👜 What’s In Your Bag?

The Power of Collecting and Connecting Random Ideas — Plus, the U.S. is Killing the Penny and AI CEOs are Here

Author

Katie Perry
May 24, 2025

Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: The Case for Eccentricity

Today, I wanted to write about eccentricity. I was inspired by an Instagram post of all things – see, it’s not all bad over there! – from Pioneer Works, which is a very cool cultural center and third space in Red Hook (Brooklyn). 

“What’s in your bag?” is such a great question. If you’re a woman reading this, the prompt will be familiar. It’s one of the most longstanding formats in magazine journalism. People eat it up. And that’s because it provides a cross-section of the subject’s interests with no defined criteria other than what they happen to be carrying around at a given moment.

The stuff we carry around, study, consume — all these things make up who we are. And some people’s bags are less organized than others.

Here’s a fun exercise: Pause for a second and jot down the things you’re currently “into” at the moment. What does that look like? For me …

If you look at your list, how many things belong together? And how many are scattered? The mind is a strange place. Perhaps, the stranger the better?

A growing body of research shows that having a broad set of interests and exposing yourself to diverse ideas, people, and experiences can supercharge your creativity, boost your happiness, and even make you better at your job.

Let’s start with the science. Studies show that engaging with unrelated fields increases cognitive flexibility, which is your brain’s ability to switch gears, adapt, and make new connections. One study found that participants who had a “diversifying experience” (something out of their normal routine) were significantly more creative afterward. Another study in American Psychologist found that multicultural exposure — living abroad or interacting with people from different cultures — enhanced creative problem solving.

This isn’t just abstract. Steve Jobs famously credited a college calligraphy class with inspiring the typography on the first Mac. David Bowie’s constantly evolving aesthetic was fueled by his immersion in art, theater, literature, and philosophy. He once said, “I'm a collector, and I collect personalities and ideas.” That blend made his work impossible to categorize and unequivocally genius.

So what’s happening under the hood? For starters, broad interests mean a broader mental toolkit. More patterns, more metaphors, more unexpected connections. That makes you better at analogical reasoning, which means solving one problem by borrowing ideas from another field. It also builds what neuroscientists call “cognitive reserve,” which protects your brain from decline as you age.

Very few of my actual interests are directly aligned with what I do for a living. So, am I just wasting all of my free time on things that won’t benefit my career? The research says no. On an individual level, people who pursue challenging side projects are more likely to be successful, entrepreneurial, and adaptable. (I am going to take the easy way out here and sidestep the DEI debate, but I will point out a BCG study which found that companies with above-average leadership diversity earned nearly double the revenue from innovation compared to those with below-average diversity.)

Back to the concept of eccentricity. Some people don’t just have unusual interests — they, like David Bowie, manifest their weird interests and therefore register as “weird” to others. Turns out, being a little odd can be a creative asset. Psychologist Shelley Carson found that if your brain’s filter is looser, more ideas get through, which creates more raw material for original thinking.

And while some of this is likely hardwired — certain traits like openness and reduced inhibition are partly genetic — there’s also evidence that we can lean into it. In one study, students asked to imagine themselves as eccentric poets came up with more creative ideas than those told to imagine themselves as librarians. Sometimes, creativity is about permission. Letting yourself be weird. Letting your mind wander outside the lanes.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the future: AI, automation, how the hell I am going to feed myself in 15 years, you know — normal stuff that crosses the psychological wire at 1 AM on a Friday. The more I geek out on new technologies that seem to pop up every day, multiple times a day, the more I think that the future might not belong to the experts. Maybe it will belong to the connectors — people who know a little about a lot, and a lot about a few things, and aren’t afraid to mix it all up.

Stay weird, friends.

Daily Rip Live: What the Next Magnificent 7 Could Look Like and Also, Would You Trust an AI CEO?

Every weekday, we cover the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. Here’s a recap of what we covered on Thursday’s show.

By the way, we’ll be back in action on Tuesday morning, and since I get 4 days off camera, I will be dressing like Adam Sandler for the next few days.

Now Here’s a Chart

I recently connected with the mastermind behind CB Insights’ content marketing and you should definitely throw them a follow (X, newsletter, anything) because they are constantly cranking out unique data visualizations.

Here’s one that caught my eye this week. So far this year, tech companies acquired for $100 million or more had a median of 100 employees. Earlier this week, Apple acquired Jony Ive’s company, io, for a monster $6.5 billion. With just 55 employees, that’s a staggering $118M per employee.

Reading List

🎧 Now playing: Happy MDW, everyone! Here’s a song that SCREAMS summer — “Incident on 57th Street” (Live Version) by Bruce Springsteen.

Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.