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: 

• Flow Lenia. “I’ve always loved cellular automata, and Conway’s Game of Life: Simple patterns on a grid, changed by a fixed set of rules, produce complex, almost poignant behaviours: The lone shape flying off into the void; a shape that twitches endlessly; two shapes locked in a dance; a shape that gives birth to itself, then dies. What if we could make much more complex shapes, that behaved according to more complicated rules? What would happen when we set them free to compete on a virtual Petri dish? These patterns are beautiful — but would also make any biologist nod in recognition. We already live online a third of the time; how soon until digital bugs infest the place?” (Alistair for Hugh).
• WTF Happened To The Fifth Element? – JoBlo Originals – YouTube. “Die Hard, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and The Long Kiss Goodnight are the best Christmas flicks. I will not be debating this; it is a simple fact. And when it comes to science fiction, it’s hard to beat The Fifth Element. Lately I’ve been watching YouTube videos like WTF Happened and It Was A Shit Show for some behind-the-scenes details on films I loved. If you adored this Luc Besson space action comedy—and you did, trust me—you’ll probably find how it got made interesting too.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• Michael Muthukrishna On Developing A Theory Of Everyone – Sean Carroll’s Mindscape. “Michael Muthukrishna believes that we are close to having enough understanding of human psychology, genetics, and behavioral economics to really understand how societies work or should work. Maybe?” (Hugh for Alistair).
• Are Pet Cloners Happy With Their Choice? – The Atlantic. “What happens when a pet dies and you clone it? Do you move on to the new one with no grief?” (Hugh for Mitch).
• Leaving X and Social Media Behind – Team Human. “If you’ve been playing along in this space with us for any amount of time, you will know how much I admire and respect the thinking of Media Theorist, Douglas Rushkoff. This is a rant from his latest podcast episode, and he makes some interesting connections that I don’t think we’ve heard (in this way) about what social media… and what it has become. I’m not going to lie… I’ve been feeling down in the dumps about my social media feed for some time. tldr: All of my ‘friends’ are really just marketing to me… and the product that they’re marketing is (mostly) how great their lives are… or things they sell (that I should buy). It’s not something new (to me), but it’s becoming more and more overt… and the volume is deafening. I’m probably not saying this as well as I could (and, unlike Doug I have no plans to quit social media). Thankfully, here comes Doug with some really interesting perspectives that wind us through culture, cancel culture, wokism, current political issues, war and more. Take a listen…” (Mitch for Alistair). 
• Konstantin Kisin’s full speech to world leaders at ARC Conference 2023 – Alliance For Responsible Citizenship – YouTube. “Last week, I shared some important links from the Triggernometry Podcast (which I am still spending a lot of time digging into). One of the podcast’s co-hosts is Konstantin Kisin. He’s a stand-up comedian and author who seems to have found his flow with this podcast. A bright and curious mind… someone not afraid to take a side and have an opinion. And, while you don’t have to agree with everything that he says, this speech dives and treads around the value of optimism in a world that feels so bleak. I’m sure there is also something contentious about the concept of ‘free speech’ nowadays (and, some political types who will weaponize the idea and/or make it sound like it’s a wrong or oppressive concept). I, for one, believe in free speech… but I am also leery when it comes to the blurred line that can cross into hate speech. But, that’s a conversation for another day…” (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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