Arman's Antics (#078)
Latest from the curious contrarian Arman Khodadoost
Hola amigo (can you tell I took five years of Spanish?),
Coming to you live from Austin, Texas.
Here’s your weekly dose of Arman’s Antics — five things I’ve been exploring or pondering that has been (un)scientifically proven to send you into the weekend with a good think, laugh, cry (or a nasty combination of the three).
A warm welcome to the 39 new subscribers receiving this for the first time (546 total). I don’t take your attention lightly. In fact, I take it quite heavily.
My hope is that no one reads this, but if you do, please keep it to yourself.
(Mini) essay I wrote this week
I hate writing, but I love having written is a 10/10 sentence.
Those eight words deliver a painful amount of truth that every writer can relate to. But it can be applied to so much more.
Which led me to have:
A bizarre realization
I hate writing, but I love having written. I read this line the other night and it was one of those book drop moments. I’m sure I’ve heard it before and thought it was cute at the time, but now that I’m a writer, it penetrated my thick skull. After sleeping on it, I found that it can be applied to so much more than just writing.
Books I’m still reading
Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel.
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman.
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Taleb.
I’m purposely slowing down my reading pace. Partly because I’m not training for the speed reading olympics. But also because I’ve read these books multiple times and they’ve each had a lasting effect on me so I want to savor them like that final bite of gelato.
I’ll say it til I’m hoarse — you need to read these books.
YouTube interview I’m rewatching
The same Neil Postman from above goes in depth on his most potent ideas from his best book Amusing Ourselves to Death. It’s been called a 21st century book written in the 20th.
I love finding hidden gems lurking around the internet. This interview has 750 views and I probably account for at least 10 of them.
It’s 57 minutes long so I don’t expect anybody to watch it, but that’s ok. I don’t mind hoarding this timeless wisdom to myself.
The insanity of advertising
I’m paraphrasing this idea from, you guessed it, Neil Postman because I love it.
Imagine you and I were having a conversation.
And after a few minutes I stopped mid sentence and said, “Now before we continue, allow me to say a few words about our sponsor today American Airlines…”
Any self-respecting person would stand up immediately and walk away thinking, “what kind of fool does this fellow take me for?”
And rightly so.
Yet we willingly accept this insane behavior any time we sit down to watch TV or YouTube, listen to the radio or a podcast, and scroll social media.
Random thought
There’s a saying from the ancient Greeks, “Never ask a man if he is from Sparta: if he were, he would have let you know such an important fact — and if he were not, you could hurt his feelings.”
Likewise, never ask a salesperson if they hit their quota; you can easily see it in their posture and facial expressions.
That’s it for the 78th edition of Arman’s Antics.
I hope you didn’t make it this far, but if you did, you’re my kind of person.
Try to be a little more curious than you normally are.
Now back to your regularly scheduled nonstop scrolling.
Cheers,
Arman
And even in day to day conversations we drop "sponsorship" messages in the form of comments that don't particularly relate to the moment but that are concerned with selling someone on a perspective, investment, or agenda we have regarding what others think of us, or how they treat us, or our status, or worth, etc.
I just finished reading the same as ever, when you are done let me know how you found it.