• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Farnam Street Logo

Farnam Street

Mastering the best of what other people have already figured out

  • Articles
  • Newsletter
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Courses
  • Log In
  • Become a Member

Joseph Tussman

The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Do you ever ask kids this question? Did adults ask you this when you were a kid? Even if you managed to escape this question until high school, then by the …

Continue readingThe Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled

The Chessboard Fallacy

“In the great chess-board of human society, every single piece has a principle of motion of its own.” — Adam Smith *** One of our favorite dictums, much referenced here, is an idea by …

Continue readingThe Chessboard Fallacy

Civilization and its Fundamental Passions

“To describe a culture is to describe the structure of its institutions.” — Joseph Tussman *** In his book The Burden of Office, the educator and philosopher Joseph Tussman, who brought us …

Continue readingCivilization and its Fundamental Passions

Multitasking: Giving the World an Advantage it Shouldn’t Have

Echoing the comments of William Deresiewicz, Charlie Munger offers some sage advice on multi-tasking: I will say this, I know no wise person who doesn’t read a lot. I suspect that you can read on the …

Continue readingMultitasking: Giving the World an Advantage it Shouldn’t Have

Letting the World Do the Work for You

If you don’t see the world the way it is, you’ll think it works in a way that it doesn’t and make terrible mistakes. The key to getting what you want out of life is to identify how …

Continue readingLetting the World Do the Work for You

Discover What You’re Missing

Get the weekly email full of actionable ideas and insights you can use at work and home.


As seen on:

Forbes logo
New York Times logo
Wall Street Journal logo
The Economist logo
Financial Times logo
Farnam Street Logo

© 2023 Farnam Street Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Proudly powered by WordPress. Hosted by Pressable. See our Privacy Policy.

  • Speaking
  • Sponsorship
  • About
  • Support
  • Education

We’re Syrus Partners.
We buy amazing businesses.


Farnam Street participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising commissions by linking to Amazon.