Dear Newsletterest,

It is just three months until the launch of my next book and I’m happy to share that I just released an exclusive excerpt you can read now »

My co-author and I are also offering a chance to unlock a digital copy of the full book for FREE just by submitting a one word review. Feel free to be as creative as you like with your one word, I can’t wait to see what you share and to hear what you think about the book (hit reply to email me directly)!

In non-obvious stories this week, you’ll read about a third thumb device, the rise of anti-vegan beauty, how Dr. Pepper beat out Pepsi to become the number two soda after Coke and who researchers suggest are the primary super sharers of misinformation in America.

Enjoy the book excerpt and the stories, and always stay curious!

Rohit

Share One Word To Get Featured On The Back Cover Of My New Book!

On September 10th, my new book will hit bookstores (preorder link) but right now, we are launching our one word book review program and chance to get a free exclusive digital copy of the book. Here's how to participate:

For those of you who know my decade-long Non-Obvious trend series, this book was written to be a prequel that outlines a step by step method to helping anyone learn to be a more non-obvious thinker. It also features more than 80 illustrations and lots of practical advice on how to shift your perspective.

Read the excerpt, share your one word review and let us know what you think about the book!

*Note - you can opt out of consideration for the back cover if you prefer to just share your review and read the book without participating in the campaign.

Adapting To A Third Thumb Is Surprisingly Easy For People, Which Is Good News For Humanity

For the past few years, researchers at the University of Cambridge have been testing a wearable device known as the third thumb. The tool straps to your wrist and the movements of this extra appendage are controlled by sensors placed under your left and right big toes. Applying pressure on one side moves the thumb either up or down and while the other side allows you to grasp or ungrasp an item. From these instructions, you might think a tool like this would be unwieldy and difficult to learn for most people. You'd be wrong.

Across extensive testing with hundreds of people of different ages, the researchers concluded that the human brain can adapt surprisingly easily using a method like this to control an extra thumb. And the insight that we might quickly embrace enhancements like this, could also mean that similar future innovations may see lower resistance and get adopted more quickly, which in turn could spur even more new ideas and faster research cycles.

In a world where often the pace of positive change is held back solely by how quickly we humans are able to embrace it … the idea that all of us may be more adaptable than we seem feels like a conclusion worth sharing and celebrating.

AI Subscriptions Based On Usage Are Coming Sooner Than You Think

This past week, ChatGPT went down for all users. According to Gizmodo, "OpenAI’s outages have become somewhat common, which makes it difficult for people to rely on ChatGPT in their workdays." Now that OpenAI estimates that the free version of ChatGPT has about 100 million weekly active users and there are a growing number of reports revealing just how much energy is already being used to power AI tools.

In the near future, it is likely that the cost of using AI tools may soon be tied to usage, similar to how paying for website hosting is based on web traffic. When this happens more of us may be forced to ask whether we really need or want AI to do a task? In this future, foregoing using AI for a task could be akin to skipping the plastic bag at checkout to save the environment or to save money. If the costs or negative environmental impacts begin to soar (as they are already showing signs of doing) it could also lead to more discussions of AI conservation, reducing our individual consumption of processing power in the same way we talk about reducing our carbon footprint.

The Unpredictable Gamble of Collecting Vintage Toys

If you are a child of the 80s, this week's story of the latest vintage toy to sell for over half a million dollars (a Star Wars Boba Fett action figure) will probably cause you more than a few pangs of regret. What if you had kept those action figures in mint condition instead of tossing them off your roof trying to make them fly? Or, um, some other less specifically destructive memory.

Every time a toy like this sells, it makes me wonder the same question: what current toy might be worth buying and holding onto for decades until it could also command a big auction price for being "vintage"?

It's a tough question to reverse engineer, particularly if you consider the backstory of the Boba Fett as a case study. It turns out, the exorbitant selling price in this case only came because the toy was a rare mistake from the production line combined with a product recall that made it extremely rare. Given the luck required, there are probably more reliable ways to make a buck … like by inventing a story about a haunted rubber duck.

The Rise of Anti-Vegan Beauty

The idea of vegan beauty products is undeniably appealing for many people. Products that are sourced without animal byproducts are supposedly more natural, better for the environment and healthier for you. It's one of the reasons why more than 86% of consumers say that they want more vegan beauty products. Yet in beauty, just like in food, vegan products may not be the healthy or environmentally friendly heroes they are promoted to be.

Marin Skincare is a startup in Maine that produces lotions using the proteins found in upcycled lobster shells. Australian brand Lanolips uses an animal fat "humanely sourced from Australian sheep farmers" to make their lip balms. Fatco uses beef tallow, a byproduct of the meat industry, in their deodorants to help with dryness. Each of these startups are eco-friendly, using materials that would ordinarily be wasted ... yet none are technically vegan.

As awareness and demand for products with origin stories like these continues to grow, fashion industry insiders are pointing to an emerging appreciation of "anti-vegan beauty" products as a trend to watch. Driven by the “secretly selfish” choices people make for products they love, this shift will be one to watch for anyone working in retail, fashion or a related industry.

How Dr. Pepper Beat Pepsi To Become The Number Two Soda Brand

The Coke vs. Pepsi battle has been a branding rivalry that has defined soda sales for the past hundred years. What you might not know is that for most of that time, coming in at a close third place was Dr. Pepper ... until now. This year for the first time, the brand inched out Pepsi to become the second most popular soda by sales in the US.

The victory is being credited to Dr. Pepper's aggressive expansions into trying unusual flavors, their creative marketing programs and perhaps most importantly, the fact that they are not locked out of venues by exclusive distribution deals the same way that both Coke and Pepsi do to each other. Fast food brands have Coke or Pepsi. Stadiums generally pick one as well. As a result, both of those major brands keep one another's growth held in check.

Dr. Pepper seems to have used this fact to grow its own market share, and in the process offer the rest of us a valuable business lesson. Sometimes, it’s better to be willing to work with everyone instead of relentlessly pursuing exclusive deals in an attempt to keep your competitors from doing the same.

Even More Non-Obvious Stories …

Every week I always curate more stories than I'm able to explore in detail. Instead of skipping those stories, I started to share them in this section so you can skim the headlines and click on any that spark your interest:

How are these stories curated?