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November 28, 2020
Welcome to End Notes, a (soon to be) weekly newsletter with curated reading recommendations and a recap of the new posts on E2B. Below you'll find high-quality stories with long shelf-lives that rise above the rest of what I've read.
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I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday and was able to count their blessings, even in a most unconventional year. Let me point out one additional item of gratitude that I bet you haven't heard: at least it wasn't as bad as it was in 536, a year which saw the planet and its inhabitants battered by the aftereffects of a cataclysmic volcano (see more below.)
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Believe it or not, 2020 is more than 91% complete and the calendar will turn over again in a matter of weeks. Before you dive into the next holiday season, slow down for a minute or two and enjoy the moment where you are right now.
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New Posts on Eric's Two Books
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Springfield bully Jimbo Jones from The Simpsons was apparently an early bitcoin adopter. Here's hoping he hodl'd!
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Stories Worth Sharing
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Life Lessons
Morgan Housel | Published in January 2017 | Short read
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"Accountant: You can lie more easily with numbers than you can with words. People associate numbers with math, and math with facts, leading them to be more gullible with numbers than they are when confronted with words alone."
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Cool Tech
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Matthew Ball | Published in March 2020 | Long read
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"What’s more, these services are continually hitting new record highs (Roblox estimates it will hit 4B hours per month by 2023) and exhibiting incredible retention even as their users, the majority of whom are children, have exited and entered several life stages (e.g. tween, teen, young adult, independent adult). Consider, too, that the same game, Grand Theft Auto V, was the best-selling title of both the seventh generation of consoles (Xbox 360 and PS3, 2005-2013) and the eighth (Xbox One and PS4, 2013–2020), even though the tech/graphics/core gameplay didn’t change. This again is like a classic theme park ride. They remain popular long after they are no longer cutting edge, thanks to the fan’s enduring connection to and love for the experience."
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Stuff You Didn't Know You Wanted to Know
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ScienceMag | Published in November 2018 | Short read
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"A mysterious fog plunged Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia into darkness, day and night—for 18 months. 'For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during the whole year,' wrote Byzantine historian Procopius. Temperatures in the summer of 536 fell 1.5°C to 2.5°C, initiating the coldest decade in the past 2300 years."
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