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

Farnam Street

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

Learning

Nick Hornby Reminds us Why We Love Books (Sometimes)

“All the books we own, both read and unread, are the fullest expression of self we have at our disposal…With each passing year, and with each whimsical purchase, our libraries become more …

Continue readingNick Hornby Reminds us Why We Love Books (Sometimes)

E.O. Wilson on Becoming a Great Scientist

The biologist E.O. Wilson, now of Harvard University, made his first and largest splash by releasing his book Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, which made the controversial claim (at the time) that …

Continue readingE.O. Wilson on Becoming a Great Scientist

Albert Bandura on Acquiring Self-Efficacy and Personal Agency

Psychologist Albert Bandura is famous for his social learning theory which is really more of a model than a theory. He stresses the importance of observational learning. Who you spend time with …

Continue readingAlbert Bandura on Acquiring Self-Efficacy and Personal Agency

Lifelong Learning

Your education shouldn’t end when your schooling does. If you want to get an edge in life, you must be constantly learning, not coasting along on what you already know. Lifelong learning requires the …

Continue readingLifelong Learning

Ray Dalio: Open-Mindedness And The Power of Not Knowing

Ray Dalio, founder of the investment firm Bridgewater Associates (and guest on The Knowledge Project), offers a prime example of what a learning organization looks like in the best book I’ve ever read …

Continue readingRay Dalio: Open-Mindedness And The Power of Not Knowing

Thinking About Thinking

I wrote a response on quora recently to the question ‘how do I become a better thinker’ that generated a lot of attention and feedback so I thought I’d build on that a little and …

Continue readingThinking About Thinking

Elon Musk on How To Build Knowledge

Elon Musk recently did an AMA on reddit. Here are three question-and-response pairs that I enjoyed, including how to build knowledge. He knows how to say I don’t know. Previously, you’ve …

Continue readingElon Musk on How To Build Knowledge

Richard Feynman: The Difference Between Knowing the Name of Something and Knowing Something

Richard Feynman (1918-1988) was no ordinary genius. He believed that “the world is much more interesting than any one discipline.” His explanations — on why questions, why trains stay on the tracks as …

Continue readingRichard Feynman: The Difference Between Knowing the Name of Something and Knowing Something

Charlie Munger: Adding Mental Tools to Your Toolbox

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu said: “The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought.” Those ‘calculations’ are the tools we have available to …

Continue readingCharlie Munger: Adding Mental Tools to Your Toolbox

Edward Hess, Interview No. 6

This interview with Ed Hess is full of amazing insights but I don’t know if you’ll read it because a) it’s long and we live in a world of increasingly short attention spans and b) it’s an actual …

Continue readingEdward Hess, Interview No. 6

“Intelligence to accept or reject what is already presented as knowledge”

“There are some things which cannot be learned quickly and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring.” *** Hemingway has contributed to our wisdom on writing — …

Continue reading“Intelligence to accept or reject what is already presented as knowledge”

Learning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the bitterest.” — Confucius *** …

Continue readingLearning by Thinking: How Reflection Aids Performance

Creating a Decision Journal: Template And Example Included

We all make decisions. And yet few of us think about what we can learn from our past decisions to make smarter decisions in the future. A decision journal helps you learn from past decisions, think …

Continue readingCreating a Decision Journal: Template And Example Included

5 Design-Informed Approaches to Good Learning

John Maeda offers five design-informed approaches for learning. BASICS are the beginning. REPEAT yourself often. AVOID creating desperation. INSPIRE with examples. NEVER forget to repeat yourself. …

Continue reading5 Design-Informed Approaches to Good Learning

“That’s as far as they go. They can’t take it any further. And why not? Because they won’t put in the effort”

A brilliant passage from Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood on talent. There just happen to be people like that. They’re blessed with this marvelous talent, but they can’t make the effort to …

Continue reading“That’s as far as they go. They can’t take it any further. And why not? Because they won’t put in the effort”

Rethinking the Value of a Business Major

Melissa Korn reporting in the Wall Street Journal: “The biggest complaint,” writes Korn is that “undergraduate degrees focus too much on the nuts and bolts of finance and accounting and don’t …

Continue readingRethinking the Value of a Business Major
← See newer articles
See older articles →

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.