One of my bigger regrets is publicly declaring myself an atheist. Not because I’ve made a recent conversion to faith—I’m still confident in my original opinion. Rather, because I believe “-isms” are dangerous, whether it is theism, atheism, vegetarianism, Buddhism or any other philosophy. When a belief becomes an “-ism” it generally becomes a part […]
Losing Yourself
Two years ago, when I lived abroad, I made note of everything I experienced. Especially when those experiences contradicted the clichés I had heard about travel. Most of the time, my experience wasn’t exactly original. I made great friends, partied a lot and now I miss the people and places. Honest, but pretty much what […]
Philosophical Tourism
Some people travel to see sights. Some go to learn languages. I’ve always been more interested in travelling to meet people, specifically, to find out how they think. Everyone has a philosophy of life. Not everyone writes a blog about it, or ponders big questions endlessly, but everyone has a life philosophy. They reveal it […]
Don’t Know What You Want?
Bunker Hunt supposedly had a two-step policy for success: Figure out what you want, and the price you’ll have to pay to get it. Resolve to pay that price. I guess his philosophy is a bit more nuanced in implementation, but taps on a common theme in life-advice, that the first step to achieving anything […]
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.