Sharing what I have learned from what I have read: A blog by Joe Abittan
This last week Ezra Klein interviewed British journalist John Higgs for his podcast. About midway through the episode they talked about difference between people from the Millennial Generation and those from Generation Z, the following generation that is the first generation to grow up with smart phones. One of the differences they highlighted was in … Continue reading Fencing Out the World
A couple years ago, one of my good friends wrote a book called Vector Rising under the pen name Cole Carver. The book is a science fiction thriller about a character who is able to see a little bit ahead of normal people. The idea for Carver stemmed from the science behind the way the … Continue reading Observation
What inputs drive what types of behaviors in humans? This is a question I think about at an incredibly basic level all the time, but that I don't really hear much insightful discussion about in general. We all like to believe we (and everyone else) is in complete conscious control of our thoughts, minds, and … Continue reading How to Describe a Norm
I often feel that we are moving so fast toward the future that we are advancing beyond our means. I think we are in some ways exceeding the capacity that we have evolved to fit, and this is creating great challenges for humans across the globe. We have new technologies, new social structures, and new … Continue reading The Challenge of Trying to Enlarge the Pie
The California redwoods are amazing trees. They stand taller than any other tree, scraping at the sky as they compete among each other for sunlight. The trees can be packed together in a dense manner, all competing for the same light, all pulling massive amounts of water from the ground up enormous heights. What is … Continue reading The Social Brain Hypothesis
A couple years back I bought a bright green GPS sports watch. I do a lot of running and I like having a nice watch for my workouts, but the watch was a bit more flashy than what I really needed to purchase, and if I am honest with myself, I really don't need a … Continue reading Enjoy What is Inside You
In Letters From a Stoic Seneca writes, "You must be not only present in the body, but watchful in mind, if you would avail yourself of the fleeting opportunity." I am always surprised by how hard it is to actually be present at any given moment. Our minds think far faster than we can talk or … Continue reading Present in Mind and Body
"The most disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness," Seneca wrote in a letter to his friend Lucilius almost 2,000 years ago. Seneca's Letters from a Stoic is a collection of short passages written from Seneca to Lucilius full of interesting reflections on life. His quick quote about carelessness seems to be as fitting … Continue reading Carelessness
Since I read Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler's book The Elephant in the Brain, I have become really interested in ideas and thoughts about status. We are social creatures living in an interconnected and social world. In order for us to move through this world we need friends, allies, and an ability to impress people … Continue reading A Sense of Demotion
"The troubling thing about labels is that we very seldom have the exact same definitions for them," Colin Wright writes in his book Becoming Who We Need To Be. I am disappointed by how frequently we use labels without giving them much thought. Labels are a necessity and a way to convey a lot of … Continue reading The Trouble with Labels