I had a conversation with a friend once who complained about his lack of success with women. Yet this same person rarely did anything social, preferring to do solo activities or hang out with the same group of friends. It may seem crazy that someone can want to change an element of their life badly, […]
Why Learn Math?
Math gets a bad reputation. It’s hard, abstract and, especially the way most professors teach it, feels completely detached from the real world. Since my MIT Challenge involves doing a lot of math (far more than programming) I thought I’d try to explain why I feel math does matter. How Useful is Calculus in the […]
First Lessons in Trying to Finish 4 Years of MIT in 12 Months
It’s been exactly one month since I started working on my goal to learn MIT’s computer science program at 4x the pace, without taking classes. In that time, I’ve written the final exams for 4 of the 33 classes I’ll need to take over the next year. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about […]
How Much Do Genes Matter?
A reader emailed me after I wrote about learning calculus in five days: “I question that you’re just a person of average intelligence who knows how to learn faster. I can’t imagine ever finishing an MIT class in 5 days.” My response to him was that, of course, I was probably smarter than average. If […]
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.