Burnout is awful. You feel like a zombie. Motivation is near-zero. Even if you take an night, weekend or several days off, you still feel as exhausted as you did before. It’s common to blame working too much as the cause of burnout. Psychologist Roy Baumeister, argues that ego depletion, the draining of your ability […]
Is Ultimate Truth a Superstimulus?
A superstimulus is something that provides a sensory signal outside of the range we normally experienced in our ancestral environment. The classic example is chocolate cake. Chocolate cake is sweeter, fattier and more delicious than almost anything existing in nature. Fruit is usually more acidic. Honey doesn’t have any fats to balance the sweetness. The […]
Learning How to Learn
The most popular online course of all-time is called Learning How to Learn, taught by Barbara Oakley, a professor of engineering and author of many books on learning math and science, and Terry Sejnowski, one of the foremost experts on cognitive neuroscience. This course has been wildly popular, and indeed it is how many of […]
Success is Boring
Success isn’t money, a beautiful spouse or a great body. It’s waking up early and running because you said you would. It’s working on that project to learn Python, in your spare time, when you’d rather relax and watch television. It’s reading books on investing. And then, figuring out how to set up automatic savings […]
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.