Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us

For most of us, being a vampire isn’t just uncharted territory. It’s immoral territory. Even if everyone who makes the leap to being a vampire is wildly happy and disdainful of the pitiful mortals who don’t drink blood, a lot of us think that becoming a vampire is simply wrong. We don’t care how happy we’d be living forever and coming out of our co

Use this idea for living. Try to have more experiences than fewer. Try stuff. Stop doing the stuff that isn’t for you. Embrace the opportunities that make your heart sing. Spend less time trying to figure out in advance what those might be and more time taking chances as long as you can opt out at a low enough cost. Exploring can turn out much bett

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Formulas are simple. That’s a feature, but also a bug. Life is complicated.

Belonging is a central part of the appeal of religion and politics—the feeling that you are part of something larger than yourself, something that you believe in as an obligation or that you believe will make the world a better place.

Wild problems that don’t turn out well aren’t mistakes. They’re more like adventures. Adventures have twists and turns and ups and downs. Belichick teaches us that if you can go on an adventure that you can end without great cost, go. If it turns out badly, cut it short. If it turns out well, enjoy the ride. This beats trying to figure out in advan

“What’s in it for me” looms large in how we spend our time—it’s so easy to tell ourselves that we can spend time with family and friends later. They are there for us after all—they’re our friends and family.

How can a poem “want” something or have a life of its own? Can’t the poet write whatever she wants? Of course she can. But at some point, the poem is alive. Certain changes are no longer possible without starting from scratch. Other changes show up serendipitously, feel right, and are kept. Can we think about the story of our life in this way? Can

Where we choose to live is about more than which place has better weather, better job opportunities, better options for day trips, better local food, and so on. Where we live is about who we are and not just what we experience.