The Diff is a daily newsletter covering inflection points in finance and technology. I aim to answer a simple question: in a few centuries, when historians reach a consensus on what was happening today, what will they believe?

Here’s what I believe: in 2021, our institutions are designed for a much simpler world with faster productivity growth. Outside of computers and communications, scientific progress has slowed abysmally since the mid twentieth century. Meanwhile, in government, media, and education we’ve moved backwards; we’re less efficient and less effective than ever before, despite shinier tools and lavish spending.

Pundits like to talk about how the pace of change has never been faster. They’re right, but in the wrong sense: the pace of fundamental change is slowing down, so unpredictability represents less progress and more chaos. 

The Diff

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Hi, my name is [Jonah Lupton](https://twitter.com/jonahlupton)

I’m the Founder of [Lupton Capital](http://LuptonCapital.com) and author of [Jonah’s Growth Stocks](http://jonahlupton.substack.com).

I also run a private room on [Stocktwits](https://stocktwits.com/r/FindingtheGrowth/) where I share my daily portfolio activity, technical analysis, fundamental analysis and market commentary.

Feel free to connect with me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jonahlupton).

Regards,

Jonah Lupton

[@JonahLupton](https://twitter.com/jonahlupton)

Jonah’s Growth Stocks

Investment

I'm David Elikwu

To be brutally honest, I'm just a nerd with some fountain pens who hasn't stopped writing since he was five.

* I'm doing my best to make sense of the world around me.
* I'm a prolific learner - absorbing knowledge is my superpower.
* I started sharing everything I learned online and a few thousand people signed up to come along for the ride.
* This is the place where I share everything you'll need to know about learning more and living better.
* 'The Knowledge' is named after one of the hardest exams in the world - an infamously gruelling test for taxi drivers in London. London 'cabbies' study the Knowledge to memorise the 25,000 roads, alleys, nooks and crannies spread across a sprawling city. Likewise, this platform maps data points for navigating the world around us. I'm building a cognitive compass. A place you go to figure things out.
* In addition to my [newsletter](https://www.theknowledge.io/about/#/portal) and [podcast](https://plnk.to/theknowledge), I run a [course](https://maven.com/theknowledge/career-hyperdrive) helping people like you build kick-ass careers!

## My career journey

As a more professional introduction, I started my career early, working on marketing campaigns for companies like Amazon, Krispy Kreme, and Credit Suisse.

I interned at Google, moved to Shanghai, came back when I ran out of money and nabbed a grad job in consulting. I hadn't graduated but I brought on four Tier-1 clients in 6 months before being offered my 'dream job' working on billion dollar deals in Corporate Law.

It took half a decade to realise I had bigger dreams. At some point I'd picked up photography as a hobby, was shooting New York and London fashion weeks within two years, and turned the side gig into a brand strategy consulting practice.

After consulting for a bunch of startups I pivoted to technology full-time, joining a startup as Chief of Staff and then transitioning to Product Operations.

I built a few other businesses along the way including a travel club for 2000+ millennial travellers, and a social impact brand supporting global artisanship through [African coffee and biodynamic wine](https://demrepworld.com).

That's the boring stuff out of the way! If you want brutally honest accounts of my early career experiences, go [here](https://theknowledge.io/issue51) and [here](https://theknowledge.io/issue52).

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As AI, synthetic biology, renewable energy, among others, mature, they will challenge our economic and social fabric in chaotic ways. Exponential View brings clarity to this chaos while helping you identify new opportunities in your industry. 

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The Pragmatic Engineer

“Platformer gets big tech scoops.” — Slate

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“Casey Newton[‘s] opinions hold sway among social media executives.” — New York Times

Platformer is your daily guide to understanding social networks and their relationships with the world. It's the best way to keep up on the events that mattered at Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Snap, and TikTok — with regular guest appearances from Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and the upstart platforms that are challenging them.

New issues arrive at 5PM PT from Monday through Thursday, and on particularly newsy Fridays. It’s written by me, Casey Newton. I spent the past 10 years covering Silicon Valley for The Verge, CNET, and the San Francisco Chronicle. And now I’m reporting directly to you.

In addition to the below, I’ve written a more extensive guide to what Platformer covers, how I do my work, and how I see the world — you can find it here. I also invite you to read my ethics policy and the Platformer posting schedule.

But first, here are some reasons to consider subscribing.

Join the club. Every day at 5PM PT, thousands of top tech executives, journalists, academics and civil society workers read my reporting on — and analysis of — the day's biggest events at the intersection of technology and democracy.

Meet the community. Platformer is part of Sidechannel, a Discord server shared among some of the best independent journalists working today. As a member, you’ll be able to meet like-minded people in text chat, discuss the news of the day, and listen in on live interviews with leading industry CEOs and newsmakers.

Understand perception. Who's up, who's down, and what will it cost them? Amid a global reckoning over the impact of technology on society, Platformer helps you keep score.

100 percent signal. 0 percent noise. Expertly curated links catch you up on what you missed during the workday, with the relevant data highlighted for you.

No hot takes, ever. Platformer is written for an audience that understands that inventing the future is complicated. Expect plenty of criticism — but also an open mind, too, as well as regular updates on what I've been wrong about.

Reporting with impact. I produced a series of investigative reports about content moderation in America that became a finalist for the 2020 National Magazine Award for reporting, and helped lead to a $52 million settlement with Facebook moderators who developed PTSD on the job. Platformer will continue in that tradition.

Invest in a healthier democracy. Your subscription to Platformer helps chart a path forward for journalism outside the ad-supported, what-time-is-the-Super-Bowl web. Help me build a more sustainable, replicable model for independent journalists working to hold power to account.

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Politics

Have you noticed how it feels like the world is evolving faster and faster? Like we can’t keep up with what’s happening.

I believe this is just the beginning.

I believe that some of us alive today will live forever. Maybe you, reading this. 
I believe AI will make our lives unrecognizably better. It will also push many into poverty. 
I believe wealth will keep concentrating in the hands of a few, especially the hands of builders of aggregators.
I believe nation-states will drift into irrelevance.
I believe geography will matter less and less. 
I believe remote work will do to white collar workers what it has done to blue collar workers over the last 50 years. 
I believe Bitcoin will replace gold, cryptocurrencies will replace fiat currencies, and smart contracts will upend how we deal with each other.
I believe tech corporations scientifically enslave us into unhappiness. 
I believe we don’t fathom yet the consequences of fertility collapse, and are utterly unprepared for it.
I believe most people are not developing the crucial skills they will need to surf these trends. Instead, these trends will overwhelm and crush them.
I believe all these themes are interconnected.
We’re entering a world of change, full of unknowns that will challenge everything about how we live and work. We’re entering uncharted territories.

The Diff

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