juliana ong

It reveals that as a woman in the world, if you don’t decide your needs, they will be decided for you. That without a value system, you can be convinced of anything. That you can get engaged before you’re ready, married before you’ve settled on a world-view. That there is a series of misleading narratives and patriarchal pressures that can, if... See more

The decline of deviance is mainly a good thing. Our lives have gotten longer, safer, healthier, and richer. But the rise of mass prosperity and disappearance of everyday dangers has also made trivial risks seem terrifying. So as we tame every frontier of human life, we have to find a way to keep the good kinds of weirdness alive. We need new... See more

Our super-safe environments may fundamentally shift our psychology. When you’re born into a land of milk and honey, it makes sense to adopt what ecologists refer to as a “slow life history strategy”—instead of driving drunk and having unprotected sex, you go to Pilates and worry about your 401(k). People who are playing life on slow mode care a lot... See more

9. Stockdale Paradox:

The optimal state of mind is neither optimism, which leaves you unprepared for adversity, nor pessimism, which destroys motivation, but optimistic pessimism: by preparing for the worst outcomes, you increase confidence in dealing with any outcome, and thus, you increase hope.

By the Song dynasty (960 – 1279), the spiritual essence of fishing became deeply intertwined with Daoist philosophy, particularly the concept of Wu Wei (无为), or “non-action.” Rather than passivity, it advocates for effortless action, aligning with the natural flow of the universe instead of forcing outcomes through struggle.

“Ancient Chinese literati didn’t fish to eat,” says Cao, echoing the classic wisdom. “They fished to cultivate patience, to observe nature’s rhythms, and to achieve that perfect balance between action and inaction.”

In short: The first half of the twentieth century was about mastering the physical world, the first half of the twenty-first has been about escaping it.

This shift has moral as well as economic consequences. When a society pushes its citizens to take only financial risks, it hollows out the virtues that once made collective life possible: trust,... See more

Since Freud, psychologists have distinguished between theories of autoplastic and alloplastic change. With autoplastic change, the problem is the patient, and the patient must first improve himself. With alloplastic adaptation, the problem is the environment, and the subject should change his surroundings.

“Are your opinions your own or are they borrowed, without thought or scrutiny, as you have been too lazy to form your own?”