Welcome back to the 1st Law Newsletter.

Managed reality

Move along, nothing to see here.

The algorithms are running far too much of our lives. Are you interested in the things you are because you organically found them, or because some billion-dollar algorithm pushed you an addicting series of shorts?

Did the education system serve you? Can we question our teachers? If three students in a class of 30 have trouble with a subject, is it their fault or is it a sign that the standard classroom and curriculum does not serve 100% of the population? Should anything serve 100% of the population? Learning disabilities or teaching disabilities? Did you get into your career because of genuine and intentional interests or were you 18 years old and forced to apply for specific programs?

What is actually true? The news has the exact same problem as social media. Who curates it? Our beliefs are shaped by the whims of conglomerates who profit of off attention. If it is not clickbait, it is not published.

Also, whats up with all the alien stuff? Far too much news about it for there to be no answers, and very little comment from governments. Another example of: move along, nothing to see here.

We need to let people think for themselves. We need to think for ourselves. Why is it so hard? I think the stimulus available at our fingertips is just too enticing and addicting. The simpler we can live the better. I think simple is good for our brains too. We evolved to stay alive, not to process thousands of unrelated pieces of entertainment daily. Lets get back to the basics. If you have any tips please, PLEASE, respond to this email. I want to hear from you.

Age of stagnation

Are we in an age of stagnation? Might seem like a crazy thought, but seriously—think from the 70s to now, what is so different? Where have we innovated massively?

Electricity, cars, airplanes, radios, telephones, movies—from 1870 to 1920, the world became unrecognizable. From 1970 to 2025, it is more confusing than impressive… why is everyone staring at these little black boxes? Great progress has been made, but mostly in computers, the internet, and (mose importantly) medicine. No doubt, these are huge, but they mostly affect how and what we consume, not how we live physically.

That being said, I believe that we are on the verge of another major age of discovery. AI is advancing at an alarming rate. We are on the brink of nuclear fusion, which would provide us with boundless cheap and clean energy. Biotech and medicine is making progress to dramatically extend human lifespans (for better or for worse…). Things are going to change in the next 20 years. At least I hope so, or else I may be one of those people who predicted we would have flying cars by 2000.

The main point? We need to return to a society that praises and focuses on physics. Advances need to me made in the physical world, not only digitally.

Quote to go

Thanks for reading!

Lucas

P.S. 1st Law refers to Newtons first law of motion: Objects at rest tend to stay at rest, and objects in motion tend to stay in motion (a.k.a. inertia). I named my newsletter after this important law because I feel as though inertia is a vital reality. Keep up with your health, hobbies and relationships. Great things atrophy quickly when you do not attend to them.