“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.” ― Charles Bukowski Do you ever think about this? Can you think of an example from your life? Sometimes, it seems we’re surrounded by idiots. And they’re loud. This ‘false arrogance’ is annoying. But what’s more annoying is that we introverts and neurodivergents are often so under-confident that we are never heard. What is even worse…
Much of this episode, and future episodes, are inspired by The Great Simplification and the concept of ‘Energy Blindness’. I am also reading Morgan Housels’ book, ‘The Psychology of Money’, https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Money-Timeless-lessons-happiness/dp/0857197681 I mention these guys, as well as an older KEW episode, in this Episode. Here I argue that nature provides enough. Probably the concept of enough doesn’t exist in nature because it almost always exists. Hoarding and gluttony don’t seem to be common practices…
When asked how much is enough, John D. Rockefeller famously replied, “Just a little more”. We’ve all thought this about some things. Whether it’s losing ‘enough’ weight, making ‘enough’ money, being loved ‘enough’ we all (mistakenly) believe that if we get ‘enough’ of ‘whatever’, we’ll be ‘happy’. And since a lot of us either want many things, or aren’t sure which things we want the most, we tend to maximize ‘enough toward everything’. So we…
If you’re a parent you know that parenting is a thankless job. When I interviewed Pat Schulte, we talked about how the lack of accolades can be a problem for remote workers (BTW, you should go listen to that interview now. Pat is amazing.) And, more generally, it is these accolades and rewards we end up building our entire lives around. Let’s take just one reward: money. Jobs and making money are important, yes. To…
I figured I’d take a little time to check in about where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m going. A little over a year ago KEW was just an idea. I felt compelled to learn how to podcast and embrace the digital age. I was missing teaching and wanted to share my experience with an audience. I knew nothing about podcasting, websites, or YouTube. In fact, though I have been an avid podcast…
If you’re part of the Rat Race, you’re a Rat Racer! And maybe you’re doing really well. Winning, even. But even if you win, like Lily Tomlin said, you’re still a Rat. That’s how I have felt during the 35 years I’ve been working. Even when I got my ‘dream job’ as a professor, I still felt the pressure to win the Rat Race. Even now that I’m trying to do my own thing, and…