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I finished a few papers, books, and videos by Bjorn Lomborg lately, as well as books that refer to or rely on his work, like Superabundance and The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels. I follow up most books and movies I finish and find meaningful by reading and watching reviews, commentaries, criticisms (positive, negative, and other), and more. My criticism of Lomborg’s work stands independent of the accuracy of his[…] Keep reading →

I talk about this effect a lot in person because it keeps amazing me, not that it’s particularly insightful, but I love nature and this effect is part of it. If the temperature drops below 50F (10C) in September, I shiver and can barely stand it. I have to bundle up. Then in December it drops below freezing and 50F feels warm. I’m commenting on it now because we’re in[…] Keep reading →

Two days ago I posted My first time since starting not finding litter in Washington Square Park, because over six inches of snow covered it. Since I committed to picking up at least three pieces per day until three days pass when I can’t find three pieces to pick up, I wondered if the snow would make it possible. I also offered to take any bets that people would litter.[…] Keep reading →

I lead a meditation group that meets in person a couple times a month. We’ve found we can get a laugh if we talk in the group about talking about meditation to others who don’t meditate by saying, “I can’t meditate. My mind is too crazy to empty it of thoughts,” or words to that effect. Why does it make us laugh? Because it’s like a knee-jerk reaction that betrays[…] Keep reading →

I’ve committed to picking up at least three pieces of litter from the northwest corner of Washington Square Park since it became overrun with fentanyl, meth, and all that results from it during the pandemic. I decided I’d keep up the sidcha until three days passed in which I couldn’t trivially find three pieces of litter, as I wrote three years ago in On when I should stop picking up[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: In the Mood for Love, directed by Wong Kar-Wai: It’s hard not to first mention this movie’s style in the qipaos, hair, make-up, ties, and music. Each dress and hairdo must have taken hours to get right each time, looked sewn-in. The word I keep coming back to for the style is: perfect. What a beautiful movie. But the movie covers more than style. Who hasn’t[…] Keep reading →

The choice to avoid depriving others of life, liberty, and property without due process of law, even though our government is not enforcing our Constitution, means choosing to pollute and deplete less, which means being more connected to nature and its rhythms. Winter is colder and darker than the rest of the year. The earth’s tilt makes it straightforward to know the darkest day of the year: the solstice, December[…] Keep reading →

I learned the concept of deadweight loss in economics class in business school. From Wikipedia: In economics, deadweight loss is the loss of societal economic welfare due to production/consumption of a good at a quantity where marginal benefit (to society) does not equal marginal cost (to society). Here is a picture of the outside of a bar like probably hundreds of bars and restaurants in New York City and likely[…] Keep reading →

If you want to reach your potential simplify your life live by your values create mental freedom create more free time save money build a community of people doing similarly You can achieve all of the above more effectively with a sidcha than any other way I know. I created the sidcha concept inadvertently by creating each part, step by step. The first major step came on this day in[…] Keep reading →