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The Idea Notebook

“A collection without order, drawn from many papers, which I have copied here, hoping to arrange them later each in its place, according to the subjects of which they treat.”

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Newton's calculus diagram

Zeno's Paradox

Philosophy is contemplating puzzles about existence. An example is Zeno’s paradoxes, which I think remains unsolved and important to solve. Here’s why...

Recent Posts

Future Interactions with Nature

Not "Mostly Harmless"

Adams, in Hitchhiker's Guide, was clearly joking about humans being mostly harmless, which means we ought to consider potential answers to the following questions in light of space-travel prospects in the coming centuries...

Vetinari Coat of Arms

Vetinari and Carnegie

Continuing this series on influence and power dynamics, I consider Pratchett’s Vetinari and imagine his critique of Carnegie’s "How to...", as he sets out to influence people - without winning unwanted friends...

Path choice

Life value-drivers

In this series I’ll consider tasks and techniques used to good effect in business that can be adapted to be useful in broader life. In the first of this series, I’ll repurpose a profit and loss model for choosing which actions to focus on to make progress achieving one’s life goals, whether it’s to become well-read, to circumnavigate the globe, to foster deeper connections with friends, or any other goal...

Death of Socrates

More compelling drawing room confessions

Questionnaire-guided self-exploration can aid efforts to ‘outgrow oneself’ - a phrase I credit to The Marginalian. Answers to the following would likely be more insightful, and more of a call to action, than answers to Proust’s original questions...