We tend to think we live in the most free, healthiest, longest-living, most egalitarian, most stable culture humans have ever had. In some cases, yes, but in others, it turns out otherwise. It seems we project onto other times and cultures what will make us feel better about our own. I like feeling good about myself, but an inaccurate view keeps me from improving my situation. I want to understand[…] Keep reading →

I’ve noticed a trend in addiction. I wonder if anyone out there is an expert or knows. I tried looking up the pattern, but didn’t find anything. Have you heard of the pattern? The pattern Every addiction involves a pleasure. Gambling makes some people feel like a winner. Alcohol makes some people feel social. Social media makes you feel connected. Sugar tastes sweet. Heroin makes you feel euphoria. Each pleasure[…] Keep reading →

Living sustainably is easy. All humans did for most of human history. Animals do it. Living differently than everyone else can be hard, even when you live how they want. People push hard against people who remind them they aren’t living by their values. Alison, the host of This Sustainable Life: Untethered, wrote to ask me how I handled the challenge around the time she wrote a post, The Diary[…] Keep reading →

Life poses two questions people have probably asked for thousands of years that I’ve seen zero progress in answering from any source: Why does reality exist? What is consciousness? Or, alternatively, why is there a sense of “me” or “I” that seems to exist outside reality? Regarding the first question, I can’t imagine any way of finding an answer using the tools within reality. It’s weird to ask or even[…] Keep reading →

Things I’ve learned from experience: Apples taste sweeter than Ben and Jerry’s, though not at first. Broccoli tastes better than Doritos, though not at first. Exercise feels better than heroin, though not at first. Not flying connects you with family more than flying, though not at first. Eating only local foods in season gives you more variety and connects you to more cuisines than foods flown in from anywhere, though[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been avoiding things I devalue lately. After writing about the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Buy Nothing Day, I decided to strive to buy nothing but food that month and succeeded, if you don’t disallow that I bought two things that I later returned. I’ll write more about it when I eventually do buy something, as I’m still going. Next, I decided to avoid social media and news[…] Keep reading →

I just finished my second set today of twice-daily burpee-based calisthenics. Normally, I do my second set in the evening, but since I started the habit on December 22, 2011 and today is December 21, 2021, today completes my first decade. I already finished my first decade of publishing blog posts, nearing 5,000. Here are all of them. 20 percent of the time has been on a single load of[…] Keep reading →