Hi friends,

Greetings from Austin!

The first Girard lecture is finally live, and its popularity has already exceeded my expectations. It turns out that people are interested in esoteric philosophy when it's presented with passion and made relevant to their lives, so I'll be doing more lectures like this in the future.

Here's what I want to share this week:

1. How Philosophers Think: Working on the Girard lectures gave me a window into the meta-principles that make philosophers such rigorous thinkers. I explore my favorites in this essay.
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2. Beware of Chasing Prestige: Over the next few months, I'll be writing about the best things I learned while recording the Girard lectures. First, I wrote about why you should be skeptical of prestige. ​
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3. ​How to Find Great Writing Ideas: While going about my life, I put on a filter to search for "things that don't make sense." The world always makes sense. When it doesn't, it's your model of the world that's wrong. Confusion is always a learning opportunity — and an invitation to write.

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Today's Finds

​Ole Peters: A fascinating talk by a researcher from the Santa Fe Institute. It’s about ergodicity, which is one of the most insightful ideas I’ve heard in the past few years. Peters builds upon Boltzmann’s 1870 probability theory and cutting-edge mathematics to question economic doctrines. His conclusion is surprisingly accessible and impacts how we think about risk, market stability, and economic inequality.

​Martin Luther Rewired Your Brain: Joseph Henrich is the kind of person who I stop everything for when he publishes a new article. That’s why interviewing him was so enjoyable. This piece explores how the printing press rewired our minds, with empirical data coming from the post-Protestant Revolution era.

​Lee Kuan Yew Speech: Lee Kuan Yew served as the Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990, and this is my favorite speech of his. It conveys a seriousness that the American government should learn from. This is my favorite quote: “I ignore polling as a method of government. I think that shows a certain weakness of mind, an inability to chart a course. Whichever way the wind blows. Whichever way the media encourages the people to go, you follow. You’re not a leader.”

​Letters to a Young Poet: A collection of letters from Rainer Maria Rilke, published in 1929. They double as a manual about living as an artist and doing creative work. Two creative virtues stand out: solitude and patience. The book is short enough to read in one sitting, but the writing is so beautiful that you’ll want to stop, put your book down, and reflect on its wisdom. The focus is poetry, but anyone who does creative work will enjoy it.

​Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Approach to Bodybuilding: I grew up in California with Arnold as my governor, but I somehow never appreciated him. First, he became a world bodybuilding champion. Then, he said, “I’m going to become one of the most famous actors in the world.” Then, he became the governor of California. Insane. For a window into his work ethic and all the fun he had, I got a good laugh out of these two pages from one of his biographies.