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# [Weekly Retro] Controlling dissonance
- URL: https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-controlling-dissonance/
- Published: 2026-01-16T21:16:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-16T21:16:42.000Z
- Author: César Rodríguez
- Tags: Weekly Retro, Creativity, Art

#270 - Jan.2026

***Weekly Retro** **is a short e-mail with a wrap-up of ideas from the week, interesting links I found, and food for thought before you head off for the weekend.*

Hi there!

Here's a quick idea before you head-off for the weekend:

**Dissonance** in music sounds harsh. Unresolved. It lacks harmony.

You might think that great music is about avoiding dissonance. About getting the *pretty* notes and removing the *ugly* ones.

Yet, masterpieces are memorable because of the [**tension**](https://www.cesarrg.com/weekly-retro-tension-and-stress/) between dissonance and consonance. 

Yin and Yang. Light and shadow. Unresolved and resolved harmony.

That is what **moves us!**

I think this is true for every **creative work**. When you play it safe, you might be losing an opportunity to do something great! 

Embrace the "dissonance" in you creative space: 

In photography, shadows against soft light.

In writing, short sentences vs. long sentences. 

In product, functional features balanced with 'WoW' features

...

Great things emerge from the **contrasts**. Don't be afraid of your dissonance.

ps: Great lesson from Jacob Collier: 

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### 🧪 Cool invention from the week

**One pull of a string is all it takes to deploy these complex structures**. Inspired by Kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting, [this method](https://news.mit.edu/2025/one-string-pull-deploys-complex-structures-1223?ref=cesarrg.com) from MIT transforms flat surfaces into 3D objects and it's scalable to bigger forms. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2026/01/image-3-1.png)

### **👨🏻‍💻 Interesting links**

- [Why child prodigies rarely become elite performers?](https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/01/14/why-child-prodigies-rarely-become-elite-performers?ref=cesarrg.com) A recent study demonstrated that elite youth performers and elite adults were almost entirely separate groups
- In order to better understand our human nature, we must attempt to [build a robot capable](https://aeon.co/essays/why-the-best-way-to-understand-the-self-is-to-build-a-robot-one?ref=cesarrg.com) of robust subjective experiences

### **🖋️ Quote of the week**

> **“Happiness is your natural state”** – Tony de Mello

![César Rodríguez](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2024/09/image-2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2024/02/CR_sign_2024-3.png) 

**César Rodríguez**  
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