Say you want to become a novelist: who would give you better advice on getting started, Stephen King or someone who just published their first book? I imagine most people would lean towards Stephen King. After all, he’s an incredibly successful author, so he certainly knows a lot of things that a first-time author wouldn’t. […]
My New TEDx Talk: One Simple Method to Learn Any Language
Funny story about this TEDx. We had decided, as you’ll see from the video, to open with a question to the audience. We wanted to know how many people had put effort into learning a language, but they still can’t hold conversations in it. We were expecting about half the room to raise their hand. […]
Are You Trying to Be Too Original? What I Learned About the Value of Imitation from China
One of the things that fascinates me about China is the culture of copying. When my book, Learn More, Study Less, was published in China, they wanted to use the illustrations in the book. But these were just hand-drawn by me to go in an ebook I made while in university. I’m not a professional […]
Paradoxical Virtues
In this recent conversation between Tyler Cowen and Peter Thiel, Cowen asks the billionaire start-up investor what kind of talent is underrated: “It’s difficult to reduce [talent] to any single traits, because a lot of what you’re looking for are these Zen-like opposites. You want people who are both really stubborn and really open-minded. 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.