Trevor McKendrick - Can we talk to whales?

Hi all,

Last week was my birthday.

Is it just me, or no matter how old you get your birthday always feel a little bit special? Everything goes just a little better, you smile a little more, and the world feels a touch lighter.

It occurred to me that that’s all just happening in my head, and literally every day could feel like my birthday.

I think the only difference is you have to decide to make the choice. You make it happen, versus waiting for the feeling to appear.

This is how I felt with my Optimism 2020 campaign. Every day felt better because I was choosing to make it so.

Have a fantastic week.

Trevor

Notes from a Sun Tzu Skeptic (article)

Advice & business books have mostly been bullshit for much longer than previously thought!

The man who walked around the world: Tom Turkish on his seven-year search for the meaning of life (article)

I was surprisingly touched by this. Some of the most life-impacting moments for me came during my 2 years living in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Talking to strangers all day in a foreign world will do more to change your POV then reading a hundred books IMO. I wish everyone got to have some similar type of experience when they’re young.

Spanish climber gets back from 500 days living in a cave (article)

It was an experiment & she had a team that was making sure she had food, was healthy, etc., but still super coo.

500 days with no news – she didn’t know Russia had invaded Ukraine!

What do we need to talk to whales (article)

It scares me a little that there’s a few animals that could potentially be as smart as us, or maybe very close. Some whales fit that category.

A full body keyboard (github project)

Check out the gif - takes 2 seconds.

Fun project that I’m happy exists regardless of practicality!

Take a placebo! (article)

“More than 25 studies now offer evidence that placebos can regulate mild and acute emotional pain, with medium to large effect sizes, in both healthy and clinical populations, a review from this year noted.”

Mark Zuckerberg interview at their offices in 2005(?) (youtube)

Note that he didn’t see it being all that big back then. Colleges only. He even makes the point of why they wanted to focus only on colleges (it would make the experience worse if they brought on other types of users… and he was right!)

I don’t think any billion dollar founder really knew the size of what their thing would become when they started. Not Bezos. Not Zuckerberg. Not even Steve Jobs.

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