#31: Trading Certainty for Data

☀️ An Experimental Life

Every time we run an experiment, we're collecting valuable data. And these experiments don't have to be huge, you know?

Think of the tiny ones: tweaking a recipe with a new ingredient, trying out a new workspace for a day, keeping a gratitude journal for a week, or just testing a new workout routine once.

But of course, they can also fall into the “huge life change” category. Moving cities (guilty!), finally starting that project you've dreamed of, taking a leap of faith on a new career path, or committing to a complex skill; these are all massive experiments in motion.

The core of an experiment is our ability to stay adaptable and unattached to the result. It needs that "if it works, awesome; if it doesn't, I'll pivot" mindset. This way of thinking is built by consistently taking action, testing things, and being totally okay with having no guarantee of success.

I’m certainly running a few experiments these days myself: I’ve relocated to Lisbon (hello, new environment!), and I’m launching the Product Hunt page for Curiosity Saved The Cat today. I’m pushing the platform where tech products find their way to the world to see if a learning and curiosity-oriented newsletter can find its way around.

As one dear friend said, “What do pastéis de nata, Porto wine, and good weather have in common now? Me.” Hugs, Elena 😆

This edition celebrates being open to change, resilient in the face of friction, and curious about what life can bring us when we stop resisting the uncontrollable and uncomfortable.

📖 3 Articles to Spark Your Curiosity

1. The Power of Personal Experiments
   Anne-Laure Le Cunff shows us how to replace big, paralyzing bets with tiny, repeatable experiments to generate data and make better decisions under uncertainty. It’s about building a robust system that values curiosity over rigidity.
   → Read on Ness Labs
   

2. The Neuroscience of Change
   Change starts with radical self-awareness. To adapt successfully, we must acknowledge that life is an ongoing process of exploration, not a fixed state, and make the conscious decision to change course when necessary.
   → Read on The Happiness Index
   

3. Motivation is Overvalued. Environment Often Matters More.
   When you’re running a personal experiment (like changing your routine), don’t rely on willpower alone. James Clear explains why your environment is the invisible hand that shapes your behavior more than motivation does.
   → Read on James Clear’s Blog

🗞️ 3 Headlines Worth Exploring

1. What actually happens in your brain when you change your mind
   If experimentation is all about pivoting, what's the neurological cost? Turns out, our brains love certainty, but they're built to update their beliefs. This research shows that changing your mind is the brain’s most sophisticated form of data processing.
   → Read on The Conversation
   

2. California Becomes First State to Regulate AI Companion Chatbots
   As our environment expands to include more AI, the rules of the game are changing fast. This regulation treats AI companions with true seriousness, requiring accountability, safety measures, and disclosure.
   → Read on TechCrunch
   

3. LinkedIn CEO: Why college degrees won’t matter in the age of AI, and what will replace them in the future of work
   LinkedIn’s CEO discusses how AI is forcing a shift away from credentials to demonstrable skills and continuous learning. Your value won’t be in what you know from four years of school, but in your ability to rapidly learn and apply new data.
   → Read on Business Insider

☀️ 3 Actions to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

1. Adopt a 15-Minute New Skill Challenge
   Commit to spending just 15 minutes a day for one week on something totally outside your current routine: learning the basics of a new language, practicing simple guitar chords, or sketching a self-portrait. The low time commitment removes the pressure, and the novelty will provide a refreshing mental reset.
   

2. Propose the “Bad Idea” First
   In your next team meeting or creative discussion, consciously share the idea you were going to self-censor (the one you thought was too silly, too simple, or too ambitious). One unconventional thought can open up a completely new path for the group.
   

3. Have a “Day of Friction”
   Intentionally introduce minor inconveniences into one day to break your reliance on efficiency and routine. For example: don't check email until noon, take a dramatically different route to your usual errands, or leave your phone in another room for three hours. The goal isn't discomfort, but to notice your automatic responses and habits

⚡ 6 Quick Resources

💡 To get inspired: Forget the Corporate Ladder - Winners Take Risks
Careers aren't built by climbing "stairs" but by jumping off cliffs: taking calculated risks, being okay with being a beginner, and becoming a "professional idiot" who asks simple questions.
 → Watch on YouTube

🗺️ To watch: Are we living in a clockwork universe?
Classical physics implies determinism (the future is already fixed). While this challenges free will, Sean Carroll explains that since we can't know all the data, we must still live and act as agents capable of making choices.
→ Watch on YouTube

🥁 To explore: Companies with Successful Pivots
A list of companies (like Netflix and Slack) that found success only after making a radical, experimental shift in their core direction.
→ Explore on GitHub

📜 To check: 6 simple steps to keep your mind sharp at any age
A quick guide from Harvard Health on maintaining cognitive health (the essential base for a life of continuous learning and adaptation).
→ Read on Harvard Medical School

🎶 To keep in mind: The Dunning-Kruger Effect
The cognitive bias where low competence leads to high confidence. Embracing an experimental life means having the humility to overcome this and ask "stupid" questions
→ Learn about this on The Decision Lab

🔍 To consider: The Sunk Cost Fallacy
This bias makes us cling to failing projects because of past investments. It's the anti-experiment mindset, preventing us from pivoting to a more promising new course.
→ Learn about this on The Cognitive Bias Lab

🎲 This week’s wonderfully random corner of the internet 

 🔮 Universe Forecast

A timeline with science-based predictions of what events might happen in the universe in the future. But like, future-future (1 trillion years and beyond kind of future). It's a humbling reminder that while we can control our small experiments, the grand forecast is entirely out of our hands.

”If the life of the universe was a year, you're living in the first millisecond of January 1st”

→ Explore neal.fun/universe-forecast/

📝 Word of the Week

Propinquity (Noun) - The state of being close to someone or something (we can consider proximity a synonym).

It’s a reminder that designing your environment (proximity to resources, people, and tools) is often the most effective way to influence your behavior and shape the results of your personal experiments.

🧘‍♀️ Question of the Week for Introspection

What habit, project, or belief are you holding onto not because it serves you now, but purely because of the time and energy you’ve already invested in it?

See you next Sunday! Until then, keep your eyes open, your questions big, and your sense of wonder alive.

Your curious internet friend,

Ruxandra