Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
I’m finding that one of the toughest things about Epicureanism is that it doesn’t seem to offer any solution to what I believe is my fundamental problem: a lack of meaning in my day-to-day life. Epicurean philosophy is very smart about what brings us pain and what brings us pleasure. It provides a solid analytical
This weekend I went camping with a few friends at the Shenandoah National Park. I considered attempting a number of pseudo-spiritual exercises like fasting the entire weekend, reading religious texts and reflecting, meditating, taking solo walks, etc. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any of those things. Most of the time, I was doing something with the
Though I’m sure I will get a strong reaction from some of you, I have to admit something: I like country music. I used to hate it, but then a friend of mine would constantly play it on his radio and over time, the genre grew on me. I was listening to the radio the
RSS URL Direct Download Link Who is Scott Young? Scott Young is an entrepreneur and writer who is an expert on Ultralearning, a method for acquiring difficult skills rapidly and effectively. While we talk a great deal about his recently published book Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career, Scott has
There is an interesting cognitive bias called confirmation bias in which people interpret information to suit their worldview or desires. For example, if you think your manager is a jerk, you will interpret many of his actions to be jerk-like, even if they aren’t. You may also neglect instances in which your boss is
Yesterday, I learned the basics of the “Repulse Monkey” Tai Chi form. It is basically a way to gracefully retreat or walk backward, like a monkey would I suppose. While I certainly did not perform the move gracefully (I bumped into my chair a few times), after a few attempts I did begin to feel
There is something deeply gratifying about coming up with an insight that no one else has thought of. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you were helping someone work through a problem, and you’ve said or asked something that caused the other person to say “wow, I hadn’t thought about that before!” you
One of the ways I’m practicing Taoism this month is by practicing Tai Chi. There are a few classes in my neighborhood, but at $40 per class, the $10 Tai Chi for Beginners DVD suddenly seemed more “spiritual.” It appears as if the Tao guided me to purchasing the less expensive option…. Tai Chi is
I only have eight ice baths to take for my month of Stoicism. They have not gotten easier or harder after the first week. There are some minor variations in water temperature, but overall I’ve gotten used to them. I know what to expect, and I could probably continue them indefinitely. Though there are probably
Over the past year I’ve become a fan of the Mr. Money Mustache blog. Mr. Money Mustache (not his real name) is a former engineer who retired at age 30. He didn’t win the lottery or sell a company for billions of dollars. He simple lived far below his means, invested in index funds, and