Covid-19: alternate origin stories
Pre-Wuhan Covid-19 in Italy, bioweapons research in Russia and China, and curious coincidences. There’s a lot of credible information that casts doubt on the official story of Covid-19’s origins. Starting with a big... READ MORE
Penisocratic method #2
Exciting year ahead for human space exploration For reasons beyond my understanding, there are people who aren’t closely watching how we’re progressing to the stars. Of course, it’s only the most important thing... READ MORE
Penisocratic Method #1
Today, let me introduce you to a new post format. Here’s the thing: the click-through “tile” design of the website encourages long-form writing. This was a deliberate decision to keep the quality of... READ MORE
Why Scotland is Pakistan
I have a huge discovery to share with you: Scotland is Pakistan. Consider: A mountaineous hinterland full of angry bearded men wearing women’s clothing, who seem to be suspiciously close to their livestock.... READ MORE
The Asian powderkeg
Right now, Asia is a powderkeg with several simultaneously lit fuses. There are at least four conflicts in Asia from which neither side can afford to back down, as the stakes are too... READ MORE
The vibranium shield of willful ignorance
Nobody is more imaginative than a person who doesn’t want to concede an obvious point. As the internet brought 24/7 global debates, it also brought rapid innovation in the field of being a... READ MORE
La dolce vita
How sweet something tastes is clearly a matter of acclimation. When you cut sugar from your diet, your sense of sweetness gets “downregulated” in a few weeks. Afterwards, sweet things often taste too... READ MORE
Technology and magic
People are wrong in many curious ways. A new one I noticed is assuming that a goal is silly, because people in the past tried to achieve it in silly ways. The thinking,... READ MORE
Latest Posts
Have you tried going for a walk?
There’s a sort of exoticism that people expect from effective advice – it must be terribly complicated and surprising and insightful. I am increasingly convinced, however, that for most people, the biggest opportunities are in basic stuff they’re neglecting. The … Continued
Minimum effort weight loss (or “sexiness gain”)
Your weight is probably generally stable, which means you’re within a few calories per day of getting thinner. That means relatively small and easy changes in your lifestyle can achieve great results. Let’s identify those changes for you. Most people … Continued
Self authoring program
Thinking about your life is valuable, and makes it more valuable. There have been roughly three traditional methods, all compatible: Therapy. Sitting in front of the fire in your study on the moors, with your trusty hound resting on your … Continued
Of course you have time to exercise
People will spend hours arguing with complete strangers on the internet why they don’t have twenty minutes for a workout. I imagine there are people – about five – who really can’t squeeze a few hours of exercise into their … Continued
A psychological theory of hipster fashion
Maybe the fundamental reason your barista wears a waistcoat is a creeping collective sense that civilisation got derailed in the early 20th century, and we need to restore it to the last known good setting. Isn’t it remarkable that of … Continued
How western establishments lost moral nerve and turned undemocratic
Imagine a western mandarin at a G20 summit. He drives a Volkswagen, has a grey suit, mediocre salary, a plain wife and only one mistress. Then he meets his Saudi counterpart. Who arrives in a Maserati, with a team of … Continued
Screw instant gratification, stay hungry and get the real thing
We live at a time of fakes. Anything you want, there’s an easy way to get something a bit like it, but not quite. Those distract from the real stuff. Here are some examples: Wants to feel a sense of … Continued
What do you really want?
What do you want? Don’t worry, it’s a trick question. I mean really, really want? Aside from ziga zig ha. When you ask yourself this, the answer will be layered. What’s virtually certain is that the first answers that come … Continued
Hunting dragons
There are two basic ways you can face your demons. One is: “I sure hope I don’t run into any resistance as I’m trying to get the important thing done.” The other, much better way is, you hunt the bastards … Continued
Find the strength to follow self-help advice – moving against your inner monkey
Guest post from www.positive-psychology-blog.com. (Wisdomination’s note: you’ll notice some “doctrinal differences” between this guest post and my correct way of seeing things. Indulge the heretic, and check out his blog.) The internet is full of useful advice. Want to lose weight? … Continued
Humans in space and the founder effect
Humanity will probably not remain a single species in the future. There’s a thing called the founder effect, which “…occurs when a small group of migrants that is not genetically representative of the ancestral population settles in a new area”. You … Continued
Fragments from Sumerian wisdom texts
It’s simultaneously amazing, humbling and endlessly entertaining to read humanity’s oldest known writings. You feel a deep kinship with all of civilization, and people thousands of years ago, and get the sense that if you could travel in time and cross … Continued
Nail the basics – and nothing else is necessary. Fail the basics – and nothing else will help.
I have good news for you, and bad news for lazy people. By and large, there are no secrets, shortcuts or silver bullets. The stuff that actually works is simple and you probably already know it. This is true in … Continued
Look whom you judge, and you’ll see how to improve yourself
One of the best windows into a person’s heart and head – including your own – is looking at whom they judge disproportionately, because it shows where they are secretly feeling deficient. It shows where people are stuck, where they have … Continued
Self-improvement secret: fix flaws first
There is an overwhelming temptation in any programme of self-improvement to focus on things you’re already amazing at, instead of facing your flaws. But your weak points are precisely where the most value is waiting to be captured. It is … Continued
Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface startup – let’s do even better.
Fellow time-travelling artificial intelligence uploaded into a passable, but not entirely convincing human body Elon Musk has unveiled a new company – Neuralink. Ever the man to go after whatever promises the greatest possible benefit to mankind, he will be developing brain-computer … Continued
Just what the internet needs – another armchair geostrategist. The Syria strike.
You should probably not take your serious geopolitical analysis from a drunken essayist . That being said, for entertainment purposes, here’s my take. On Tuesday, someone in Syria dropped nerve gas on a busy street full of civilians. It is not … Continued
Spartan wealth
One of the surprising benefits of making respectable money is you stop lusting for a lot of the frivolous junk you thought would make you happy when you were not yet wealthy. Unless you live in a kleptocracy where conspicuous … Continued
To save your country, discipline school cheaters
If you agree that things have causes, and that really big things don’t just appear out of nowhere, you might find the following line of thought worth a thought. Do you ever feel like your country is basically a bunch of … Continued
What is wisdom?
Let’s talk about wisdom, what it is and how it relates to intelligence. It’s in the title of the website, people use the word all the time, and yet, there seems to be no good definition. Let’s fix that. It’s one of these … Continued