Sharing what I have learned from what I have read: A blog by Joe Abittan
"Wherever you direct your gaze, you will meet with something that might stand out from the rest, if the context in which you read it were not equally notable," writes Seneca in Letters From a Stoic. Quite a while back I listened to a podcast interview with the founder of a music streaming service … Continue reading Stimuli, Attention, and What We Notice
"There is unevenness, you know, when some objects rise conspicuous above others," Seneca wrote in Letters From a Stoic. I'm pretty fascinated with a concept that is known as Tall Poppy Syndrome and is often strongly expressed in Australia and New Zealand (so I understand - I haven't been there myself to experience the … Continue reading Tall Poppy Syndrome
Capitalism has come under fire in the recent years in ways that I would not have predicted as I completed my college degree and entered the workforce. For so many years the idea of capitalism has been central to the American story and to American identity. It may not be perfect, but it has always … Continue reading Capitalism and Externalities
The human mind thinks in narratives. Well take in information about the world around us, and we create a story that weaves all of those narratives together in a cohesive manner. The mind creates the reality that it experiences, and it uses narrative to give the story meaning. Unfortunately, sometimes the stories don't fit the … Continue reading The End is Always Near
Does travel help us be more happy? Seneca did not think it did. In Letters From a Stoic, he included a quote from Socrates, "Why do you wonder that glob-trotting does not help you, seeing that you always take yourself with you? The reason which set you wandering is ever at your heels." Seneca … Continue reading On Travel as a Cure for Discontent
Our thoughts are a jumbled mess. Things tend to repeat with subtle variations and they tend to jump around at random points in an inconsistent manner. Keeping our mind on a single thing is hard and our thoughts are not as logically consistent as we might think, despite the fact that our thinking and though … Continue reading How to Think it Out
There are a handful of things we only do once or twice in our lives. Many of us probably aspire to only get married a single time, only select a single school to attend for college, and only take a vacation to a foreign country one time. These low "n" experiences, or low frequency occurrences, … Continue reading The Challenge with Low “n” Events
Human beings are not always good at planning for the long term, but in general, we do expect to have a long term. I know that in my own life I have always assumed I would live to be at least 100, though I know life expectancy in the United States is not 100 years … Continue reading Our Few Years on Earth
We live in a very dangerous world, but we don't always recognize it. Most of the time we move about our lives without feeling too much threat to our own personal safety and to our lives, but sudden events can remind us of how close death can be. We see terrible car crashes, are forced … Continue reading Ever Present Perils
A useful technique I learned for overcoming obstacles is to think ahead to the challenges you are likely to face and how you can overcome those challenges. If you only think ahead to the success you will have and picture a perfect life once you reach your goal, you will be less likely to actually … Continue reading Thinking Forward to Prepare for Obstacles