Trevor McKendrick - People prefer order

Hi all,

I hope you enjoyed a splendid Thanksgiving.

As a reminder, I’m helping people apply to & interview with YC. If you want a practice interview or advice on your application, let me know.

Trevor

People want order: the vibe shift against dogs (article, paywalled, I only read the sample)

“A couple ignoring trail rules to bring an emotional support dog on their hike is no longer the default good guy.”

There has been a noticeable vibe shift. People are now okay demanding order. There are rules to follow, and those rules exist for a reason. It is now okay to express wanting people to follow those rules, even towards groups (e.g. dog owners) who in recent history have gotten a huge pass.

Because of my current company Seis & having lived in Oaxaca, Mexico, I know a ton of latinos who’ve moved to the US. They almost universally love the US, and I always try to ask what most surprised them when they got here.

The answer is very often some version of: people follow the rules here.

Drivers stay in their lanes. People don’t block intersections. Everything is clean.

There’s a healthy tension in any society between mandating that everyone follow every rule to the letter (e.g. Singapore) and having rules written down but not following them (Russia?)

I think historically the US has gotten this right: we have reasonable norms around what rules everyone must follow, but we still celebrate the people who do their own things and become their own persons. I also think we’ve shifted the norms in recent years for a few specific groups (e.g. dog owners!) that are now coming back.

The brutality (or lack thereof) of slavery was influenced by economics (article)

“Historical evidence suggests that the brutality of slavery was shaped by production systems and crop requirements, rather than solely by individual malice.”

Two couples that had IVF babies had the embryos planted in the wrong mom, i.e. they had each other’s babies (article)

This is an insane story.

Basically Mom 1 had Mom 2’s baby, and Mom 2 had Mom 1’s baby. They didn’t know until 2-3 months in.

They only lived 10 minutes away from each other, and decided to switch the babies.

Share the newsletter…

Here’s a link to today’s newsletter: https://ckarchive.com/b/wvu2hgh5z25pei9r552rqtn38mkxxa8

Sign up for the newsletter…

If you got this from a friend, you can sign up to get the newsletter for free every Monday morning here