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I teach in higher education and am always fascinated with insight into how younger generations are functioning, thinking, processing, etc. Less so because I'm a millenial but more so because it's interesting! Often we see insight into Gen Z and Gen Alpha that incredibly skewed towards negativity and dread â as with all generations, these notions don't define a generation. Kyla Scanlon wrote a great piece Gen Z and the End of Predictable Progress, about how tech and economic shifts are shaping generational identity and opportunity. Give it a read!
Apr 4, 2025
Related Recs
This is kind of an anti-rec, more of a PSA.
If you havenât heard of the marketing research company WGSN itâs worth a deep dive.
Horrifying to see that years ago, a marketing research company predicted that weâd all be into 90s and early 2000s nostalgia, nihilism, and awe/whimsy.
The scarier part, for me, is how companies that work with these firms will prey upon individualsâ sincere interests and perspectives. Some unpaid intern from WGSN is def monitoring this app lol.
I wrestle with that competing understandings that a zeitgeist will always exist; that the transmission of preferences/ideas between people is how culture is made, with also not wanting to be unconsciously influenced by a predatory system whose only goal is to make me feel like Iâm less than and therefore push me to consume.
Sry Iâm super red pilled this morning lol.
Jul 10, 2024
i'm always getting too bleak about technology and AI, about the brain rot and disassociation and spiraling out and general cognitive decline we're all experiencing, that will only continue to worsen with time. but this essay gave me some hope
âDo you see a way out?â
âYeah, I mean .â.â. Iâm not in the business of saving the world, but it would definitely be a better and more interesting place if more people were involved in making these things. Thatâs the fundamental thing: that if more software, more buildings, more social spaces, and more everything were designed by more people, of course it would produce a more interesting and better world! ...One of Stafford Beerâs more famous and brilliant phrases was âPOSIWID,â which stands for âthe purpose of the system is what it does.â Itâs a kind of maxim of cybernetics. And itâs very good for diagnosing systems. Instead of saying, Oh, we have a democratic system, we have an education system, you say, The purpose of the system is what it does. And what our society produces is people who are undereducated, or just educated enough to perform specific tasksâthe way to get a good education is to study something that has this high economic value. Apart from that, you are pretty fucked. The purpose of the system is to reproduce the existing power dynamics of that system again and again. That is what it does. Society has no interest in educating you in how technology works. Because then you make your own technology, and you make different technology, and you upset the economic power balance and so forth. But it is doable, and people are doing it all the time. You can do it yourself.â
May 30, 2025
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The way people are parodying presentations is so interesting to me. I'm always curious to see the topics people work on.
Oct 14, 2024
Top Recs from @izzy72
Everyone has one â the OG in your vanity, the tried-and-true product you've used for years, lugged in every purse, and it continues to hit, every single time. Mine is the Vaseline lip therapy from any drug store. It lasts forever, it's hydrating, non-greasy, and easy to pack. Long live Vaseline.
Apr 20, 2025
I keep a standing calendar date with my long-distance friend. At first I made the typical excuses â "My schedule changes all the time", "I'm really busy", "I'll try to make it", "maybe when terms up"....thank god for this friend b/c she did not let me slack. Rarely do we cancel and it's actually fantastic. We have our own little rules for the gathering (no course prep, no admin, no emails) only writing/research/making.
FIND FRIENDS THAT KEEP YOU ACCOUNTABLE AND THAT SUPPORT YOU
May 2, 2025
I rarely follow people on Spotify (did you know you can do that?) but I will follow Kelsie x The Yellow Button straight off the cliff. Every playlist is a curated banger. https://open.spotify.com/user/herzogk12?si=b8c3cf147296420e
May 2, 2025