Podcaster with 1bn+ plays. I write about the most important lessons from the best thinkers on the planet. 300,000+ people read my free newsletter. Press subscribe to join.
3MM: Real World, Cancelled Geordies & Luck
3 MINUTE MONDAYHi friend, VVIP & VIP Tickets are sold out for my London Live Show on Thursday 28th November at the Eventim Apollo. General Tickets still available! https://chriswilliamson.live/london Australia Shows - Brisbane 6th November at Fortitude Music Hall, Melbourne 8th at Palais Theatre, Sydney 9th at Darling Harbour Theatre. General Tickets still available! https://chriswilliamson.live/australia The internet is not the real world. If you were to plot people’s political views on a graph, the distribution would probably look something like this: Most people agree on most moderate opinions, with gradually ever fewer people out on the extremes. “Having a strong military is important to a well-functioning country” - moderate agreement. “Jewish space lasers started the Maui fires” - low agreement. Maybe there would be some little clustered bumps, but I think it’s reasonable to assume this would be pretty accurate. I think this graph would also map nicely onto a degree of certainty - with most people becoming less certain about accuracy as the position became more extreme. But if you were to plot the positions posted by by people online, and their degree of certainty in them, I’m betting it would look like this: Sure, the absolute extreme opinions are not as commonly posted because they’re so outrageous as to immediately disqualify the user as a crazy person. But almost no one is speaking about mild positions. Almost no one is speaking in caveated, hedged, uncertain terms. The incentives online cause normal people to become extreme and extreme people to become the norm. This goes beyond individual shitposting users and into legacy and new media too. We have U-shaped news representing bell-curve beliefs. The internet is not the real world. MODERN WISDOMI do a podcast where I pretend to have a British accent. You should subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. This week’s upcoming episodes: Monday. Thursday. Saturday. THINGS I'VE LEARNED1. Newcastle University has suggested staff stop using the Geordie greeting “pet” after it was deemed off-limits in an equality and inclusion toolkit. The 7-page guide advised “avoiding patronising or gendered terms” such as “girls”, “pet”, or “ladies”. In the guide, there is also a glossary of 44 terms of genders and sexual orientations. This includes terms to describe those who identify as having at least two gender identities, explaining what "agender", "gender-variant" and "bigender" mean. The guide, which was produced by 13 members of an inclusion team, has also listed terms they believe to be "incredibly sexist", such as "man up" and "bossy". 2. Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine. They tend to take the same route to and from work, interact with the same social circles, and talk to the same types of people at parties. In contrast, lucky people tend to introduce lots of variety into their lives. Relatedly, as Ada Yeo writes, “collect as many lottery tickets as you can.” — Rob Henderson 3. If I can’t trust your no, how can anyone trust your yes? — Joe Hudson LIFE HACKUse your driving time to reflect. An old one but still such a banger. Don’t put a podcast or music on in the car for a few drives each week when you’re on your own and see where your mind goes. There’s something really great about the reflective environment created by a bit of your brain focussing on driving while the rest of your brain is given time to think about whatever comes to the surface. Washing the dishes is actually an even better ROI for me. Big love, Try my productivity drink Neutonic. PS |
3 Minute Monday
Podcaster with 1bn+ plays. I write about the most important lessons from the best thinkers on the planet. 300,000+ people read my free newsletter. Press subscribe to join.
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, “I still find myself with this sense that success has to be earned. And the only way to earn it is to inflict pain on yourself. And if you’re not in pain you didn’t try hard enough. And it would have been better if you’d suffered more. And I think that’s a lie, and I want to find out if it’s a lie or if it’s true.” — Rich Roll I think it’s a lie too. One of the most common questions that got asked on tour was “How do I give myself credit for my accomplishments in...
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, It's nearly the end of the year, you should do a review process. My End Of Year Review framework has been downloaded by 100,000 people and is totally free. Enjoy x This time of year can be tough. Downtime from busyness, overwhelm from family and melancholy from reflection can create the perfect storm for overthinking. So here’s 20 Sentences to Stop Overthinking by Nir Eyal. Use these one-liners as mantras when your brain won't switch off. I don't need certainty to...
3 MINUTE MONDAY Hi friend, You should do an end of year review - it’s the one time of the year that’s culturally appropriate to fully focus on reflection. My favourite free end of year review process is here. Enjoy x Below is a list of the Top 15 most played episodes on audio of 2025. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that epic Naval episode came in at #1, it's so so good. Gonna have to do something special to beat that in 2026. It’s great to see such a range of topics performing well, I love how...