☄️✨The Nexialist #0220

medieval historian vs ai | post-luxury status symbols | the concept of now | experimental mindset | competitive wellness | aparatchik | end of the world | bad bunny: tiny desk

Apr 10, 2025

welcome to your cyber smorsgabord of this week, the nexialist

hey, you! i hope this message finds you well, despite all the chaos. i’m have a bit of a cold as spring has been teasing us in amsterdam. it also feels like a moment of new cycles with all the sprouts coming out around the city. in practice: juan and i took a try-out salsa lesson (maybe inspired by bad bunny, mostly inspired by doing something different together); i’m starting a dj course to improve my skills; i also sent to print a sample of the flaccid manifesto, which i’ve been meaning to do for months. am i in my chronically offline wannabe era? maybe. now, i’ll leave you to it, enjoy. 🫀✨

—Rodrigo Turra

Buy Me a Coffee? ☕️

🏰medieval historian versus ai

i don’t know which genai was used in this piece, as it is quite blurry and creepy, but it was fun to see medieval historian dr eleanor janega trying to guess what the ai was trying to depict, and teaching us about medieval history in the meantime (while being pissed at ai for just winging it). from fashion and architecture, to historical figures and episodes, i learned many things while roasting ai (which we need some of, let’s be honest).

brainsparks: evolutionary chimera (tn#203), a blurry jpeg of the web (tn#111), witches and loneliness (tn#40)

😎post-luxury status symbols

@eugbrandstrat Our society's status symbols are evolving. Today: the beginning of a new 6-part series on how status symbols are changing in response to the decline of the luxury industry and a hypersaturated image culture. Will be packaging it up at the end of the series in my free newsletter, which u can find in my link in bio. #marketing #brandstrategy #luxury#marketingstrategy #brandmarketing

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

recently, eugene healey finished his 6-part series about the post-luxury status symbols in 2025 and it actually has reframed how i see things around me. he shows us “how status symbols are changing in response to the decline of the luxury industry and a hypersaturated image culture.” the fourth relates directly to why dr eleanor above is so cool (or anyone that knows their sh*t and is obsessed with it).

connected privacy: how the ensh*ttifcation of tech and increasing hostility of online spaces is driving us back towards an offline, IYKYK culture, where staying private while still knowing what’s up is the true flex.
wasteful time: how the pendulum swing away from hustle culture is giving rise to a desire to be wasteful of your time, or hold vague job titles like Creative Director where you’re selling a perspective more than any specific product.
having children: how economic turbulence and time pressures have combined to turn having children into a conscious decision, even a luxury, and how brands are beginning to portray parenthood as a lifestyle stage that signals a maturing of ones tastes and preferences.
niche expertise: how an economic environment that favours hypergeneralism will make having a singular focus a high-status activity, and how it births opportunities for brands to start behaving more like a canvas that curates a variety of niche perspectives.
creating community: touching on why DJs and chefs seem to be all over instagram, how a socially-starved society has made those who can create community hyper valuable, and what it actually means for a brand to hold a community rather than just customers.
quality sleep: how sleep has become a new frontier of status in a world that’s constantly trying to eat away at it, an insight into some of the movements surrounding it, and some considerations on how brands looking to build luxury associations can bring some of the aura of sleep into their worlds.

brainsparks: new luxury pyramid (tn#209), triad of capitals (tn#203), the banality of online recommendation culture (tn#198), the other vibe shift (tn#102), parasite culture (tn#191), visual economy (tn#121)

👓the concept of now

from medieval history to now. i remember the first time i saw fran lebowitz i was in my teens. she somehow reminded me physically of my (now late) grandmother clarice, and what comes out of her mouth always has some kind of impact in me. she is the og offline queen, and i remember in one interview she had said: if you’re on your phone, you’re not here with me, you’re elsewhere.

I don't have any of these modern devices. I don't have a smartphone, a cell phone, a computer, a Wi-Fi connection in my apartment […] but I am aware of the effect of the internet, which is suffocating. But everyone ask me all the time you know uh ‘are you afraid of AI?’ Not understanding things is helpful to not being worried, I have to point that out. I'm more worried about human intelligence than I am worried about artificial intelligence.

brainsparks: critic of technology (tn#121), amish tech (tn#21), nostalgia theory (tn#19), glitched nostalgia (tn#34), revival as loss of identity + mass man (tn#103), old vs new music (tn#58), the age of average (tn#115)

🧠experimental mindset

i’ve been following neuroscientist anne-laure le cunff’s newsletter, ness labs, for a while now, i’ve even shared some of her content here. when i saw this thumbnail it took me a moment to undertand it was her, it’s always a joy to see the person you read in a video/audio format. she is also the author of tiny experiments: how to live freely in a goal-obsessed world.

i watched this whole class with juan and i have to say i had some resistance in the beginning. some words she uses have been tainted by coach talk: mindset. also there is this vibe of “optimize yourself” that feels quite oppressive. but i have to say i got it by the end: she is a neuroscientist, so her claims have a good foundation, and the framework she shared actually makes sense. below an ai-generated summary of the video, but my highlights are the experimental mindset, designing experiments and test if they work and the triple check for procrastination. it made me think of the well-known carol dweck’s fixed x growth mindsets, but it goes beyond that with actionable tools.

🌪️ Context: The Modern Brain Overload: We are overwhelmed by information and productivity expectations. Our brains haven’t evolved at the pace of modern demands. Social media comparison drives anxiety and self-doubt. The “maximized brain” pushes us to pursue extreme versions of goals, often leading to burnout.
🧠 From Scripts to Mindsets:
Cognitive Scripts: These are internalized patterns that influence decisions unconsciously.
The Sequel Script – “I’ve always done it this way, so I should continue.”
The Crowd Pleaser Script – Decisions are made to please others (family, friends, society).
The Epic Script – Belief that life must be grand and meaningful or it's a failure.
Subconscious Mindsets: These mindsets are fluid and can be changed through awareness.
Cynical: Low curiosity, low ambition. Often marked by apathy or doom scrolling.
Escapist: High curiosity, low ambition. Dreamy and avoidant.
Perfectionist: High ambition, low curiosity. Focused on goals, driven by productivity.
🔬 The Experimental Mindset: Combines high curiosity and ambition. Replaces rigid goals with tiny experiments and cycles of trial and error. Encourages embracing uncertainty as a source of growth and learning.
🧪 Designing Experiments: The Pact Framework
A pact is: Not a habit, not a resolution, not a KPI.
Purposeful – Something meaningful to you.
Actionable – Can be done now without external help.
Continuous – Repeated for a specific duration.
Trackable – Did you do it? Yes or no.
🔍 Practical Tools
Self-Anthropology: Observe your life like a field study. Take notes. Identify patterns.
Triple Check for Procrastination:
🧠Head: Rational misalignment.
🫀Heart: Emotional resistance.
✋Hand: Lack of resources or ability.
🧘‍♀️ Mindful Productivity
Pay attention to “magic windows” – times of natural flow and focus.
Focus on energy (mental, physical, emotional), not just time.
Mindfulness helps manage attention and reduce shame around procrastination.
😰 Anxiety, Uncertainty & Control: Our brains fear uncertainty more than pain. Uncertainty is fertile ground for experimentation and growth. Learn to collaborate with uncertainty rather than resist it.
🌈 Reframing Success: Linear models of success are outdated. Growth today requires fluidity, iteration, and curiosity. Switch from outcomes to processes, from ladders to loops, from certainty to curiosity.
✨ Final Reflection: Ask yourself:
Am I following my past or discovering my path?
Am I following the crowd or discovering my tribe?
Am I following my passion or discovering my curiosity?

brainsparks: mental gym (tn#156), liveware (tn#56), productizing yourself (tn#68), flow state (tn#178), the age of anti-ambition (tn#59), second brain (tn#132)

💪🏼competitive wellness

“If you’re not biohacking your way to peak performance, are you even trying?” protein’s newsletter brought a theme that is fascinating to me: wellness burnout / competitive wellness. when wellness becomes a huge industry and defeats its own purpose, it’s just cold-pressed 2025 capitalism juice for you.

Wellness burnout and the pressures of competitive wellness culture are on the rise – two modern maladies that expose the darker side of our collective obsession with self-optimisation. In SEED CLUB, Hannah Marcus referenced lululemon’s Global Wellness Report 2024, titled “The Pressure To Be Well”, which surveyed 16,000 people around the world. Among the findings: 63% of people globally feel that the pressure to be well is impacting their wellbeing; only 23% feel that they are currently meeting society’s expectations of what it means to be well.

brainsparks: social health (tn#179), stresslaxation (tn#68), gay body culture goes mainstream (tn#190), the perfectionism trap (tn#38), to be cringe is to be free (tn#73), the cult of ugly aesthetics (tn#134), capitalists killed the internet (tn#212), bigorexia (tn#79), male objetification through the ages (tn#127), the yuppie handbook (tn#66)

🤖aparatchik

aparatchik: noun | ah-puh-RAH-chik
Apparatchik is used disapprovingly to refer to a blindly devoted official, follower, or member of an organization, such as a corporation or political party.
The apparat in apparatchik (a term English speakers borrowed from Russian) essentially means "party machine," with machine referring to a highly organized political group under the leadership of a boss or small group of individuals: apparatchik originally referred to someone functioning as a cog in the system of the Communist Party. The term is not a flattering one, and its negative connotations reflect the perception of some Communists as obedient drones in the great Party machine. In current use, however, a person doesn't have to be a member of the Communist Party to be called an apparatchik; they just have to be someone who mindlessly follows orders in an organization or bureaucracy.

got this word from the merriam-webster word of the day newsletter, and i love it. is there already a drag queen named aparat chick? or a fashion brand aparat-chic? i don’t know but i’ll find a way to incorporate this in my vocabulary.

brainsparks: fetish, glamour & grammar (tn#75), dictator questions (tn#218)

☄️end of the world

recently, i mentioned a theme i’ve been noticing in pop culture: apocalyptic pop (tn#216). and then miley releases this banger: let’s pretend it’s not the end of the world. very apocalyptic, very escapist, very 2025. also, the abba references are undeniable, with the piano responses (i also shared debbii dawson here a few weeks, who is also borrowing from abba’s sonic universe, and i’m loving it.) couldn’t help but ask gpt the cultural/political/social parallels from abba’s golden years to what we’re living now and it’s the perfect soundtrack to the market crash (which looks so much better in ghibli) and the political tension.

The ABBA years coincided with global economic crisis (1973 oil crisis, stagflation), Cold War tension, the rise of nationalism and populism in response to perceived elite failure. Political instability was common (e.g., Watergate, coups, protests across Europe and Latin America).
Now, we’re living through similarly turbulent times: economic instability, inflation, the return of geopolitical blocs (US/China, NATO/Russia), and nationalist movements gaining traction in democracies.

brainsparks: you killed the music (tn#215), abba voyage (tn#201), escape economy (tn#212), sinking boat (tn#216), an apocalyptic meditation on doomscrolling (tn#145), apocalyptic pop (tn#57), recession pop is back (tn#184)

🇵🇷bad bunny: tiny desk

i got chills watching bad bunny’s tiny desk concert. the vibes, the chemistry and kindness with the band, the way he’s able to make it seem so effortless, yet it is so impactful. such a powerful voice representing and resonating with latinos. do yourself a favour a play it.

brainspark: oralitura (tn#147), DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (tn#208), reality hunger (tn#201), a frictionless world is boring as f*ck (tn#163), post-individualism (tn#196)

see you next week, fellow apocalipsians 🫀✨

🫀✨thank you for reading The Nexialist. This post is public, so feel free to share these brainsparks 🧠✨

🔎If you want to see what I’ve already posted, visit the archive and use the search engine. Even I do that a lot.

💌I want to know what you think/who you are! Your feedback is highly appreciated; you can e-mail me or fill in this short survey. Thank you! 🙏🏻

🔌Let’s Collab?

I truly believe innovation comes from bringing improbable areas together, and that’s why I called this project The Nexialist. Some sectors are known to be self-referencing and hermetic. Sometimes, teams are on autopilot mode, focused on the daily grind, which hinders innovation. As a Nexialist, I like to burst these bubbles, bringing references from different areas, and maintaining teams inspired and connected to the Zeitgeist.

I offer inspiration sessions called Brainsparks, creative desk research (Zeitgeist Boost), Plug’n’Play deals for workshops and sprints, and other bespoke formats. If you want to know more about this, send me an e-mail with your challenge(s) and we can figure something out together. Check out my website and some work I’ve done below:

thenexialist.xyz

The Nexialist