Free will has been disproven. We have spent millennia trying to prove it exists and still haven’t come up with anything. We can break down and study our bodies and behaviors at every level of abstraction. (Robert Sapolsky has influenced my thinking a lot here, check out his books and lectures.) And yet despite all this evidence, we still want to believe we have free will and there is some small part of us that is in control. This is living in denial. We are all just energy flowing through a c...

Free will has been disproven. We have spent millennia trying to prove it exists and still haven’t come up with anything. We can break down and study our bodies and behaviors at every level of abstraction. (Robert Sapolsky has influenced my thinking a lot here, check out his books and lectures.) And yet despite all this evidence, we still want to believe we have free will and there is some small part of us that is in control. This is living in denial. We are all just energy flowing through a c...

I’ve been writing a lot about empathy and being egoless, but how do we actually do that? Below is a non exhaustive list, but a start.Love everyone – Love yourself, love your family, love strangers. Always love deeply and wholeheartedly, when you feel it lean into it. When you need to make a decision, choose the course that feels most deeply rooted in love.Forgive – “Everybody makes mistakes” - Hannah Montana. Don’t expect others (or yourself) to be perfect. When people make mistakes, acknowle...

I’ve been writing a lot about empathy and being egoless, but how do we actually do that? Below is a non exhaustive list, but a start.Love everyone – Love yourself, love your family, love strangers. Always love deeply and wholeheartedly, when you feel it lean into it. When you need to make a decision, choose the course that feels most deeply rooted in love.Forgive – “Everybody makes mistakes” - Hannah Montana. Don’t expect others (or yourself) to be perfect. When people make mistakes, acknowle...

Don’t let Trump’s MAGA movement convince you that life in America is getting worse. Unless you are a straight white man, your prospects and opportunities in life are much better now than they were 20, 50, 100 years ago. Lets not forget that people of color, women, trans people, and queer people are only just starting to have the full rights of citizenship. Sometimes when I’m feeling low about our political situation, as I often am these days, I say to my partner “I wish I wasn’t born in these...

Don’t let Trump’s MAGA movement convince you that life in America is getting worse. Unless you are a straight white man, your prospects and opportunities in life are much better now than they were 20, 50, 100 years ago. Lets not forget that people of color, women, trans people, and queer people are only just starting to have the full rights of citizenship. Sometimes when I’m feeling low about our political situation, as I often am these days, I say to my partner “I wish I wasn’t born in these...

I recently watched the Materialists (great movie) and it got me thinking about the modern dating world. The movie focuses on a high class match maker and critiques people for being shallow and only caring about superficial traits like income and height. I don’t know how we got here, but somehow dating became a game to get the Best One. There is a linear scale along which all people can be placed based on their attractiveness and wealth and the status quo is we all date within our preset range...

I recently watched the Materialists (great movie) and it got me thinking about the modern dating world. The movie focuses on a high class match maker and critiques people for being shallow and only caring about superficial traits like income and height. I don’t know how we got here, but somehow dating became a game to get the Best One. There is a linear scale along which all people can be placed based on their attractiveness and wealth and the status quo is we all date within our preset range...

In building one of the strongest economies in the world, we have left behind what makes us human. In the constant urgency of production Americans don’t have the time or energy to develop our emotional skills. Being closed off to love and unable to keep it alive has cut us off from what makes us human. ** Note I’m not just talking about romantic relationships here, you can and should love friends and family as well. Sex and love are not semantically equivalent. First off, to fall in love your ...

In building one of the strongest economies in the world, we have left behind what makes us human. In the constant urgency of production Americans don’t have the time or energy to develop our emotional skills. Being closed off to love and unable to keep it alive has cut us off from what makes us human. ** Note I’m not just talking about romantic relationships here, you can and should love friends and family as well. Sex and love are not semantically equivalent. First off, to fall in love your ...

The universe is infinite. Our brains can’t really conceive of infinity, but it’s there. Out from your chest space goes on forever. Everything we have ever known or created as a species is finite, on a singular planet in a singular galaxy. And there are infinite galaxies. This is one of those obvious facts that has become cliche, but I don't think we have spent enough time collectively processing it. Our whole species is 1/ infinity. It’s the closest you can get to zero without actually b...

The universe is infinite. Our brains can’t really conceive of infinity, but it’s there. Out from your chest space goes on forever. Everything we have ever known or created as a species is finite, on a singular planet in a singular galaxy. And there are infinite galaxies. This is one of those obvious facts that has become cliche, but I don't think we have spent enough time collectively processing it. Our whole species is 1/ infinity. It’s the closest you can get to zero without actually b...

There is too much cognitive dissonance, our little brains can’t take it. We need a new paradigm that reconciles all these disparate and seemingly contradictory ideas. How is the monotheistic Catholic God legitimate at the same time as the Hindu gods? If white people are smarter than black people, why do black people get into better colleges than white people? If America is the strongest nation on the planet, why are so many of its citizens struggling to make ends meet? etc. Some of these idea...

There is too much cognitive dissonance, our little brains can’t take it. We need a new paradigm that reconciles all these disparate and seemingly contradictory ideas. How is the monotheistic Catholic God legitimate at the same time as the Hindu gods? If white people are smarter than black people, why do black people get into better colleges than white people? If America is the strongest nation on the planet, why are so many of its citizens struggling to make ends meet? etc. Some of these idea...