Around the Web 20

Schizophrenia 🧠, Dirty Cities 🏙, and How Overstimulation is Ruining Your life 📲

[Talking🗣️points for your next outing📍]

💩The Dirtiest Cities In The US, Ranked By Number Of Complaints

🥬 A slight decline in vegetarianism in the US

[Long Read 📰 / Watch 🎥]

[I]: Schizophrenia gene found to be linked to energy dysfunction in brain cells.

This interesting work investigates the effects of the 1.6-megabase deletion at chromosome 3q29 (3q29Del), a significant genetic risk factor for schizophrenia. Using two experimental models, human cortical organoids and the 3q29Del mouse model, the researchers profiled the developing neural transcriptome. Their analysis revealed a dysregulation in mitochondrial function and energy metabolism. This mitochondrial disruption, associated with the 3q29Del, was found to be consistent across different species.

[II]: How Tyler Cowen Writes.

Tyler Cowen and his co-author on the Marginal Revolution blog sat down with David Perell on his new show How I Write. So many things were discussed, including the history of marginal revolution itself. Something that I find particularly interesting in the dialogue is Tyler Cowen’s point on context filling (minimal upfront context) and how he uses it to filter his audience. I get bothered sometimes if I don't do appropriate context filling in my essay, I think I will be less bothered going forward, given his take.

There is another one in the same, How I Write series where David interviewed The Cultural Tutor from Twitter. My most interesting take-away is that the fellow mentioned that he doesn’t read contemporary books, only very old books, which gives him a comparative advantage. I couldn’t help but recall the Lindy Effect while listening.

[III]: Blood profiles predict cognitive deficits after COVID-19 hospitalization.

The authors of this work utilized the PHOSP-COVID cohort to analyze the long-term cognitive effects of COVID-19, identifying two significant biomarker profiles during hospital admission that predicted cognitive deficits 6 and 12 months later. The first profile indicated that individuals with high fibrinogen levels relative to C-reactive protein (CRP) experienced both objective and subjective cognitive deficits post-recovery. Meanwhile, the second profile showed that high D-dimer levels relative to CRP were associated with subjective cognitive deficits and adverse occupational outcomes, highlighting the potential of these biomarkers as indicators for long-term cognitive impacts of COVID-19.

[IV]: How Overstimulation is Ruining Your Life

Since the emergence of social media, I have been (rightly) worried about the dangers of overstimulation. This has led me to quit social media for many years in the past. However, I was soon caught up in an obvious dilemma: many of my side projects requires (or would benefit greatly from) exposure on social media. So, I ‘sneaked’ back in. But this doesn’t in any way take away the risk of overstimulation.

Cal Newport in this video discusses the adverse effects of overstimulation, emphasizing the necessity of regaining control over one's life. He points out that the constant search for entertainment on platforms like social media would most likely do serious damage to one’s productivity (goes without saying), no thanks to comprised dopamine circuitry.

I couldn’t agree more. I for one do not keep apps like instagram and Twitter “constitutively” installed on my phone; and I can’t overemphasize what huge difference that makes.

[V] Manchester United’s Decade of Transfer Failure

A nice - but rather tough to watch (as a Man U fan) - video on Manchester United transfer activity. 

“In the decade since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United have spent £1.32bn in the transfer market. Despite that, they’ve not come close to winning the Premier League.

For many, the club’s transfer activity is to blame, and the lack of a true and consistent recruiting strategy.”