We really need to stop labelling ourselves. We don’t get to decide how we’ll be known. We don’t get to create our values merely by choosing to identify ourselves as creators of those values. Reality doesn’t care how we self-identify. Reality…
“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts….” One day, you will be a part of someone’s slanted story…
I’ve been writing every day for the past 80 days. Of those 80 blog posts I’ve written, I’m pretty sure that my future self will look back and cringe at about half. I know this because I already have that…
We’ve all been there. High workloads, low staffing, low energy, low resources, multiple fires to put out, and a backlog of things which need to be attended to. This is the chaos which sometimes comes with the territory of the startup…
How do you maintain a long-distance friendship? What’s more, how do you make it thrive? The problem isn’t that you can’t talk to the other person. You now have many different ways to communicate with almost anyone because of the internet:…
Love the very old and the very new Honor the tradition and change it Remember the dead and the not-yet-born Live in skyscrapers and shacks Respect the natural and the manmade Be conservative and liberal and neither Be gentle and fierce…
Yesterday I decided to make breakfast for 16 of my friends. They were visiting Atlanta, most for the first time, and I wanted to celebrate their time here in style. I had it all planned out (or so I thought)…
Remember when you changed your mind? Do you remember all the dozens of times you had to give up one idea to get closer to the truth? Whether in religion, politics, cultural norms, art, or another area of philosophy, you…
I’m on a hunt. I want to find good ways to talk about what we mean when we talk about “love”. You might think that this is a pretty straightforward pursuit. You would be wrong. Love by another name “Love”…
Why is it that so many volunteer opportunities put volunteers into positions for which they’re not well-trained? Think about the volunteer work you’ve done in the past. Maybe you’ve helped to build a home for someone alongside a group of volunteers. That group could…
What is a cinquain? Defeated skyline sags in shadow Shadow hides invader night Streetlamps shoot out stars with lighter bows Lone firefly sentinels hold to their light The defenders await day’s sight The beaten darkness retreats Proud buildings wake from witched sleep The phoenix city…
Rudyard Kipling’s “If” is one of my favorite poems about what it takes to be a realized human being. So naturally, I’m going to be the one to parody it (lovingly) by imagining how it might read if dear old Rudyard…
You’re rolling down the interstate and you see a car broken down on the side of the road. A stranger is waving and trying to get some help. What do you do? If you’re like most people in this situation,…
**Major spoilers ahead.** The story of Wonder Woman is the story of every human being’s relationship with good and evil. When she is young, our hero Diana is told that humans are good and noble, but that they have been corrupted by the…
One of the many ways in which I am an ass is my habit of feeling superior about my grammar and punctuation skills. I hate to admit, but I frequently get a sneaky feeling of smug satisfaction when I look…
Have you ever wished you could change reality just by uttering a few words? Who hasn’t? We remember every magician or wizard story we’ve ever read. We remember the enduring appeal of stories like Harry Potter, the enduring allure of characters like Gandalf,…
Think of personal growth and transformation as a journey. Everyone does. The metaphor just works. In every heroic story you’ve ever read, there are two stages which open and close the hero’s journey of growth and transformation: leaving home and…
What makes a city beautiful? What kind of city is best-suited for human living? When many people ask these questions, they go to one of two extremes. The first extreme is the antique city. Think of a European city particularly…
In 1974, Robert Nozick introduced one of the most famous thought experiments in philosophy: “Suppose there was an experience machine that would give you any experience you desired. Super-duper neuropsychologists could stimulate your brain so that you would think and…
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” If you want to make any relatively long-lasting, positive, important changes to the world you live in, you will have to accept two costs. First, you will…
We often think of entrepreneurs as rare geniuses who create ex nihilo. While this image has value, it’s not the full story. They cannot create new matter, and they have nothing but our world to work with. Even so, they are…
Tonight I gave my second-ever wedding toast. It was a faltering attempt, but I’m glad I tried it. And I’m glad I got to see the other toasts that came after for the bride and groom. The wedding toast is…
Take the truth seriously. Take your efforts to reach the truth seriously. Just don’t take your ideas about the truth too seriously – too seriously to give them up when something better comes along. Have strong opinions, but hold them weakly. …
Nationalism seems to follow predictable cycles. A culture becomes infatuated with its nation-state and that state’s dominance in the world. The nation-state does something really horrible and/or gets humbled. The nation-state’s surrounding culture withdraws approval from the state, and the…
You see the whole world as full of evil companies or good companies. Pepsi is a heartless, insensitive corporation for that ad it ran that time. Apple is a good guy for standing up to the FBI that one time. …
“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower I’ve never killed anyone. My war experience – my lack thereof –…
Dear historians,* ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US ALL KILLED? Since my first encounter with history, the main stream of your profession has pretty much been broadcasting one story of the human past and how we got here. That story…
I’ve made the case that reading fiction is one of the most practical things a self-improvement-minded person can do. As promised, here are the books or series that stand out in my memory as powerful, interesting examples of transformative fiction. I’ll…
“. . .many infallible grounds of wisdom. . . lie dark before the imaginative and judging power, if they be not illuminated or figured forth by the speaking picture of Poesy.” – Sir Philip Sidney, An Apology for Poetry, 1595…
I believe that humans are creatures of limitless, radical responsibility. We are in some sense responsible for everything that happens to us. When I say that, it’s bound to raise a few eyebrows. Sure, you might be responsible for getting…