Howdy amigo,
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas.
Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics — five things I’ve been pondering or exploring that are sure to get you thinking, laughing, crying (or a nasty combination of the three).
A warm welcome to the 14 new subscribers receiving this for the first time (574 total). I don’t take your attention lightly.
And I hope nobody reads this, but if you do, please keep it to yourself.
Essay I wrote this week
What’s the first number that pops into your mind when I ask, “how many hours are in a year?”
A hundred thousand? A million? A billion?
Not even close.
8760.
About 3000 of those are spent working. Another 3000 are spent sleeping. Which leaves with about 3000 hours to spend as we please.
Don’t tell me who you are, show me how you spend your free time.
Book I’m enjoying
Conscientious Objections: Stirring up trouble about language, technology, and education by Neil Postman.
Postman was a self-proclaimed social critic who couldn’t help but be suspicious about where society was headed.
That resonates with me on such a deep level.
He raised many important questions that often go overlooked.
Here’s the description:
“In a series of feisty and ultimately hopeful essays, one of America's sharpest social critics casts a shrewd eye over contemporary culture to reveal the worst -- and the best -- of our habits of discourse, tendencies in education, and obsessions with technological novelty. Readers will find themselves rethinking many of their bedrock assumptions: Should education transmit culture or defend us against it? Is technological innovation progress or a peculiarly American addiction? He sends shock waves of wit and critical intelligence through the cultural wasteland.”
If I ever write a book, it would be in this format.
Writing about a single topic for hundreds of pages seems too daunting.
I’d rather write a choose-your-own-adventure style book that explores a variety of different topics.
Maybe one day.
Graduation speech I’m enjoying
I’m a sucker for a good graduation speech.
And Postman delivered one of my favorites.
Can you tell I’ve got a minor obsession with this guy?
Enjoy.
Creative compounding
Average Joe and Average Jane were in very similar positions in life.
They both came from loving families, had solid careers, and participated in a variety of social activities. But they each had a nagging desire to flex their creative muscles.
Average Joe spent his free time doing what many of us do — scroll social media, binge Netflix, and so on. All while telling himself, “I’ll start creating as soon as I have the time.”
Average Jane spent her free time in a similar fashion. With one minor difference. She reserved one hour a day for creating.
After a week, there was no noticeable difference between them.
But what if we extended the time horizon to a month? A year? A decade?
Average Jane racked up 3650 hours of creative time after a decade. Average Joe didn’t.
Now they are worlds apart.
I call this creative compounding.
Are you an Average Joe or an Average Jane?
Random thought
Why does “can I help you?” sound so much ruder than “how can I help you?”.
That’s it for the 81st edition of Arman’s Antics.
I hope you didn’t make it this far, but if you did, you’re my kind of person.
Now back to your regularly scheduled nonstop scrolling.
Cheers,
Arman
PS - My wife and I are going on our honeymoon so I’ll be off the interwebs for a while.
Thanks for the Neil Postman recommendation. Will check him out.
"How can I help you" sounds like you're willing to help. The latter is showing reluctance. A great read. Have fun on the honeymoon, Arman.