Health
A few notes on physical and mental health, and the link between the two. The Three Legged Stool A friend… Read More »Health
A few notes on physical and mental health, and the link between the two. The Three Legged Stool A friend… Read More »Health
One thing that I find strange in our society is that we tend to punish people for changing their minds,… Read More »Mind Changing
I love this old Taoist parable: A farmer in a poor village was considered very well-to-do, because he owned a… Read More »Reframing
Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art; it arises in hypothesis and flows into achievement. Will Durant Art… Read More »Art
I’m more into audiobooks than podcasts. And I’m more into podcasts than Clubhouse. I like edited content, it seems more… Read More »Podcasts
Back yourself According to Urban Dictionary this is an Aussie expression: To have self-belief or confidence in one’s self. Most… Read More »Confidence
I like tea. I drink some kind of tea most days. That’s not to start a debate over the merits… Read More »Tea
Learn to ask of all actions, “Why are they doing that?” Starting with your own Marcus Aurelius Acknowledging ignorance The… Read More »Self Awareness
Sometimes we forget that purposeful inaction counts as an action
There are three principles that serve as the basic axioms of utilitarianism. (An axiom is a statement or principle that… Read More »Utilitarianism
I’m currently completing the Quantic Executive MBA program. About MBAs in general There’s a bit of hating out there of… Read More »Quantic Executive MBA
Joking around I can’t overstate how important humor is. I grew up in a culture where joking around and bantering… Read More »Humor
I don’t seem to find time to watch a lot of movies. When I do, it’s mostly sci-fi. These are… Read More »Movies
I am an aspiring connoisseur of cheese. It’s the Swiss heritage I guess. I love European cheeses, mostly soft, and… Read More »Cheese
This is one of my favorite things to think about. It leaves me with a feeling of wonder and appreciation… Read More »Randomness
I like building things. These are some of the projects and products I’ve had a hand in building. There’s a… Read More »Building
90% of everything I know about morality I’ve read in a Jonathan Haidt book. In summary, “we are all self-righteous… Read More »Morality
Some semi-structured thoughts on parenting. Cultural differences I’ve lived across four different continents, and the values and approaches around pregnancy… Read More »Parenting
Bayes’ rule (sometimes know as Bayes’ theorem) is a law of probability theory which governs how to revise prior probabilistic beliefs – how much… Read More »Bayes’ Rule
I find parts of stoicism very appealing. Although it can be a bit at odds with my hedonistic streak. I… Read More »Stoicism
I love the Tao Te Ching. Amazing to think it was written around 400BC! In fact, for all things there… Read More »Tao Te Ching
I’m a bit of a nihilist at heart. But an optimistic nihilist. (With a hedonistic streak. I think I’m in… Read More »Nihilism
Perception is not reality. I think about this a lot. It is interesting from a rationalism philosophy perspective, a physics… Read More »Perception Versus Reality
Spinoza I am not sure how it happened, but I read Spinoza when i was quite young. Probably early-mid teenage… Read More »Rationalism
What is The Halo Effect? I wrote about The Halo Effect in Issue #11 of Mental Models Weekly. The Reverse… Read More »The Halo Effect
This is a favorite mental model of mine. I wrote about how Learning This Idea Made It Easier for Me… Read More »Fundamental Attribution Error
The topic of luck – or chance, is a fascinating one. There’s ideas like blind luck, but also ideas like you make… Read More »Luck
I wrote about how to get rid of disgusting breath and get fresh breath a while ago.
Doesn’t the word vulnerability get overused now? It’s become so cliche, but that doesn’t mean it’s become unimportant. The risk… Read More »Vulnerability
I used be one of those productivity nerds. Then I realized I was just procrastinating. Productivity Systems GTD did help… Read More »Productivity
I focus a lot on being present. Whether with family or friends or even just when alone. Being present I… Read More »Mindfulness
We are social animals. Relationships matter. Friends, family, colleagues, lovers. In fact, the quality of our relationships determines our health… Read More »Relationships
I want to live for a long time! Of course not just wasting away, but I want to live a… Read More »Longevity
I like how Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee put it: After …watching one bastion of human uniqueness after another fall… Read More »Artificial Intelligence
If I had to be pigeonholed professionally right now, I’d be some kind of technical product leader. I love leading… Read More »Product Management
Intuition is not a mystical thing. Expert intuition strikes us as magical, but it is not. Indeed, each of us… Read More »Intuition
Learning Languages I learnt German and Japanese in school. I speak a fair bit of French because my father is… Read More »Language
I really like the idea of being a runner but it’s never really worked that well for me. For most… Read More »Running
If you think about confirmation bias long enough, you start to notice that most platitudes and proverbs have a contradictory… Read More »Contradictory Platitudes
I love optical illusions as a metaphor to remember that perception is not reality. I once thought about getting the… Read More »Illusions
Everybody is the unconscious exponent of a dead philosopher. Unknown Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from… Read More »Philosophy
My father comes from the French part of Switzerland, the canton of Valais. I grew up mostly in Australia, but… Read More »Switzerland
I flew the Sydney to Geneva route many times as a child. The planes often refuel in Asia, so I… Read More »South East Asia
I finally caved and followed some Aussies to Bali for New Year’s Eve 2014/15. It was amazing, nothing like I… Read More »Bali
I spent a fair bit of time in LA in 2018/19. Mostly Santa Monica and Venice Beach. These were my… Read More »Los Angeles
Satificing is one of my favorite mental models. Every day we make so many small low-impact decisions. Learning about “satisficing”… Read More »Satisficing
I love this concept of sensory food. You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you… Read More »Sensory Food
I love the turn of the year. An arbitrary secular forgiveness of sins for the year past, and a fresh… Read More »New Year’s Resolutions
I think doing some kind of meditation is important, but I think what meditation is tends to be too narrowly… Read More »Meditation
I’m reasonably well traveled throughout Oceania, Asia, Europe and North America. I won’t bore you with platitudes of travel inspo,… Read More »Travel
I was born in Australia. I’ve been all over the country, but Melbourne and Sydney are where I’m most at… Read More »Australia
I spend a fair bit of time in New Zealand. Mostly Auckland. Notes on New Zealand Life Circa 2020/2021 This is… Read More »New Zealand
Being half Australian, half Swiss, Europe is very dear to my heart. France I love France. Having lived in Geneva,… Read More »Europe
I finally went to San Francisco in late 2015. It had been on my list for a while. It’s been… Read More »San Francisco
Think before you speak. Read before you think. Fran Lebowitz I read widely. I am old enough to have grown… Read More »Reading
I like to write things. I don’t find it very easy, but I find it to be valuable. Sitting down… Read More »Writing
If you just want to go straight to the Mental Models weekly newsletter please do. What is a mental model?… Read More »Mental Models
I’ve always worked heavily with data, since my very first professional job. Here’s a few important things I’ve learned along… Read More »Data