Wherever You Go, There is the Internet

Without further ado, today’s Cookmarks 👇

1. Turns out the overpopulation narrative was overdone. Alex MacCaw reposted this tweet from the self-proclaimed pronatalist account, More Births.
   
   The trend: We’re headed towards a future where fewer babies are being born than people are dying.
   
   The problem: there won’t be enough new people entering the workforce to offset the costs of supporting an aging population.

   
   The solution: obvious but complex — humans need to reproduce. A big ask of people struggling to keep a roof over their heads, without the added responsibility of caring for a tiny person.
   
   

   Some countries, like Hungary, have gone as far as eliminating income tax for women who give birth to four or more children. There might not be much income left to tax with four little ones to care for, but hey, one issue at a time.

2. The days of sifting through endless Google search results to find the answers we’re looking for may soon be behind us. John Collison reposted this tweet from OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman announcing SearchGPT.

   
   With the overwhelming amount of content on today’s internet, a lot of it either conflicting or geared toward selling you something, search results have become increasingly unreliable (to put it mildly).

   
   AI-based search could offer a better solution for consumers and a new conundrum for businesses that rely on showing up near the top of Google search results.

   
   Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO) might soon replace Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Are we in the early days of an internet search revolution?

3. Boom Supersonic is a company working on bringing back supersonic travel. Paul Graham reposted this Ask Me Anything thread from Boom’s founder and CEO, Blake Scholl.

   
   • Overture, Boom’s supersonic airliner, will cruise at 60,000 feet. Making the ride smoother and routes more direct compared to current commercial planes, which fly closer to 40,000 feet.
   
   • Overture travels at speeds up to Mach 1.7 (1,294mph) or nearly twice the speed of sound!
   
   • You’ll have to wait at least four years to get your ticket! The estimated cost for a round-trip on Overture will run you a cool ~US$5,000.

4. In the future, you will have high-speed internet everywhere you go. Even if where you go is in the middle of the ocean.
   
   Joe Gebbia reposted this tech news update from Sawyer Merritt.

5. If you’re tired of hearing about AI, you’re not alone. AI fatigue is real, with companies slapping the AI label on everything from vacuums to glasses and marketing it as the next big thing.
   
   Ryan Hoover reposted this message from Chrys Bader to marketers, urging them to go easy on our latest marketing buzzword.
   
   Greg Isenberg went as far as calling out “AI Free” startups as a major opportunity in an increasingly AI-saturated market.
   
   How often are you using AI?

6. Let’s be clear: Corporations don’t deserve our sympathy. You don’t have to look far for evidence of corporate greed (👋 Shrinkflation). But when it comes to periods of high inflation, is the greed of corporations the culprit?
   
   Marc Andreessen reposted this tongue-in-cheek chart from Spike Cohen that sarcastically points to inflationary periods (post-pandemic) as times of “greed” and deflationary periods (the 2008 financial crisis) as times of “generosity”.
   
   There are a multitude of factors that influence inflation. Blaming corporate greed for it when the US government printed $3 trillion in 2020 alone is like blaming the Oreos for your love handles.
   
   Today, inflation in the US & Canada is at a three-year low with many corporations reporting quarters with decreasing profits relative to previous quarters. Things are heading in the right direction.
   
   I won’t pretend to be an expert on inflation myself (this section of the newsletter took by far the longest to write). For a better understanding of inflation and what causes it, here’s a great write-up from McKinsey & Company.

7. Here’s a hot take on networking from Naval, reposted by Guillaume Verdon.
   
   Alright, maybe “spend less time talking about what you’re going to do, and more time actually doing it” isn’t exactly controversial.
   
   But as a person who skews to the introverted side — less small talk is advice I can get behind.
   
   One takeaway? There’s a niche community for every interest, and the barriers to creating have never been lower. Building in those communities could be a fast track to more relevant connections than you might find at a broader networking event.

8. Is it possible to reach Elon Musk’s level of achievement without having at least some sociopathic tendencies? Siqi Chen reposted this legendary Elon clip where he later told advertisers, “Go fuck yourself".
   
   There’s an argument to be made that Elon probably cares about people’s opinions more than he lets on (having Twitter users decide via poll whether you should sell billions of dollars of Tesla stock or stay on as CEO at the company you begrudgingly purchased for $44 billion doesn’t scream “I don’t care what people think of me!”). Regardless, letting other people’s opinions dictate your actions isn’t a recipe for long-term success.

   
   Being likeable has value — needing to be liked does not.

9. Here’s a serious aha moment for the marketers working to get their content to rank in search results.
   
   AJ Ghergich reposted this SEO advice that anyone working on websites should implement today.
   
   Give the search engines what they want!

10. Gurwinder Bhogal has amassed a huge following online for his ability to explain complex societal issues in simple, thought-provoking ways. His repost of Kunal Shah’s tweet certainly provokes thought.

    
    This saying comes to mind when I read Kunal’s tweet — “Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it.”
    
    When you think about your struggles and failures, do you honestly take responsibility and recognize the part you played in them? Or are you a helpless victim of circumstance?
    
    The perspective you choose either empowers you to grow or holds you back. What lessons from past failures have you learned and how can they guide you going forward?

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Until next time, stay curious! 🤝