A public diary. ...
Why a novel stays with you and a TV show doesn’t The claim that picking up a novel is a better form of entertainment than turning on the TV is probably (hopefully) a trivial one. But why is this? What is it about the book that elevates it and leaves the TV in the dust? Both media offer stories that can go on for hours. Why does it feel like getting a story from a book is somehow nobler than…
Isn’t it odd how much educated people enjoy complexity? It is as if mastering intricate details, which people outside their field do not know, leaves them with a unique feeling of competence and self-worth — even if their solutions are in fact far inferior to much simpler ones. I’m talking about the programmer who builds an ivory tower of a beautiful, modular, readable, elegant code to handle a…
Life can only be sustained so long as certain internal conditions are met and maintained over long periods. Life, in this context, means more than mere survival. It includes the vitality and agency of a healthy organism that allows it to deal successfully with its environment. Sickness is a failure to maintain homeostasis in some dimension important for life. Body composition is one such…
Meditation is the act of becoming intentionally aware of the present moment for an extended period of time. During this time, the goal is to allow distractions—thoughts and emotions—to come, realize they are there, and then return to the moment. At first, this can sound bewildering. What does it mean to “be aware of the moment”? Are we not always aware? If not, how do we know when we are? Learning…
And the real solution to obesity that most overlook GLP-1 agonists have become mainstream. From an explosive excitement in 2022-2023, the use of Wegovy and similar drugs for weight loss has now been normalised to an extent where many people consider them a natural part of modern human life and a necessary tool for controlling bodyweight in the era of abundance. It really seems as though humanity…
I read to expand my knowledge. Books are everywhere in my apartment, almost like an ornament—some by the armchair, some by the sofa, most on the main bookshelf, some on the dining table, and some on the floor. I have spent many hours in those same places—in the armchair, on the couch, or on the floor—in quiet immersion, absorbing the wisdom of these books. Or so I thought. At times, I have…
At the moment, my morning routine is as follows: Static hip stretching (15 minutes) Dip in the sea (15 minutes, including shower) Meditation + red light therapy (15 minutes) Plan the day (15 minutes) Which sums to about an hour. I sleep without an alarm clock, go to bed consistently around 21:30, and tend to wake up around 06:00, so the morning routine is usually from 06:00-07:00. Each activity is…
The following are well established in humans: Only the mother’s mitochondrial genome is passed on to the children Men are more attracted to female beauty than women are to male beauty Additionally, I strongly believe, though this is more speculative, that health and beauty are closely intertwined. The attributes that make a woman attractive, for example, are also clear signs of health, all else…
The amateur writes for himself, the professional for others. The amateur writes because he has something to say, the professional because he wants to be heard. To the amateur, putting words on paper is an end in itself. He writes because he enjoys the process—enjoys watching as his mind grapples with ideas and turns them into sentences, his fingers writing them down, never to be erased. He enjoys…
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is a true classic in the theory and history of science. In it, Thomas Kuhn argues that science progresses nonlinearly over time, with periods of stable, “normal” science interrupted by sudden shifts in paradigms. He sees the typical chronology as follows. First, a set of truths or premises are established as a common foundation for a scientific field. By…