Hey Players –

It's that time of the year when we select the Top 10 Most-Read Articles of 2023.

But first, I want to learn about you! 🫵

I created a quick Reader Insights Survey so we can improve our newsletter in 2024.

I personally read all submissions. And I'd love it if you could fill it out. ✨

Thank you!
– Phelipe

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Top 10 Articles of 2023

A roundup of the week's most popular articles and essays from Playtext.

1. How Ideas Grow (17 min)

How the stories we hear and believe can really affect the choices we make in life. It covers everything from choosing a job to personal relationships and even what we eat. The writer explains that if we want to do well, we need to ensure the stories we believe in are good and helpful.

2. How to read and organize online articles (without driving yourself crazy) (9 min)

Practical tips on organizing and managing the vast amount of reading material available online. It focuses on three main areas: organizing regular reading sources, managing one-off articles, and taking detailed notes.

3. Threads and the Social/Communications Map (21 min)

The article discusses the launch of Threads, a new text-based social network from Meta, and compares it with Twitter. It suggests that while Threads appears similar to Twitter, it actually offers something quite different. The article explores the evolution of social media and communication, using the example of TikTok's success over traditional platforms like Facebook and Snapchat.

4. Riskophilia (15 min)

Explore the concept of risk and how society's attitude towards it has evolved over time, particularly in the United States. It discusses a recent study linking a decline in children's mental well-being to reduced opportunities for independent, risk-taking activities. The article then expands this idea to society as a whole, suggesting that Americans have become increasingly risk-averse since the 1960s.

5. The Musk Algorithm (5 min)

While Musk's methods may be extreme, valuable wisdom can be learned from them, even if one doesn't aspire to emulate him entirely. It encourages readers, especially founders and executives, to consider adopting a fraction of Musk's intensity to enhance their business approaches while maintaining balance.

6. A Few Laws of Getting Rich (15 min)

The overlooked downsides of wealth and the misconceptions about happiness and success. The piece emphasizes that happiness often comes from things that money can't buy, such as family, health, and genuine friendships. It also explores the irony that the drive to accumulate wealth can become a part of one's identity, making it hard to enjoy the wealth once it's acquired.

7. The Techno-Optimist Manifesto (37 min)

This article advocates for a positive view of technology, countering common fears about its negative impacts on jobs, society, and the environment. It promotes 'Techno-Optimism,' the belief that technology is key to human progress and solving global challenges.

8. Inside Elon Musk's Struggle for the Future of AI (20 min)

This article discusses Elon Musk's concerns about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, highlighting the differing views on AI's impact on the leadership of OpenAI and Google.

9. Energy makes time (6 min)

Address the common struggle with time management, especially among high performers who juggle workplace demands and personal responsibilities. It describes how traditional time-management tactics often fail to resolve the feeling of being constantly out of time. Instead of viewing time as a finite resource that activities consume, we should consider how certain activities, like engaging in art or hobbies, can actually energize us and make us more productive.

10. The cult of Obsidian: Why people are obsessed with the note-taking app (12 min)

Obsidian is a unique note-taking app that stands out for its technical complexity and local file management system. Unlike mainstream apps like Notion and Evernote, Obsidian requires users to understand Markdown language and utilize third-party plug-ins. Despite these challenges, the app has gained a dedicated following and grown without venture capital backing.

Notes

• Help us learn more about you! Answer the Reader Insights Survey so we can improve our newsletter. I personally read all submissions.

• Subscribe to Think Newsletter and get one new thought-provoking question every day.

• Love Reading? Playtext turns Articles into Audio so that you can read 3x faster!

• More books? Playtext Books has over 100 summaries on business, science, and productivity.