This piece was coauthored with Travis Manuel. This is a cross-post from the Clearer Thinking blog.
According to YouGov polling, 41% of people in the United States think that it is the greatest country in the world. Others see the U.S. as a place full of arrogance, violence, and inequality. So, what's the truth?
The truth is that there isn't a single notion of what makes something the "best." To explore how great (or not) America is, we'll start by looking at the question from mu...
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values
Think smarter about what’s “good”
Cross-posted on the Clearer Thinking blog. Travis Manuel helped to edit and improve this post.
People like to think of things as "good" or "bad," such as:
Trans fats are bad for you, and broccoli is good for you.
Lethargy is bad, but exercise is good.
Being cowardly is bad, and having courage is good.
A problem with putting something in the "good" bucket of your mind, though, is that this can lead to the belief that the more of it there is, the better.
But most go...
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Six fresh takes on wisdom to help you become wiser
Becoming wiser seems like one of the most important things we can aim for.
Yet, there's something extremely odd about wisdom: nobody agrees on what it means.
Here are six thought-provoking definitions of wisdom that l find it useful to reflect on:
1) Wisdom as self-consistency:
Wisdom is an equilibrium where you find alignment between all combinations of your:
• values
• beliefs
• actions
Inspiration: Justin Shovelain and Elliot McKernon
2) Wisdom as cau...
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Doing what you value as a life philosophy – an introduction to Valuism – part 1 in the Valuism sequence
By Spencer Greenberg and Amber Dawn Ace
Image created using the A.I. DALL•E 2
This is the first of five posts in my sequence of essays about my life philosophy, Valuism - here are the second, third, fourth, and fifth parts.
Many of us struggle at times to know what to do. We are surrounded by conflicting advice about how to live our lives - from our parents, peers, and communities, from ancient philosophers, and from modern gurus and intellectuals. Faced with these confl...
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Tensions between moral anti-realism and effective altruism
I believe I've identified a philosophical confusion associated with people who state that they are both moral anti-realists and Effective Altruists (EAs). I'd be really interested in getting your thoughts on it. Fortunately, I think this flaw can be improved upon (I'm working on an essay about how I think that can be done), but I'd like to be sure that the flaw is really there first (hence why I'm asking you for your feedback now)!
People that this essay is not&...
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Is every action secretly selfish?
I often hear people claim that everything we do is "selfish" or ultimately aimed at our own pleasure (and avoidance of pain). The way the argument usually goes is that we wouldn't do something unless we "wanted" to do it - and that even for altruistic actions, we do them because they feel good. This view is sometimes called "psychological egoism:" the claim that every human action is motivated by self-interest. I think this claim is either seriously mistaken (if interpreted one way) or true but...
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What Are All the Things That Humans Need?
Below is my attempt to list all human needs ranked according to their typical importance (from most important to least). Thanks for the idea, Maslow!
I'm defining a "need" here as something non-replaceable (i.e., you can't just substitute it for something else), which, if substantially unsatisfied, would inhibit well-being for the vast majority of people.
You might say that you "need an iced tea" on a hot day, but it could be easily replaceable with lemonade or iced coffee, s...
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What’s helpful and what’s unhelpful about postmodernism, critical theory, and their current intellectual offshoots?
More often than not, I find that postmodernist thought obscures rather than illuminates. But I also see useful elements in it. Here's my very un-postmodern attempt to "steel man" (i.e., find the value in) ideas related to postmodernism:
1. Narratives Serve Power - powerful groups do tend to have a substantial influence on narratives, beliefs, and what's "normal." Something "obvious" or "objective" or "a fact" may just (invisibly) be a part of the narrative you're immersed in and sub...
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The formula for productivity – and what you can do with it
Written: January 23, 2019 | Released: September 16, 2021
There is a simple formula for thinking about how to be more productive that most people aren't familiar with. It breaks down productivity into the product of three factors, namely:
PRODUCTIVITY = TIME x EFFICIENCY x OBJECTIVE
More explicitly:PRODUCTIVITY(i.e., the total value - according to your own values - of your work each week on a goal of yours)= TIME(i.e., the total hours you work on the goal each week)x EFFICIENCY(i.e., th...
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Understanding the Scope of Human Morality
Written: April 18, 2018 | Released: June 27, 2021
What is the scope of morality?
If we look across cultures (including micro-cultures that exist within other cultures), there is a vast number of things that people view as immoral. However, if you eliminate those that are only viewed as immoral because they are believed to lead to other things viewed as bad, the list becomes a lot smaller.
So, what are those things that at least some human cultures view as inherently immoral, that is, a...
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