Curiosity
"Diversive curiosity makes us want to know what lies on the other side of the mountain; epistemic curiosity arms us with the knowledge we need to survive when we get there. Every human society is, in Mark Pagel’s words, a ‘cultural survival vehicle’, rich in accumulated knowledge. Every baby is born with a powerful urge to explore it." (Ian Leslie,
... See more“I don’t really pursue a destination,” he said. “I pursue a direction.”
Brie Wolfson • Flounder Mode
Sam Harris once said, about smoking weed, that everyone he knows who smokes weed would benefit from smoking less, and everyone he knows who doesn’t smoke weed would benefit from smoking more. I feel the same way about the pursuit of self-knowledge. If you’ve never looked within, you should probably start. But if you look within all the time, maybe... See more
max nuss • The False Promise of Understanding Yourself
how to love trying
youtube.com“Better note-taking” misses the point; what matters is “better thinking”
Lots of people write about solutions to the problem that Note-writing practices are generally ineffective. The vast majority of that writing fixates on a myopic, “lifehacking”-type frame, focused on answering questions like: “how should I organize my notes?”, “what kind of... See more
Lots of people write about solutions to the problem that Note-writing practices are generally ineffective. The vast majority of that writing fixates on a myopic, “lifehacking”-type frame, focused on answering questions like: “how should I organize my notes?”, “what kind of... See more
Andy • §Note-writing systems
... See moreThe best thing for being sad,’ replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, ‘is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or
Side projects as the key to the good life By Marty Bell • 31 Jul 2025
When I was 13, I created a chat room for teenagers to talk about art and photography (the tagline was, if I remember, “The future of art but we don’t give a fuck”). I think that was the first self-made project I put out into the world, and it taught me one of the most important
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Learning is downstream of doing. The order should rarely be reversed. Most real knowledge, knowledge worth attaining, lives in the hands . It must be cultivated gradually, like a garden. Really, it must be grown. Most real knowledge is the result of doing something deliberately for a long time and steadily making small improvements. It requires a... See more