What We’re Reading

Communication:

“I have been a happy man ever since January 1, 1990, when I no longer had an email address. I’d used email since about 1975, and it seems to me that 15 years of email is plenty for one lifetime.Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration.

Commitment:

Use this rule if you’re often over-committed or too scattered.

If you’re not saying “HELL YEAH!” about something, say “no”.

When deciding whether to do something, if you feel anything less than “Wow! That would be amazing! Absolutely! Hell yeah!” — then say “no.”

Population:

About half of U.S. counties are losing population outright each year—a historically high proportion.

Spending:

About 41% of eligible Gen Zers, defined as those born in the mid-1990s or later, had a credit card last year, compared to 34% of Millennials reaching the same age in 2012, according to TransUnion. The average 24-year-old last year, for example, owed about$2,000on their card, about a third more than Millennials at that age in 2012.

Influence:

As the research shows, those who attempt to persuade the masses, from demagogues to advertisers, from preachers to campaign operatives, nearly always fail miserably. Forceful attempts at mass persuasion by propagandists in authoritarian regimes fail to sway the population.

Have a good weekend.