I’ve made my living running this blog for the past five years. I owe a lot to this blog. It’s enabled me to travel, take on interesting side projects, communicate with thousands of people and live well. Given my positive experience, you’d think I’d encourage other people to do the same. Except when my friend […]
Being Honest with Yourself is Hard
I remember talking to a psychologist once about the difficulties of social science. She told me that the easy thing about being a physicist is that most people aren’t very familiar with physics—stars, quarks and gamma rays—so if you’ve done the research and have good reasons to believe something to be true, people will take […]
You Don’t Pay Enough for Information
Some time ago, I read a forum discussion involving one student asking for advice about getting into grad school. One of the commenters gave an unusual piece of advice: before you commit to a university, a lab, or even grad school itself, do one year as a paid research assistant. It’s unusual advice because most […]
How to Build Habits of Moderation
In many ways, breaking a bad habit is easier than creating a new, good habit. Going to the gym takes up a time slot every day you do it. But “not smoking” or “not eating junk food” don’t require you to block out any time at all. In other ways, breaking bad habits is incredibly […]
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.