The most popular articles on this website are also the posts with the most negative comments. It took me awhile to realize this, but hate mail can actually be a sign you’re doing something right. Truly awful stuff gets ignored. It’s only the ideas that are new, involve risks or push boundaries that get hate […]
Why I Don’t Download Music
I’m against downloading music. While this may not seem like an unusual position, as a college-aged kid, this puts me in the minority. Most of my friends have fairly large unpaid-for music libraries. Unfortunately, I see the trend expanding as many of my middle-aged friends are getting iPods and jumping on the free-music bandwagon. I’m […]
Decrypting Reality
Encryption is a process of scrambling information otherwise readable information. Without the right decryption key, encrypted data is just gibberish. Only with the right key can you unlock the correct information and get what you want. The way you look at the world is similar to encrypted information. With the right key, you can transform […]
Is School Wasting Your Money?
Which is better: self-education or going to school? Are self-educators deluding themselves, believing they can teach themselves better than professors who have studied in their field for years? Are people who go to school just wasting their money on subjects that could be learned faster and more efficiently from a trip to the library? In […]
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.