wants to learn another language.

From the Archives

How to Develop a Thicker Skin – “Doing just about anything important means you need to shovel through a lot of garbage, criticism and abuse. You can’t let the comments of other people derail you from your goals.”

From the Shelf

Brave New World – I didn’t enjoy this book as much as Nineteen Eighty-Four. The central theme is about how technology will can create a destabilizing force on society, requiring state intervention. This state intervention will result not in the chaining and imprisonment of culture (as in Nineteen Eighty-Four), but in rendering culture impotent and meaningless.

I agree with the concern that instead of a culture where people are oppressed, it is more likely that a culture will develop where people don’t care. However, I don’t believe technology will be the culprit. Technology (especially innovations unknown to Huxley such as the internet) are a wonderfully liberating invention, giving people more power of information, knowledge and meaning.