A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 183 of Dovi’s Digest.
There’s a game I like to play on my way to work. It doesn’t have a name, but the rules are quite simple. I put in my work address on Waze, then see if I’m smarter than a computer by taking slightly different routes, trying to knock time off my ETA. The stakes are low, but it’s a fun way to pass the hour. I very seldom win though. Sure, I can knock off a few minutes here or there, but I don’t know if there’s an accident further down the road, I don’t have the foresight or knowledge.
Most modern humans are similar. We often think we can do better. That we can improve various ways of living. That we can discard hundreds (if not thousands) of years of tradition because we know better now. Generally, it doesn’t turn out well. It can be a consultant trying to change a legacy company, or a new chef who attempts to improve a tried and tested recipe. Sometimes things stick. More often, there’s a reason that things worked the way they were. We’re not all Berners-Lees and Jobs.
What I’m trying to say I guess, is that tradition is a whole lot smarter than you are, because it has thousands of data points while you have one. Not coincidentally, that’s exactly what this week’s headline article is about: survival of the fittest also extends to ideas.
Thank you to everyone who submitted a word last week! I was enamoured and vellicated. Please keep them coming! Have a word that enthrals you and bamboozles your friends? Submit it here.
In your added extras, have a look at wild animals interacting with (and sometimes photobombing) their photographers, and this thread of awesome flags (my favourite is the bear splitting the atom on the Zheleznogorsk flag)
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There were FIVE correct answers to last week’s brainteaser, Well done to Ariel Subotzky, Dan Riesenberg, Ryan Subotzky, Chaim Ehrlich, and David Greenway! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
You can also read about what the WHO is doing about the scourge of modern society (sitting), why America doesn’t have good public transport, why certain institutions (including religions, dynasties, universities etc) last much longer than others, delve into the reason that every superhero movie is actually failed policy, learn how to tell where you are using only your speedometer, and log in to the story of how a country with only 1400 people, has a domain used by 25 million. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Tradition is Smarter Than You Are
The fact that our ancestors adhered to a particular tradition and simultaneously survived/reproduced constitutes some evidence that the tradition has functional utility.
To Combat a Global Health Issue, WHO Is Changing Its Definition of Exercise
WHO has changed the way it describes sitting’s nemesis: physical activity.
Why Did America Give Up on Mass Transit? (Don’t Blame Cars.)
Streetcar, bus, and metro systems have been ignoring one lesson for 100 years: Service drives demand.
The Data of Long-lived Institutions
Preliminary returns from research into the longest-lived institutions in the world.
Every Superhero Movie Is a Policy Failure
The #SnyderCut movement and the Streaming Wars.
How to Use Your Speedometer to Figure Out Where Your Car Is
You should never drive in a car with no windows. But if you ever do find yourself in one, you can use physics to get your bearings.
How A Tiny Pacific Island Became the Global Capital of Cybercrime
(Courtesy of Yisroel Greenberg)
Despite having a population of just 1,400, until recently, Tokelau’s .tk domain had more users than any other country. Here’s why.
Quote of the Week:
By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work 12 hours a day.” – Robert Frost
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Batya Hazan)
Sanctimonious
/ˌsaŋ(k)tɪˈməʊnɪəs/ sangk·tuh·mow·nee·uhs
Adjective (derogatory)
making a show of being morally superior to other people.
"What happened to all the sanctimonious talk about putting his family first?"
Facts of the Week:
The minute leaf chameleon is the size of a human thumbnail.
The cucamelon is the size of a grape, but looks like a watermelon, and tastes like a cucumber.
Half the world's legal cannabis is grown by the Chinese.
Until 1916, Harrods sold heroin and cocaine.
Queen Victoria took cocaine with Winston Churchill.
Slang terms for heroin include “dog food”, “elephant”, “witch”, “horsebite”, and “gravy”.
Colonel Sanders was sued by KFC for saying their gravy was “sludge” and “wallpaper-paste like”.
The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has warned people not to add wasps to cocktails.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
(Courtesy of Tanya Perel)
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
What makes this number unique: 8,549,176,320?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
You are on your way to visit your grandma, who lives at the end of the valley. It’s her birthday, and you want to give her the cakes you’ve made.
Between your house and her house, you have to cross seven bridges, but there is a troll lurking under every bridge. Each troll insists that you pay a troll toll. Before you can cross their bridge, you have to give them half of the cakes you are carrying. But as they are kind trolls, they each give you back a single cake.
How many cakes do you have to leave home with to make sure that you arrive at Grandma’s with exactly two cakes?
Answer:
2 cakes!
Thanks for reading Dovi’s Digest!