Farnam Street
Mastering the best of what other people have already figured out
“Love is wise, hatred is foolish.” — Bertrand Russell *** The British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) gave us some of the more enduring developments in 20th-century philosophy. His 10 commandments of teaching and …
I read the The Quotable Kierkegaard at the same time as Mike Tyson. Yes that Mike Tyson1. Apparently he loves the political incorrectness of philosophy. “I don’t really do any light reading, just deep, deep stuff,” he says …
“He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How.” — Nietzsche Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) is best known for his 1946 memoir Man’s Search for Meaning. The book sheds light on the horrible experiences of Auschwitz …
Here’s something worth reflecting upon: We take other men’s knowledge and opinions upon trust; which is an idle and superficial learning. We must make them our own. We are just like a man who, needing fire, went to a neighbor’s …
The stoics used their understanding of perception, action, and will to create an operating system for life. The Three Disciplines A common thread central to the philosophy of the meditations and documented in detail by Pierre Hadot in the …
I picked up a copy of the first complete English edition of Giacomo Leopardi‘s Zibaldone. Giacomo Leopardi is the most radical and channelling of nineteenth-century poets and thinkers, yet the recognition of his genius outside his …
“I seem to read the history of all ages and nations in every page — and especially the history of our country for forty years past. Change the names and every anecdote will be applicable to us.” — John Adams on Middleton’s …
Many fail to grasp what they have seen,and cannot judge what they have learned,although they tell themselves they know. Heraclitus As with Baltasar Gracián and The Art of Worldly Wisdom, the insights found in Heraclitus’s …
The Enchiridion (“The Manual”) is a short read on stoic advice for living. Epictetus’ practical precepts might change your life. What’s in our control and what’s not Some things are in our control and others …
“It is a curse to have everything go right on your first attempt. You will fail to question the element of luck.” *** This excellent passage from Robert Greene‘s book Mastery explains the two different kinds of failure and …
The Bed of Procrustes, the title of Nassim Taleb‘s book of aphorisms, takes its title from Greek Mythology. Procrustes (“the stretcher”) owned a small estate along the sacred way between Athens and Eleusis. He invited …
The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence, a book by Baltasar Gracián (1601-1658), offers three hundred aphorisms for understanding the world and creating advantageous divergence. Most of them are still as relevant today as when …
The way a given culture thinks about dirt and cleanliness can tell us a lot about the way people think of themselves and others. Mary Douglas’s book, Purity and Danger, is an inquiry into the nature of dirt and cleanliness across …
Aristotle came to the conclusion that what a person wants more than anything else is to be happy. But what makes us happy? Is it that next vacation? A new car? A promotion? In 1961, the US psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote: ‘While …
In Intuition Pumps And Other Tools for Thinking, Daniel Dennett, one of the world’s leading philosophers offers a trove of mind-stretching thought experiments, which he calls “imagination-extenders and focus-holders” (intuition …
Students often go to visit Warren Buffett. And when they do, he often plays a little game on them. He asks each student to pick a classmate. Not just any classmate, but the classmate you would choose if you could have 10% of their earnings …
Some college students used game theory to get an A by exploiting a loophole in the grading curve. Catherine Rampell explains: In several computer science courses at Johns Hopkins University, the grading curve was set by giving the highest …
“I am not saying here that there is no information in big data. There is plenty of information. The problem — the central issue — is that the needle comes in an increasingly larger haystack.” *** Nassim Taleb offers another way to look at …
“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” — Chinese Proverb *** From Plato’s Phaedrus, commenting on the invention of writing. Here, O king, is a branch of learning that will …
“The world is much more interesting than any one discipline.” — Edward Tufte *** NPR’s Science Friday talks with data scientist Edward Tufte on everything from Steve Jobs’ considerations of cognitive load to Picasso’s art. Tufte …
“Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of our language.” — Wittgenstein Philosopher Bertrand Russell described Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein as “the most perfect example I have ever known …
A lot of people think that reading, especially critical reading, is on the decline. The thinking goes that we spend too much time distracted on devices. And when we turn the devices off long enough to read a book, we read the intellectual …
“We have a generation of students that can answer questions on standardized tests, know factoids, but they can’t do anything.” — Jim Aschwanden *** Despite the metrification of the modern workplace, we still lack for …
Some more timeless wisdom from Rudyard Kipling: If … If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If …