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 (Just Evil Enough, 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:

• Why Digitizing The Government Could Save Democracy – Jamie Joyce – Win Win With Liv Boeree – YouTube. “Jaimie Joyce is one of the smartest, most engaging people I’ve ever met. We ran a Bitnorth event in Berkeley a while back, and she creates incredible art from high-voltage systems (that includes particle accelerators.) Among her many accomplishments is something called The Society Library, which, among other things, is an attempt to overcome partisanship by forcing people to understand how they disagree. So imagine my sheer joy when I found out she was on Liv Boeree‘s Win-Win Podcast. I’ve referenced Liv here before (her explanation of Moloch and perverse incentives clarified most of humanity’s biggest problems for me), and I’m a huge fan. And then imagine how that joy escalated when I found out they were talking about democracy. This is brilliant and a bit spicy, and Jaimie pulls no punches. Representation was always a scaling hack, and now that everyone can use tech to explore how and why they disagree – and find the resulting consensus to move forward. This is the future of functional societies.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Your Brain On ChatGPT: Accumulation Of Cognitive Debt When Using An AI Assistant For Essay Writing Task – arXiv – Cornell University. “Today in ‘stuff we all knew but are going to do anyway’: Using an AI to think makes thinking atrophy. In a very, very detailed study, 54 students wrote four essays while an EEG tracked brain activity. The participants were grouped according to the tools they had on hand: Some were unaided, some had access to Google search, and some had ChatGPT. In the final session, unaided students now had ChatGPT while those who had AI assistance now had to go it alone. Assisted students couldn’t even remember what they’d written, but unassisted ones who later used an AI had greater brain-wide activity in the final round. Order matters.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• Scientists In Antarctica Detect Deep-Earth Signals That Defy Known Physics – Ellyn Lapointe – Gizmodo. “Is the Ice Kraken awaking? Do you want something else to worry about?” (Hugh for Alistair).
• Could The Semicolon Die Out? Recent Analysis Finds A Decline In Its Usage In British Literature And Confusion Among U.K. Students – Sara Hashemi – Smithsonian Magazine. “The semicolon is dead; long live the semicolon.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• What’s Happening To Reading? – Joshua Rothman – The New Yorker. “I had not seen the link that Alistair chose for me this week when I decided that this would be myshare to him this week. In a word: Jinx! This isn’t just a shift… it’s a declaration: reading as we knew it is being redesigned. We’ve mistaken omnipresent text for thoughtful engagement. The AI ‘readers’ may recall more than any scholar, but they don’t feel, question, or struggle. And it’s within that friction between comprehension and confusion that real insight lives. What we stand to lose isn’t just books (which is a terrifying thought) but it’s the mental discipline that powers strategy, creativity and nuance. If we don’t fight for that, we’ll end up with soundbites and summaries masquerading as substance and the mind’s muscle atrophied. Read this as both a wake-up call and a war cry: depth matters more than ever. This is where you will also find real ’soul’ in content.” (Mitch for Alistair).
• 20 Minute Walking Meditation – Jo Hutton – Yoga For Tired People. “This is less for Hugh and more of a placeholder and reminder for myself. I’ve been feeling swampped and have really let my ritual of daily walks lapse. I’m actually quite embarrassed about it. Now, I am hoping to be able to use this audio to combine the two activities I used to always make time for, and get it all going again. About this audio: ‘Here’s something gentle for your weekend or your next break between tasks – a 20-minute walking meditation. Pop your headphones in and press play when you’re ready. You can do it on your regular walk to the shops, or in the garden, or looping round your block. You don’t have to walk slowly or look serene. This is about how you’re paying attention, not how you look doing it.’ Sounds like perfect balm for my burning soul…” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.