Our world is in information overdrive. Most of us do not remember the feeling of awe. Yet this fascination is the fundamental driving force of art, science and many other human activities. Please help me recover the lost awe. You are also welcome to read here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Doing fascinating things …
Patterns in history: War and weather
I love history. When learning history, I try to capture long-term patterns and remember events through these patterns. Unlike conspiration theorists, I do not assume these patterns have meaning beyond mnemonic devices. And then again… 9/11 and temperature History is full of patterns. Some of these patterns are real, others are like objects we tend …
The natural spirituality and myths that follow
Spirituality is definitely a valid way to find inspiration. Some of the best stories in human history are profoundly mythical. Today it is hard to separate reality from imagination, psychological need from social necessity. What can we learn from our myths, if anything? You are welcome to read more here, here, here, here, here, here, and …
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Intuition in a blink of the eye
Can we trust our intuition? Possibly. Some of the best and the worst decisions were based on intuition, especially highly creative or controversial ones. Many people have an extraordinary level of luck and intuition. Others are just never right. For more reading please see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Practical advice If …
Do we trust science?
The premise of science was a methodological search for the truth and the nature of the universe. Faith or philosophy claims something to be true because it was claimed by authorities and is logically consistent. Science uses the scientific method and claims to predict the outcome of events. Science is valid as long as the …
Serious people have serious problems
Many of my students complain that the harder they try, the slower their progress becomes. Let it go. It is counterintuitive to be calm and focused on things that are of crucial importance. Yet, this might be the best formula for success. In this article, I will try to explain how to get into this …
Dealing with existential crisis
We all need to deal with an existential crisis from time to time. In fact, this is one of the deepest recurring themes in our art and science. Once we deal with all the survival questions, a lot of questions remain regarding our purpose. As this purpose changes, we may grow as human beings and …
Mind body tricks and weird science
Usually, we try to influence our body, by tricking our minds. There are visualization, placebo effect, positive self-talk, and other well-known tricks. The reverse direction of influencing the mind through the body is also interesting, even though it is less discussed. For today’s reading, you are welcome to click here, here, here, here, here, here, …
Mental Palace: Creative Examples
How do we choose the shape of a memory palace? The kind and the shape of memory palaces is dictated my many factors. More often than not, we will use a familiar space: a childhood home, or a friend’s office. We do not have to. Personally, I prefer using spaces from video games, as they …
Why myths are so believable
I had this infographic below on my desk since 2014. What makes it so surprising is our total belief that this is the case. Most educated people will tell that we evolved from monkeys, although the evolutionary branch of monkeys is parallel to ours. It is hard to grasp that mammoths and pyramids coexisted, but …