[TT 014] Metaphor magic, love languages, corporate philosophers, biocapacity, subpar parks
Hi again,
Please forgive the tardiness this week - in addition to hosting and kicking off my cohort course, I also published two large pieces.
This is going to be a short newsletter so folks can dig into my long-form writing (if desired).
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On the magic of metaphors
🎯 🧐 I finished the Metaphors We Live By book and its proving really impactful in my awareness for how to engineer precision understanding. Here is my writeup on how I’m thinking about the magic of metaphors in my world.
I was especially intrigued by the 2003 afterward where they talk about recent advances in computational linguistics and other domains that are forwarding the study of metaphors. Apparently, even math is full of metaphors!
Now that my metaphor piece is done, I’ll focus my attention back on redesigning the Write of Passage metaphors to round out my learnings there.
On Love Languages that don’t communicate well
💬 🔊 While my best friend was visiting, we got into a lengthy discussion and exploration on the 5 Love Languages from Gary Chapman. Have you heard of them?
I wrote up my take on translating Love Languages into a more useful framework that I call Love Signals.
What Love Signals are most and least resonant with you?
On Patagonia’s corporate philosophers
⛰ 🧥 I’ve long heard Patagonia touted as an exemplary company in corporate social responsibility, but never really knew their story or what they do to show up. Although this article read a touch like a paid ad, I appreciated many of the comments and thoughts.
First of all, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a corporate philosopher as a position at a large company. That’s beyond cool.
Second, I appreciate that they choose the word “responsible” over “sustainable” to highlight their awareness that their practices are not currently sustainable. That takes serious gumption to step up and own that reality.
Also, I had no idea Black Diamond was a spinoff from Patagonia when the latter stopped selling climbing gear to focus on clothing.
On biocapacity debt
🕳 🌎 Speaking of sustainability, a recent article in Nature Sustainability highlights that we’re using 173% of our biocapacity (how many resources are created each year). The problem is accelerating and is especially precarious for poorer nations that cannot buy their way out of resource debt in an inevitable collapse.
There is simply no way our planet can sustain our current trajectory. I’m not one for doom and gloom, but it’s becoming ever more bluntly clear that our current systems and economic world order are preordaining the demise of our children’s children.
I look forward to exploring a new way of being and economic order in the years to come.
On 1 star reviews for national parks
⭐️ 🏞 In a hilarious series, artist Amber Share is creating a series of posters for national parks from actual 1 star reviews. She calls the series Subpar Parks.
Here are two that I really like:
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Watch out for those view-blocking trees and face-biting bugs!
Until next time,
~Henry