Five Things: Longevity, Biden, Navigation Apps, USA Rail Pass, Song Lyrics
Great to have you back! This is the Sunday edition of my newsletter Five Things. If you want to get it on Sunday or if you want to subscribe to the issues focused on AI, on Tech or on Running, please go to FiveThin.gs and subscribe there!
Let’s talk about the weather, briefly. In Germany we had the most rain in 12 months since they started to record weather data in 1881. Why? Because the earth is getting too warm and then it rains more. We’ve also had a few storms this year that are classified as “century storms”, so severe that they would only occur once a century. And this is just what’s happening in Germany: the weather is getting more extreme. Still people argue that climate change is nothing to worry about and that it won’t change a thing if we’d do something different. I beg to differ. Germany is the third biggest economy in the world, if we do things differently, it has an impact on the world. Also, we are a rich country and we can afford investing into solar and wind and new infrastructure and whatnot. Yet, we still don’t do it as much as we should.
I have four kids. It makes me mad to see how many business leaders and many politicians try everything to slow down the necessary change for some small-term gains. And btw, driving an EV is so much more fun.
For some lighter reading, here’s Five Things! Have a great Sunday! Or Monday. :)
The Key to Longevity Is Boring
There’s so much discussion about longevity everywhere right now - from Insta to startup pitches, longevity is a hot topic. It’s a delight to read this essay by Brad Stulberg about what really matters: “There is a real danger in focusing so much on extending the number of years in our lives that we neglect to focus on the life in those years.”
Biden Experiments
I’m deeply annoyed by the discussion around Biden’s age. I think he has done a pretty good job as President and of course he has had a remarkable career. I wish the media would be discussing how unfit Trump is and how he just blabbers incoherent stuff all the time. Still, I think that Biden and his team would be well advised to use the time until the convention to let the party find a new candidate and dominate the news by doing so. Timothy Snyder talks about the options for Biden and the risks involved.
Do Navigation Apps Think We’re Stupid?
Navigation Apps have gotten so much better since the time it told me to stay on the Autobahn for “a very long time”, yet still I think that with all the compute power available right now, they could be so much better. I’m using Google Maps in my car, which is awesome, but does annoy me daily by getting speedlimits wrong and not understanding that I live next to the only one-way street (in Germany?) that changes its direction from 4 am to 12 to downtown. And yet, the app is condescending from time to time…
The USA Rail Pass
Wow, $499 can get you far. A.M. Hickman tells all about traveling across the United States on Amtrak. This sounds like a fun adventure!
“There’s a country out there, waiting to tell her story. To buy the USA Rail Pass is to raise one’s hand and say to her — “I’m listening.””
Great Song! I Have No Idea What It Means.
As a non-native English speaker, I always thought I don’t get the lyrics because of a language barrier. I’m glad I’m not the only one.