Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch once nearly died of a heart attack. Years later he was asked what went through his mind while he was being rushed to the hospital in what could have been his las
December 2019 Before I had kids, I was afraid of having kids. Up to that point Ifelt about kids the way the young Augustine felt about livingvirtuously. I'd have been sad to think I'd never have child
Films with powerful environmentally centred narratives can transform our thinking and connect us with nature in ways that scientific papers cannot. For example, Studio Ghibli , a renowned Japanese fil
At Scale , we’ve hired more than 200 people. For a long time, I interviewed everyone we gave an offer to. I wrote this memo to the company more than a year ago before a period where we grew the team s
I’ve been thinking about the concept of “hustle porn” lately. There are a few interpretations of what it means. One is people who are busy but not productive — the visual of people bragging about how
While listening to Josh Kaufman’s Farnham Street interview the other day, it dawned on me that there are a few interconnected and important concepts related to learning that come together in an intere
Professor Terry Sejnowski at the Salk Institute [+] [-] for Biological Sciences and the University of California San Diego. Terrance J. Sejnowski The ‘Thinkers and Innovators’ series explores the scie
“Study hard what interests you the most.” Physicist Richard Feynman (1918–1988). Image sources: Feynman Estate and CERN Archives I have been writing about Richard Feynman for quite some time now and i
Ever wonder how Cyberpunk’s digital aesthetic took form? You’d be forgiven for turning your attention to film or manga when questioning its origins. Blade Runner encapsulated the noir tone and neon-fu
W hen Sarah, 36 years old and severely depressed, sat down in a lab with a head full of surgically implanted sensors last year, the last thing she expected was to spontaneously cackle. She hadn’t laug
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University and Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center] — Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) are an emerging assistive technology, enabling people with paralysis to type on co
I figured it out. Or should I say, “I found out why!” Finally, I found the answer to a question that was troubling my weary mind. More precisely: Why do people keep following other people online? Why
Over the last few years I have gone from an AGI skeptic to being significantly worried about just how soon it will likely come to exist and how dramatically it will reshape the world. Like climate cha
W hen a routine echocardiogram revealed a large mass next to my heart, the radiologist thought it might be a hiatal hernia—a portion of my stomach poking up through my diaphragm to press against the s
Welcome to the third interview on 'The Observer Effect'. We are lucky to have oneof the most interesting founders in technology and commerce - Tobi Lütke, Founderand CEO of Shopify. This interview was
You spend years trying to learn new stuff but then look back and realize that maybe like 10 big ideas truly changed how you think and drive most of what you believe. Brent Beshore recently listed the
David Perell is a sharp writer whose words will absorb you. He writes, hosts a podcast, and runs a writing school called Write of Passage . In this guest column, David recounts how a recent dinner wit
That our atmosphere has low enough pressure and levels of deuterium that nuclear fission in air doesn’t cause hydrogen atoms to fuse into helium, meaning that the first nuclear bomb test in 1945 didn’
Willingness to look stupid People frequently 1 think that I'm very stupid. I don't find this surprising, since I don't mind if other people think I'm stupid, which means that I don't adjust my behavio
A lot of people say to me: “Ivaylo! You are so smart. Your newsletter is full of insights. The books you summarize are so elegantly presented with so much attention and care. Your parents must be prou
This morning I went to a coffee shop and listened to a woman talk on the phone for 15 minutes. She was an average looking white woman and appeared in her mid 30s. I brought a book, but the conversatio
Back in the 1980s, we imagined that the future would be big arrays of screens enmeshed with dense bundles of wires; that technology would take over the world. In reality, as technology has taken over
Neurologist Phil Kennedy set out to build the ultimate brain-computer interface. In the process he almost lost his mind. The brain surgery lasted 11 and a half hours, beginning on the afternoon of Jun
“What the pupil must learn, if he learns anything at all, is that the world will do most of the work for you, provided you cooperate with it by identifying how it really works and aligning with those
Let’s explore the concept of the Complex Adaptive Systems and see how this model might apply in various walks of life. To illustrate what a complex adaptive system is, and just as importantly, what it
If I were to pick you and a friend of yours and to you give access to the city planners of Paris, the Instagram handles of its most famous architects-so you can DM them...and I'll make sure they respo
Moreover, you must walk like a camel, which is said to be the only beast which ruminates when walking. –Henry David Thoreau, “Walking,” 1861 * Charles Darwin was an introvert. Granted, he spent almost
Every mathematician worthy of the name has experienced … the state of lucid exaltation in which one thought succeeds another as if miraculously… this feeling may last for hours at a time, even for day
If you’re not sure what Odd Things in Odd Places is and why I’m in Japan by myself, you can learn here . It all started with a Gmail theme. A few years ago, on some standard Dark Playground toil sessi
We made a fancy PDF of this post for printing and offline viewing. Buy it here. Part 1: Meet Your Mammoth The first day I was in second grade, I came to school and noticed that there was a new, very p
Chronic pain is like a horror movie monster that sneaks up on you. It’s unpredictable, lingers silently, and when it strikes it’s often too late to tame. More diabolically, our best weapon against it—
November 2019 Everyone knows that to do great work you need both natural abilityand determination. But there's a third ingredient that's not aswell understood: an obsessive interest in a particular to
November 2020 There are some kinds of work that you can't do well without thinkingdifferently from your peers. To be a successful scientist, forexample, it's not enough just to be correct. Your ideas
How to Work Hard June 2021 It might not seem there's much to learn about how to work hard.Anyone who's been to school knows what it entails, even if theychose not to. There are 12 year olds who work a
“If you only put into action half of what you read, you’d already be a millionaire.” I’ve heard many variations of this advice, all making the point that the problem isn’t that we don’t have good idea
To a frustrated single person, life can often feel like this: And at first glance, research seems to back this up, suggesting that married people are on average happier than single people and much hap
I turned 30 last week and a friend asked me if I'd figured out any life advice in the past decade worth passing on. I'm somewhat hesitant to publish this because I think these lists usually seem holl
Want to start a startup? Get funded by Y Combinator . May 2005 (This essay is derived from a talk at the Berkeley CSUA.) The three big powers on the Internet now are Yahoo, Google, andMicrosoft. Avera
A brief, no fluff, summary of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People . Techniques in Handling People Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. Give honest and sincere appreciation. Arouse