Mon, Aug 18, 2025. Meditation is about noticing distraction and returning to focus. So, distraction is necessary and good. #beliefs
Fri, Aug 15, 2025. ⭐ Intense negative emotions get in the way of clear thinking. Curiosity, humor, kindness, and gratitude help. (Intense positive emotions like awe, passion, etc. help creativity and are not so bad.) #beliefs
Tue, Aug 12, 2025. Blindspots continue to be the insight with maximum RoI. Discovering something we're not even aware we're unaware of opens up the largest possibilities. My top sources to discover blindspots are: #beliefs
Feedback. Especially feedback we reject, ignore, or miss.
Things we run/shy away from.
Tue, Aug 5, 2025. ⭐ Slow, effortful practice (spaced recall, interleaving topics, self-testing) builds lasting knowledge but looks inefficient and doesn't help with exams. ##best-practices#future#learning#lesson#beliefs
If there's high trust (i.e. the other person trusts you):
Important topic/decision: Be candid
Unimportant: Follow culture (e.g. in Japan, you'd be polite; in The Netherlands, you'd be candid)
Low trust:
Important: Earn trust first
Unimportant: Be polite
Wed, Dec 27, 2023. The hidden brain podcast. What would Socrates do? Also Philosophy Bites Podcast: why do philosophers use example. And: the happiness lab: happiness lessons of the ancients #beliefs
How many of our beliefs are truly our own? How many are a product of our environment? Contrast these and identify your true beliefs
For every thought and action you have, even tiny ones, ask "Why am I doing that?" Dig deeper because it may not be intrinsic
One way to become memorable is to.write stuff others will reproduce for a long time. Plato and Aristotle did that
everyone has multiple personality. This is partly because different parts of the brain evolved independently for different functions. System one and system two thinking are just such one broad classification. e.g. We think our train is moving when the nearby train moves because our visual brain is faster than our somatic brain.
Good lessons and pitches cater to the rational AND the subconscious. Reason AND story. To activate different parts of the brain. That's why philosophers use examples
Philosophy brings change through reason. Revelations: through sudden insight. Rhetoric: through insight.
Act as if you already are what you want to become. Aristotle
Align your environment (including habits) to your beliefs. It will become easier to act your beliefs then.
All virtues are moderation. It's possible to take every virtue to the wrong extreme
Some Christians have wristband that reads WWJD. What would Jesus do? Explore yourself a reminder of what would X do. Maybe Benjamin Franklin, Socrates, Feynman, etc
People mistake their environment for their feelings. 1970s Experiment: People on a shaky bridge think they love each other. Experiment: people rationalize things irrespective of reality.
"The Unexamined Life" is about questioning theories or stories or maps constantly. It's also about questioning our thoughts and emotions constantly. Mindfulness is the VERBAL way of doing this. Meditation is the NON-VERBAL way of paying attention. Both are Processes to remove distraction and increase authenticity.
Learning about people is a good way to learn about ourselves. And vice versa.