# Mind = Blown

Hello from LA! I'm on the left coast for Adobe MAX, and this Thursday
and Friday I'll be in SF on 99U business. If you live in SF and would
like to say hi, let me know!\
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Now, on to the links:\
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This will blow your mind: There are more galaxies than grains of sand on
planet Earth. So, um, where is everybody? Why haven't we discovered life
out there? Or why haven't they discovered us? [This is Fermi
paradox](http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html). One
solution: There's a "great filter" — an event that eradicates
civilizations before they get too advanced to explore deep space. What's
that event? It could be anything, but a group of scientists think that
life on Earth could be wiped out at any time [with a well-timed Gamma
Ray burst](http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.2506). Enjoy your day!\
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**Ever hear of Dunbar's number?** It's the amount of people you can
maintain a relationship with. Most people have it around 150. Then are
circles get smaller by a factor of three. We then have about 50 close
friends. 15 friends who would give you sympathy if you needed it. Then 5
close friends. So, um, what happens [when you introduce social media
into the
equation](http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/social-media-affect-math-dunbar-number-friendships)?\
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**[This story in FastCo about the new digital strategy of the New
Yorker](http://www.fastcodesign.com/3035381/how-the-new-yorker-finally-figured-out-the-internet-3-lessons-from-its-web-redesign)
was passed around a bit**. In short: the mag upped time on site and
pageviews by 23%. The elephant in the room (mentioned briefly in the
piece): the magazine also opened up its longform archives for free —
this likely led to the stats jump. Which brings us to the hidden
undertone of "success story" articles like this: oftentimes, nobody
really knows what leads to traffic jumps.\
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**Two years ago Andrew Sullivan went indy**. So how's he feeling?
[Pessimistic](http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/10/8553987/60-second-interview-andrew-sullivan-founding-editor-dish?news-image). \
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**Daniel Denvir: In 2013–14, the School District of Philadelphia had
6,321 fewer staff than it did at the end of 2011.** A photo of an
assaulted student lying in his own blood was widely circulated on social
media. In September, a 6th grade student died of an apparent asthma
attack after falling sick at a school with no nurse on duty. Philly
schools are beyond crisis mode. How bad are things [and how did Philly
get
there](http://www.thenation.com/article/181754/how-destroy-public-school-system?page=full)?\
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**There is a long-standing feud between Baltimore and Philadelphia about
[who can "claim" Edgar Allen
Poe](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15817021)**.
You know where I stand. But it looks like Boston is entering the fray.
Thing is, [he really hated
beantown](http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/05/evermore-edgar-allan-poe-immortalized-city-loathed/LpGC9U4FZ2w3HFIXomOwON/story.html).\
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**RECOMMENDATION**: I just finished the book "[Excellent
Sheep](http://www.amazon.com/Excellent-Sheep-Miseducation-American-Meaningful/dp/1476702713)"
by William Deresiewicz. The book advocates a change in our educational
system, especially in the college ranks and especially at the Ivies. The
author contends that we're just churning out robotic master test-takers
on quests to work in finance or law who have a"violent aversion to
risk" and never take a step back and forge their own path. To me, this
explains the crisis of confidence that hits most students after
graduation. "College grads should wander more and get off the treadmill
that they attach their self-worth to." Deresiewicz writes: "How about
just wandering, literally or metaphorically, or holing up and reading
somewhere? How about getting a lousy apartment with a bunch of friends
(or a bunch of strangers who need another roommate) and supporting
yourself with a part-time job?" [The book is
divisive](http://www.psmag.com/navigation/books-and-culture/william-deresiewicz-excellent-sheep-alienate-many-readers-91907/),
and relies a lot on anecdotes rather than hard science. But it's worth a
read, especially if you know (or are) a frustrated young person.  \
-- Currently reading: "[Zero to
One](http://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296)."\
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**Journalism, like tech startups, has a diversity problem.** Journalism
startup Buzzfeed posts how they hope to get better. One interesting
action item: When hiring, [get out of the normal
network](http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/what-were-doing-to-keep-building-a-diverse-editorial-operati).\
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**Great content marketing is hard to find**. [Bevel has it
down](http://bevelcode.com/).\
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**A bunch of economists agree that [Uber is good for the
economy](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/upshot/uber-improves-life-economists-agree.html?abt=0002&abg=1)**.
But it was a survey and not a formal study so ¯\\(ツ)\_/¯\
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**I'm sure you've heard of Ello**, the anti-Facebook social network
built on a rambling no-advertising manifesto ([which are all the
rage](http://www.poynter.org/archived/my-take/273271/enough-with-the-manifestos-about-the-future-of-news-let-your-product-do-the-talking/)).
Aral Balkan points out the hypocrisy of the company: they accepted
venture capital money under the radar. And there's [usually only one way
that ends](https://aralbalkan.com/notes/ello-goodbye/).\
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**Elizabeth Spiers on writing and personal branding:**  Writing for
yourself [is not the same thing as writing for
free](http://www.elizabethspiers.com/minimum-viable-personal-branding-for-writers-and-journalists/).\
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**How much does a kilogram weigh?** Technically 0.000006% less than
before.
[Sometimes](http://moreintelligentlife.com/content/ideas/tom-whipple/weight-almost-over?page=full).\
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**Sean Blanda**: [giving designers headaches since
1986](https://twitter.com/MrCraigWard/status/519490629051482114).\
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As always, thanks for making space in your inbox for this little
newsletter. \
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--Sean