Farnam Street
Mastering the best of what other people have already figured out
We live in a world scarce of understanding and abundant with information. We complain that we never have any free time yet we seek distraction. If work can’t distract us, we distract ourselves. We crave perpetual stimulation and …
If I could encourage you to look into one thing to think and focus better, Lodro Rinzler’s Sit Like a Buddha: A Pocket Guide to Meditation would be it. Rinzler walks us through 10 steps. Step 1 is about knowing your why, your …
Elon Musk shares a valuable insight on evaluating job applicants: asking them to explain their thinking at multiple levels helps him determine if they worked on the problem themselves or they’re just taking credit. If you just talk to …
One of the reasons that we deny the role of luck is that it acts as a cold counterbalance to the notion of hard work. At every stage in our lives, we are taught that the best way to make our way in the world is by hard work, tenacity, and …
What makes us human? In part, argues evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel in Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind, language is one of the keys to our evolutionary success, especially in the context of culture. Humans had …
Ahh leisure or as some call it, the art and science of doing nothing. It’s something we all want and yet rarely have. Our modern workplace culture prides itself on filling every one of our minutes, even if it’s all for show. …
It’s one thing to set big stretch goals. It’s another thing entirely to acknowledge the tension and incentives they create within an organization. Charlie Munger, speaking at the 2000 annual meeting for Wesco Financial, …
“I’ve never met a person I couldn’t call a beauty,” Andy Warhol writes in The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again): Every person has beauty at some point in their lifetime. Usually in different …
“There is no question that the tendency of the average man (in all walks of life) is toward working at a slow, easy gait, and that it is only after a good deal of thought and observation on his part or as a result of example, …
Two years ago today, internet activist Aaron Swartz took his own life. At the time, Swartz was in the midst of being prosecuted for downloading academic journal articles. While 27 at the time of his suicide, Swartz is a reminder that it is …
Christmas, as a festival, has changed a lot throughout history, with many of its core modern traditions being more recent than we think or of surprising origin. Historically, Christmas was often a time for upending social structures. *** …
“Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty.” — William Archer Joan Didion famously remarked that “We tell ourselves stories to live.” She was right. The business has become a story too. If you want more resources, you need …
“The principle of give and take; that is diplomacy—give one and take ten” — Mark Twain Was Twain right? It certainly seems so. The world is full of people who operate with that fuel. For them it’s all about taking. Lest you lose your …
“Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get …
In his book, How Proust Can Change Your Life, Alain de Botton brings to light a fascinating answer by Marcel Proust to a Parisian newspaper on what we should do in the face of a near-certain death. Someone looking for a paper to read in …
In this TED talk, Brené Brown, who studies vulnerability, brings us into how we can live a more meaningful life. Brown went back to the research and spent years trying to understand what choices whole-hearted people, who live from a deep …
“When we compare human with animal desire,” writes philosopher Alan Watts in The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety, “we find many extraordinary differences.” Watts offers an interesting …
Paul Graham is a programmer, writer, and investor. His 2004 anthology Hackers and Painters explores the world and the people who inhabit it. He calls the book an “intellectual wild west,” and I agree. Ideas When looking for …
Modern society tends to focus more on the lives of individuals, with all of their personal histories and own qualities. But it wasn’t always this way – the shift away from tradition and inheritance largely happened in the …
Berkshire Hathaway is widely regarded as one of the most successful companies in the world. If you look at Warren Buffett’s 49 year track record with Berkshire, it almost looks easy in hindsight. Make no mistake, however, it wasn’t easy and …
Idleness is a lost art. That’s the message behind Andrew Smart’s book: Autopilot: The Art and Science of Doing Nothing. “Being idle,” he writes, “is one of the most important activities in life.” …
[quote]”Knowing one’s limits is more important than it used to be.”[/quote] “Welcome to the Hyper-Meritocracy,” Cowen writes in his latest book Average Is Over. This is an important book. Cowen is his typical …
Brené Brown, author of Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead with an excellent talk on how we should think about critics. I love that quote. It’s a play on …
Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger spent the last 10 years looking into what makes things popular. Questions like: Why are some stories, ads, and rumors more infectious than others? Why do some things go viral? The result is his …