I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what it means to have an open mind. It’s hard. Background Reading Before I go any further, I’m going to ask you to look at two things other people have created. First, this brilliant comic by The Oatmeal, which describes the “Backfire Effect.” I’m not going to summarize;…
I think this article describes what I have spent the better part of my adult life pursuing. “An engaged, nondefensive form of attention to the present moment… a pursuit of understanding other perspectives… increased empathy and compassion… a desire to view the present moment as part of an ongoing life journey.” A quick read, and…
Came across an elegantly written essay that I found pretty powerful. It’s subtle and not for everyone, but if you’re one of the people it’s for, you may find it transcendent. The Twelve Virtues of Rationality: Curiosity: a burning itch to know is higher than a solemn vow to pursue truth. Relinquishment: “That which can…
Dunbar’s number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships—relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. Informally, this is “the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a…
This is ridiculously fascinating. I mean, just the basic premise is astonishing: no two cells in anybody’s brain have the same genetic code. We are not made up of a single genetic encoding; our bodies carry around literally billions of unique combinations of our genetic code. That’s a bit world-altering, at least for me. Also,…
