It’s hard to understand why people do what they do (or don’t do). If you think psychology and behavioral sciences can explain it all, think again. Here’s a little story to demonstrate. This morning I made the five-minute walk over to the gym for my Sunday workout. The … Keep reading
Awhile back I renamed my Substack to the odd-sounding title “Monsters, Machines, and Madmen”. Like many things I meant to get around to, the around never got did, the post diving into it never got wrote, and so I left this mystery unexplained. I had this high-concept idea of sorting … Keep reading
Imagine a person who spent his life collecting rocks. He can identify a rock with the effort it takes you and I to take a breath. He knows that a tree, a puddle of rain water, and a monkey are definitely not rocks. When he goes for a walk, the … Keep reading
Back when I was big-time into the fitness world, one of the most common complaints you’d hear from drive-by reply guys: “This is nothing new.” This is a low-IQ take coming from lazy small-thinking ankle-biters. New is no guarantee of good. Old is proven. Things that survive survive for a … Keep reading
For the last few days I’ve felt off. There’s this weird feeling starting in my upper chest, up through my neck, that sits on a spectrum somewhere between light-headedness and choked-up with pressure. While it’s hard to describe, I know what it means. My blood pressure is higher than it … Keep reading
I walk around in Auckland in terror of the giant women in New Zealand. This is no joke. It’s common to see teenage girls clearing 6’1. My wife thought I was making it up until we went to my niece’s 21st last night. From a sample of around 60, roughly … Keep reading
Set the scene: You’re out on a hike in a forest path. You reach a fork in the trail. Where the trail splits, there’s a wooden post in the ground with an arrow pointing to the left. Which way do you go? The answer is obvious. At the same time, … Keep reading
Earlier this month I read two books by the same author, which isn’t itself unusual, besides the fact that I blew through both of them in under a week. Why the rush? When you resonate with somebody’s ideas, the hurry is no hurry at all. You gladly throw yourself into … Keep reading
We have fallen out with nature, and what was once (as we believe) One is now in conflict with itself, and mastery and servitude alternate on both sides. It often seems to us as if the world were everything and we nothing, but often too as if we were everything … Keep reading
It seems like every time I get one of those kits to put something together, it never goes to the plan. That’s assuming you can read the plan, with the questionable instructions that seem to come with everything now. Requires assembly, they say. It’s all fine until you drop the … Keep reading