Last week I shared some of my concerns with what I called high-variance professions. A high-variance profession is one where a lot of people fail and a few succeed. Think actors, entrepreneurs, musicians and athletes. I explained why high-variance is generally a bad thing, in terms of life outcomes, although it’s certainly not an open-and-shut […]
Archives for November 2012
Should You Pursue Your Dream, Even if You’ll Probably Fail?
I like to think of myself as a rational person. Yes, I have emotions that muddle my choices, and I make mistakes on logic problems just like anyone else. But when I have big decisions to make in my life, I’d like to believe that I go with the facts. Which is why the titular […]
Why the Fuss Over Lectures?
The last few years have seen a burst of new educational platforms. Khan Academy, Coursera and edX, were just a few. At the core of all of these platforms is the same thing: video lectures. This doesn’t surprise me. When I listed the courses I followed during my experiment to learn MIT’s computer science program […]
I'm a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, podcast host, computer programmer and an avid reader. Since 2006, I've published weekly essays on this website to help people like you learn and think better. My work has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, Business Insider and more. I don't promise I have all the answers, just a place to start.