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Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Pink, and Other Mavens on How and Why We Define Ourselves Through Stuff

“The modern version of introspection is the sum total of all those highly individualized choices that we make about the material content of our lives.” The art of the interview may be nearly…
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2013
LENGTH: 18 minutes (4646 words)
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The Forms of Things Unknown: A 1963 Essay on the Role of the Creative Arts in Society

“Art must lead beyond the arts, to an awareness and a share of mutuality.” In 1963, English anarchist, poet, and culture critic Herbert Read penned The Forms of Things Unknown: An Essay on the Impact…
PUBLISHED: Aug. 29, 2012
LENGTH: 5 minutes (1461 words)

Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists

On love, liberty, and the pursuit of silence. “Good music can act as a guide to good living,” John Cage (1912-1992) once said. But what, exactly, is good music, or good living, or, for that matter,…
PUBLISHED: July 5, 2012
LENGTH: 16 minutes (4235 words)

The Role of Intuition and Imagination in Scientific Discovery and Creativity: A 1957 Guide

“Those who do not know the torment of the unknown cannot have the joy of discovery.” Last week, we took in some timeless vintage wisdom on the role of serendipity and chance-opportunism in creativity…
PUBLISHED: June 1, 2012
LENGTH: 8 minutes (2129 words)

The Art of Scientific Investigation (1957), Part I: The Role of Chance-Opportunism and Openness in Creativity and Discovery

“To be perfectly original one should think much and read little, and this is impossible, for one must have read before one has learnt to think.” What a magical Rube Goldberg machine of discovery…
PUBLISHED: May 25, 2012
LENGTH: 6 minutes (1742 words)

What Science and Philosophy Can Teach Us About the Holy Grail of Existence

“When fishing for happiness, catch and release.” The secret of happiness is arguably humanity’s longest-standing fixation, and its mechanisms are among the most consuming…
PUBLISHED: March 26, 2012
LENGTH: 6 minutes (1619 words)
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All the Time in the World

17 FEBRUARY, 2012 by Rachel Sussman What a charred ancient tree can teach us about impermanence, deep time, and our place in the universe. The tree had been on fire for over a week before anyone…
PUBLISHED: Feb. 17, 2012
LENGTH: 5 minutes (1294 words)

What Does It Mean To Be Human? A Historical Perspective 1800-2011

09 DECEMBER, 2011 by Maria Popova What Aristotle has to do with the women’s suffrage movement, Darwin, and M. C. Escher. Last year, we explored what it means to be human from the perspectives…
PUBLISHED: Dec. 9, 2011
LENGTH: 5 minutes (1485 words)

A Steve Jobs Personal Remembrance

07 OCTOBER, 2011 by Maria Popova From Jules Verne to the Iron Curtain, or why bondi blue is the defining color of my curiosity. I grew up in Bulgaria in the 1980s. Befor
PUBLISHED: Oct. 7, 2011
LENGTH: 4 minutes (1157 words)
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