“They” Are Not Necessarily Hypocrites

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, January 18 2023

A popular movie trope is commonly known as the “pronoun game” where one or more characters refer to another character without naming them. This film technique is used mainly for two reasons: Mystery or confusion is the goal of such device, and it affects how the audience perceives current and future events. Often, the revelation is a big plot...

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Life Is Getting Better Every Day

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, January 11 2023

It is easy to get caught up in the doom and gloom that the 24-hour news cycle perpetuates. In addition, there is always the reality as any individual ages that death is the end of the line and can come at any time. So, of course that combination can cause many people to become pessimistic and believe that life is sad and painful. But, as pointed...

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What Joe Rogan and George Carlin Bits Can Teach You About Optimal Behavior

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, January 4 2023

Are you an idiot or a maniac? I know, that's a strange way to start a blog post. But, in all seriousness, it's an interesting dichotomy that shows the ethical continuum that we all use when making decisions and then passing judgment on others for theirs. Let's take a look at this through the lens of two famous stand-up jokes from popular

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Happiness without Growth Is Like Getting an A without Learning

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 28 2022

One of the more (in)famous analogies from The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life's purpose is the relationship between happiness and growth being like the relationship between grades and learning. The reason for the analogy is that a large portion of the population is married to the idea that happiness is the meaning of life and so no...

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When Growth Goes Wrong

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 21 2022

The Meaning of Life: A guide to finding your life's purpose goes into a lot of detail about how growth is the point because all life strives to be in a better state over time. It differentiates this purpose from happiness, which is the indicator of growth, such as when you feel happy after eating, sex, sleeping, or physical activity. One of the...

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Do People Need Religion?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 14 2022

Religion is a difficult subject because of how it is tied to deeply held beliefs of the individual. Additionally, most people who analyze it are either making a case one way or another or are providing some sort of critique. (Note: I found this out the hard way for when I wrote that God was a great source of belief when someone doesn’t believe in...

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Where Critical Thinking Can Be Incorrectly Applied in Your Life

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, December 7 2022

Critical thinking is an invaluable tool for testing information and determining what might be true as you make a decision or take an action in the real world. For example, you might be looking for a toaster on the internet and see one that is highly rated. Critical thinking would prompt you to ask yourself, “Is this really the best toaster, or is...

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To Live Your Life…You Have to Live Your Life

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, November 30 2022

“If I only had _______, then I would truly live my life to the fullest.” More money. A degree. When your kids are older. If only you didn’t have that one thing in your way, you would truly be your true self and live your true life. There’s another saying, though: “It’s always something…” So what is holding you back in life, and what is it holding...

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Balancing Desire and Belief

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, November 23 2022

Most people know that you need to want something badly enough to drive forward and believe in yourself enough to continue through adversity. It is the main reason why people say, “Believe in yourself!” and, “It all comes down to who wants it more!” when trying to motivate people toward their goals. Many life philosophies, such as the Law of...

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Sacrificing Your Ethics for Your Ethics

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, November 16 2022

Establishing rules for life is pretty straightforward: to avoid harm to yourself or others, don’t do x, y, and z. To thrive, do a, b, and c. It seems simple, right? However, there is one problem: what happens if you agree with others on the rules and then they break them? This one seems simpler than it is: punish them in a way that is...

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