How to Live an Intellectually Rich Life

You may not be at a point in life to be able to build such a community. But you can find experts and collaborators. Here is how you could do it

1. Define 1-2 areas you’d want to learn about. Something you have been genuinely curious about, ideally for a long time.


2. Ask EVERYONE you know - Hey, I am interested in learning about Y. Do you know someone who

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Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one's self-esteem.

That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.

Zhang is a classic example of the power of routine. Even in mathematical obscurity, he consistently went to the library and kept abreast of the developments in algebraic geometry and number theory. He worked every day - the same hours, at the same place, with little to no change in his routine. Zhang had finished “Bounded Gaps Between Primes” in la... See more

In our world obsessed with consumption of experiences and things, we have put ‘sensation’ on a pedestal, making it the hallmark of a life well lived.

We value things which appeal to our eyes, our nose, our tongue and our ears. Most of all, we privilege things which are best appreciated by our bodies.

Plato says that it is ideas, and not the materia... See more

The one month of simple living in the Himalayas taught me the importance of satisfaction. I lived in a one-room cottage, with a single mattress, a chair and a bookshelf. One single bulb illuminated the room, and power cuts were the norm.

Despite being used to the comforts of urban living, all it took me was a few days to settle into a routine. Outsi

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By surrounding ourselves with too few ideas, we let our ideas die. Our ideas become Still Lifes.

By surrounding ourselves with too many ideas of the same kind, we just recycle through the same ideas. Our ideas become Oscillators

Our ideas need to be diverse. Our ideas need to be abundant.

This is not a theoretical argument.

Conway’s Game of Life is an

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If we were to embark on an intellectual journey that would lead us to this ‘truth’ and allow us to reduce epistemic anxiety, we would need to immerse ourselves in the world of ideas, those that are novel and beyond our current comprehension.