What will sharpen your thinking today:

• Makes-You-Think Tweet: Things that can’t be bought

• Mind-Expanding Concept: Constrained v Unconstrained Visions

• Cool Quote or Question: What is the worst that can happen?

• High-Signal Content: The origins of music

Makes-You-Think Tweet

Mind-Expanding Concept

Constrained v Unconstrained Visions

Why do certain political views tend to go together despite topics being largely unrelated?

• Military spending and environmentalism

• Monetary policy and drug laws

• Gun control and climate change

Thomas Sowell argues that people have gut instincts or implicit assumptions that shape their thinking. He calls them "visions". Depending on our vision, we seek a particular type of explanation for a given situation.

There are two main contrasting visions that color our perception of the world: Unconstrained & Constrained. The difference between them boils down to how we intuitively see human nature and the "capacities and limitations of man". Let's unpack them:

The Unconstrained Vision

• Sees mankind as fundamentally good and morally perfectible. Through reason and willpower, we can move closer to perfection even if we don't reach it.

• If we could get rid of institutions that limit us and perpetuate power structures, we would flourish.

• We all have the same potential to succeed.

• There's a solution to any problem. Compromising is not acceptable.

• It gives rise to the impulse to question and replace existing institutions in the name of "social justice".

• Highest virtue: earnestness. The shadow: self-righteousness

• The unconstrained speaks directly in terms of desired results. Intention is important. And the policies spoused by this vision are often described in terms of goals - liberty, equality, and social justice.

• For the unconstrained, good things happen automatically. Bad things are somebody's fault.

The Constrained Vision

• Sees mankind as fundamentally flawed, egocentric, irrational, and prone to violence. Peace and civil order are hard-win accomplishments and barbarians and chaos are always at the gates.

• Laws and institutions are important to keep this nature in check.

• People are different - some are smarter, stronger, harder working.

• There are no ideal solutions, only tradeoffs. Compromising is essential.

• Gives rise to the impulse to maintain the status quo, even when it contains inequalities.

• Highest virtue: prudence. The shadow: rigidity.

• The constrained speaks of processes required to reach desired results. There's little emphasis on intentions. And the policies spoused by this vision are described in terms of systematic characteristics needed to reach certain goals - property rights, and free enterprise.

• For the constrained, bad things are the norm. Good things are created and protected by constant effort.

Social theory cannot be reduced to this duality. Sowell even cautioned us against “the pitfalls of mechanically translating unconstrained and constrained visions into the political left and right”. But the concept still holds water often and helps us understand our own opinions as well as other people’s.

Listen to the man himself explaining the concept (~7'):

Cool Quote or Question

Pitching a potential client, moving to a different city, quitting your job to do your own thing. Regardless of the situation, when we want something and there's a chance we don't get it, we worry. The fear of failure crops up, often leading to paralysis or impacting performance.

The thing is, we fear the monster under our beds not because he’s scary but because we don’t know what he looks like. In adult speak: we emotionally react to the uncertainty of the result, not the result itself.

That’s why the question up there is useful. When you’re sensing fear, ask yourself what is the worst that could happen. Really. What is the absolute worst thing that could happen? Think about all the downsides and the worst-case scenarios. Vividly.

Most of the time, they are not that bad. And they are not irreversible either. Go one step further and think about what would you do in these situations to get back on track. Suddenly, you have a plan already. Now, go do the thing.

High-Signal Content

Music speaks to us in ways that we hardly begin to understand.

You hear a few notes of that one song that you don’t even know the name and you’ve instantly teleported to a coffee shop 13 years ago when you were backpacking in Europe. If you’re stressed, it can calm you down. If you’re tired, it can fire you up.

Why does it have such a direct path to our emotions?

One hypothesis is that music co-evolved with us. More precisely, it was created to help us survive in the wild. Wait, what? I know…

See you next week,

Filipe