UC San Diego has released a new report documenting a “steep decline in the academic preparedness” of its freshmen.

The number of entering students needing remedial math has exploded from 1/100 to 1/8.

“This deterioration coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on education, the elimination of standardized testing, grade inflation, and the expansion of admissions from under-resourced high schools.”

https://x.com/sfmcguire79/status/1988246741766861034?s=20

[community contribution]

Men are becoming besotted by bots

less extensive support network -> fear of being vulnerable or perceived as weak -> turns to AI chatbots for support/companionship

[cc]

https://x.com/Slatzism/status/1988376373472489636

[cc]

there is no failing or winning or losing in love and marriage

100 lessons for your 20s

https://www.beautyofsaas.com/p/100-lessons-for-your-20s

[cc]

the “real world” is not something that is fixed

it is whatever someone decided feels normal to them

our real worlds are relative

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOClrNDknFT/?igsh=MTNyMmdsOGpnMDR0Yw==

Why Chinese shoppers are choosing local luxury over LVMH and Gucci

Their rise of homegrown labels is redrawing the map of one of the world’s top luxury markets.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4r8TwzK

China’s worsening economy has wrecked the appetite for global luxury brands. Demand that was supposed to return after the lifting of strict Covid-19 restrictions has instead slumped for overseas firms. This disappointment has helped erase shares at key luxury houses, with LVMH down about 30 per cent from its 2023 peak, while Kering has plunged roughly 60 per cent since its high in 2021 in Paris.
…
It is not just a China phenomenon. Shoppers globally have become more discerning, with consumers turning to labels that look premium at lower price points as they grow increasingly weary of spending on big-name brands that keep raising prices.

a global pivot point observation as society starts to properly feel the pinch of the economy

after years of fast and cookie cutter fashion, we start feeling the need for more tailored products that speak to us? consumers are now buying more into storytelling products

big stretch but maybe it’s due a lost of sense of self over time as well

[cc]

https://www.wired.com/ai-issue/

seeing an uptick of social media detox content rn

“delete instagram” is one

https://x.com/allgarbled/status/1989778976613830658?s=46&t=nluSw7cwYGx8zFxfoYi5Iw

just returned from a personal crash out retreat overseas and i feel like i’ve learned/discovered a lot over the past few days

many actionables to implement and questions to think about

“the more you know, the more you know you don’t know”

Four Stages Of Competence

- Unconscious Incompetence
- Conscious Incompetence
- Conscious Competence
- Unconscious Competence

some great general guiding questions that i reflected on/ were posed to me

- what gives you meaning?
- what specific triggers cause you to crashout?
- what would make you feel content on a daily/weekly basis?
- what makes traveling different from daily life for you?
- how can you emulate a similar level of contentment from traveling back at home?

being more intentional in living instead of existing can help lead to more contentment

life occurs in patterns! learning pattern recognition is important in order to break negative loops or overcome obstacles with known solutions

think I've also mentioned the nature of patterns in life previously

having a mental model to combat different categories of problems definitely helps -> read Principles by Ray Dalio

99% of the problems that you are facing in life has been faced by someone else before, so seek advice and learn from them or take comfort in the fact that this too shall pass

point being there is nothing that you cannot overcome, but more of how long are you willing to let yourself be shackled by your own chains

this is true for most of us

myself included!

my book progress has been rather slow as i find myself reading every other material other than my books throughout the year

will look to finish at least 5 more books by EOY to accomplish my NYR

that said, to me finishing =/= reading all pages/whole book

finishing is simply when the key ideas have been extracted from chapters of interest (it can be the whole book or selective chapters)

i fell for the stalling trap once again as i usually do, so i will remind myself once again of my old message: https://news.1rj.ru/str/humblespace/29

not all books are meant to be finished