Hi friends,

Greetings from Austin!

I'm hiring a Chief of Staff.
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Here's a snapshot of the role: You'll work with me to run Write of Passage. It's an incredibly intense role, but if you want start your own company eventually, this is the best training you can get. If you want to apply or know anybody who does, here's the link.

Here's what I want to share this week:

1. How Philosophers Think: We study great writers not just to absorb their ideas but to understand how they think too. In the past few years, I've been lucky to spend a bunch of time with trained philosophers and in this essay, I explore how they think. You'll leave with principles like the Spotlight Effect and Chauffeur Knowledge that you can apply to your own life. You can read the essay here.​
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2. Good Faith Effort Podcast: Rabbi Ari Lamm came to interview me about information superabundance, but the conversation moved to religion when he realized it was one of my fascinations. We spoke about coping with information overload, orality vs. literacy, informational monotheism vs. informational paganism, why Westerners should read the Bible, and the Cain and Abel story. (Listen here: Apple | Audible | Spotify)
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3. Jim O'Shaughnessy Podcast: Jim is unabashedly curious and supportive, and hands down one of the best people I know. He interviewed me about applying the lessons of Disneyland to a writing course and my mission to build an Internet-native education system. (Listen here: Apple | Spotify | YouTube)
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4. Liftoff Director of Product: We're looking for a de facto "Product CEO" to run our new online writing program for high schoolers. It will be nothing like what you'd find in a traditional classroom. We want kids to love it and meet their best friends — and we'll filter for ambitious, obsessive kids who want to be pushed. If you love writing and want to overhaul the education system, this is the job for you.

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Taste

I've been trying to dress better. Clothes are a fun way to express yourself, but unfortunately my closet is bland as plain oatmeal.

Determined to fix my lack of swag, I popped into Nordstorm and picked up a new T-Shirt. Psyched with my new purchase, I texted one of my closest friends Jeremy, who said: "Bro, I love you but that outfit is not good. It just looks really, really bad."

Boom, roasted.
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Immediately, I freaked out and spiralled into a (brief) existential crisis.
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Then, I realized something about taste: Judging by my gut reaction to Jeremy's text, I clearly believe good taste exists. It's not purely subjective. There's good taste and bad taste, and in the world of fashion, I might have terrible taste.

So now, I have two questions:

1. What is taste?
2. How do you cultivate it?

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What is Taste?

Taste refers to aspects of the world we can feel, but are beyond our ability to describe. Though we know good taste when we see it, rational logic isn't usually enough to appreciate it.

Different cultures have different ways of describing taste. As I wrote in The Microwave Economy: "Chinese architecture follows the philosophy of Feng Shui, which describes the invisible — but very real — forces that bind the earth, the universe, and humanity together. Taoist philosophy understands “the thing that cannot be grasped” as a concept that can only be internalized through lived experience. The French novelist Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said: 'It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.'”

All of us have felt the joys of good taste. Remember how superior iPhones were to Androids in the early days of smartphones? Even today, something about an Apple computer feels sexier and slicker than its PC counterparts.

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How Do You Cultivate Taste?

One of the best habits I ever cultivated was attending art museums while living in New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was my favorite. Since I'd usually go on Thursdays, I had to stop working during the week.

Hearing that, a perplexed friend asked me: "What do you get from visiting all these museums?"

"A sense of taste, I said."

The best way to cultivate taste is to surround yourself with tasteful objects. That's why great artists, in any domain, are such conscious consumers. The best designer I know has a home filled with coffee table books that range from Monet's paintings to Le Corbusier's architecture. The same is true for writing. When I asked my first boss how to become a better writer, he said: "Read a bunch of quality writing."

A Liberal Arts education is based on the idea that you can train people to have good taste by exposing them to our finest creations. Exploring the art that's endured and moved people helps us do the same.

As you rise in a creative career, you're increasingly paid for your taste. Speaking about his process, Tom Ford, the former Creative Director of Gucci and Saint Laurent once said: “I sketch what comes down the runway, but I don’t sketch every one of the 5000 products. But I say ‘yes, no, yes, no, I hate it, I love it’…all those decisions, my saying ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for the last seven years is what has made Gucci – Gucci.”

Though some aspects of taste are genetically granted (like perfect pitch for musicians), all of us can cultivate taste in a domain by consuming the high-quality stuff. Exceptional work refines your taste and makes you a better creator.

Once you develop taste, you can instantly assess it. I've seen so much long-form writing that I can survey somebody's written voice in less than 10 seconds. The only people who don't believe in taste are those who don't make things. When you make things (whether writing, clothes, carpentry, or podcasts) you realize there are better and worse ways to do it.
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Photo of the Week

Tyler Cowen once said people in Paris have perfected the art of taste.

Parisians have exquisite taste along multiple dimensions: painting, gardens, baking, advertising, luxury fashion, and high-end cuisine. Travelling there is enjoyable, in part, because you can feel your taste evolving as you walk the streets.

No matter what you want to achieve, start your pursuit of excellence asking yourself: “Who has the best taste, and how can I better learn from them?"