New Year, New Format

What have you learned lately?

2021. Still working out of a basement but things could be worse.

Hello and welcome to something new I’m calling Luke Learns — a short, curated collection of the best things I learn each week. Yes - I realize that it does sound fairly self-indulgent but in the wide weird world that is the internet we all have a license to share™️. Remember that old saying sharing is caring? See, I knew I was altruist. Let’s dive in:

👩‍🎨 Don't wait for inspiration. Invite it in.

I started listening to a podcast called Broken Record which calls itself "liner notes for digital age". It features Malcom Gladwell and Rick Rubin interviewing various artists about their life and music in hopes of capturing the magic once found within the paper inserts of records, cassettes, and CDs. My favorite so far has been the conversation with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy who was has been a big influence on my own music. He talks about the legacy of his blue-collar/poetry-loving dad and how that caused him to view songwriting as a job that you have to work at instead of some ethereal act of inspiration. After listening, I also bought Tweedy's book How To Write One Song which goes into more detail on his process and writing philosophy. Looking forward to writing and recording more original music with Anna in 2021!

🧠 Your brain is more limited than you think

As a tired parent of four young kids, I didn’t really need any convincing to back up the above claim but it’s fascinating nonetheless. The main decision-making and creative center of our brain is called the prefrontal cortex. It is what allows us to pursue goals, compare two or more things, recall memories and most other complex cognitive activities. In Your Brain At Work, the author stresses how this small but mighty part of your brain is like goldilocks: it needs everything just right to function well. Rest, energy (glucose levels), and environment all need to be dialed in or things can go a little haywire. Remember when you binge-watched that season of the Mandalorian instead of doing, well, anything else?

Even though this seems obvious, I’ve already started applying this learning to my life. I try to plan my day and take on the work that requires the most creativity or heavy decision making first thing when I am fairly rested and have had something to eat. Here’s to better thinking in 2021!

The prefrontal cortex is a small section of that yellow area called the frontal lobe.

🤑 Beware the Bubble

This year decided to make investing one of my main focus areas. My first read on the topic has been Burton Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street which asserts that trying to “beat the market” long term just isn’t that practical even for professional investors (see Efficient Market Hypothesis). One of the most fascinating parts of the book was the history of bubbles or periods of rapid market increases usually followed by a significant crash. Malkiel writes about Holland’s Tulip mania of 1636 where the price of a Tulip bulb rose so much that allegedly one was exchanged for 1,000 lbs of cheese. Every decade it seems has had their own bubbles. They are easy to spot in retrospect but hard to nail down in the moment - people get caught up in the collective enthusiasm and greed. It makes me wonder: what will be the bubble(s) of the ‘20s? Crypto? AI? Or maybe something we haven’t even heard of yet. 🌷

Tulips were a Gouda investment in Jan of ‘36.

Choice Cuts

• Opinion: the future of work is remote

• Jeremy Sarber reads the Bible slowly & then writes about it. Love the discipline/dedication he applies to study.

• Cal Newport’s New Yorker article about the short comings of productivity systems. Related to the brain limitations above.

Wow, you made it this far down?!?! Well in that case let me ask one more favor of you: share something new with me. What have you been learning lately? Leave it in the comments or email me. 🏄‍♂️