I recently came upon this quote from the social-news aggregator reddit: “What I’ve seen is that in the museums and in the textbooks, whenever they claim to show the evolutionary differences from one species to another, it relies on illustrations and drawings… not any material evidence.” – Wendy Wright The comments mock the obvious hypocrisy […]
Philosophical Tourism
Some people travel to see sights. Some go to learn languages. I’ve always been more interested in travelling to meet people, specifically, to find out how they think. Everyone has a philosophy of life. Not everyone writes a blog about it, or ponders big questions endlessly, but everyone has a life philosophy. They reveal it […]
Does Thinking About the Ideal Life Actually Lead to Living One?
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates Do introspective, intelligent people enjoy life more than the masses? Often not. Ben Casnocha wrote this after the death of David Foster Wallace. Awarded the MacArthur genius grant, Wallace was brilliant, but unfortunately, as Casnocha writes: Wallace’s suicide raises for me the question about the correlation […]
How to Figure Out What People Want
The thinking process of most innovators is something like this: Get an idea for what you want to make. Create it. Find someone who wants it. I think any entrepreneur will immediately recognize this is a horrible strategy for starting a business (or making any decision). By making something before you see any opportunity, you […]
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.