Thought provoking

When I want to be transformed, I chase my reading, to use Robin Hanson’s phrase. “Hunting has two main modes: searching and chasing,” Hanson writes. “With searching you look for something to chase. With chasing, in contrast, you have a focus of attention that drives your actions.” Searching is when I’m reading without a clear aim and continue to... See more

To be human is to be an animal that needs witnesses. Someone has to see you eating cereal. Someone has to be there when you tell a bad joke. Otherwise you start twitching in public, you start growling in the supermarket. You start developing hobbies. This is the horror we call solitude.

When we are faced with something that genuinely challenges our worldview, we choose ignorance.

Caring only about the things which immediately affect us. Consuming only that which our senses can easily perceive.

We fall back on what we know, we revert to our biases. We make our known ignorance a source of truth.

And at its heart, this ignorance is... See more

Conway’s Game of Life is an example of emergence and self-organisation.

When we surround ourselves with abundant, diverse ideas, complex ideas emerge. These ideas are unique and do not resemble the ideas from which they emerged.

Even if the initial set of ideas seem simple and disconnected, spontaneous order can emerge, leading to brilliant ideas.

Eme... See more

That’s not a reason to become a nihilist. It’s just a reason to stop shouting into the void expecting applause. Most people are too tired, too hungry, or too distracted to care. Do what you do, but don’t expect standing ovations.

The world isn’t fair, and success doesn’t always come from doing things the “right” way. It’s a uniquely chaotic time,... See more

I once had a conversation with filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan during a tough time when I was struggling to make sense of life and work. He said something that stayed with me: “Whatever you're trying to do, do it fast because passion doesn’t last long. It deteriorates with age.”