🧠✨The Nexialist #0003

The Lungs of the World | Brazilian Money | Céu Azul | Cafuné | Gulper Eel | Rational Dialogues | Ontological Design | Save for Later | Mullets

Hello, again! Happy to have you here! This week I’m going to try something a bit different: I will keep this newsletter a bit shorter than the past 2 editions. The first reason for this is that I noticed it created some kind of pressure to read everything. “I’ll read it, I promise” came from more than one friend. The last thing I want is to create more anxiety-related to all the media and content we consume. The second reason is that I’m back to work this week, so I’m figuring out how to take care of this baby/project on the side. So let’s keep everyone sane and happy, with a bit less content. You can even enjoy 1-2 contents per day. Or binge. Your choice.

🫁 The Lungs of the World Have no Oxigen

Last December, VICE made this piece that exposes the treatment indigenous people of Manaus are (not) getting. Last week the sad and infuriating news arrived: hospitals in Manaus ran out of oxygen for virus patients. It’s insane to think about the general negligence with such an important region and culture not only for Brazil but for the whole world. Also, a few weeks ago, Bolsonaro had claimed Manaus had reached herd immunity when more than 75% of the population had already gotten infected. Turns out the health system there is collapsing.

💰Brazilian Money

Yes, we have iconic native-Brazilian animals in our banknotes, and they’re beautiful. I only noticed how cute our cash is when I left Brazil. I never thought I could learn so much about the Real with a person who is not Brazilian, but here I am. After, I couldn’t help but notice how ironic it is that the “savage” capitalism is exactly what is destroying our rainforest and biodiversity. 👀

🎤To Cheer Up

Let’s cheer up with this sweet tune from two of my favorite Brazilian artists. Jaloo is a proud queer artist from Pará with indigenous roots and is known for his more indie-electronic-forest-sound. MC Tha brings such a beautiful presence with a mix of funk carioca, Brazilian Popular Music, capoeira beats while beautifully referencing Umbanda (the afro-brazilian religion that mixes indigenous Brazilian religion, African religion, Spiritism and Catholicism). It’s like listening to a cuddle. Or a cafuné in soundwaves.

🐡Wait, WHAT IS THIS?

Put it on fullscreen if you can, because this is incredible. “E/V Nautilus is exploring unknown regions of the ocean seeking out new discoveries in biology, geology, and archaeology.” This one left me completely awestruck; it even gave me this weird feeling that it’s CGI. On top of the surreal footage, it's so nice to hear the scientists talking and being as surprised as we are while discovering it.

👂Deep Dialogues

Pairagraph is a “hub of discourse between pairs of notable individuals.” They pair two people from different areas to discuss a contemporary questions in four parts: Genesis, Response, Penultimate, and Finale. In this piece, the question is: Is Technology Actually Making Things Better? and they chose philosophers with different views to argument with one another, respectfully and critically. Such a necessary and inspiring format in times of polarization.

🧠Rational Debates

Talking about polarization, I am a big fan of Kialo. Though I haven’t used it too much, its idea is timely: a platform that promotes rational debates. This visualization is so smart: arguments and their counter-arguments, all connected and ordered by relevance.

🤯Ontological Design

This is one of those concepts that you cannot unlearn: “everything that we design, in turn, designs us back.” It got me thinking when Twitter came out, and I used it a lot. I remember how my brain was "thinking in tweet format.” Not just the 140 characters, but also the humor and the tone I was consuming from there. Now TikTok is the one bringing a new way to communicate, with humour, music and our bodies. When we use different mediums, we can visualize new ways to communicate and this can also change how we structure our thought. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a bit more Kialo design in my brain? 🤔

🕶Mullets

Maybe this doesn’t have to do anything with the topics I talked before, but I need you to listen to this Dutch band. Goldband is bringing nostalgia from a time I wasn’t even born, so I’m quite enjoying (and forcing my friends) to listen to them. There are other good videos and tracks, if you want to dive deep. WAIT… are mullets back?😏

🔖Nexialist Tip: Save for Later

I left this tip for the end, since it’s a longer read and maybe you know it already. Let me know if it helps, or what helps you.

The internet doesn’t come with a manual, and many of us are left to drown in the overflow of information we live in, accepting whatever content appears, and feeling overwhelmed about it with so many tabs open, which you then proceed to lose (been there, and still am sometimes).

My Nexialist tip today is quite simple, but I have noticed it’s not so common to see it, and it doesn't hurt sharing: Save it for later. This feature is present in most platforms in one way or another. I'll tell you how I do it (and maybe you have a better way, so please share).

1️⃣If something is very important or short, I read it on the spot. If I like that content, I save it (this is content for another tip).

2️⃣If I don’t have time to read it right away, I will skim through it and decide if I want to Save it for Later and then close that tab.

🎥On Youtube, it’s the clock button. I have been noticing the algorithm shows that video to me after, and I find that quite helpful. You can also access that playlist later.

🔊On Spotify, I created a playlist called Listen Later (one for podcasts, one for music). After I listen to it, I clear it.

🔖On Twitter, they allow us to add as a bookmark, and Instagram it’s allowed to save it in boards, and I use that for that especially for longer reads.

✏️Google Keep is a pretty good solution that helps save any page you're visiting. You can install a Chrome plug-in that allows you to save anything on your browser or phone to access later, just like the Pocket app.

🤔Then once every 1-2 weeks, or when I’m looking for something to read/listen/watch, I know where to check. Don’t worry: some of them will be left behind anyway, but at least it’s kept somewhere where you can consult later.

---

🫀If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it with your friends. If someone amazing sent it to you, tell them you love them, and you can subscribe at thenexialist.substack.com. If you want to know what a Nexialist is, click here. If you want to introduce yourself or give me any feedback, I would love to hear from you. Drop me an e-mail or say hi on LinkedIn or Instagram.