The Devaluation of Human Cogitation

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Human cogitation is being reduced to algorithmic digital computation. The actual human sitting there thinking hard thoughts and creating new value out of nothing is devalued in this framework. This obviously makes a lot of sense for the tech companies because now all the value is in the technological tools. It opens up the possibility for a tech company to have a massive piece of the economic pie in the sector. If you build a software everyone is using, then you're going to make massive profitability.

The art of thinking – plain, old-fashioned, hard concentration on useful ideas – is rapidly vanishing as our culture recasts humans as the custodians and recipients of digital computation. In this episode, Cal explains why this is a problem and what we should do in response.

Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here’s the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvo

Video from today’s episode: youtube.com/calnewportmedia

Today’s Deep Question: Why is it important to preserve the vanishing art of thinking? [5:02]

- How do I integrate movies and shows into the deep life? [27:42]

- Can I read after a long day of deep work? [33:30]

- Is a digital “second brain” a good idea to keep up with the latest advancements in your field? [36:25]

- Would Cal consider consolidating his notebooks? [42:37]

- Is Maria Popva’s note-taking method better than Cal’s method? [51:40]

The Books I Read in April 2023 [1:04:29]

Links:

Edward Teller talking about John Von Neumann

youtube.com/watcv=vQp70uqsBV4#t=55m0s