November 7, 2021
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FS
The Feynman Technique is a method of learning that unleashes your potential and forces you to develop a deep understanding.
— The Best Way to Learn Anything
TKP
William Irvine came on The Knowledge Project to discuss stoicism. This is the first of three episodes that explore stoicism from different angles. (FS | YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript).
Explore Your Curiosity
“Five minutes into my lunch with David Graeber, I realized that I was in the presence of a genius. Not an extremely intelligent person—a genius.”
— Human History Gets a Rewrite
★ “External ambitions are never satisfied because there’s always something more to achieve. … There’s an aesthetic joy we feel when we see morally good action, when we run across someone who is quiet and humble and good, when we see that however old we are, there’s lots to do ahead. The stumbler doesn’t build her life by being better than others, but by being better than she used to be.”
“You can be a meritocracy, but you can recognize that people’s ability to access and thrive in that meritocracy is influenced by all sorts of personal characteristics.”
Insight
“The nature of illusion is that it’s designed to make you feel good. About yourself, about your country, about where you’re going – in that sense it functions like a drug. Those who question that illusion are challenged not so much for the veracity of what they say, but for puncturing those feelings.”
— Journalist Chris Hedges
Tiny Thought
“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” — Epictetus
Humility is the antidote to arrogance. Humility is a recognition that we don’t know, that we were wrong, that we’re not better than anyone else.
Humility is simple to understand but hard to practice.
Humility isn’t a lack of confidence but an earned confidence. The confidence to say that you might not be right, but you’ve done the diligence, and you’ve put in the work.
Humility keeps you wondering what you’re missing or if someone is working harder than you. And yet when pride and arrogance take over, humility flees and so does our ability to learn, adapt, and build lasting relationships with others.
Humility won’t let you take credit for luck. And humility is the voice in your mind that doesn’t let small victories seem larger than they are. Humility is the voice inside your head that says, ‘anyone can do it once, that’s luck. Can you do it consistently?’
More than knowing yourself, humility is accepting yourself.
Et Cetera
- Windowless Dorms.
- This ice cream is amazing. At my house, this is the only ice cream in the freezer.
- The danger of suppressing your emotions.
P.S. Illegal American Sprinkles.