Problems, Infraverse, Experience, Strength, Happiness, Authority, Data 1. “Everyone is more or less struggling with the same three or four problems” The Biggest Lesson I’ve Learned From You — Mark Manson — (blog) In the 100th issue of his newsletter Manson summarizes his discovery that everyone struggles with, essentially, the same kinds of problems regardless of how different we all are. “I’m unhappy in…

Anger, Aged, Humble, Reading, History, Tribalism, Song — 1. “If it can make you angry, it can own you” That Annoying Box Of Anger — David Gerrold — (Patreon, public post) Anger makes me angry. :-) More precisely, frequent pointless anger. Bonus points when the angry person insists they’re not angry. Gerrold’s topic is the anger we carry with us. The anger that owns us, causes it to perhaps…

Anxiety, Comparison, Reasoning, Probability, Advice, Beliefs, Distraction — 1. “The real epidemic is anxiety” Let’s end ageism — Ashton Applewhite — (TED/YouTube) I forget how I stumbled on this video, but it’s fascinating, inspiring, funny, and well worth the watch. Applewhite addresses ageism, and how it manifests in so many different ways. Ageism is the last acceptable prejudice. She compares ageism to the many…

Status, Peers, Desire, Atheism, Career, Time, Happiness — 1. “We are gods with anuses.” The Game You Don’t Need to Play — Lawrence Yeo — (More To That blog) The takeaway above is actually by Ernest Becker, quoted in Yeo’s essay. Yeo goes on to clarify: We are equipped with godlike imaginations, but are constrained by the biology of our evolutionary lineage. Moving on…

Self Doubt, Courage, Assumptions, Beauty, Social Media, Bookstores, Content Moderation — 1. “The mind is an anarchist” Self Doubt, Limiting Beliefs and the Value of the Internal Regulator — Julia Hubbel — (Blog) The mind is an anarchist, it wants what it thinks it wants, and it often doesn’t wish to be monitored or controlled by a more thoughtful regulator. I’m feeling that a lot of late…

Tired, Teachers, Luck, Friendly, Ukraine, Certainty, Listen — 1. “I’m tired of people being ugly to each other.” I’m Just So F*cking Tired — James Fell — (Blog) Most of you know I’m generally a pretty positive guy. Most of what you see, and even most of what you don’t see, is positive. But I’m not immune to what’s going on in the world. The last few years…

Change, Nuance, Absolutes, Judgment, Creating, Life, Perspective — 1. “A well-lived life without calibration is unlikely.” Re-calibrating — Seth Godin — (Blog) When someone gets older or is injured, one of the dangers is that they’ll fail to realize that they can’t do the things they used to do in quite the same way. … None of these changes are failures. …

Reading, Patience, Community, Fear, Substack, Age, Kindness — 1. “Read without guilt or a sense of duty” Read at Whim! — Reminding myself how I want to read — Austin Kleon — (Newsletter) There are books I read because I’m “supposed to”. There are books I finish because I started (and am “supposed to” finish). Life is too short, time is too precious. I’m getting better at…

Truth, Brain Fog, Age, Charity, Stoicism, Courage, Mortality — 1. “Blind to our own biases” A Life Preserver for Staying Afloat in a Sea of Misinformation — Melanie Trecek-King — (Skeptical Inquirer) This article outlines a framework for determining whether to believe something. …