272 results found
Posted: December 23, 2017
The idea is that there are two ways for humans to derive happiness: This will be a stream of consciousness thought process that will likely lead to an essay later.…
Posted: October 22, 2017
As I write about in the philosophy of Westworld, life is really about meaning loops. They’re the structures that make us want to strive and improve, and that make life…
Posted: October 12, 2017
I recently learned the origin of the world “school”, and was reminded of the origin of the word “company”. We know school as a place to train for future life—to…
Posted: May 20, 2017
It’s pretty obvious that people need meaning in their lives, but I wonder if the rise of suicide and opiates use can be seen in this light. The way I…
Posted: September 11, 2016
This is a half-formed idea. Walk with me. Meaning for humans is all centered around story. Narrative. Boy meets girl. Family is reunited. War ravaged the land. Story matters to…
Posted: May 29, 2016
I realized something a few months ago about youth and meaning. I think the reason we feel more alive when we’re young, and the reason that everything feels more significant,…
Posted: December 24, 2014
Evolution is a clever thing. We all know it made us what we are by blindly selecting the most successful among a steady stream of changes. But what we don’t…
Posted: December 9, 2014
In IT we talk about something called a stack, which is basically the set of technologies that a given solution is built upon. I was just thinking about something similar…
Posted: September 2, 2014
But some of his most interesting work has to do with power dynamics. He says that by analyzing language you can easily tell who among two people has power in…
Posted: December 22, 2013
Waiting for Meaning, by Marlene Dumas While residents of wealthy nations tend to have greater life satisfaction, new research shows that those living in poorer nations report having greater meaning…
Posted: October 23, 2013
I go to war that my son may be a politician, that his son may be a merchant, that his son may be an artist. ~ Ben Pieratt As I…
Posted: April 12, 2013
I often challenge people to describe why their lives have meaning. In most cases, the answers are deeply unsatisfying, both to me and to the person answering. Most people describe…
Posted: January 28, 2013
This is a brilliant piece about the difference between happiness and meaning, or, more specifically, the difference between pursuing a happy life vs. pursuing a meaningful life. I suggest you…
Posted: December 4, 2010
I have many smart conservative friends who take pride in two things in their lives: Having a mainstream, corporate job, and raising their children well. When we have conversations about…
Posted: November 11, 2010
I have a basic test I put myself through when I think about whether my work and/or my life has meaning at any given moment. Consider what would happen if…
Posted: August 20, 2009
It is only as an aesthetic phenomenon that life and existence are eternally justified. — Nietzsche I saw this quote on Reddit recently, and it resonnated with me. It reminded…
Posted: December 26, 2008
A and B are exactly the same shade of gray. This essay is about the meaning of life, and how realizing there is none is the beginning rather than the…
Posted: December 21, 2008
I think if I were to have to guess, I would say that the reason we exist–or, to be more precise–the cause of our existence, is the creation by another…
Posted: July 20, 2018
I recently finished Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now, which was remarkably well done. I particularly loved the later chapters on science and reason, which talked about how far these have brought…
Posted: July 14, 2018
Capture The world is far better than people think it is These book summaries are designed as captures for what I’ve read, and aren’t necessarily great standalone resources for those…
Posted: July 14, 2018
I just finished Steven Pinker’s latest book, Enlightenment Now, which turned out to be fantastic. I was frustrated in the first two-thirds of the book for reasons I won’t go…
Posted: July 11, 2018
If you do a lot of (good) reading you have probably run into a few highbrow, Latiney sounding phrases like those in the title of this post. I’m guessing you…
Posted: June 21, 2018
I’ve been writing more defined and concise posts lately—usually clean ideas that have a beginning and an end. I like it, and I plan to keep doing it. But not…
Posted: June 17, 2018
I have been drawn to questions of happiness and fulfillment for much of my adult life. I’m not sure the reason for that, but I think it’s a combination of…
Posted: June 16, 2018
Philosophers and scientists have been debating the concept of free will for centuries. While there are many nuances and subtleties, there are generally three main positions. Libertarian Free Will is…
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