The Long Game 72: Air Quality, the Cream of Life, Science Fictions, Getting Luck on Your Side
The Long Game 72: Air Quality, the Cream of Life, Science Fictions, Getting Luck on Your Side🎰 The Bet, India's Plan to Counter China, MET Gala, Saudi Arabia's Oil Problem, App Fuel, and Much More!Hi there, it’s Mehdi Yacoubi, co-founder at Vital and this is The Long Game Newsletter. To receive it in your inbox each week, subscribe here: 📣 We are hiring at Vital, help us build the “Strava for Health.” We are currently looking for:
We are offering $1,000 in Bitcoin if you refer to us a candidate we end up hiring. In this episode, we explore:
Let’s dive in! 🥑 Health🌬 Air QualityThere are so many things in our environment that impact our health and wellbeing. I’ve been focusing on diet, exercise, and practices one can do to optimize their healthspan. I haven’t been thinking much about ambient things like air quality. I recently came across this article about air quality, and I learned many things that can be valuable to all.
The crazy thing is that even if it’s the most critical health factor, air quality isn’t covered as much as diet, exercising, etc. I didn’t know how harmful small particles can be for health:
The article is long and detailed, but the author was kind enough to provide a TL;DR for the busiest of us. Here’s what you can do to optimize your air quality:
I was surprised that Barcelona, where I just settled, has very poor air quality. I will be paying much more attention to this topic in the coming months, expect air quality to be a recurring topic on The Long Game. If you have experience in this topic, let me know the tools you like and the habits that helped you! 🌱 Wellness🍦 The Cream of Your LifeI found this framing from Murakami simple and beautiful.
🧠 Better Thinking🧪 Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype in ScienceI found Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype in Science in a bookshop this weekend, and I had it on my list for a while, so I picked it up. It’s an attempt at describing the biggest problems in science right now and their solutions. The book also covers how to read a scientific paper. I linked to many resources examining the problems with science and academia over the weeks because it’s the meta-problem that, if fixed, would lead to very big improvements in our understanding of the world. I haven’t finished the book yet, and I’ll cover it more in the future, but here are some interesting resources if you’re interested in the topic of good vs. bad science, and how to read scientific papers: p-hacking:
"If you torture the data for long enough, it'll confess to anything."
Academics get around the Bias Against Null Results by performing many statistical tests on data until a significant result is found then recording only this.
p-hacking is largely why we have a... ⚡️ Startup Stuff🎲 Getting Luck on Your SideWe’ve talked multiple times about the question of luck vs. hard work in the newsletter. This topic quickly shifts to politics, but in short, I believe that although initial conditions (family, genes, etc.) matter a lot, a person still has a significant amount of agency to make things happen. I found this piece about the four kinds of luck by Marc Andreessen worth sharing.
Then, the article describes the four different types of luck, from random events happening, to things that happen because of a specific attitude a person adopted. In short, Marc Andreessen explains that there is a roadmap to getting luck on your side, and it depends on:
I experimented with those over the past two years, and I can confirm that those general points work and lead to a luckier life. Finally, I find this tweet thought-provoking 👇 📚 What I Read🏦 Glenn Greenwald on the MET GalaOn the hypocrisy of AOC’s dress:
🎰 The Bet, by Anton CheckhovI loved this short fiction story by Anton Checkhov. Here’s how it starts:
🛣 Sticking With the PlanA necessary reminder by Fred Wilson:
🎙 Podcast Episodes of the WeekThis week in podcasts:
🍭 Brain Food🥩 Lab-Grown MeatAlmost every month, some news about lab-grown meat makes the headlines for a few days, but it seems that the whole industry always fails to deliver. This is a great article to understand what’s currently happening in the industry and what the challenges are:
I know Joshua March is tackling the problem with a new approach at Artemys Foods. I look forward to tasting their products soon. Everything in this article is true and rarely talked about in the cultivated meat industry. There are massive barriers to cost & scale; and most companies in the space don’t have real plans on how to overcome them (we do at @ArtemysFoods - we’re fans of the Humbird paper!). https://t.co/Oc1BUB5kG9 Jesse Hirsch @Jesse_Hirsch Lab-grown meat for the masses is being hyped as inevitable and imminent, while virtually all available research shows vast, nearly insurmountable barriers standing in the way. If you read one piece on cell-cultured meat, make it this one from @joefassler: https://t.co/zSCdJ4xvuJ🎥 What I’m Watching🇮🇳 India’s Masterplan to Counter ChinaI’m ‘long India’ for the 21st century. It will be a major power and a source of innovation. This video is an interesting explanation of how India plans to counter China by developing new trade routes and alliances between Asia, Africa, and Europe. 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia’s Oil ProblemSimilar to most countries with huge oil reserves, Saudi Arabia is struggling to diversify its economy. Following the example of the UAE, Saudi Arabia is trying to modernize its society to attract foreign investment, but the Jamal Khashoggi murder is a massive obstacle in the country’s PR efforts. 🔧 The Tool of the Week📱 The App FuelIf you’re building an app or thinking of building an app in the future, the App Fuel is an excellent resource for UX/UI inspiration and examples. What’s your favorite mobile app, and what apps do you think Vital could get inspiration from? Let me know! 🪐 Quote I’m Pondering
If you enjoyed this newsletter, make sure to subscribe if you haven’t 👇 👋 EndNoteThanks for reading! If you like The Long Game, please share it on social media or forward this email to someone who might enjoy it. Podcast reviews are also gratefully received. You can also “like” this newsletter by clicking the heart just below this, which helps me get visibility on Substack. Feel free to email me or find me on Twitter if you have any feedback or questions. Until next week, Mehdi Yacoubi PS: Lots of newsletters get stuck in Gmail’s Promotions tab. If you find it in there, please help train the algorithm by dragging it to Primary. It makes a big difference. If you liked this post from The Long Game by Mehdi Yacoubi, why not share it? |
Key phrases
Older messages
The Long Game 71: The Price of One More Healthy Year, Measuring Life, Early Setbacks, UX Research
Monday, September 20, 2021
💊 Getting Crypto-Pilled, Web3, Japan Tech, Social Habits, India's Private Town, and Much More!
The Long Game 70: Free Time & Happiness, Health Optimization, Dopamine, Optionality
Monday, September 13, 2021
📈 Inevitable Trends that Will Shape the Future, Eating disorders, Zen, Supplement Reviews, China, Anxiety and Much More!
The Long Game 69: Altos Labs, Chemical Hunger, Obsessive Walking & Great Thinking, Próspera
Monday, September 6, 2021
📱 Social 3.0, Web3 Resources, Chinese Debt Crisis, Epistemic Wellbeing, the Metaverse, and Much More!
The Long Game 68: Zone 2 Training, the Efficiency Trap, Mimetic Desire, Optimism, Tote Bags
Monday, August 30, 2021
🥛 Whole Milk, Maybe, the Streetlight Effect, How Afghanistan Became a Failed State, Anti-Doping, and Much More!
The Long Game 67: Vital, Smartphones & Wellbeing, Seeing the Future, Remote Work
Monday, August 23, 2021
🌐 The Metaverse, Climate Change, Time Dilation, Afghanistan, Parasocial Relationships, Reveri, and Much More!
You Might Also Like
The Perils of Writing on the Train (and How it Made Someone’s Week Better)
Friday, April 19, 2024
The silver lining that crushed the cloud of grey
Closes Tonight • World Book Day Promo for Authors • Email Newsletter + Tweets + FB Posts
Friday, April 19, 2024
Book promo on 4/23/24 for World Book Day Join ContentMo's World Book Day Promotion #WorldBookDay is April 23rd each year. ContentMo is running a special promo on 4/23/24 for World Book Day
🎤 SWIPES Email (Friday April 19th, 2024)
Friday, April 19, 2024
The SWIPES Email Edition: Friday, April 19th, 2024 An educational (and fun) email by Copywriting Course. Enjoy! 🎤 Listen to this email here: Swipe: I propose a toast to the single-image-that
Welcome AI to Your Team
Friday, April 19, 2024
Put the GPT Store on your must-visit list.
👕 Fresh ideas for making $ with dirty clothes
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Ever seen a VIP red carpet for a laundromat? How this wealth manager is building a modern laundry biz Hey Contrarians, The stocks-to-socks career path isn't all that common — but it does exist. We
Closes Tomorrow • World Book Day Promo for Authors • Email Newsletter + Tweets + FB Posts
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Book promo on 4/23/24 for World Book Day Join ContentMo's World Book Day Promotion #WorldBookDay is April 23rd each year. ContentMo is running a special promo on 4/23/24 for World Book Day
3-2-1: Two ways to grow, how to criticize, and a simple recipe for finding good opportunities
Thursday, April 18, 2024
3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week.
Course update: Digital Psychology and Behavioral Design
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Emotions are what ultimately motivate people to act. So if your product or website is not pulling on the right emotions for customers to buy, nothing will convince them. But there's a way to use
Justin Welsh Joins an All-Star Lineup at CEX
Thursday, April 18, 2024
New speakers announced at CEX! Discount code inside.
Ahrefs’ Digest #179: HARO’s demise, sea of sameness in SEO, and more
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Our meme of the week: Major ouch! 📰 News & updates Google unplugs “Notes on search”: It's ending May 2024. Google updates Merchant Center product data specifications: A whole bunch of changes,