Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

• Wolfendale’s Troll – Deontologistics. “Roko’s Basilisk is a sort of litmus test. If you’ve never heard of it, you’re not part of the AI cult. If you have, then you may know it’s a pact. It goes like this: If you’re aware that it’s possible to create a God-like AI with superhuman intelligence, but choose not to work towards such a goal, then the entity could punish you for not helping it once it emerges (sometimes the punishment involves forcing those people to live in a horrible virtual world). Scare tactic or thought experiment, some people take it really seriously. I rather like this take: A superhuman creature that only resurrects people into a utopia if they don’t take Roko’s Basilisk seriously, because those who do are no fun. While I’m team Troll, it’s definitely weird that the most powerful people in the world spend their time on these ideas instead of, say, fixing climate change or working towards world peace.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Do We Even Have The Spine To Sacrifice, Just A Little Bit? – John Batelle’s Searchblog. “Two hundred years ago, 450 of every 1000 children died before hitting puberty. Most of the world lived in what we would describe today as abject poverty. Literacy was rare. By comparison, we have it pretty good today: Not only are we mostly fed, clothed, and sheltered, we have bread and circuses at our fingertips, our phones explaining anything to us and connecting us to anyone, helping us to navigate our worlds. In other words, we have it pretty good. But as John Battelle points out, those things didn’t come easy – and aren’t guaranteed to stick around. ‘It’s now political suicide to ask the public to make sacrifices of any kind,’ he says, and I tend to agree.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• Viruses Finally Reveal Their Complex Social Life – Quanta. “Are viruses ‘life’? … they certainly are interesting.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• The Biggest Ever Review Of Behavior Change Efforts Has Dropped (And It’s Not Good News) – Matt Furness – LinkedIn. “The University of Pennsylvania published a comprehensive study on how to change behaviours in organizations. According to this research, the general organizational change playbook does next to nothing: Teaching skills doesn’t do much, imparting knowledge doesn’t do much, even motivation doesn’t change behavior. What works? Changing habits. How do you do that? Material incentives, social feedback loops, and easy access.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• Rizwan Virk – Joe Rogan Experience #2151 – YouTube. “Admittedly, whenever I hear about the topic, ‘are we living in a simulation?’ I eye roll (hard). Recently, a friend asked me if I had seen the Joe Rogan podcast with Rizwan Virk. I was not familiar with Rizawan and had not listened to the episode. ‘Just listen… trust me…’ was their response. So I did. Now… well… I don’t know… but here is some really fascinating thinking from someone who seems quite convinced that we may be living in a simulation (hello, The Matrix). Now, regardless of how you feel about this topic… try it on. I’ve become very open to spending some serious time with thinkers and concepts that I was quick to dismiss. I’m trying to both break my echo chamber and open my mind to ideas that I may not agree with. I highly recommend this.” (Mitch for Alistair).

• Turn It Up! – Grapevine Documentaries – YouTube. “It should come as no surprise to you that I just love documentaries. Especially music documentaries. A personal favorite is the 2008 guitar documentary, It Might Get Loud (even if you know nothing about music, just watch the scene that has Jimmy Page  jamming on some classic Led Zeppelin riffs as The Edge and Jack White watch him with faces that scream, ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me!’). I came across Turn It Up! the other night. While not as compelling as It Might Get Loud, it’s an excellent deep dive into the history of the electric guitar. It’s star-studded and fact-filled… and free to watch on YouTube.” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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