Years ago I came to a conclusion I return to often: People tend to act reasonably in accordance with the world they’ve be presented with. In this age of polarization and anger (and now, war), I find that phrase all the more potent. Who is someone who is doing something you disagree with? It’s important to remember that their worldview generally feels cohesive and sound to them according to their narrative, the things they’ve read, and the experiences they’ve lived....
James Clear has a quote that I deeply appreciate: “Where you spend your attention is where you spend your life.” 1 I come back to this quote regularly. Attention = life We rightly value life deeply, spending billions of dollars every year on medical treatments to increase health and physical life. What if we started caring about our attention the same way? What if we started being as purposeful about what we let into our ears, eyes, and mind as we are about what food and drink we let into our mouths?...
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Lately, every time someone shows me a YouTube video on their computer or phone, I find myself freaking out just a little. The ads, the list of recommended videos, the endless comments… there’s just so much going on on the screen, and I find myself easily distracted and maybe a bit overwhelmed. In contrast, if you watch a YouTube video on my laptop, you’ll find it to be a much different experience....
Skill and concern mixed together can be powerful, and there are people today with seemingly more of both than ever. In almost any field you can list, you will be able to find someone who is at least 10x more skilled than you, and 10x more concerned than you are. I think it’s worth learning from those people. How does someone 10x as concerned as you approach the problem you’re facing when they have the skills to do something about it?...
Lately I feel like I’ve come to a place with internet and tech usage that I’m really liking, where I’ve been able to derive great value from what the internet has to offer, while being better at protecting myself from some of its more poisonous elements. Here are a few tools/tips that I’ve found helpful for coming to that place, which I think anyone who uses the internet could benefit from:...
The process of being lead out of deception can be painful and hard. The status quo is the status quo for a reason: it’s more comfortable than the alternative. Lies can make us feel warm and fuzzy; but they are still lies. If we truly want freedom, there’s only one option: Only the Truth sets us free
The lack of a currently viable solution is not a legitimate reason to disregard a problem. See also
So many things in our lives we know are awful for us, but we keep them in our lives anyway. Social media, junk food, most so-called “news”, extreme amounts of internet and screen time, etc. What if we just STOPPED? What if we just got rid of them? What if we stopped being ok with the things we know our making our lives worse and shorter, and replaced them with the things we knew were good for us — good books, lavish amount of time with friends and family, whole food, time outside, real journalism, etc....
TL;DR: You need a password manager to use the internet safely and efficiently today. I use and recommend Bitwarden. In 2020 there were nearly 8 Billion online accounts compromised by hackers.1 Statistically speaking, at least one of your accounts was probably in that list. Several of mine were. When a hacker compromises an online account, many times the email addresses and passwords of those accounts are among the compromised content. Because many people re-use the same email address and password in many places, when a hacker gets a hold of a user’s username and password, it is super easy for them to take that username and password and start trying that combination on other online accounts… Like your email, your work accounts, your bank, or other valuable or sensitive accounts....
You’re wrong about something. I am, too… Likely many things. It’s good for us to ponder that truth once in a while. We are all working with incomplete knowledge, meaning we can’t possibly be right about everything. The universe is too infinite and expansive. The physical, biological, and social systems on our planet are too intricate and incomprehensibly dense. There are assumptions that you and I hold about reality that are assuredly incorrect....