Can you be a great man (or woman)?
I was talking with friends last night over wine and the notion of being a great man came up.…
Category: Philosophy
The fallacy of quick answers
Sometimes you have to hear a new idea several times before real thinking starts. We get so used to…
Does having a big ego help achieve goals?
In a series of posts, called readers choice, I write on whatever topics people submit and vote for. This week’s…
My surprising inspiration (death!)
My friend and artist Teresa Brazen ran an interesting project, called “What moves you?” She asked various people what gets them…
How I found my passion
In a series of posts, called readers choice, I write on whatever topics people submit and vote for. If…
Why the world is a mess: a theory
I’m not looking to pick a fight here about whether the world is a mess or not. I agree…
Mistakes Critics Make (and Solutions)
Many critics do not write useful reviews. I’m confident even critics will agree since after all they’re critics: this…
How to Work with Stupid People
I write a lot about being smart and trying not to be stupid. Well, here’s a good post by…
The Challenge of Indifference
Here’s one from the life observation pile. In high school I had the good fortune to have very silly…
Philosophy: Everything you need, in 5 minutes
I’d always wanted to do a talk about my curious path through the world of philosophy. I’ve studied philosophy…
Post #1000: A Strawman for Everything
Well here we are. It’s post 1000! Surprised to have written so much here. Thanks for reading, linking, and…
quote of the week
Couldn’t sleep the other night and watched Examined Life, a film about philosophy. Half of the philosophers interviewed in…
The Cult of Busy
When I was young I thought busy people were more important than everyone else. Otherwise, why would they be…
How to convince anyone of anything
[This topic was requested with a slightly different title: How to make a convincing argument.] The word argument itself…
Quote of the Month
Stephen Fry: If an alien was looking down on us and inspecting our language they would see the worst…
Book smarts vs. Street smarts
In a series of posts, called readers choice, I write on whatever topics readers submit. [Note: Polarizing questions are silly…
How to be passionate (when you open your mouth)
Vijay recently asked in the comments on a recent talk: Thank you for a great presentation. I noticed that…
Wants vs. Beliefs
A funny thing about the human mind is we tend to believe what we want to believe. We are…
On God, Integrity and Sports
When I was a kid I watched my NY Giants, hold on to a short lead late in Superbowl…
Buy nothing for Christmas
‘I rarely follow it 100%, but I do believe what people want for Christmas, or as gifts in general,…