The HP Way: Dave Packard on How to Operate a Company
In 1960, David Packard gave an informal speech at the company he co-founded that wasn’t intended for publication. The speech, which can be found in The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our …
Philosophy
The Difference Between Love and Tolerance
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker *** New Jersey Senator Cory Booker‘s new book United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and …
Lewis Thomas on our Social Nature and “Getting the Air Right”
“What it needs is for the air to be made right. If you want a bee to make honey, you do not issue protocols on solar navigation or carbohydrate chemistry, you put him together with other bees …
Agnes Martin on The Secret of Happiness
“The best things in life happen to you when you’re alone.” *** Agnes Martin was a famous abstract painter and minimalist. In this short interview with Chuck Smith and Sono Kuwayama …
Mattering Instinct
Why do we need to matter? It sounds like kind of a hollow question. Of course we matter. But when you really consider it, do you think an ant has decided whether it matters or not? When it …
Spring 2016 Reading List — More Curated Recommendations For a Curious Mind
We hear a lot from people who want to read more. That’s a great sentiment. But it won’t actually happen until you decide what you’re going to do less of. We all get 24 hours a day …
The Central Mistake of Historicism: Karl Popper on Why Trend is Not Destiny
Philosophy can be a little dry in concept. The word itself conjures up images of thinking about thought, why we exist, and other metaphysical ideas that seem a little divorced from the everyday world. …
3 Famous Writers on the Relationship Between Reading and Writing
During the Q&A for How to Read a Book, someone asked whether reading a lot makes us better writers. The short answer is yes. Reading and writing are two sides of the same coin. As Anne …
When Breath Becomes Air: What Makes Life Worth Living in the Face of Death?
“When you come to one of the many moments in life where you must give an account of yourself, provide a ledger of what you have been, and done, and meant to the world, do not, I pray, discount …
The Boundaries Between Science and Religion: Alan Lightman on Different Kinds of Knowledge
“The physical universe is subject to rational analysis and the methods of science. The spiritual universe is not. All of us have had experiences that are not subject to rational analysis. …
Too Busy to Pay Attention
Alan Lightman, the physicist who brought us The Accidental Universe, has also written several works of fiction, including Einstein’s Dreams, presented as dreams Einstein might have had while working …
Friedrich Nietzsche: On Love And Hate
“We must learn to love, learn to be kind, and this from earliest youth … Likewise, hatred must be learned and nurtured, if one wishes to become a proficient hater.” *** German …
To Sacrifice the Joy of Life is to Miss the Point
Your ability to get things done and be productive is not always a function of hours. Working more doesn’t always mean you’re working better or harder. It doesn’t mean you’re …
Karl Popper: The Line Between Science and Pseudoscience
It’s not immediately clear to the layman what the essential difference is between science and something masquerading as science: pseudoscience. The distinction between the two is at …
The Difference Between Truth and Honesty: What Law School Teaches us About Insight, Logic, and Thinking
“We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.” — Anaïs Nin *** Matthew Frederick‘s series of 101 things I learned in {Business School, Law School, Architecture School, …
Religion and History: Will Durant on the Role of Religion and Morality
“Even the skeptical historian develops a humble respect for religion, since he sees it functioning, and seemingly indispensable, in every land and age.” *** Will and Ariel Durant have …