magic is just persistent curiosity
I’ve been circling around a few thoughts recently, and it’s about the idea of “magic”. I guess also se
Where does money come from, really?
A question that made me anxious when I was a teenager is “where does money come from really?” Most people tend to be s
#StrugglePorn – is it painting a false picture?
good conversation started here with Nat & Gary I’m not personally a fan of Gary’s overall brand, but I appreci
our metaphors for god adapt to keep up with our technology
Most of us inherit an idea of God as a “world craftsman”. If you think about it, this idea could not predate craft
minorities have to be extra-sensitive
(these were thoughts in response to Sarah Jeong being called out for being racist towards white men) I think one of the rules
women’s perspectives are criminally underrepresented
As I get older and hear more about women’s experiences, it gets clearer and clearer to me that movies and TV are dominat
menworld: a way of considering the patriarchy
(Clarification: for the whole of this thread, when I say Men, I’m referring to the subset of straight men who live &
Breakfast AMAs
Every so often I have breakfast alone, and I ask Twitter to ask me questions. I enjoy it a lot – I find it to be a great way
different people have different mental models
People typically have high-res models of their own lives and lower-res models of other people’s. We are all born clueless wi
do you know what you want?
What do you want? Do you really want what you think you want, or did you inherit it from your parents, your peers, from societ
smartphones and other linguistic legacies
Language is full of interesting legacy issues. The pocket supercomputer I'm writing this on isn't really a "phone
eddies
I love this comic by Kevin Simler of Melting Asphalt: Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between the
The utility of art (includes escape from myopic utilitarianism)
It’s often difficult to have a conversation about art because we’re almost always talking past each other. I once
We have to learn how to live and play with supernormal stimuli
I was on the train a while ago without my phone (left it at home) and I was just curiously watching what other people were up
the jetpacks of 2020 will be whatever helps us navigate information overload
TL;DR: In the broadest sense, we already have powerful engines; to go faster we need better shock absorbers and handling. ____
Different perspectives are more kaleidoscopic than different “points of view”
Thought: Words and phrases like “perspective” and “point-of-view” don’t adequately convey how ra
Identity fragments and withers away when there’s nobody else to perform for
One of the most interesting things I’ve ever read was about this guy who was homeless and living in the forest for a rea
is your subconscious smarter than you are?
Original: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9072394 I really liked this idea– I think by Robin Sharma [1], but by many
scared men
I knew some dudes like this. They’re like young versions of the racist old man Bill Burr described in his standup –
Parable of Shitty Choices
OVERALL TLDR/SUMMARY: Effective decision-making can be counter-intuitive. You assume that a good decision is supposed to look
Death
I believe that it’s important to properly come to terms with death in order to live well. This is something that’s
Adulthood is about taking responsibility
The following are selected quotes from @1000wordvomits. -1- “What is “this”? Whatever it is that distinguishes me fr
Concepts
Guiding ‘Principles’ Beware the Guilt-and-Shame Ego Trap. Alternate names: Self-flagellation trap, beating yoursel
Predictions are a good way to test your understanding
Preamble Originally on HN:Â https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9325637Â It’s always interesting to look at old predic
Mind-expanding stuff
https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-universe-is-scary Wait but why Neil Tyson’s the universe is in us, we stopped dre
precise
The Philosophy of Logical Atomism (1918-19) Lecture 1: Facts and Propositions By Bertrand Russell (The following articles ar
Politics and the English language [2016]
The following is my attempt to update George Orwell’s essay Politics and the English Language [1946] for modern reading.
Taste is the beating heart of all creative value
This post is a work-in-progress. It’s really just a set of notes for now. 1 I was re-reading Playboy’s 1994 interview
One must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing
Life, particularly in modern civilization, is an absurd circus. We’re all clowns living in boxes trying to amuse ourselves w
Pondering the heat death of the universe
(I wrote this in 2013 in a a conversation with a friend, and decided to tidy it up a little and publish it for future referenc
Guilt is a feeling that should inform action, not paralyze
Originally 0532. Guilt is a feeling. It’s often a legitimate feeling, and it’s a signal from the mind/body that something
We are all miseducated + need to rethink education from scratch
We are all miseducated. My education journey 0129 – future of education 0461 – we are all miseducated – accepted it and
Creativity is just connecting (and remixing) things
Everything Is A Remix (Full Video)Â [30 mins+] How To Steal Like An Artist, by Austin Kleon (Google him for Twitter). P
boredom is a 4-part bug of the mind; it can be resolved
2023 update: I ended up writing Introspect in part because of my obsession with this question. I feel like I have a good han
“What are you passionate about” might be better framed as “what are you willing to suffer for?”
A younger friend told me that he gets asked this question a lot, and that he doesn’t know how to answer. So he asked me how