David Epstein

The Most Interesting Email I Ever Received …from a sender whose memory I treasure

This week's post, an emotional one to write

davidepstein.substack.com/p/the-most-i...

Be Alice, Not Caesar Compare yourself to yourself yesterday, not to other people who aren't you.

Don't be in a rush to know what you're going to be when you grow up; focus on the growing up. @davidepstein.bsky.social

Be Alice, not Caesar — who cried about being behind the pace of Alexander the Great before taking over the Roman Republic, turning it into a dictatorship, and getting murdered by his own friends.

davidepstein.substack.com

A Dubious Science History Lesson The exclusion of "outsiders" isn't a strategy for scientific success

At a banquet,Bernhard Rust,Nazi Minister for Science,asked Hilbert if the math dept. had really suffered any ill effects from the departure of Jews and their sympathetic colleagues. “No, it hasn’t suffered,”Hilbert replied.“It simply doesn’t exist anymore.”

davidepstein.substack.com/p/a-dubious-...

Fact-Checking and the Illusion of Explanatory Depth I don't know how I know, I just know... or do I?

"What Emily is doing is helping me avoid what psychologists know as 'the illusion of explanatory depth' — a cognitive bias that describes our tendency to believe we understand something better than we really do because we gloss over the details."

davidepstein.substack.com/p/fact-check...

How (And Why) To Build More: Derek Thompson on "Abundance" The coauthor of a new book on creating a progressive culture of growth

My Q&A with Derek Thompson, co-author of Abundance

davidepstein.substack.com/p/how-and-wh...

Why Hobbies Are An Advantage, Not a Distraction Stepping away: an overlooked advantage of high performers

Overcoming an elite athlete’s ability to excessively focus on training to the exclusion of everything else. Stepping away: an overlooked advantage of high performers [. @davidepstein.bsky.social ] davidepstein.substack.com/p/why-hobbie...

Paul, wishing you a speed recovery!

Oh man, I haven't logged in here in a while and I return to this honor! That is so cool, Drew. I really am honored, and impressed.

Why You Should Get Lost More Often The benefits of exploration for joy, health, and work — a Q&A with Alex Hutchinson.

Happy Book Day to Alex Hutchinson. Launch day for the Explorer's Gene. Get a taste of it in this fun Q&A with @davidepstein.bsky.social davidepstein.substack.com/p/why-you-sh...

How to Make Resolutions That Might Actually Stick Give specificity and reflection a try

How to make resolutions that might actually stick.

The wonderful @davidepstein.bsky.social asked for my advice, but as usual I suspect I learned more from him than the other way around: davidepstein.substack.com/p/how-to-mak...

Why You Need a News Vacation We're not made for 24/7 feeds of catastrophe

"From now on, I plan to take a news vacation every year." This post by @davidepstein.bsky.social spoke to me, especially right now, when I am burned out by current events: davidepstein.substack.com/p/why-you-ne...

Why You Need a News Vacation We're not made for 24/7 feeds of catastrophe

"For two months I did not read anything else, neither newspapers nor magazines, and I felt so good..." -Leo Tolstoy, in this week's post

davidepstein.substack.com/p/why-you-ne...

David Epstein's Range

#read #nonfiction #books

This is a great book, one of my favourites, and a handy reassurance to those of us who still don't know what to become in life. Read broadly, my friends! Thank You David. @davidepstein.bsky.social

So gratifying to hear! So glad you found it thought-provoking, and I love to see a well-worn copy;)

Why Genetic Medicine Never Arrived DNA: more complicated than we thought

"Pretty quickly it became obvious that a project like what 23andMe tried would not be revolutionary, and might be completely useless."

davidepstein.substack.com/p/why-geneti...