Oldies But Goodies From the Archives

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A handful of oldies but goodies from the archives:

• What Does Society Overcomplicate? Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s complicated.
• Do Only Negative Emotions Count for Depth? Does going through a grieving process contribute more to your emotional depth than going through a period of intense joy? Does sadness stretch you more than happiness? 
• How Friendships Evolve Over Time and the Quest for Platonic Intimacy. Your friendships and philosophy of friendships change as you get older. My theory on how.
• Is original thinking orthogonal to cognitive speed? – Would you rather be a swift but derivative thinker or a slow but original thinker?
• Thanks Mom and Dad – A thank-you to my parents.
• The stability/stimulation tradeoff – The most stimulating jobs are also the least stable
• Can a best friend be a composite? – Can a best friend be pieces of several different people?
• Reflections on 3 months of international travel – A roundup of my international travel from a couple years ago.
• Three Things to Unlearn From School – The importance of opinion, the importance of solving given problems, the importance of earning the approval of others.
• Organizing the Rhetoric Around Why to Go to College – The reasons for college are always scattered. They fit in three main categories: knowledge, connections, and credential.
• Can Companies Accelerate the Adoption Curve? – It’s harder to do this than to execute well.
• What separates a talker and doer? – I outline what doers do that talkers don’t.
• Remembering David Foster Wallace – My personal reflection on DFW’s death.
• 18th birthday responses – Dozens of friends tell me what they regret not doing when they were 18
• Are We More Self-Absorbed These Days? Are people – especially young people – more narcissistic and self-obsessed than before? If so, why?
• To Find Good, Underrated People De-Emphasize Popular Filters. Women seek out short men, men seek out women with small breasts, everyone seek out those who lack charisma.
• Getting to the Point of “I Can Do This!”. Before you can embark on a new project, you need to believe you can do it. In order to believe you can do it, you need have to some self-confidence. In order to have self-confidence, I think you need to do one or both of the following.
• Who’s Benefiting from National Service? My commentary for Marketplace on the dangers of national service programs.
• Six Habits of Highly Effective Mentees. Everyone talks about the importance of mentors. But how do you be a good mentee?
• Does a Guilty Sense of Privilege Inspire Positive Action? Or does action out of action out of guilt contain hidden costs?
• H1-B Visa Issue in America. A brief analysis.
• What Does “Mature” Mean? Taking a pass at defining emotional and intellectual maturity.

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And thanks. Thanks for reading and commenting and emailing and helping me grow these past five years, and growing with me. I appreciate it more than you know. It’s a privilege, as Seth Godin has put it.