Jason Crawford: Mundanity of Excellence, Curse of Xanadu, Evolvable Systems, Fast Food, Dinosaurs Died
Our curator this week is Jason Crawford (@jasoncrawford). Jason is the founder of the Roots of Progress Institute, a nonprofit building a culture of progress for the 21st century. His forthcoming book The Techno-Humanist Manifesto will be published by MIT Press. Vox named him to their "Future Perfect 50" list alongside Will MacAskill and Jennifer Doudna, and his newsletter has over 50,000 subscribers.
Please enjoy these words that have mattered to Jason.
Jason's Picks
The Mundanity of Excellence
An ethnography of competitive swimmers, with deep lessons for what excellence is and how to achieve it: "Excellence is mundane. Excellence is accomplished through the doing of actions, ordinary in themselves, performed consistently and carefully, habitualized, compounded together, added up over time."
The Curse of Xanadu
On the surface, this is a piece of tech history, a story of a dramatic failure. But look closer, and you can find deep philosophical insight.
In Praise of Evolvable Systems
The fundamental standards of web technology have seemingly absurd limitations and inefficiencies—but those limitations are exactly what allowed them to flourish.
Luck and the Entrepreneur: The four kinds of luck
One of those articles I find myself recommending to people constantly.
Notes on Progress
Thoughts on the concept of human progress and how we think about it today.
In Praise of Fast Food
A brilliant, eloquent shattering of any romanticization of the "natural" food that people ate in the past.
The Really Big One
Why the US Pacific Northwest is due for a massive earthquake/tsunami.
The Day the Dinosaurs Died
The fascinating story of a paleontological site from the Chicxulub meteor impact.
Aphantasia: How It Feels To Be Blind In Your Mind
How Blake Ross learned, in his 30s, that he had aphantasia—the inability to form images in your mind.
Spotlight on Jason's Work
Slaying the Speckled Monster
This is the story of smallpox—and how we killed it.
Iron: From Mythical to Mundane
What is steel? Why is it so hard to make?