🔪 🍣 Sharp links: Impostor syndrome, creative writing, hopepunks, AI art workflows, and +++

25 sharp links that cut through to me.

Hey,

For better and for worse, i consume a substantial amount of links and document them on a Notion board because you never know when you might need them. I thought, in the interest of bringing you into my brain’s well-intentioned ways, i’d share some here.

Let's call it Sharp Links, because… well you know the drill with the sushi-related jokes.

This isn’t meant to be a ‘here’s what matters right now’, it’s more of a ‘here’s what came across my media diet recently that feels interesting to write about’. Others do the timely curation game much better. I prefer a bit of chaotic good play with things that feel timeless enough, maybe timely enough, but not exclusively so.

So, in no particular order…

🔪 🍣 25 sharp links that cut through to me

1. Suffering from impostor syndrome? The cure is simpler than you think. Realise that others are probably far worse at their jobs than we like to think. There’s a risk here of this feeling arrogant, but i also think there’s some deep truth in it.

2. Kurt Vonnegut: 8 Basics of Creative Writing. Good writing is good thinking, so we could be worse than learning from one of the most articulate writers ever. Also, the list has funny metaphors, which is most definitely a way into my heart.

3. We need you, hopepunks. I want to get more into this mentality of hope being the radical way of embracing the world when everything seems to be going to shit. The expression itself – “hopepunks” – is, at least for me, an instant winner.

4. An AI Artist Explains His Workflow. TL;DR: It’s not as instant as you think. We need more ‘show your work’ examples like this so people can get real before going crazytown on their Twitter threads about the death of creativity and whatnot.

5. My AI and I: a case for neurodiversity in advertising and planning. Mega shout out to my man Luke Rigg for getting featured here. Embracing neurodivergent brains is how we get to fresher ways of thinking about the world, and the work we do within it. So more of these types of perspectives will always be most welcome.

6. The absurdity of over-optimizing. This article, i shit you not, will make you feel ok about how perhaps feeling ‘ordinary’ is not a bad thing. Chill out. Don’t worry about over-achieving that much. We are all specks of dust. Beautiful little piece.

7. Oatly publishes website compiling all its controversies. I love it when brands get ahead of their own bad press and own it. You know how you can disarm someone who makes fun of you by laughing at the jokes first? This feels a lot like that.

8. Why comments are the new creative brief. Questionable headline aside, there’s an interesting thought in this. Of course, the caveat being that comment sections, like all social listening, are the playground of a very small sample of vocal groups who, statistically speaking, may not matter that much. But it’s great for qual.

9. AI machines aren’t ‘hallucinating’. But their makers are. Headline of the month. Even if you don’t agree with all the arguments, there’s a reasonable take here about how we should be careful about believing both cynics and hypemachines.

10. Organizational Psychology Shows the Fallout From Working for a Toxic Boss Can Last Up to 10 Years. And this is why we’re all still jaded by that one crap boss we had five jobs ago. But also: this is why you try to break the cycle and do good by your people from this point forward. Prime them for a rich next decade instead!