In middle school - when you get into “serious” writing - they teach you about the difference between primary and secondary sources.

It’s easy enough to understand.

Primary sources: raw evidence, original data, first-hand accounts.

Secondary sources: interpretations, summaries, textbooks.

Generally, the teachers encouraged the use of primary over secondary.

While less convenient and more annoying at the time, it makes more & more sense the older I get.

Each secondary source adds another line in the game of telephone. It removes a level of critical thinking…of “action”.

Today, our society is absolutely inundated with secondary sources at a level of distribution we couldn’t have fathomed just a decade ago.

Take podcasts…every VC firm, athlete, politician, and comedian has one.

Or “AI Summaries”…why spend another 5 minutes of your day reading for yourself when Grok can give you its interpretation of the source content via 3 bullets?

This connection came to me yesterday as I was reading Emily Sundberg’s Feed Me.

She polled her readers and found that fewer and fewer people are actually listening to podcasts. I’ll take a stab as to why: the children yearn for primary sources.

When we’re over-served on secondary sources and other people’s (or computer’s) stories, we lose touch with ourselves and the beauty of living. This translates across all domains.

You don’t become a better athlete by listening to people talk about Kobe’s work ethic. You get in the gym.

You don’t become a better marketer by listening to a CMO interview. You move through the world and build your own POV.

You don’t become a better investor by listening to All-In. You get in the arena ;).

We need to acquire more Human-Proof Experiences at all cost.

Carve your own path, escape the algorithm, try, fail, try again, grow.

Avoid slop sources. Manufacture your own.

Featuring SAULT, James Blake, Kid Cudi & more…

RP WEEKLY!!!!!