The blank slate theory

The blank slate theory (Latin: Tabula Rasa) “is the idea that we come into the world without any built-in knowledge, and that everything we know comes later through experience.” When I think …

I, you, and we

I have been noticing for a long time now that using “I” or “you” while writing about ideas makes a big difference. If I use “you” when writing, it sounds like I am positioning the reader in the situation I am …

Interesting is a non-word

In this scene from Matt Ross’s movie Captain Fantastic, Viggo Mortensen’s character tells his daughter that interesting is a non word, and that she was supposed to avoid it and be more specific. This idea stuck …

The interdependence of all things

In his book The Web of Meaning, Jeremy Lent talks about the interdependence of things and quotes Buddhist teacher and activist Thich Nhat Hanh. I looked up Nhat Hanh and was mesmerized with this passage from his …

Writing as image making

While browsing Meg Miller's Are.na page, I was immediately drawn in by the title of her top channel: Shimmer Around the Edges: Writing as Image-making From the channel introduction, it seems Miller also noticed …

Recollection, with all the feelings that accompanied it

While reading The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler, I began to wonder about the difference between knowledge that feels like mine and knowledge that simply exists out there. Nayler wrote the following when a …

One can't write directly about the soul

I’m listening to Maria Popova of Brain Pickings in conversation with Krista Tippett on the On Being podcast. Popova shares that, according to Virginia Woolf’s diary, one cannot observe the soul directly—because …

The more he saw the more he saw there was to see

At the end of the 40th anniversary edition of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the correspondence between Pirsig and his editor is included. In it, Pirsig tells the editor that the book is finished. That …

This is how thinking is done

I am playing Disco Elysium, where certain topics that arise in the story become available as “thoughts” in what the game calls the Thought Cabinet. The main character can hold several thoughts at once. To …

Questions open up space for answers

The episode from Hurry Slowly, titled Nothing Important Comes With Instructions, starts with a quote from Clay Christensen: Questions are what opens up space in your mind for answers. If you don’t ask the question …

Anchoring information to knowledge

Back in 2004, I designed an app called Musicmap. It helped with finding new albums based on the ones you already liked. As you explored the network of albums, they would neatly arrange themselves on the screen …

To study the way we read is to study the way the mind works

I am reading the introduction of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders and he writes: To study the way we read is to study the way the mind works: the way it evaluates a statement for truth, the way it …

A handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness

I read Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, and it was when Pirsig explained Phaedrus' perspective on the world that I saw my own situation reflected in the book. I read this book at a …

More than human world

I read this term in Ways of Being by James Bridle. It was coined by American ecologist and philosopher David Abram, and refers to a way of thinking that seeks to override our human tendency to separate ourselves …

Can birds think about flying while they’re flying?

I was reading The Sand Wolf by Åsa Lind to the kids tonight, and we reached a section called “Thinking Exercise”. In it, Zackarina asks the Sandwolf whether birds can think about flying while they’re flying. The …

Sauron and von Neumann

I am reading The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut. In his description of von Neumann (Johnny), in the chapter narrated by Oskar Morgenstern, Morgenstern reminisces about how they got to work on game theory, how it was …

Leibniz’s monad concept

I am reading Didik Didik Freud by Serol Teber and Şenol Ayla and they referred to Tevfik Fikret’s lifestyle as “monadlaşmış” (monadic), describing the concept of monad as: Monad, ünlü filozof Leibniz’in bulduğu …

Life and art are entangled

I am listening to Alva Noë talk about his book The Entanglement: How Art and Philosophy Make Us What We Are on UC Berkeley’s YouTube channel. He started his talk setting by the background by describing the …

The carrier bag theory in Prey

I watched Prey by Dan Trachtenberg the other night. I am not particularly keen on Predator sequels, but this one seemed promising: raw untouched nature, a Native American setting, and strong reviews. Right before …

Shimmering images in Didion’s mind

I’m reading Joan Didion’s essay “Why I Write” in her book Let Me Tell You What I Mean. She describes how certain images get stuck in her head and how she weaves stories around them. She describes these as images …