Instinct vs. Optimal Behavior – A Struggle for the Best Life Possible

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, October 9 2024

Every organism is biologically wired to behave in ways that have a good probability of survival. Whether by design (i.e., a higher power) or simple, random chance (i.e., “the ones that were not wired that way are dead”), organisms have certain instinctual behaviors that they perform to survive, grow, and reproduce. From beavers building dams to...

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Your Very Complex Relationship with the Truth

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, October 2 2024

Truth is a strange thing. How do you know something is true? Clearly, most people would say that they can prove it. But then they also believe in things like God that they can’t prove, so it can’t be just that. Truth, interestingly enough, is gaining two entirely separate definitions: the truth (i.e., what is objectively correct) and your truth...

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The Evolution of Beliefs: From Superstitions to Luxury Beliefs

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 25 2024

Beliefs are an interesting double-edged sword: they can be beneficial or harmful, depending on the relationship between your beliefs, reality, and your desired outcome. The interesting part about beliefs is that they are complex parts of our psyche and have monumental impacts on our lives. While there is a lot to be said about the topic of...

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Drama

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 18 2024

Drama is an interesting (pun intended) concept: the idea of eventful experiences in life that are worth talking about. “Bob went to the store and bought a gallon of milk,” is not interesting. It’s a statement of fact to convey information. Now, one way to spice it up is through plot: “Bob went to the store and bought a gallon of milk only to find...

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Growth Does Not Equal Effort

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 11 2024

Just a quick reminder that growth does not equal effort (or, at least, the feeling of strenuous effort). As The Secret famously said, grass doesn’t strain to grow. Most humans spend their lives eating, drinking, sleeping, and eliminating waste—not much effort at all, and they grow a lot. Even if you exercise heavily, the muscle growth occurs...

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Be True to Yourself, Lie to Yourself…Be Honest to Others, Lie to Others?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, September 4 2024

There’s an interesting conflict in recommendations from others around honesty: people will tell you to be honest or deceptive depending on what leads to the best outcome. Now, for those of you who have read The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life’s purpose or previous blog posts on the honesty ethic, that will not be a surprise since...

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The Two Hurdles of Motivation: Procrastination and Diminishment

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 28 2024

It can seem difficult to begin a journey and see it through. After all, you have to find something you want to do, figure out how to do it, be willing to put in the necessary effort to pursue it, take action, face adversity, be resilient, and continue to work until you succeed. That is all true, but there are really simply two major hurdles to...

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Forming Better Habits

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 21 2024

Some people run four miles per day and eat salads, while others watch 5 hours of television and eat popcorn. Some people study two hours per evening, while others play two hours of video games. Some people perform chores every week, while others buy new clothes for a year straight instead of doing laundry. What is going on here, and how can you...

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Accomplishments, Awards, and Asterisks

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 14 2024

What matters? It seems like a simple question. But here’s the thing: people every day ask themselves what they want in life or how they can find more meaning in life and never really face that question. They often end up looking around at what other people like and following them. With that approach, they had better hope that they like the same...

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Hitting the Elevator’s “Close Door” Button

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 7 2024

There’s a famous story about the elevator buttons that are designated to close the door: many of them don’t do anything. The running joke is that it’s a placebo making riders feel like they have control while also spending the waiting time doing something, thus increasing rider satisfaction but not actually changing the wait

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