Five Things for a great start into 2023
There absolutely won't be a hint of new year's resolutions in this email, so please read it.
2023, here we are. And yes, this year can only get better. I’m looking forward to it. 2022 was an exceptional year and also very stressful.
Obviously, there are a few things on my mind about this new year. The most important thing is peace in Ukraine. This can only be achieved by making sure that Ukraine can win this war, otherwise Russia won’t be able to negotiate a peace treaty. I also assume that Russia will fall apart after Ukraine wins, which in turn will lead to interesting events on a global scale, from China building up its dominance in the East to the West getting Ukraine as a strong new member, willing to push forward democracy.
So these are the first Five Things for 2023, enjoy! Obviously, all the articles were written in 2022 and are so last year by definition, but we have to live with that for the moment.
The Rise and Fall of the Mall
Valley West Mall was probably the first real American mall I visited and it felt like a shopping wonderland. 33 years later the mall’s future is uncertain after lots of stores closed or located their business elsewhere. As a teenager, I loved malls. Now not so much anymore. For a lot of things I order the stuff I want online and I’m always amazed when I walk into a store and realize how limited their offering is.
The First Romantics
I knew about the impact Jena had on German culture at the end of the 18th century, but I didn’t know how much this influenced Emerson and Thoreau as well - Germanomania as a widespread phenomenon. And I enjoyed the tidbit about the British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge traveling to Germany to spend time in Jena, but instead ending up in Ratzeburg (where I went to school) and then spending time in Göttingen (where I went to university).
What Does It Mean to Align AI With Human Values?
This year we saw giant leaps in what is called generative AI - with DALL-E and ChatGPT being able to create photos and text respectively. The ongoing quest will be to not just understand how AI works and changes our life, but also to make sure that it can stick to our values.
Europe’s Spring Weather Is Putin’s Winter of Discontent
I have to admit that I never cared about the natural gas stores before Russia started the war on Ukraine. Now we learn about the capacity levels of our natural gas stores on TV - just like we get the weather report. The weather report says it is way too warm for New Year’s Eve and so Putin’s plan to leave Germans in the cold without natural gas won’t work out - it’s the exact opposite: we stand together in Europe and we also use more and more solar and wind energy.
To Hack Your Motivation to Exercise, You May Just Need to Tweak Your Gut Microbiome
Sure, we’re not mice, but it sounds really interesting how brain and gut are connected and how the gut can provide a stimulus for the brain so that we get motivated enough to start exercising. Now if they could just put something on potato chips that creates the right gut microbes, that would be fantastic.
I hope you have a great 2023!
Oh, btw, sharing is caring. So please click that button above and share this newsletter with friends, family and fools.