Across the US today, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated “solar eclipse parties.” They toasted the darkening of the sun with champagne, burgers, beer, or all kinds of desserts. They ordered and wore special eclipse glasses – and they paid…
If you’re like me, you’ve received a lot of advice in your life. Some of it is bunk – advice given from people who don’t know you, don’t know what they’re talking about, or haven’t followed their own advice. .…
Faith is belief. Faith is trust. Faith is a belief system. Faith is loyalty. Faith is oathkeeping. “Faith” seems to be quite a lot of things. What holds these things in common? I don’t normally fight to reclaim words, but…
I grew up in a big house. Growing up in a big house has an interesting affect on communication in relationships. You see, humans are lazy. And lazy people do not go to your door, knock politely, and ask for…
We often carry uncharitable motives unconsciously into even our most charitable actions. I’m thinking particularly about favors. We don’t often admit it, but there’s some part of all of us that is secretly happy when we do a good turn for…
I only recently started to like dancing – you know, the sweaty, strobe light, crowded bar jumping around kind. I used to think it was stupid. I used to be afraid to express myself quite so, ummm…. bodily. I never…
The philosopher Albert Camus once wrote that the only meaningful philosophical question was “why shouldn’t I commit suicide?” Jarring, I know. But there’s more to the question than you might think. This is not just philosophy for emo kids. Camus…
There’s a figure of speech we have in the software world: eating your own dog food. It means you use your own software. There’s some added credibility to your software if you’re going to be screwed by your own software bugs…
I purposefully don’t watch the news much. But since I heard that two of the world’s most dangerous governments (North Korea and the United States) were threatening to use nuclear weapons against each other, I’ve dipped my feet back in. We’ve seen saber-rattling and…
*From the desk of the Secretary for HUSTLE – the evil organization for self-help gurus. Gary Vaynerchuk, Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss. All are fellow members with us in a grand conspiracy against you, dear reader. Yes, we are here today to reveal…
It’s the depressing time of year again in which young people are ported off to school again. This brings to mind some of the conversations I’ve had with students and teachers on summertime, the “real world” and school. School Is Not…
Is it possible to harm dead people? Can we violate their rights after death? These are the questions we set out to answer in our most recent Praxis philosophy night call with College of New Jersey philosophy professor and medical ethics expert…
Get a paying job immediately in a field where you can gain soft and hard business skills. Instead of spending your money on music or books, get Spotify/Scribd accounts and build a self-sufficiency fund that will allow you to move…
If you’re like me, the biggest puzzle of a weekend in a new city (or even in your own) is how to squeeze the most adventure out of the least amount of time. Enter Appventure, my latest free idea for…
I’m not Catholic, but I’m fascinated by Catholic religious orders – brotherhoods and sisterhoods of people who dedicate their lives to serving a calling from God. Maybe it reminds me of what it feels like to work in a early-stage…
Does your child love education? It’s so important that our parents give them the right tools to succeed in our school system. This fall, send them back to class prepped for success in real education with this list from yours truly:…
Worry about having a good time at social events? You aren’t alone, but you probably also aren’t prepping yourself to do the things required for a good time. And you’re certainly not being present to enjoy your time with friends or…
I have a confession to make. For three years now I’ve been helping to market one of the world’s largest Bitcoin companies. And I still don’t think I’m an expert on Bitcoin. As much as I’ve learned about this technology, I…
It is a well-known phenomenon that people tend to make stupider decisions in groups. It’s less well-acknowledged that they make especially stupid decisions in peer groups. Take your average 16 year-old. By themselves, they may be polite, intelligent, brave, considerate, even…
You’ve always wanted to be there in the fray at the most interesting kinds of group activities. But there’s a problem – you don’t have any A-list friends, and you’re probably not considered cool enough to be at the center…
They don’t teach that in schools… There’s something you won’t learn in school… We’ve all said this about one skill or fact or another that we felt school didn’t give us. But have you ever really considered just how many…
Imagine a world without a school year. It isn’t very hard. I have plenty of issues with compulsory schooling itself. I don’t believe it’s just to treat young people like parolees. I don’t think 14 years of regimentation and control are a…
It’s said that one thing that makes humans unique is our ability to make tools. While some other primates can also make rudimentary tools, we excel at it. Our toolmaking ability has allowed us to build some pretty incredible things –…
It’s hard to say which is harder for a human being to endure: raising a child or being raised by another human. I’ve been through one but not the other, though, and I’ve learned a new way to look back…
If you’re a farmer, your most important asset is your soil. Before the advent of fertilizer, specialty cover crops, and crop rotation science, you had one best way to keep your soil fertile and productive. You it lie fallow – unused –…
Falling Off the Wagon, “To cease or fail at a regimen of self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an old habit…” Falling off the wagon isn’t fun. It isn’t satisfying to fail at a goal or revert to old ways. And falling comes with shame. I’ve been trying…
Every now and then in discussions of human psychology and motivation, someone inserts the witty remark that humans are just “advanced monkeys,” or “monkeys with smartphones,” or something of the sort. Everyone laughs. Oh, humans! This smuggest of all YouTube videos…
Why is a handmade candle generally considered better than a manufactured one? The materials and quality may actually be exactly the same: the same candle wax, the wick material, the same kind of burn. So it can be puzzling why most people seem…
If you want to learn the limitations of rule-setting very fast, spend some time as a manager. In order to provide directions that actually work, you’ll sometimes find yourself giving instructions that pretty much seem to flatly contradict each other.…
Can studying philosophy make you a worse person? It’s certainly not guaranteed to make you better, if you believe the findings of a study recently covered in the Scientific American: For almost a decade, Schwitzgebel and Rust have compared the self-reported and…