Tim Ferriss - 5-Bullet Friday — October 29, 2021

5-Bullet Friday

Hi All!

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Bullet Friday,” a list of what I’m pondering and exploring.

What I’m reading —
“Revisiting The 4-Hour Workweek: How Tim Ferriss’s 2007 manifesto anticipated our current moment of professional upheaval” by Cal Newport (The New Yorker). This Instagram post from The New Yorker does a good job of teasing it: “In 2007, Tim Ferriss published a book called The 4-Hour Workweek. In it he argued that the busyness of the pre-recession 2000s—when everyone was acquiring mortgages to be repackaged into debt instruments, or typing furiously into suddenly ubiquitous BlackBerrys—was nonsense. If you concentrated on the efforts that actually mattered, Ferriss suggested, your professional contributions could be compressed into a handful of efficiently planned weekly hours. The rest was just for show. Ferriss’s book ‘delivered a prophecy that many were not yet receptive to,’ Cal Newport writes. ‘The pandemic has changed this reality.’”

Person I’m studying —
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. I wanted to further study this amazing genius after my recent conversation with polymath Noah Feldman. Easter egg: anyone notice the Roam Research logo in the statue?

Short animated film I’m watching —
Destino. From Wikipedia (bolding is mine): “Destino is an animated short film released in 2003 by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Destino is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion in 2003. The project was originally a collaboration between Walt Disney and Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí, and features music written by Mexican songwriter Armando Domínguez and performed by Mexican singer Dora Luz. It was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2003.” This is precisely as bizarre as you’d hope it to be.

Newsletter I’m subscribing to —
The Microdose from Michael Pollan and the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. Description: “Every Friday, The Microdose will bring you a handful of brief takes on developments in the field of psychedelics, covering everything from scientific research and policy to business and culture. On Mondays, a second installment will offer a Q & A with a newsmaker in the field—it might be a person you’ve heard of or someone you need to know about. Our goal is to keep you up-to-date and informed, whether you’re in the field or simply curious. The newsletter is free to everyone.” The head writer is Jane C. Hu (@jane_c_hu), and Michael Pollan will also be making contributions. As a reminder, applications for the The Ferriss – UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship open on December 1st, so please mark it in your calendar if you’re an interested journalist.

Poem I’m pondering —

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

— “Lost” by David Wagoner
(Huge thanks to Jerry Colonna for sharing this with me.)

And, as always, please give me feedback on Twitter. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know. Just send a tweet to @tferriss and put #5BulletFriday at the end so I can find it.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

Much love to you and yours,

Tim

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