How companies trick you into overpaying
Psychological tricks rich people use to look generous (without actually spending more money).
Featured Blog Posts
My best work. Start here if you are new to my writing.
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Friendships form via shared context, not shared activities
You’re one among millions, not one in a million.
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I tried 21 diet and exercise programs. None of them worked. Except for one.
If you started a new fitness program and haven’t seen any results yet, try this instead.
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How I got my dream job in the tech industry without a CS degree
A story about the unconventional strategies I used to land a job I love.
All Blog Posts
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Daydreams decide your destiny
What were you thinking about while washing, walking, waiting, working, or wiping your butt?
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Being loved is a burden
It’s easier to write love letters to nowhere than to wait at an empty mailbox.
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Why early success online is a trap
Not all followers are the same.
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Neuroscience reasons for what AI cannot do (yet)
The AI is only as smart as you pretend to be
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Love requires grieving your expectations
To embrace your beloved, they must descend their pedestal first.
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A type of love we don’t talk about
Waiting for love to hit you vs. pursuing it actively.
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Healthy habits require courage, not sacrifice
Trick your cravings, not yourself.
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We should teach Shakespeare in modern English
Learning is not just about absorbing information, but to inspire a love of learning itself.
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Common ways startups fail to make what people want (and what to do instead)
Why listening to customers is an unnatural skill.
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BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) hurts communication and hinders innovation
Summaries backfire when ideas are controversial.
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Most ideas cannot be explained simply
Some ideas are too complex to be simplified—if you try, the simplified idea will be incorrect.
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All great civilizations work from home
Remote is not the future of work, it is the past.
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ChatGPT turns every user into a power user
LLMs turn every API into a GUI.
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Trust your Tests
Write more automated tests instead of testing manually.
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How companies trick you into overpaying
Psychological tricks rich people use to look generous (without actually spending more money).
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The real purpose of History
It’s about making better decisions for the future.
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How to spend money on your friends without it looking like bribery
Owning things is more socially acceptable than renting them.
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Why do we fantasize about the apocalypse?
What could possibly be so seductive about wanting to live through the apocalypse?
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Using graph theory to prioritize life goals
Most goal-setting advice focuses on how to achieve goals, instead of which goals even matter. Here, I’ll share strategies I use to prioritize what matters most in life.
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Hosting an arts & crafts and game show birthday party
Co-creating a birthday experience with my friends.
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Why dating apps don’t work
Online dating is like online shopping for a partner.
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Friendships form via shared context, not shared activities
You’re one among millions, not one in a million.
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Thoughts on Jealousy
A collection of my reflections on how to manage jealous emotions.
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Build a bigger engine, not a smaller fuel tank
The top line is infinite and permanent. The bottom line is finite and temporary.
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Creating Crew
Creating Crew is a peer feedback, support, and education group to help you do more writing, drawing, singing, and producing of your artistic work.
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I tried 21 diet and exercise programs. None of them worked. Except for one.
If you started a new fitness program and haven’t seen any results yet, try this instead.
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Book Review: Reinforcement Learning by Sutton and Barto
Simpler animals require concrete rewards and punishments to drive behaviour, but you can get a human being to toil away in the fields with only a story about an imagined afterlife.
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Canada is second place
Canada is #2. That’s why it’s awesome.
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Why Blog?
In search of a shared language to communicate.
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3 quick hacks to make video calls less fatiguing
Fight Zoom fatigue with these small 5-minute changes.
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Vulnerability is Not Enough
Open mindedness vs. open heartedness.
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Prisons of the Mind
When I was a teenager, I was falsely accused of a crime I didn’t commit. I prepared for the worst.
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Idea Club
Formerly named “Book Club”, we gather every week to share important ideas, perspectives, and experiences.
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Building my own gym
After my gym closed, I decided to build my own gym. I share some photos and my lessons learned.
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Learning Night
Learning Night is a TED-like speaker series where our coolest friends get together and give talks about topics they are passionate about.
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The Problem with the Case Method
Why the Case Method doesn’t work, and what business schools should teach instead.
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I interviewed 14 expert marketers to learn their secrets. Here’s what I discovered.
A surprising reason why growth hacking doesn’t work, and how to become a top marketer.
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How I got my dream job in the tech industry without a CS degree
A story about the unconventional strategies I used to land a job I love.
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How To Get More Creative
Creative people are not born with a magical talent. Research shows they followed a well-known process to get there.
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Bob and Doug
The true story of how we raised two goats in our backyard, and what I learned from their rise to fame.
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Slaying the Dragon
Do you remember the fairy tales they told you as a kid?
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How I hacked the SAT and raised my score by 1000 points in 3 months
The first time I wrote the SAT, I scored 1370. Three months later, I had a score of 2370, only two wrong answers away from a perfect score of 2400. This is the story of how I did it.
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What chess competitions taught me about startups
6 lessons from playing in chess tournaments for 2 years
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What I learned from learning Spanish in 4 months
I went from zero to fluent. But the biggest life change was not related to the language.