Welcome to Z-Pack:.your antidote to the 24/7 news cycle. Cut through the noise, understand what matters, and get on with your week - in 5 minutes

If this is your first Z-Pack, welcome - I'm Zach.

_{The vibe-killer disclaimer: The opinions in this post and all other posts only represent myself and do not represent the opinions of my employer or any groups I am a member of.
This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.}

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Proximity Is Power, But You’re Screwing It Up

The fall from grace of one of the OG fast-fashion retailers _{(rip Forever21)}.
The fatal consequences of the dismantling of a government agency that no one even knew how to spell last year (hint: USAID).
The deepening cynicism of Gen Z, the generation that (allegedly) was supposed to save us from the Boomers.

These seemingly random headlines all have one deceptively simple concept in common: proximity.

But not the way you think.

While the phrase “proximity is power” may sound like a motivational poster slogan that David Goggins would beat you over the head with, there are two types of proximity shaping your reality that you've never fully fleshed-out, and you're probably getting both wrong.

Physical Proximity: The Serendipity Machine

Let’s start with the easy one: physical proximity.

We all know luck exists. As Warren Buffet once said, life begins with the “ovarian lottery” — and by and large, most people lose.

Let’s be real: you hit the jackpot if you were born in the United States. And if you think otherwise, the millions of immigrants who suffer through the most dangerous situations to get a chance at making it to this country would happily disagree with you.

Here’s where it’s interesting: the biggest predictor of childhood cancer survival isn't the treatment (which is largely standardized), but where the child is born. Access is the issue. Just ask the communities around the world devastated by USAID's gutting.

But this isn't just about birth luck. It's about maximizing serendipity throughout your life.

For starters, if you live in a big city, you’ve already made a smart move.

Cities are humanity's secret sauce. They’re the richest, most innovative places we've ever created. They're proximity engines, churning out connections, ideas, and opportunities.

Even though Americans are the only people on this planet who fear and hate on our country’s prized-possessions, the rest of the world adores theirs. Why is that? Because cities have the jobs, universities, research hubs, and crucially, the strangers you need to trust to do business. Not only that, but urban areas consistently demonstrate higher moral universalism and trust in strangers than rural areas . Trust is the foundation of innovation and commerce in any modern society.

No trust, no business.

Hell, even adding a new nonstop flight between two cities measurably boosts business growth. Those "random" office hallway conversations? That's why remote workers get promoted less often. Proximity creates collisions; collisions create value through accidental discoveries.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saving you HAVE to live in a city or work in an office, but we can’t ignore how much this helps you maximize your serendipity.

And it’s not just about what you’re physically close to, but also what you’re far away from.

^ If you think you’re the only one who’s felt this, boy oh boy are you wrong. Oftentimes, personal experiences aren’t just personal.

How Proximity Shaped History (I Know You Didn't See This Coming)

Here’s your controversial take for today: the Catholic Church was an unsung hero.

In medieval Europe, the Catholic Church accidentally revolutionized the world through proximity manipulation. They inadvertently caused a boom in individualism.

_{(Bear with me)} By banning cousin marriage _yuck, breaking up extended family structures, and ending priest marriages, the Church unwittingly promoted the first nuclear families and individual mobility.

For the first time, you weren't condemned to your family's profession or centuries-old customs. This physical distancing from family triggered a serendipity cascade _{(you’ll never want to hear this word again after)}: more people moved to cities → more diverse social interactions → more ideas exchanged → guilds and universities formed → hello, Industrial Revolution.

This is why the "escape to the city" trope dominates pop culture, from Grease to Footloose to Hairspray. People intuitively understand the power of escaping proximity traps.

All around the world, millions of people remain trapped in these proximity-based systems, which range across a spectrum, from Scarlet Letter-like communities to total tribal honor:

• Southern Italian Mafia networks

• Middle Eastern Wasta connections

• Tribal structures in Afghanistan and Pakistan

• The Indian caste system

Then eventually came the automobile, supercharging our ability to control our physical proximity. Sometimes, distance from harmful environments is as valuable as proximity to positive ones:

• Escaping abusive relationships

• Cutting off negative friend groups

• Moving away from violent communities

Even after Hurricane Katrina, evacuees who settled in other states actually lived longer than those who returned.

Proximity kills or saves. Literally. And not always how we think.

So I guess we pour one out for the Catholic Church..?

Mental Proximity: The Invisible Chains

But physical space is only half the equation. Your mental proximity (what ideas, beliefs, thoughts and emotions you keep close) might be even more powerful.

Anthropologist Joseph Henrich notes a fascinating historical divergence:

As Henrich said before, Europeans stopped caring about what they considered to be outdated views, whereas other societies remained mentally tied to their intellectual ancestors.

Remember Forever21? Maybe their bankruptcy doesn’t just reflect retail trends, but also mental proximity. They've moved from our mental present to our mental past. We no longer feel connected to their offering or identity, and we expedited their death as we transitioned more to online shopping.

The most valuable skill in the modern world might be the ability to intentionally distance yourself from certain ways of thinking, whether it's old shopping habits, inherited behaviors from your parents, or cultural dogma.

Bill Gates took this to the extreme in his early days building Microsoft. He literally removed his car radio to eliminate distractions. "If I had the radio there," he explained to a journalist, "I'd be tempted to turn it on and start listening to music. And that would mean I'd stop thinking about Microsoft."

So try asking yourself: what are you mentally and emotionally tied to? What’s taking up space in your mental proximity?

But keep in mind _{see what I did there}, proximity to your own thoughts can be just as dangerous.

Not everything can be solved by thinking through it.

Some of you are reading this while swimming in a pool of mental cocaine.

Overthinking, replaying failures, or staying attached to old fears can hold you back just as much as a bad environment. Not every thought demands attention.

Beware the Internet’s Reality Distortion Field

Technology has fundamentally warped our perception and experience of proximity, creating what I call the Internet's Reality Distortion Field.

The best way I can describe this for you is by giving you the example of Steve Jobs.

Jobs famously existed in a "reality distortion field," described by Apple designer Bud Tribble as an environment where "reality is malleable. He can convince anyone of practically anything." Even when you recognized it, you could not escape it.

The Internet creates an eerily similar effect. Social media manufactures the illusion of closeness without the benefits. Following influencers feels like friendship, joining Twitter debates feels like political action, and having Zoom calls feels like being in the office.

But it's not the same.

You know what cruel irony really is? We're living in the Golden Age of proximity manipulation while simultaneously retreating into an anti-social century. We're limiting our physical proximity to our homes instead of maximizing serendipity in the world.

We have unprecedented freedom to curate our mental and emotional proximity, but zero guidance on how to use it wisely. The temptation to outsource all proximity to our phones and AI has never been stronger.

Is it any wonder that social trust among young Americans is collapsing at unprecedented rates? It’s showing up in all sorts of ways. Just look at the image below.

The internet's infinite information totally discombobulates both our physical and mental proximity, leaving us adrift in a sea of bad memes (some fire) and overwhelming brain rot.

Proximity isn't everything, but it's a force multiplier for everything that matters. Use it intentionally, or watch it use you.

Thanks for taking the Pack,

Zach

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or recommendation for any investment. The Content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.