Welcome to the second episode of Posterity. This recording already incorporates lots of lessons learned from episode 1, and we took a lot away from recording this one as well. Continue to send us your feedback, we now have an email: [email protected]  - Cedric & Zi.  Show Notes:  # 1a. Lessons from our first episode  - Active listening and answering questions; the difference between giving context and substance. - Is what I am saying substantial in any way, or is it rambling - The difference between theoretical discussions, personal opinion, and adding value? - Interviewing each other, rather than having a conversation? - Is our dialogue structured enough, or is it mindlessly developing? - What is more fun for the listener? - Envision the podcast as a journey, an epic adventure. The listener isn't simply along for the ride but listeners in eager anticipation of the trials, tribulations, and ultimately conclusion to this 1-hour fable. The listener is captivated. - What's waiting for the listener beyond the 15 minute mark? Why should they stick around? What do we seek to accomplish in this hour? - Direction for the episode. A goal, and roughly how we'll get there (tools/references, structure) for the episode.   - Idea of key takeaways - how do we operationalise this concept? - define desired takeaways beforehand? - Summarise key takeaways at end? Recorded after 'main' podcast recorded? - Perfectionism, why are we taking so long to release our episodes? - Fear of failure?  Key takeaway: Structure & Preparation.  # 1b. Deep Reading and Deep Listening  "The medium is the message" - Marshall McLuhan  We discuss the following lessons: 1. Do the reading. - Few people in life actually do the reading, a lot of people rely on summaries and received opinions - and a talent to bullshitting.  2. Drive to efficiency. - Time is scarce, people focus on efficiency. - Silicon Valley view of the mind: a computer, the more you input, the more you get out.  3. Allowing Ideas to Grow: Deep Reading & Listening. - Reading and or listening to people closely, taking the time. - To learn something, to accept an idea, you need to be open to doing so.  4. Competition for attention: distracting from ideas, details and deep communication. - Technological distractions, errands, tasks, etc. - Listening is hard.  5. How you act in a conversation is how others will act back at you. - People know when you listen to them, they know whether your questions, thoughts and answers are informed by what they just said (or have said in the past). - In social media, conversations collapse down to mere position taking. # 2. Freedom of Speech & Extradition "But no matter: anyone who effectively challenges U.S. power must and will be crushed. That is because freedom of speech and press and other civic guarantees are granted only to those who refrain from meaningfully challenging the U.S. ruling class" Lessons & Thoughts: - They will continue to believe blissfully that the society in which they live guarantees core civic freedoms — of speech, of press, of assembly, of due process — because they have rendered their own speech and activism, if it exists at all, so innocuous that nobody with the capacity to do so would bother to try to curtail it. “Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.” # 3. Donald Trump being blocked from Twitter.  - Is it okay for private corporations to block spokespeople of the government? - How much power to these corporations have? - Amazon taking down Parler, the definition of monopoly power?

Welcome to Posterity. In this podcast Zi and Cedric discuss various topics, from social science, self-help books, issues in politics and society, to random things that come to mind. In many ways, this podcast is an experiment. In the first segment of each episode we typically review how our previous episode went, and areas to improve. This is a deep dive into how we converse and communicate, and we incorporate feedback from our listeners to make this work. The second segment unpacks an issue, while the third segment is usually more trivial. The goal is to improve on a weekly basis, and with that we mean improving everything. The quality of the recordings, our conversation, and the content we discuss. This first episode is rather unpolished, with lots of lessons learned that we incorporated into our 2nd episode.  Shoutout to Alex Cretallaz-Speich for composing our intro theme, you did beautiful work. Check out his label Ruby Room on Instagram.  An overview of our first episode: Introducing Posterity Deciding on the name Posterity.  Structuring the podcast, why 3 themes per week? Quick review of our previous recording. While not released publicly, we did a test episode prior to recording this one.  Introduction of 3 themes for the week. 1. Range by David Epstein Theme Overview: Roger Federer vs. Tiger woods. Roger played all sorts of different sports as a child/teen (skiing, wrestling, swimming, skateboarding). Tiger focused on Golf, or Golf related skills from as early as 10 months. Tiger was engaging in "deliberate practice", the idea that hours and hours of repeated practice beginning young is the key to a 'head-start'. The 10,000h rule represents a similar idea and logic. Roger was the exact opposite: "people who start broad and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives while they progress" (Epstein 2019, p. 14). "The Cult of the Head Start" - parents encouraging/forcing their kids to begin early. Prime example: children learning instruments from the age of 2. "How the Wicked World Was Made" - explored Soviet Development, the notion that as more schools were built, and teaching implemented, the way people thought about problems changed. Individuals from under-developed remote villages would tackle abstract problems very differently than those educated. Remote villagers relied solely on experience, refusing to adopt abstract thinking. "Learning Fast and Slow" - students who struggle while learning retain more information than those who receive hints, grasp concepts quickly, or memorize rather than understand. 2. Fear and Polarization in Public and Private Discourses Theme Overview: Fear of Poverty Fear of Dictatorship Fear of the Virus Lessons & Thoughts Are fears primal? Are we conscious of our fears when we discuss the pandemic? Are the current measures justifiable using all 3 notions of fear, or just fear of the virus? 3. Fireworks vs. Drone Displays Theme Overview: What excites us about fireworks? Original intentions: noise, light, smoke, and floating materials (confetti). Secondary effects: anticipation, excitement, awe, a sense of "action". Fireworks are also rare, and typically associated with NYE. What excites us about drones, and light displays?