The Sovereign Artist—Episode #2
The Power of Critical Creativity & The Hidden Curses of Running a Digital Business & On Reading Slowly & more
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Welcome to Episode #2 of the The Sovereign Artist series.
Here are 3 aphorisms, 3 insights, 5 books I’m reading, 2 heuristics, and 1 question for you to reflect on.
Enjoy!
3 Aphorisms
I.
If you want a calm discussion about a hot topic, use an arsenal of cold phrases.
II.
Artists who only study art happen to be clumsy artists; as well as philosophers who only read philosophy tend to be foolish philosophers.
You can’t bring out the flavor of your mind if you’re afraid to tackle subjects that lie outside of your intellectual & professional comfort zone.
III.
The human mind doesn’t seek truth and accuracy.
Our minds didn’t evolve to be scientific tools; they evolved to be survival tools.
In other words, Nature didn’t design them to be truthseekers.
She designed them to be useful for our mental, social, and emotional fitness.
3 Insights
I.
Arthur Schopenhauer on how to deal with envious people:
“Tell suspected enviers some good news about yourself—a promotion, a new and exciting love interest, a book contract. You will notice a very quick expression of disappointment. Their tone of voice as they congratulate you will betray some tension and strain.”
He adds: “Equally, tell them some misfortune of yours and notice the uncontrollable microexpression of joy in your pain, what is commonly known as schadenfreude. Their eyes light up for a fleeting second. People who are envious cannot help feeling some glee when they hear of the bad luck of those they envy. If you see such looks in the first few encounters with someone, be on the lookout for a dangerous envier entering your life.”
II.
The Italian philosopher Umberto Eco was asked:
You’re one of the most famous intellectuals in the world. How would you define the term? Does it hold any meaning to you?
“If by intellectual you mean somebody who works only with his head and not with his hands, then the bank clerk is an intellectual and Michelangelo is not. By that definition, today, with a computer—everybody is an intellectual. So I don’t think it has anything to do with someone’s profession or with someone’s social class. According to me, an intellectual is anyone who is creatively producing new knowledge. A peasant who understands that a new kind of graft can produce a new species of apples—this represents an intellectual activity. Whereas the professor of philosophy who all his life repeats the same lecture on Heidegger doesn’t amount to an intellectual. Critical creativity—criticizing what we are doing or inventing better ways of doing it—is the only mark of intellectual function.”
III.
Visualize this: you managed to build a profitable online business. You now have the freedom to work whenever and wherever you want. You only need a laptop and an internet connection.
This “flex” has a dark side.
Anne Helen Petersen wrote:
“The ability to work whenever and wherever you want means the ability for work to infiltrate all corners of your life. This is what happened to me when I moved to Montana: the time I used to spend commuting into Manhattan—which I thought I’d allocate to hikes and kayaking and cross-country skiing—was simply absorbed by more work.”
Artwork by DALL-E
She adds: “I got stuck in a technological purgatory; consider that every one of us now keeps a tiny supercomputer in our pockets everywhere we go. Work can thus find us in every moment. On the subway. On the chairlift. On the running trail. Or even in the bathroom. Our technological devices purport to chip away at the messy inefficiencies of everyday life. Increased efficiency means more of the most precious commodity: time. But time for what, exactly? Usually, to do more work.”
(Some) Books I’m Reading
1. The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch
2. The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton
3. How to Change your Mind by Michael Pollan
4. The Tyranny of Experts by William Easterly
5. The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim N. Taleb
2 Heuristics
I.
The more offended you get, the more accurate the insult was.
If it hurts—ask yourself why.
II.
Books are to be read slowly, with periods of reflection and meditation.
If a book barely challenges you at the first read, you won’t likely read it again.
And books that are not worth rereading are often not worth reading in the first place.
1 Question
If you got fired today and they brought in someone exceptional to replace you, what do you think they would do?
Why aren’t you doing that?
H/T Shane Parrish
Hope you liked this episode 🥂
Any feedback, suggestion, or criticism is welcome: feel free to reply (if you got this in your inbox) or send an email to viziandrei@outlook.com
Thank you for your time,
Vizi Andrei
Creator of The Sovereign Artist