Claude Shannon: The Man Who Turned Paper Into Pixels
“The fundamental problem of communication is that of reproducing at one point either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point. Frequently the messages have meaning.” — …
Culture
French Nobility And The Origins of Modern Culture
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 …
An 18-Minute Plan for Managing Your Day And Finding Focus
We start every day knowing we’re not going to get it all done or fit it all in. How we spend our time is really a function of priorities. That’s why Peter Bregman argues in 18 Minutes: …
The Role of a Critic
“In many ways, the work of a critic is very easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment.” *** On the role of a …
9 Habits You Need to Stop Now
Rather than read all of these self-help books full of things you should start doing to be more productive, it’s often better to look at what you should stop doing that gets in the way of …
Dan Gilbert: Why do we make decisions our future selves regret?
“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.” In the 7-minute TED talk (below), Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert illuminates some recent research on a …
Charles Bukowski: An Argument Against Censorship
In 1985, staff at a public library, acting on a complaint, decided to to remove Charles Bukowski’s 1983 collection of short stories, Tales of Ordinary Madness, from their shelves. They declared the …
The Art of Winning An Argument
We spend a lot of our lives trying to convince or persuade others to our point of view. This is one of the reasons that Daniel Pink says that we’re all in sales: Some of you, no doubt, are …
Maya Angelou: The Most Important Virtue
“I’ve always had the feeling that life loves the liver of it.” The legendary poet and writer Maya Angelou passed recently at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was 86. I first …
The Skills of Leonardo Da Vinci
Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci sought a job at the court of Ludovico Sforza, then the ruler of Milan. Leonardo’s application letter, found in the amazing Letters of Note, included a …
Standing Up for Freedom: Kurt Vonnegut’s Unyielding Defense Against Book Censorship
Shawn Usher beautifully sets the context in Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience: Since first being published in 1967— and despite being considered …
The Stoic Way of Life
The Stoic way of life is the expression that encompasses the Stoic’s attitude toward practical affairs. It really is “an anachronism,” writes Ludwig Edelstein in his book The Meaning …
Hunter S. Thompson’s Letter on Finding Your Purpose and Living a Meaningful Life
In April of 1958, Hunter S. Thompson was 22 years old when he wrote this letter to his friend Hume Logan in response to a request for life advice. Thompson’s letter, found in Letters of Note, …
Eudora Welty to The New Yorker: The best job application ever
In March of 1933, Eudora Welty, then 23 and looking for writing work, sent this beautiful letter to the offices of The New Yorker. “It’s difficult,” writes Shaun Usher in his …
Advice to Writers: A Compendium of Quotes, Anecdotes, and Writerly Wisdom
In response to Ernest Hemingway on Writing a reader passed along a pointer to Advice to Writers, “a compendium of quotes, anecdotes, and writerly wisdom from a dazzling array of literary lights.” Jon …
Work in Pulses
We’re not designed for multitasking and we’re certainly not designed to work continuously without a break. We’re designed to pulse, that is alternate between expending energy and …