Reading Time: 1 minI talk about memory quite a lot on here, as it’s a concept that is fascinating to me. I frequently talk about using Anki to improve what I remember, but that’s ultimately just brute-force practice. It’s a good thing, and I use it every single day, but understanding more of the science behind memory is […]
Learning
Honesty can lead to contradictions
Reading Time: 2 minI write a lot about honesty on here, but being honest doesn’t mean always keeping your beliefs the same. As I wrote more than 10 years ago, it’s a good thing to be willing to change your mind and it’s often the logical thing to do. However, changing your mind can sometimes appear as contradictions […]
The two uses of faces in Anki
Reading Time: 2 minI’ve talked about my use of Anki for years now, and it’s a tool I’ve used on-and-off for nearly a decade and one I’ve used every single day for almost five years. While I use it for a lot of different purposes, one of the early uses was to better remember names and faces. It’s […]
The successful explosion
Reading Time: < 1 minYou likely saw last week when SpaceX launched their new “Starship” rocket, which exploded minutes after launch. If you’ve not seen it, here is a video of it: The odd part of the explosion is that it was actually a huge success. Granted, I’m sure they would have preferred that the flight lasted longer, but […]
Why do they disagree with you?
Reading Time: < 1 minThrough the course of your life you’ll encounter many people that disagree with you. They might not like your political party, your car, your mobile phone, your religion, or any number of other things. Why? If done in the right spirit, it can be useful for both parties if you ask and find out. Going […]
Homework for life
Reading Time: 2 minIn reading Matthew Dicks’ book “Storyworthy“, he introduced a practice that he started years ago, and I’m giving a shot as well. Matthew calls it “homework for life”, but I actually first discovered it in a video from Ryan Kelly; the video was all about his reMarkable 2, but he briefly mentioned it while calling […]
First instincts are often wrong
Reading Time: 2 minYou’ve heard it as solid advice on every multiple choice test that you’ve taken in your life — if you’re unsure of the answer, stick with your first instinct. We’ve heard it many times, but it’s generally very bad advise. In fact, if you’re torn between two answers, changing to the other answer is roughly […]
Regret has huge benefits
Reading Time: 2 minA common phrase from adventurous people is to live with “no regrets”, but that’s not really possible. Say you’re considering breaking up with your girlfriend. The “no regrets” side would say to do it and test the open waters, but it’s entirely possible that 10 years from now you’ll have huge regrets about that breakup […]
Sobremesa
Reading Time: 2 minIn reading Mónica Guzmán’s fantastic book “I Never Thought of It That Way“, she shared the idea of sobremesa. She tells it like this: My favorite word in Spanish has no translation in English. It’s the word “sobremesa.” It refers to the conversation that follows a meal while everyone’s still sitting at the table (“sobre” […]
The Waters of the United States, and why political leanings might not mean what you think
Reading Time: 2 minI recently listened to an episode of the EconTalk podcast, where host Russ Roberts spoke with Monica Guzman about her book “I Never Thought of It That Way“, which I’ve shared on here before. One piece from the podcast really jumped out at me; perhaps it wasn’t in the book, or maybe I just missed […]