Manhattan
Island borough at the heart of New York City. Wait But Why’s iPhone thought experiment strands the author on a primeval, crowded Manhattan.
At a glance
| Source | Author | Role | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| The iPhone Thought Experiment | Wait But Why | setting | The author imagines himself on a primeval, forested Manhattan with two million starving people, hunting for fresh water, food and tools… |
| How To Be A Time Lord: Time Management Techniques To Try | Dennis R. Mortensen | journey waypoint | The author describes a weekly ritual of walking the entire length of Manhattan without phone or music, taking just under three hours. |
| Abundance | Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson | subject | Once where Horace Greeley made his fortune, now a ‘luxury product’ that young families can’t afford. |
Sub-places
- 18 East 48th Street
- 30 Rockefeller Plaza
- 8 West Thirteenth Street
- Barbizon-Plaza Hotel
- City Hall Park
- Dalton School
- Dwight School
- Heckscher Building
- Holly Hotel (Washington Square)
- Hotel Lincoln (Eighth Avenue)
- Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Julien Levy Gallery
- New Workers’ School (51 West Fourteenth Street)
- New York City Center
- NYU Stern School of Business
- Polo Grounds
- Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
- The Battery (Manhattan)
- The Four Seasons Restaurant
- The Tombs
- Union League Club of New York
- Waldorf Astoria New York
- Wall Street
- Whitney Museum
The iPhone Thought Experiment — Wait But Why (2024)
Source: Original · Readwise highlight
I, for one, would be standing naked on a foresty and very crowded Manhattan island:
- Role: setting
- In the article: The author imagines himself on a primeval, forested Manhattan with two million starving people, hunting for fresh water, food and tools; the Hudson there is mostly salt water.
- Why it matters: Main concrete setting of the thought experiment; its character (crowded, salty river, no farming) drives the argument.
How To Be A Time Lord: Time Management Techniques To Try — Dennis R. Mortensen (2017)
Source: Original · Readwise highlight
I walk the full length of Manhattan, which takes me short of three hours.
- Role: journey waypoint
- In the article: The author describes a weekly ritual of walking the entire length of Manhattan without phone or music, taking just under three hours. The walk is his technique for stretching time: he mulls over big challenges while taking in the changing scenery of the city.
- Why it matters: The walk through the city is the piece’s main concrete technique and the setting where the author’s thinking time happens.
Abundance — Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson (2025)
Source: Original · Readwise highlight
What they typically cannot do is follow Horace Greeley’s example and build a life in Manhattan, where the median home now sells for $1.1 million.
- Role: subject
- In the book: Chapter 1 opens with Horace Greeley, who urged others west but built his own life in New York. The authors say a young family today can’t follow his example in Manhattan, where the median home sells for $1.1 million. They cite research showing New York once paid high wages even after living costs, and Michael Bloomberg calling the city “a luxury product”.
- Why it matters: It is the book’s lead example of a superstar city that has turned from a ladder of opportunity into a place you go to spend a fortune rather than make one.