Sending you a Christmas present of four issues of Interessant3 so you can have plenty to read in your down time.
- David Epstein et al. - Early Specialisation vs Long Run Excellence Science
- A large scale analysis of elite careers, from Nobel laureates to Olympic champions, tests whether early specialisation really produces the best outcomes.
- Intensive single discipline training delivers an early performance advantage, but that advantage steadily fades.
- Individuals exposed to multiple domains early on tend to progress more slowly at first.
- Over time, these late specialisers are more likely to reach true world class status.
- Early specialists often plateau just below the very top of their field.
- The results support a “sampling first, specialising later” model of long term excellence.
- Link: Early Specialisation vs Long Run Excellence – Science
- - How France Built 40 Nuclear Reactors in a Decade
- In the 1970s and 1980s France rolled out a fleet of standardised pressurised water reactors at remarkable speed.
- Centralised planning and strong political consensus reduced delays and regulatory friction.
- Bulk ordering and design standardisation drove costs down and shortened construction timelines.
- Local subsidies, tax incentives, and state coordination aligned incentives across industry, labour, and government.
- The programme ultimately delivered around 70 percent of France’s electricity from nuclear power.
- The article argues these lessons remain relevant for countries seeking rapid, low carbon energy today.
- Link: France Built 40 Nuclear Reactors in a Decade – Works in Progress
- Axios AI Is Creating More Work, Countering the Doomers for Now Human Progress
- New labour market data challenges fears of widespread AI driven job destruction: analysis from Vanguard shows both wages and employment rising fastest in occupations most exposed to AI.
- From mid 2023 to mid 2025, real wages rose 3.8 percent in high AI exposure roles, compared with 0.7 percent elsewhere.
- Job growth in these roles reached 1.7 percent, more than double the rate of lower exposure occupations.
- The findings suggest AI is currently augmenting work rather than replacing it.
- The central risk lies in uneven adaptation, not an overall shortage of jobs.
- Link: AI Is Creating More Work, Countering the Doomers for Now Axios via Human Progress