Weekly Filet

Make sense of what’s happening, and imagine what could be.

Carefully curated recommendations for curious minds who love when something makes them go «Huh, I never thought of it this way!».

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Nothing matters more than what you pay attention to.

Welcome to my little corner of the internet. I'm David, a journalist and a curious generalist.

The Weekly Filet is my humble part in the necessary rebellion against the enshittification of the greatest information ecosystem we've ever had.

We live in an age where trustworthy and substantial information is hard to come by.

  • Sloppy AI content is flooding the zone.
  • Autocrats and their billionaire friends attack free speech and undermine any sense of shared reality.
  • Entertainment is where the money flows, while serious news organisations and journalists struggle.

If we don't actively resist, all of this is imposed on us through hyperpersonalised, superaddictive feeds.

They are convenient. And they work so well because they show you what you already like, confirm what you already believe, and get you enraged about what you're convinced is wrong.

Real value, though, comes from things that make you pause. That invite you to take a different perspective. That make you rethink.

That pause and the brief moment of reflection is a win in itself, always. Sometimes, though, it's the seed that grows into something bigger. Changes in how you see the world and how you choose to act often start with that one irritation: Huh, I never thought of it that way!

It comes down to this: Nothing matters more than what you pay attention to. Where you invest your time, what you open your heart and your mind to.

The Weekly Filet is all about mindful attention.

To what really matters. To what truly moves you. And to people who inspire.

I will be there, by your side, trying to be a helpful guide in this endeavour.

Join the rebellion. And get your weekly dose of «Huh, I never thought of it this way!» moments.

Treasure trove

2887 recommended links since 2011

The problem with gamifying life

A game, in the broadest sense, is when you «voluntarily undertake unnecessary obstacles in order to create the experience of struggling to overcome them». And we humans love them, they bring joy and magic to our lives. That’s what the first part of this conversation with philosopher C. Thi Nguyen is about. The second part is how we overdo it. When everything in life becomes a game, sometimes even without us realising it. (Reminded me of this excellent essay and the distinction between finite and infinite games.)

From Weekly Filet #562, in February 2026.
    When we turned time into a line, we reimagined past and future

    When we turned time into a line, we reimagined past and future

    How do you visualise time? You probably think of a line, going from past through present to future. However, this idea only became common in the 18th century. Before that, many cultures saw time as a cycle that repeats. Seeing time as a line changed how we understand history and progress.

    From Weekly Filet #562, in February 2026.

      A child psychologist’s guide to working with difficult adults

      When you read Dr. Becky’s advice for parents – or listen to her in this wonderful podcast episode with Trevor Noah that I featured recently – you can’t help but make connections to situations where it’s not children you’re dealing with. Parenting advice is often just leadership advice in disguise. This podcast is explicitly about applying Dr. Becky’s lessons for interacting with children to workplace interactions. So insightful. (It starts with a lot of ads, so jump to 5:35)

      From Weekly Filet #562, in February 2026.
        The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls

        The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls

        Have you heard of Latent America? It is «another America inside this one, visible in the statistics of nations that made different choices.» As in: «Universal healthcare is not some utopian fantasy. It is Tuesday in Toronto. Affordable higher education is not an impossible dream. It is Wednesday in Berlin. Sensible gun regulation is not a violation of natural law. It is Thursday in London. Paid parental leave is not radical. It is Friday in Tallinn, and Monday in Tokyo, and every day in between.»

        From Weekly Filet #562, in February 2026.

          How to Bet on (Literally) Anything

          If you want to know whether someone is serious about a prediction, make them bet money on it. This is the simple idea behind prediction markets, which have sharply risen in popularity recently. At their theoretical best, they could offer a glimpse to the future by aggregating what thousands of people are betting on to happen. In reality, well, not so much. If you want to understand this cultural phenomenon – and I think it’s worth taking a closer look – The NYT’s The Daily has an excellent primer.

          From Weekly Filet #562, in February 2026.
            Why Some People See Collapse Earlier Than Others

            Why Some People See Collapse Earlier Than Others

            When reality deviates too much from what we think reality should be, we tend to slide into denial. It’s what Alex Steffen describes as «our inability to grasp discontinuity […] the moment where past experience loses its value as a guide to decision-making about the future.» I was reminded of his quote when reading this remarkable essay this week. It explains why some people are less prone to that reflex. «The autistic mind is not trapped inside consensus trance. […] When a person’s identity is not anchored in dominant social narratives, the erosion of those narratives does not produce the same level of disorientation.» And thus: «The autistic cognitive style can make tipping points legible before they are socially acknowledged.»

            From Weekly Filet #561, in February 2026.
            When AI & Human Worlds Collide

            When AI & Human Worlds Collide

            The laziest criticism of AI is that it’s nothing but statistics, machines predicting the next word in a sequence. It’s like saying humans are made of mostly water and thoughts are nothing but neurons sending electrical and chemical signals to one another. Like, yes, correct, but also: duh! This article goes two steps further: It looks at «world models», a potential space for AI models to go beyond the patterns of language. «The ultimate goal is to develop world models that simulate aspects of the real world accurately enough for agents to learn from and ultimately act within them.»

            From Weekly Filet #561, in February 2026.