Why does money have value? After all, if I went with some colorful feathers and tried to use them to purchase a hamburger, I’d get laughed right out of McDonald’s. Then, why do colorful pieces of paper and metal work instead? According to Yuval Harari in his book Sapiens, the answer is that the value […]
Book Club: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (June 2017)
Kalid Azad and I discuss June’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. We discuss the practical implications of the book as well as some of its loftier philosophical ambitions. If you would rather read the transcript, download it here. Below are some highlights: …on the analytical “knife” and what is created/destroyed in the […]
Do You Need Self-Discipline to Have Fun?
Hedonism is a school of thought that says maximizing one’s own pleasure is the ultimate goal in life. Originally stated by Aristippus, a student of Socrates, the term has become pejorative, usually referring to people who indulge excessively in sensory pleasures of food, drugs or sex. Most people don’t take hedonism seriously, or directly try […]
Multiply or Add?
One of the most influential essays for me in starting a business, was this early article by Steve Pavlina. In the essay, he argues that building a successful company comes from a combination of factors (product quality, market demand, sales copy, etc.): “And let’s say that for each factor there is a range of effectiveness […]
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.