Uninterrupted Work

Why exactly do various tasks suffer so much if you're interrupted?

We Picked Right with Einstein

Our intellectual role model should be the most moral person we can find that’s at least passable as a “smart person”. What we got is a moral sage that’s passable as the most influential mind of all time.

Psychological Debt

In coding there's an idea called "technical debt." The same exists for psychology -- spend now, pay later....

Rags-to-Riches of the Century: Francis Ngannou

He nearly bled to death in the desert and crossed the Mediterranean on a pool toy. It'd be movie-worthy if he became an accountant in Cleveland, but instead, he became World Champion.

Happiness Is Two Scales

The common way to talk about happiness is as a single scale: unhappy at one end, neutral in the middle, happy at the other end. I think that model is wrong.

The Best Prediction Ever: Darwin and the Founder Effect

How did Charles Darwin make the best prediction ever? Why are there more accents in the UK than in the US? Why are there yellow watermelons in Africa? Weirdly these all have the same answer.

Common Pretense

Nobody is fooled, and nobody is fooled about anyone else's fooled-ness.

Negative Opportunity Cost

Economists rate opportunity cost as the most important economic concept for the public to understand. Turns out it comes in two flavors.

Personal Export Subsidies

Can the secret to South Korea's economic development also help your teenager?

When Bits Split Atoms

Artificial Intelligence and that time the US Secretary of Defense thought we were all going to die.