What better way to spend your vacation days than reading letters from Seneca to Lucilius. The only challenge is that my brain can absorb just about one letter per day. Perhaps two, if they’re short. Every time I hear somebody say that Seneca’s letters are an “easy and accessible way” to learn about Roman Stoicism, I laugh out loud. Well, apparently not for me.
Read MoreThree reasons why birthdays should always be celebrated
The older we get, the harder it becomes to celebrate birthdays. When we were kids, we definitely didn’t have this problem. But for some reason, as we become middle-aged, we gradually start losing interest in our own birthdays. Even those round numbers can become a drag. I wonder why this happens to so many of us?
Read MoreOn the difficulties of relaxing during vacation
Today I started my summer vacation and while that’s great and something I’ve been very much looking forward to, I was once again reminded of how difficult it is to relax and wind down during the first few days. When I woke up this morning my first thought was: hey, it’s business as usual, let’s start executing the customary Monday routines. Duh!
Read MoreAsimov's Laws of Robotics will resurface when Foundation airs
Foundation will make us think about our relationship with robots and artificial intelligence, not in a Westworld kind of way, but through the Laws of Robotics that author Isaac Asimov introduced in his books.
Read MoreThinking about existential risks is the extreme version of negative visualization
Today I listened to the latest episode (#208) of the Making Sense Podcast, where Sam Harris speaks with Oxford University philosopher Toby Ord about existential risks and preserving the long term future of humanity. All I can say is: phew, that episode was a tough two hour exercise in negative visualization. But a useful one, which I will recommend to anyone.
Read MoreFoundation could become the GoT moment of Apple TV+
Yesterday, when I sat down for Apple’s WWDC 2020 keynote, I did not expect to get any announcements about new original content for Apple TV+. After all, WWDC is about software announcements and mainly directed towards the developer community.
But there, in the middle of a boring segment on Apple TV and tvOS, Apple dropped the bomb. They’re going to do something nobody has managed to do properly in 50 years. They’re going to do Foundation, by Isaac Asimov, on Apple TV+.
Read MoreMy five minute journal template
When I tell someone of my five minute journaling, occasionally I’m asked how I do it and if there’s some specific form to it. I am in fact using a template, which I keep in Evernote, and each day in the journal is saved as a new note. My template is based on The Five Minute Journal by Intelligent Change and it consists of a 3 minute morning section and a 2 minute evening section. This is how the template looks like and I sincerely hope it could be of some value for you too.
Read MoreThoughts of gratitude on Midsummer’s Eve
I’m celebrating Midsummer once again in Hanko, on the southernmost tip of Finland, at Villa Maija. As Midsummer’s Eve is approaching its end, I thought it would be appropriate to express some thoughts of gratitude.
Read MoreTeaching our kids how to lead and how to solve interesting problems
I think the key questions are the following: Do we have a clear understanding of what kind of skills (i.e. metaskills) we should teach our kids, so that they can thrive and succeed in a future where automation and robotization are ubiquitous? And are we doing the necessary changes to our schooling systems in order to get us in the right direction?
I fear that the answer to both questions is no.
Read MoreThe power of eyewitness videos
The human brain is wired so that watching something horrific unfold in front of your eyes is much more shocking than hearing or reading about it. I was vividly reminded of this when I saw the eyewitness video of George Floyd’s death. This is the same video that quickly spread across the internet and sparked massive protests not just in the US but also in Europe.
Read More