Notebook

Welcome to my intellectual lab.

My notebook is where I develop my ideas in public. If my essays are finished paintings, these are my intellectual sketches. They’re a low-stakes place where I share ideas that are longer than a tweet, but too immature for a full-on essay.

My notebook is like a personal Wikipedia. There are two ways to navigate it. You can either surf between the recommendations at the bottom of each note or follow the infinite scroll below.

Bottom-up view of an urban water feature

Latest note

A Divine Intuition

Under a secular mindset, intuition is all about you — your wants, needs, passions, and desires. A heavenly, God-inspired intuition is different.

Ruined temple

Where the Liberal Arts Went Wrong

We’ve lost touch with the ultimate purpose of education: to transform our being and improve our character. The liberal arts are the ends, not the means.  

Broken yellow pencil

I Hate Writing (and So Will You)

When I hate writing, it’s because I love it so much. An experienced writer is somebody who knows when the hatred is temporary.

Man walking alone along a crosswalk

Ambitious People Need Each Other

Ambitious people don’t just need peers. They need mentors. They need people who will encourage them to pursue hard and meaningful projects. 

Surfer paddling at sunset

Surrendering to Your Nature

A mark of maturity is surrendering to the person you actually are instead of the one you wish you were.

A couple talking in chairs at sunset

Learning to Actually Listen

I’ve been listening the wrong way my entire life — with just my ears. True listening is a totalizing, full-body experience.

Shanghai in fog

Sensitivity Isn’t Static

The sensitivity of our senses ebbs and flows based on who we’re with and where we are. If you’re looking to be more perceptive, start by changing your environment.

28 Pieces of Life Advice

In honor of my 28th birthday, here are 28 pieces of life advice.

The TWA Hotel

The core concepts are simple. The implementation is borderline excessive.

What I Got Wrong About Business

Too many people waste years in hollow ‘entrepreneurship’ classes.

Instead, we need to develop the domain expertise that leads to entrepreneurial ideas.

The Counterfactual Theory of Value

The Labor Theory of Value argues that the value of a product or a service is determined by the amount of labor required to produce it. If so, something that takes 100 hours to produce is worth 10x more than something that takes 10 hours.

Thoughts on Montreal

I visited Montreal for the first time.

How Should You Write?

There are two ways to write: The Printer Method and the Pixel Method.