Newsletter Archive

I’m currently reading The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul. It’s a fantastic read: a rare blend of anecdotal evidence and hard science. Paul’s thesis is the human mind is limited and to maximize the capabilities of one’s mind, he or she must leverage the external world. There are several means and methods discussed in her book,…

Whether or not we choose to admit it, we enjoy having conversations with ourselves. Sometimes these conversations are silent, other times they are audible. Personally, I’m a fan of the audible conversation because I’m alone during the day. Personal preferences aside, these inner dialogues are rooted in a powerful psychological concept – the Shadow. I…

I’m going to make an obvious statement to open this piece – we live in a society devoid of silence. If that statement doesn’t seem obvious, look around you and try to describe all the sensations, sites, smells, and sounds. Furthermore, try to do it without looking at a screen. It’s an overwhelming exercise that…

This piece marks an important milestone for Becoming Polymathic – our six-month anniversary. Well, technically our seventh, but this piece will be the 26th. In the grand scheme of things, this milestone is insignificant. However, as a young venture, it’s important to celebrate and reflect on these small milestones. This piece will be about where…

As somebody who’s historically been an obsessive goal setter, I’ll be the first to admit the concept in this piece’s title is counterintuitive. Just what does it mean to have a direction in life and not a goal? What it Means to Have a Direction in Life? A good place to begin dissecting this title…

This week’s piece is a new pursuit for Becoming Polymathic. Instead of discussing habitual, neurological, philosophical, and psychological concepts, we’re going to profile individuals who’ve embodied the ethos of Becoming Polymathic. That ethos is one of curiosity, discipline, and resourcefulness. The individual who we’ve chosen to profile in this first piece is Aleksandr Karelin. Aleksandr…

Perplexing, vivid dreams are a constant in my life. Most are discarded, but some remain with me to this day. The earliest one I can recall is when I was eight years old. I was playing next to a river with a pink and a purple ball. The balls started to drift away from the…

It feels like I haven’t written anything in months. In reality, it’s only been two weeks since I published the last piece. It just so happens this supposedly quiet time was extremely eventful. I ran a half-marathon obstacle course race, apartment hunted, drove 10 hours, spent Thanksgiving in my parent’s new house, then drove another…

The differences between how my life has unfolded and how it compares to my expectation of how it would unfold in my teens and early twenties amazes me. Being a strong math student, I thought every problem had a singular, definitive solution and there was always a method which yielded said solution. Fast forward a…

To begin this piece on decision fatigue, allow me to describe a scenario: You open your eyes after a restful night sleep. As you lie there staring at the ceiling, you think about your single task for the day – laying 35,000 bricks. The pattern is already marked and you have the necessary tools; all…