50. Reason Can Triumph Over Instinct

Today's post focuses on a psychological study of personal values. It may have an academic tone and introduces concepts mentioned previously on this blog. You may not be familiar with all of them. My goal is to show you that something "scientific" and "backed by

49. Finding Failure Boundaries

Imagine you have a toy car race track and are figuring out the best way to make your toy car go as fast as possible around the track. You try different things, like changing the wheels or making the track smoother, to see what makes the car go faster. Think

48. Sneaky Learning

A rationalist is simply someone for whom it is more important to learn than to be proved right; someone who is willing to learn from others - not by simply taking over another's opinions, but by gladly allowing others to criticize his ideas and by gladly criticizing the

47. Gaming Life: Play's Philosophical Edge

Everything can be conjured by the magic of the mind. There was a time when a rock could be anything. Its shape only had to hint of the possibilities. A smooth flat rock could be an alien spaceship attacking Earth, or a narrow and pointy one could be a skyscraper

46. Thinking More In Business

“The men who will go farthest in this business, or any other business, are the men who demonstrate that they are thinkers. They are the men who are able to stand on their own feet. Every executive values and is looking for the type of people who are capable of

45. I Love The Paths That I Invent

Good things come to those that walk “Hello little girl,” whispered a little girl to Sharon as she approached her. “I am a big girl. I am not little like you,” Sharon replied. “I can drive a car, I have a job, I have a house, and now, guess what?

44. Teaching A Child To See

I was thinking about how best to explain to a child that every idea has errors and can be wrong. The goal is a sort of "defense against the dark arts" lesson for when ideas try to restrict the growth of knowledge in their minds. How would you

43. How To Get Stuck And Stay There

It's just the way it is. Bad luck, I tell you. The devil got me this time. It's always been done this way. Nothing could have stopped it. It's their fault. This was just a one-time thing. We never have enough resources. It was

42. We Are The Judges Of Ideas

One of the earliest known stories of rebellion is the ancient Sumerian "Epic of Atrahasis." The lesser gods, called the Igigi, have the difficult job of maintaining the world for the higher gods, the Anunnaki. Exhausted and oppressed by their endless toil, the Igigi gods decide they have

41. Reframing Frameworks: Troubleshooting For Success

Here is a neat idea. Do you know how goals are supposed to be SMART for us to be successful in achieving them? This means that when we are setting goals our goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This idea is a part of management by objectives.

40. Being Helpful

Everyone is different, having different skills or things they are good at. When someone needs help, like when they are feeling sad or scared, the helper tries to understand what makes that person special. They look at what the person has learned from life, what they're good at,

39. How I Work

I am not the kind of person that commits to an action regardless of my feelings, but I am the kind that may explore an action until intrinsic motivation is found. A comprehensive (verbose) description is: "Undertaking a methodical and reflective journey of discovery to identify and cultivate a

38. Self-Discipline & Self-Integration

Self-discipline is defined as the ability to control one's feelings and overcome one's weaknesses; the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it. This does not work for me and maybe it doesn’t work for you too. The definition suggests

37. There's No Performance Without The Show

On a cold January morning in 2007, one of the world’s greatest violinists participated in an experiment. Joshua Bell, dressed in casual street clothes, played classical masterpieces on his violin in an arcade outside a subway station in DC. Over 1,000 people passed by during the 45-minute performance,

36. Bad Philosophy

Philosophy is our understanding of ourselves and the world. Bad philosophy is a philosophy that actively prevents the growth of knowledge (see The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch). This means having ideas about ourselves and the world that prevent us from learning more in this specific area. An example

35. Beyond 'Just Do It': A New Approach to Self-Help

The self-help genre is a huge failure because it is filled with advice. It became more profit-driven and less helpful over time. The problem with advice is that no one can truly tell you what to do. They can offer suggestions and frame them as one-size-fits-all solutions. These generalizations miss

34. The Neural Ingredients For Change

The brain is made up of many different parts. Each part has distinct functions and goals. Sometimes two parts want different things and a conflict is created. This conflict can lead to challenges in how we think, feel, and behave. Procrastination is an example of this. People procrastinate because of

33. Solving Problems Is Fun

There will always be problems. That is a good thing. You can stick with problems you have or you can trade them up for new ones. I like trading them up because solving problems is fun. It is like life is a game and each new problem is a boss

32. There Are Always Errors

Me: Form a brief explanation of yourself? Myself: I am an introverted, intuitive, thinking, and perceiving individual. I value few but close relationships based on loyalty, meaning, and sincerity. I'm also impulsive. I love spicy food with rich flavors though not bitter. I rarely do anything I feel

31. Merits And Faults Of An Idea

Most of the ideas in our heads are wrong. Some may be useful. One way to find incorrect ideas is to see how they affect the creation of new ideas. Let's look at authority and how it relates to ideas. When we accept an idea based on the

30. We Are Human Beings, Not Human Doings

We are human beings, not human doings. “To be or not to be” has become “Just Do It”. Sorry, Nike. We are often judged by what we do, but our actions fail to encompass all we are. Gut-wrenching insults usually begin with, “You are”. It never begins with, “You did”

29. Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Television sets used to be black and white. Technically, they were mostly shades of gray. It was not until the 1960s that color sets became popular. It was still terrible. Much has changed in display technology from then to now. OLEDs are common today. Soon Virtual and Augmented Reality will

28. Mostly Failure But All Fun

Playing a video game, a sport, or making music is so much fun. Did you notice that these interests are filled with failure though? There are brief moments of success but it is mainly about striving for some goal. All creative work is like this. You want to play more.

27. What Does Failure Mean?

What does it mean to fail? I failed because I failed to generate the correct knowledge at the time it was needed (David Deutsch said something similar here). I did not fail because I was stupid. I did not fail because the gods or devils conspired against me. I did

26. The Dragon Warrior

The Kung Fu Panda movie collection is one of my favorites. It is about a chubby, clumsy, and enthusiastic giant panda becoming the greatest martial artist in all of China. In the first movie the great master Oogway, a tortoise, picks an untrained and underqualified panda, Po, to be the