Wednesday Links: Tattoo DNR?, beer caused civilization, WeChat, & more!
RWL #317
“30/365. One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.” - JRR Tolkein
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! That image is of my wood stove earlier this week. I was sitting and reading, and glanced up and saw the “ring” and actually thought I had somehow accidentally put a piece of metal in the stove. It turned out it was just a piece of wood that curled over, because about 10 seconds after I got this shot, the “ring” disintegrated.
We’re bracing for the coldest weather we have had this weekend in some 10 years - it could get to -18 degrees fahrenheit without the windchill! You better believe the stove will be burning all day.
Here’s this week’s links. I’ll be back Sunday with an essay. What do you think of this new rhythm? I hope you find it twice the fun - but let me know in the comments!
As usual, willing good for all of you!
Read
What: Advisory Board, The dying man's tattoo said 'do not resuscitate.' What should doctors do?
https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2017/12/05/dnr-tattoo
Why: I’m just going to put this here…
A70-year-old patient with a "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" tattoo arrived unconscious and critically ill at a Florida ED—but in absence of ID or guidance from next of kin, did his tattoo count as a legally binding request?
What would you do?
**
What: Salon, Drinking culture: Why some thinkers believe human civilization owes its existence to alcohol
Why: The desire to get drunk led to civilization! This is fun! I talked about this article in my US Health Systems class yesterday when I was talking about health behaviors and the fact that alcohol is a socially acceptable drug.
[I]f you look around the world, the first cultivated crops tend to be plants that must have been chosen for their psychoactive properties, not for their nutrition properties. And so that's behind this idea that it's this desire to get cognitively altered that motivated hunter gatherers to settle down and start living in these large-scale societies. [Getting intoxicated] is an ancient behavior. And it actually is, is probably one of the motivations for us creating civilization in the first place.
**
What: US Office of Nuclear Energy, NRC Certifies First U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design
https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/nrc-certifies-first-us-small-modular-reactor-design
Why: I’ve written about small modular reactors (SMRs) a few times, so I won’t get into much detail here. But this is super exciting because SMRs can be built in a factory and shipped to a power plant site. That will speed the process of building new nuclear reactors. And as I have said many times, if you believe climate change is an existential threat, you should be 100% on board with nuclear.
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Watch
What: Task & Purpose, Inside German Leopard Tank Sent to Ukraine (14 min)
Why: The Ukrainians desperately need high-quality tanks because the Russians are going to engage in human-wave attacks in the spring. In order for the Ukrainians to survive with their smaller numbers, they need greater survivability.
We (the US) has approved sending the M1, but the logistics required to send the M1 will take years to set up. But the Leopard is used throughout Europe, so the logistics are already there.
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Listen
What: The Journal, The Unraveling of Stitch Fix (17 min)
Why: My wife discovered Stitch Fix years ago. It’s a service that sends you a box of clothes once each month that are conceptually picked for you based on your expressed tastes, and updated based on the clothes you actually buy from them. Just to be clear, my wife does not do shopping as therapy - she is more frugal than I am. She is also busy and doesn’t have the time to go shopping regularly, so getting a box of “cute” clothes to try on really appeals to her. But it doesn’t appeal to enough people to justify the stock valuations that Stitch Fix received. The pandemic was a blessing to Stitch Fix, and they apparently developed as strategy based on pandemic demand and investors were foolish enough to buy it, and now the company has lost 95% of its value.
I think this is an interesting story because Stitch Fix sold itself as a tech company, not as a retailer. It seems we may be coming to the end of a bubble of anyone who calls themselves a “tech company” but is really just using a bit of machine learning and mail order. This is a good Ozymandias story.
**
What: Business Breakdowns, WeChat: China’s Operating System (52 min)
Why: A very neutral look at WeChat. WeChat is the social network in China, in no small part because it is government sanctioned. The discussion doesn’t get political, but it does explain a lot about how this one tech platform dominates Chinese commerce. I have a friend who spent several years in China and he confirms that you can do just about anything with WeChat. It’s an interesting contrast to the hot mess that is the social media/tech space in the US. And maybe that is the best metaphor - the CCP wants everything neat and orderly and under their control; the US is a hot mess and no one can control it.
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