do the important, hard things
RWL #305
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Classes officially end this coming Monday for the semester. I give my finals on Wednesday and Friday next week. Assuming I don’t have anyone failing (in which case I will have to write a make up and give them another chance), I’ll be done a week from today. It’s a strange feeling coming up to the end of another semester. I’ve been doing this now for 12 years and my life has become shaped by the ebb and flow of the academic calendar in the same way that our agricultural ancestors' lives were shaped by the seasons. I also have work patterns like a farmer. The day of the week doesn’t have that much hold on me. The work I do is not tied to normal business hours or business days. I work and I take time off in response to the work, which means there is rarely a day when I don’t do some work. I suppose if I had more discipline, I could force my work into a 40-hour week and not work at night or on the weekends, but for some things, I think better in the morning (or at night), and so it’s better to work on Saturday morning, so I take Friday afternoon off. Also, because I love reading about the subjects I teach, it’s hard to draw a line between work and leisure, which is one of the great things about being a professor. I’m sitting here writing this to you on a Friday morning as another group of students take a second run at an Economics exam - is this work or is this leisure? This newsletter is in some ways me doing my reps - like I am at a mental gym - looking for new material that I may share with my students, or just inform how I talk about the material I teach and do research on - but also practicing my writing and my ability to make complicated ideas accessible. The fact that the end result is a newsletter is almost a by-product of the process. Not that I take you, dear readers, for granted - I love that I get to share this with you and it motivates me to keep going. But I would also likely do most of this, whether I had a few hundred readers (as I do), or none. Also, by the way, I am not saying I work more than anyone else - given the vagueness of what constitutes work for me, you could make an argument that I probably work a lot less than most people. Or a lot more. Your choice.
I’ve been working on my military retiree research these last few weeks. (The pre-publication version is here - I’ve shared it before with you.) It’s under review at a fairly prestigious journal, and I owe the editor my revisions by close of business today (after which they will decide if they will publish it or not). That’s what I’ll be spending the balance of the day working on. And make no mistake, that is work. There is no vagueness about whether that is leisure or not. I’ve been banging my head against the keyboard for a few weeks now (when I wasn’t banging my fingers on it) trying to get my thoughts into organized electrons on the screen. There are parts of the research process I really enjoy - especially the interviewing - since I do mostly qualitative research. I love to help people tell their stories. But the transcribing, coding, sorting, and integrating with theory is a grind. It’s a necessary grind, but it’s a grind. And at the end of this process, the paper may get rejected, in which case it will be back to the drawing board to look for another journal, and make edits to the paper so that maybe the next journal will take it. Meanwhile, in the background, I have other studies at other stages of development and need to tend to them as well. Like our ancestors, just because the hay needs to be brought in does not mean that the fence doesn’t also need to be repaired.
I was thinking about Russ Robert’s book, Wild Problems. In it he talks about two different kinds of activities we can engage in for leisure. One is like going to the beach. You go to relax, drink a mai-tai (or three), and nothing much changes about you as a result, other than you are a little more chilled out. Other examples might be going out to dinner with friends, seeing a movie, etc. These are all passive activities. The other kind of activity you can engage in is something that challenges you, physically, intellectually, emotionally, or all three. Training for a marathon, or better yet an Iron Man, climbing a difficult mountain, learning to read Ancient Greek so you can read the Illiad in its original form, or going on a mission to rebuild a neighborhood after a natural disaster are all examples of this second type of activity. These activities are transformative. You might not succeed at them, but even the attempt is transformative, which makes them worth doing regardless of the outcome. In life we need both. We need some downtime to rest and recharge. But we also need challenge in our lives or we become nothing more than dumb animals. Work that challenges us, whether done for leisure or for income, is transformative and makes us grow. So long as the challenge is toward a worthy goal (not studying how to rob a bank or embezzle your employer - i.e., not trying to hurt someone or take their stuff), the activity itself is a worthy use of our time.
So, work. Leisure. What is it good for? Meaning. It gives our lives meaning.
(pic above is downtown Dover - one town over from Durham where UNH is. The Cocheco River runs through downtown.)
As usual, willing good for all of you, have a great week and I present you with the links!
Read
What: NYT, Iran Executes Man Over Nationwide Protests
Why: The Iranian government is now publicly executing protesters. A legitimate government does not execute protestors. I am at once profoundly sad for the Iranian people and hopeful for them. I hope they can stay the course.
**
What: The Atlantic, Why America Has So Few Doctors
Why: I’ll be using this article in my “Introduction to US Health Systems” next semester when I talk about the medical workforce. With an aging population, we need more doctors. This sarcastic hypothetical is actually how workforce development in US medicine works:
Imagine you were planning a conspiracy to limit the number of doctors in America. Certainly, you’d make sure to have a costly, lengthy credentialing system. You would also tell politicians that America has too many doctors already. That way, you could purposefully constrain the number of medical-school students. You might freeze or slash funding for residencies and medical scholarships. You’d fight proposals to allow nurses to do the work of physicians. And because none of this would stop foreign-trained doctors from slipping into the country and committing the crime of helping sick people get better, you’d throw in some rules that made it onerous for immigrant doctors, especially from neighboring countries Mexico and Canada, to do their job.
**
What: Marginal Revolution, Brussel Sprouts are Good
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/11/brussel-sprouts-are-good.html
Why: Some of you freaks out there seem to think Brussels sprouts are actually good. I will admit they are better. Short piece on why you should thank big business for your treat. (BTW - you’re still freaks.)
**
What: FastCompany, For better or worse, 2022 was the year of Elon
https://www.fastcompany.com/90821118/2022-year-of-elon-musk-twitter-personal-brand
Why: Short piece mulling over Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter as a sort of self-promotion. At a price tag of $44B, that’s a lot of money to give yourself a personal megaphone, but when you are worth close to $200B, what else are you going to do with your money?
Musk is paid an absurd amount of compensation by the board of Tesla. Part of that is because of his ability to generate brand value as both CEO and public figurehead. Maybe the ploy with Twitter will overexpose him and drop the value of Tesla. Maybe not.
I’ve been a fan of Musk more for his other ventures than Tesla - like Star Link, which is helping the Ukrainians fight off Russia’s attempt at genocide. He may beclown himself however he likes on Twitter, as far as I am concerned, for as long as he likes, as long as he keeps the Ukrainians with internet so they can coordinate their defense and hopefully save themselves. For that, he is a hero in my eyes.
This piece does raise an interesting question about how we present ourselves to the world and what effect that has on our other activities. Our reputation is perhaps one of our most important assets.
**
What: Persuasion, What Mexico Gets Right About Race
Why: I thought this was an interesting essay about the concept of race. Mexico has a different, formal conception of race than the United States. It seems pretty clear that the formal (i.e., government-backed) taxonomy of race in the US does at least as much harm as good. This essay is worth reading because it provides an alternative way of looking at race. (And the author readily admits that there is racism in Mexico - it’s not a panacea.)
Two quotes to entice you to read:
Mexico’s racial self-conception became less informed by the granular categorizations of its colonial past, and instead embraced the idea that all Mexicans were essentially one mixed race—a view which, according to a 2013 study, is still generally supported by the Mexican public.
and
Most importantly, mestizaje represents a less polarizing view of race relations than the American alternative. According to a narrative popular in the U.S., “whiteness” and its impositions are in tension with the status and rights of “people of color.” This framework acknowledges the reality of racism—but it is also tethered to a conflict-centric view of race relations.
There is an interesting book related to this topic, How the Irish Became White. I recommend it. Much of our national discussion about race is a-historical in my opinion. Or selectively historical.
**
Watch
What: Mark Manson, Why Smart People Think They're Stupid [The Dunning-Kruger Effect] (11 min)
Why: A light and somewhat humorous explication of the Dunning-Kruger effect. He’s a bit too fast and loose with the F-bombs such that they aren’t actually funny (even for me who might be a bit fast and loose with them, especially after a mai-tai or three), but I think the message is otherwise well-delivered. I especially liked his inner circle of unconscious knowledge for the expert.
**
Listen
What: People I (Mostly) Admire, Annie Duke Thinks You Should Quit (56 min)
Why: Entertaining interview by Freakonomics’s Steve Levitt with former professional poker player Annie Duke who has a new book out about why we should quit things sooner and more often.
Here’s a simple answer: if you don’t quit, you won’t have space to try other things.
Circling back to my opening, you should do hard things. But not all the hard things. Just the important hard things that will help you grow.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
If you’re looking for a searchable archive, you can see my draft folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jwGLdjsb1WKtgH_2C-_3VvrYCtqLplFO?usp=sharing
Finally, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://markbonica.substack.com/welcome
See you next week!
Mark
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” – Pablo Picaso
Wow! Very motivating words at this time of year where we tend to focus on leisure and, frankly, going through the motions.