Happy Saturday! Here is your weekly dose of the world of Miles’ curiosity, learning, techno-optimism, business thoughts, and ways to be a better human.
Obesity Rising. Why are diabetes and obesity on the rise? We’re eating differently, right? We blamed dietary fat for a while. Now it seems we blame refined carbs and sugar. I’ve read that people who switch to a modern western diet start having these issues, too. Looking at these graphs you could think I’m arguing the decline of smoking or the talk of health food is driving obesity. I don’t think so. What do we know about these issues? What are you hearing or reading?
Genius Declining? I’ve written before about fears that innovation may be slowing down. Are we producing fewer geniuses? How do you account for the explosion of access to knowledge without an explosion in the amount of insights? If so, why? A controversial take is that it is the change in the education system. Have we had genius level insights that aren’t recognized as such? What if creating geniuses is much more likely with student teacher ratios of 1 to 8 vs. the 15 to 1 more common today (yes you read that right)? Do we really have it off by two orders of magnitude? Can AI help?
Start in New Haven. Want to do something about these or other issues? I’m excited to instigate a new event. Start in New Haven is a community pitch night where individuals can pitch ideas for new events, civic improvements, art, startups, and other projects to a community audience — with the goal of providing energy, support, and resources to turn the ideas into a reality. Through Start in New Haven, we hope to encourage a spirit of yes — where, regardless of how early your idea is, New Haven community members are here to support you in your next steps. RSVP on the website to Join us!
Until next week,
Miles