3 rules for choosing an arch-nemesis

Eric Weinstein explains why choosing a nemesis is both energizing and necessary for success.

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  • Eric Weinstein explains the three criteria for choosing an arch-nemesis to help motivate you in your career.
  • Weinstein chose theoretical physicist, Garrett Lisi, who is working on a similar physics problem as him.
  • Rather than hampering progress, Weinstein argues that a nemesis energizes you when you feel discouraged.
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How meditation can make you a better learner

Meditation doesn't just reduce stress or make you a more spiritual person; it changes your brain in a variety of ways that can make it easier to learn new information.

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  • Mindfulness meditation has been shown to have a wide array of effects on the human brain.
  • Many of those effects work together to improve the human brain's ability to learn new information.
  • If you're interested in becoming a smarter human being, consider incorporating meditation into your daily routine.
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Why speaking to yourself in the third person makes you wiser

Research suggests that you should adopt an ancient rhetorical method called 'illeism'.

We credit Socrates with the insight that 'the unexamined life is not worth living' and that to 'know thyself' is the path to true wisdom. But is there a right and a wrong way to go about such self-reflection?

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Malevolent creativity: When evil gets innovative

We like to think of creativity as an inherently good thing. History and science say otherwise.

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  • Many of history's most cherished figures were fiercely creative individuals, but creativity by itself doesn't have a moral direction.
  • "Malevolent creativity" is the production of innovative and novel solutions with the express intent of harming others.
  • How does malevolent creativity arise, and how can we manage it?
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The hypersane are among us, if only we are prepared to look

What makes someone hypersane?

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'Hypersanity' is not a common or accepted term. But neither did I make it up. I first came across the concept while training in psychiatry, in The Politics of Experience and the Bird of Paradise (1967) by R D Laing.

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