A Good Explanation
The quest for good explanations is at the heart of science and all of our fields of knowledge. In this piece, I discuss the different between good and bad explanations. Namely; that they are hard-to-vary....
Freedom and Incrementalism
Hello everyone, I hope you are well. I woke up early this morning to find out that we have a new President-Elect of the United States of America. It is my hope that with Joe Biden taking the reins everything can return to normal, that the pandemic will be addressed...
The Puzzle of Liberty
In this letter, I want to make the case for libertarian principles and introduce you to a problem I have been thinking about; *how do we get everyone to cooperate without coercion?*...
The Spirit of Science
Hello everyone, I hope you are in high spirits. Wait, what does “high spirits” mean again? Does it imply that you are filled with vigour? I take that back; my concern is that you are feeling well not necessarily that you are overflowing with energy. I hope you have been...
Taking Children Seriously
Hello everyone, I hope you have all been doing as well as the laws of nature allow. I certainly have been. I have been helping test a user interface called Material Shell, very slowly trying to teach myself Japanese and reading through the short stories of Ted Chiang. It is...
The Seed of Certainty
Hello everyone, I hope you've been doing well — I certainly have. My new article is finished. I have now left it with the wonderful Iona Italia for editing. It should be published within a week, you'll receive an email when it is. Who knows? "The...
Book Recommendation
Happiness and Problem Solving
Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing very well. Since I have written about cutting through suffering, I think this time I will talk a little about happiness. Let me start with these two quotes from the marvellous Karl Popper. “The best thing that can happen to a human...
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The best thing that can happen to a human being is to find a problem, to fall in love with that problem, and to live trying to solve that problem, unless another problem even more lovable appears.Karl Popper
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All life is problem solving.Karl Popper
Effective Altruism and Social Engineering
Hello everyone, I hope you have been doing well. In this week's email, I want to take the time to tell you about Effective Altruism. What is it? The goal of Effective Altruism is summed up pretty well by the title of William Macaskill's book. "...