New York City made history yesterday electing immigrant politician Zohran Mamdani as their new mayor. It got me thinking about New York, which is a city I love and have been fortunate to visit many times (and will soon be visiting again). Then this morning, the quote below appeared in my daily Readwise email. The quote is from The Weirdest People in the World by professor Joseph Henrich. The quote notes the fact that big, beautiful, diverse cities like New York are more innovative than the sum of their parts. I think many of us intuit this, but in the book Henrich explains the research and the logic. However, innovation isn’t the reason I love places like New York, but it is adjacent to what I love–the vibrancy, the opportunity for serendipity, the randomness, the deep layers of culture, and the variety of experiences available.

These admirable and enjoyable elements of modern urban life contrast vividly in my mind with what I see when I drive through rural America. I’m always shocked by how depressed and poor rural America feels. Small town America just gives off defeated vibes to me. I don’t mean to insult people who live in rural places. I’m only expressing my reaction when passing through and I am certainly not condemning or criticizing people who prefer to live in rural areas. To each his own.

Nevertheless, the point Henrich makes with this quote, and in his book generally, is that cities drive innovation and progress. As a fan of diverse, electric places like New York City, I’m not surprised.