Everything Happens for a Reason
Those who say that everything happens for a reason should really say that everything can be turned to their advantage.
Big Ideas, Small Minds
Some ideas are so big that they break a hole through nearly every mind they enter.
Presidential Candidates
Ralph Nader’s candidacy should be a reminder to us all that, though we seldom use the word vanity today in its original sense, the reality behind the word is still very much with us.
Ethical Conundra
From Marginal Revolution: A simple ethical conundrum A few days ago I was in a London taxicab when I noticed a possibly expensive purse in the seat next to me. I climbed out of the cab and without much thought (shame on me) gave it to the driver. I explained someone had left it there. [...]
Sexuality and Love
Treated with restraint, sexuality can create love where there is none, but in excess it will destroy love wherever it is.
A Moral Life
A moral life begins with the understanding that the lives of all are the product of the actions of each.
Born on a Blue Day and the Handshake Problem
I just finished reading the marvelous book, “Born on a Blue Day.” While I could easily write a very extended piece on the many ideas it suggests to me, I thought I would rather quote this passage, which is perhaps the most beautiful description I have ever read of the reasoning process that would usually [...]
Photos of Ourselves
We invariably take more pleasure in taking photos of ourselves than others have in looking at them.
Buridan’s Ass Survives, Somewhat Lighter
Ah, the joys of reading… Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, was recently quoted as saying, in reference to market events, that “Our economic models have never been particularly successful in capturing a process driven in large part by nonrational behavior.” For example, faced with a decision between two equally valued objects, subjects [...]
The Aphorist
The central assumption of the aphorist is that the concerns of literature are few and abstract, rather than many and specific. In this way, he differs fundamentally from the journalist, who must present many details, but few general observations. Equally importantly, the aphorist believes in concision and exactitude; he believes that, by returning to the [...]