Author | Lightnews

Ideas on persuading ourselves to be optimistic

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 21h

Trying to keep it optimistic today, about the future of optimism.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Happy because...

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Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 23h

The real tagline for this should be: "Don't do the hard work, you can just buy a hack to fix anything."

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 23h

"If you can't find the words, find the gift"

Anyone else find this a tad depressing? Don't try to talk, just attempt to solve your problems via consumerism.

The cognitive jump this ad suggests would happen (revisiting your youth makes you suddenly appreciate your kids) seems... a stretch.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 23h

"If you can't find the words, find the gift"

Anyone else find this a tad depressing? Don't try to talk, just attempt to solve your problems via consumerism.

The cognitive jump this ad suggests would happen (revisiting your youth makes you suddenly appreciate your kids) seems... a stretch.

Living the Society of the Spectacle

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 3d

What's the new version of "Just do it" for this?

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 3d

Why does news reporting adopt this patronising tone these days?

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 4d

The Temu video ads where customers shout at bosses, who then shout at their marketers for doing the promotion wrong, are just my favourite thing ever.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 4d

How's it working for you, living in the Society of the Spectacle?

open.substack.com/pub/exodus25...

How's it working for you?

open.substack.com

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 6d

It had a few issues, didn't it, but not terrible. I'm just bemused by our media outlets lack of a firm opinion these days!

A House of Dynamite is both political fantasy and major disappointment | Mike McCahill

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 6d

Please @theguardian.com stop bothsides-ing your culture reviews. Today it's 'A House of Dynamite'; 5-star Bradshaw review followed up by this unattributed article slagging it off. Pick a bloody position, will you?

www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc....

Kathryn Bigelow’s Netflix ‘what if?’ drama is the director’s most frustratingly assembled and visually flat film to date

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 6d

Update on this: My general levels of happiness upon removing LinkedIn from my phone are much improved. It's refocused me on direct comms via email, with better results, rather than hoping the cybervoid will ever respond to posts.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 15d

In the last 2 weeks I've uninstalled both the Instagram and LinkedIn apps from my phone. The desire to remove social media from my day grows ever stronger.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 7d

Common denominator with most SME B2B marketing today: Huge desire to spend on icing and decorating a cake that they have forgotten to bake. Looks pretty from a distance, tastes like shit.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 10d

Movie suggestions: City of God (Brazil), Parasite (South Korea), Whale Rider (New Zealand).

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 12d

The modern version: When a critique is offered, simply respond with "Stop punching down on me with your toxic slurs". Then carry on with your day, unruffled (but having learned nothing).

Will Humphrey @willhumphrey.bsky.social · 12d

Far from hiding behind criticism as the views of those who’ve never done it - industry would be far better if it acknowledged, now and then, that lots of people may well have a point.

Work can be bad! That’s ok! Call it out and offer a solution! That is literally the function of critique.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 12d

The more insidious problem, for me at least, is I've noticed LinkedIn makes me think ill of people I otherwise would not think that way about. And that feels an unhelpful slippery slope.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 12d

I don't buy it, Jane, this is just dead catting, throwing in a little pattern interrupt to provide cover.

Poland’s birth rate is in freefall. The cause? A loneliness epidemic that state cash can’t solve | Anna Gromada

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 12d

Fascinating. The arithmatocracy of course assumes numbers offer a solution to fertitlity crises. But, as this proves, they don't.

The solutions are in hearts and minds, how we feel about each other. Which absolutely no one is interested in investing in changing.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Bonuses for families have done nothing to fix a baby bust caused by post-communist Europe’s relationships crisis, says sociologist Anna Gromada

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 13d

Another great example of "internal efficiency first, customer last". Always the primacy of numbers and systems. Always more cognitive stress for humans. Unless you design the other way around.

Purplepingers ☭ @purplepingers.bsky.social · 25d

Nelson Alexander requiring tenants to use an AI chatbot to report urgent repairs. Reportedly this chatbot cannot differentiate between urgent and non-urgent repairs. Incredible.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 13d

I had a similar spat the other day. Have put myself on a timeout from posting there for the foreseeable!

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 14d

Makes sense, to counter the argument I saw this week that the "drag" of human-generated strategy is a form of "hidden tax".

These "friction vs. frictionless" arguments will spawn all sorts of new vocabulary in justification.

✨Jane ✨ @caff.bsky.social · 15d

How long until we see “artisanal concepts” and “slow-baked ideas” from “brain-to-paper” agencies becoming a trend?

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 15d

In the last 2 weeks I've uninstalled both the Instagram and LinkedIn apps from my phone. The desire to remove social media from my day grows ever stronger.

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 16d

James Horner was one of the greats :)

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 16d

Trying to follow the cricket this morning but ESPN have pretty much ruined the Cricinfo on-page experience with advertising (now including video running in the background).

Are we living in a golden age of stupidity?

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 17d

Few zingers in here for a future Substack

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

From brain-rotting videos to AI creep, every technological advance seems to make it harder to work, remember, think and function independently …

Tom Hadley | Exodus 25 @exodus25.bsky.social · 17d

The breaking of the brand promise,"If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our club", hits deep for us GenXers.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...