* Bess on “Remembering things that haven’t happened yet: How will I know what I need to hear in a future I can’t anticipate? Who will I be, and what will she want?”

* The need to liberalize not just housing construction but also commercial real estate construction. We’re all paying the price of construction restrictions.

* Tyler Cowen on the university presidents debacle. They’ve helped further lower the status of higher ed and continue to make higher ed look like it’s most interested in ideological indoctrination, not truth seeking. Perhaps we’ll see some course correction, although I’ve been saying that for a decade. In 2014 I wrote “Why I don’t donate to Clark University [my alma mater], and thoughts on the future of college,” which now seems soft and tepid by comparison to what’s been seen in the last five years.

* Related to the above: Why math professor Alexander Barvinok objects to “diversity” statements. Note: “the routine affirmation of one’s beliefs as a precondition of making a living constitutes compelled speech and corrupts everyone who participates in the performance.” And, see further: “The Moral Decline of Elite Universities: Too much of academia cares little for universal human dignity, leaves no space for forgiveness, and exhibits no interest in shared progress.”

* “We will all become boring: Loneliness, liberalism, and the traditional family.” Poorly titled but interesting, and really about how to live your life. It underemphasizes the extent to which individuals also owe good, prosocial behavior to the groups they’re a part of. Another essay could be written along similar lines that emphasizes how important that is.

* “Destigmatizing Drug Use Has Been a Profound Mistake.”

* Saying no, by Ryan Holiday. I’d highlight this: “I once heard someone say that early in our careers, we say yes to everything so at one point we can afford to say no.” The earlier you are in your career, the less known you are, the fewer the number of requests that you get, the more you should tilt towards say “yes.” I’ve also learned the hard way that, if you say yes and then can’t do the thing, or don’t want to, the sooner you correct the “yes” to a “no,” the better. Neal Stephenson’s essay “Why I Am a Bad Correspondent” is germane too. Holiday mentions that “I used to post my email address on my website, and I would respond to everyone and everything.” I still mostly do this for commenters, or commenters on Bess’s Substack, but I probably get at least an order of magnitude less inbound than he does. Different scales require different strategies. “Do things that don’t scale” is applicable.

Particularly since my cancer’s recurrence and metastases, I’ve said “no” to a lot more than I would’ve before—and some of the things I’ve said “no” to have hurt. Friends and acquaintances who are well meaning and want to see me, but whose visits mean that Bess and I won’t get the writing done we’d like to do. Journalists or “journalists” who appear not to have read whatever Bess or I have already written publicly about a subject. Focus matters. Do I want to speak to tens of thousands of people, or one or a few? How do I decide? Few inbound queries asking me for stuff start with: “I donated to your Go Fund Me, and….” And look, I’m not saying everyone can or should do that. I’ve written to and semi-coached a lot of people with head and neck cancers; few understand better than me how parlous cancer makes one’s finances. But that’s a possible strategy for standing out and appearing worth investing in—a topic I’ve hit in How to get coaching, mentoring, and attention). I’ve seen stories from VCs or startup founders who will say that one way to stand out in email or Twitter is to, instead of saying, “Can we get coffee?”, saying: “Can I buy you coffee?” It’s only a few dollars, but bringing something to the table is different than not, even if you’re bringing something minor.

* The low fertility crisis is one of opportunity costs. But I think it underestimates the role of high housing costs caused by government-imposed restrictions on new construction.

* Most professional sports have too many games and so devalue their games. The games and even playoffs don’t become societal Shelling points any more.

* “Israeli Military Reveals Tunnel It Says Hamas Built for Large-Scale Attack” (wsj, $). One of the big reasons Israel is doing what it’s doing. And indicative of the tragedy of the Gazans: money is going into terrorist tunnels instead of schools, hospitals, transit, or public works.

* “Jason Schrum, the Forgotten Man of mRNA Research (wsj, $).

* “Dwarkesh Patel interviews Andy Matuschak on Self-Teaching, Spaced Repetition, and Why Books Don’t Work.” Among other things. His thoughts on the education system stand out to me.

* Harvard, now.

* GSK gonorrhea vaccine fast tracked. A potential win for human flourishing!

* “It Sure Looks Like Phones Are Making Students Dumber.” Consistent with my experiences in teaching; back in 2008 I wrote Laptops, students, distraction: hardly a surprise.