Self-improvement can be overwhelming. If you spend an hour reading posts on a blog like this one or start watching Philosopher’s Notes TV on a regular basis, you’ll quickly flood your brain with a plethora of new behaviors to try. Plus, you probably already have a long list of things you’d like to improve about yourself or your lifestyle: behaviors you’d like to quit or do less often, behaviors you’d… Read More »How to Get Started With Self-Improvement
I recently had an epiphany about how to make moral decisions. The answer was so simple: Choose whichever option is least selfish. Should I help my friend move or say I’m busy that day? Should I remain at the table after everyone has finished eating or get up and do the dishes? Should I give money to charity or buy myself a new bike? The option that is less selfish… Read More »The Simplest Way to Make Moral Decisions
How long does it take to break a glass? How long does it take to clean it up? How long does it take to damage one’s reputation? How long does it take to rebuild it? How long does it take to get in a car accident? How long does it take to heal the injured, repair the cars, and process the insurance claims? Your answers to these questions reveal a… Read More »Avoiding High-Cost Errors in Self-Improvement
This is an article about personal growth and change, but before we can get to that, we need to look at a really cool insight about biology and creativity. As discussed in my article about where new ideas come from, there is a parallel between biological innovation and human innovation. Species evolve either by genetic mutation or genetic combination, and our ideas evolve when they get modified or when they… Read More »The Adjacent Possible: Expanding Your Creativity, Career, and Life