This Aged Well

This Aged Well is a Substack focused on revisiting insightful, thought-provoking reads that have stood the test of time. Covering topics from technology, politics, and social issues to personal stories and global phenomena, it aims to enrich readers' understanding of how past discussions shape current perspectives and the future.

Technology and AI Social and Racial Issues Literacy and Education Politics and Globalization Philosophy and Psychology Economics and Poverty History and Literature Media and Journalism

The hottest Substack posts of This Aged Well

And their main takeaways

This aged well: 6 – The Wetsuitman

19 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
  1. The story of the two bodies in identical wetsuits is captivating and mysterious.
  2. The journalist managed to identify the unidentified bodies in a sad and masterful tale.
  3. The article was first published in June 2015 and is recommended for a 37-minute read.

This aged well: 3 – Is Coding the New Literacy?

19 implied HN points • 12 Jan 24
  1. Knowing how to cook can help you understand computational thinking.
  2. Basic understanding of coding is important in a technology-driven future.
  3. Coding is seen as the new literacy.

This aged well: 2 – Teaching The Camera To See My Skin

19 implied HN points • 06 Jan 24
  1. Technology reflects biases and reinforces them, like in algorithms and AI.
  2. Photography used to prioritize white skin over darker skin, but eventually changed due to other factors.
  3. Recognizing oneself in photographs can deeply impact an individual, as highlighted in Syreeta McFadden's article.
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This aged well: 7 – Parable of the Polygons

0 implied HN points • 27 Jan 24
  1. Societies become segregated when everyone wants to live in a diverse, but not too diverse, neighborhood.
  2. Harmless individual choices can lead to harmful societal outcomes.
  3. This post offers a playable explainer on the impact of individual decisions on the world.

This aged well: 12 – The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains

0 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Language Perception Color Theory
  1. Different languages have various concepts of color which can affect our perception - some people cannot distinguish colors not due to colorblindness but because their language doesn't differentiate them.
  2. Language shapes how we think and perceive the world, impacting concepts like gender, nationality, and time.
  3. The way we name colors has had a significant impact on the human brain and cognition, highlighting the crayola-fication of the world.

This aged well: 10 – When Things Go Missing

0 implied HN points • 17 Feb 17
  1. The post discusses how we lose approximately 200,000 things throughout our lives.
  2. It explores how the meaning of 'losing' has evolved over time from physical items to emotional losses.
  3. The connection between losing items and losing a loved one is highlighted.

This aged well: 11 – If People Could Immigrate Anywhere, Would Poverty Be Eliminated?

0 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
  1. The idea of allowing everyone to live and work wherever they choose is discussed in relation to alleviating poverty worldwide.
  2. Geographical location at birth still significantly impacts a person's opportunities in a globalized world.
  3. Open borders are presented as not just an ethical consideration, but also an economic necessity.

This aged well: 9 – The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence

0 implied HN points • 03 Feb 24
  1. The article discusses the transformative impact of artificial intelligence and its progression towards superintelligence.
  2. It highlights the shift in perspective on AI from a distant concept to a tangible reality that will be witnessed in our lifetimes.
  3. The article outlines the potential trajectory of AI development from current technologies like Siri and Watson to the possibility of superintelligent computers and immortality or extinction.

This aged well: 8 – The Untold Story of Silk Road

0 implied HN points • 28 Jan 24
  1. Silk Road was an online marketplace for drugs that made over $1 billion in sales before being shut down.
  2. The founder of Silk Road allegedly hired a hitman to kill an employee being tracked by the FBI.
  3. The story of Silk Road is a thrilling two-part tale worth reading instead of your next movie night.