Ben Sima

  • Atheists, On Why They Don’t Believe In God

    A long time ago, I gave up believing in the Catholic man-in-the-sky that I was raised to believe in. I just figured, my life should be up to me, why would I need another entity to steer the course of my life? If you ever struggle with the belief in a god or religion, then hopefully […]

  • The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho — Follow Your Personal Legend

    I’m smack in the middle of a personal challenge to read at least one book every week. Because of school and work, I’m currently 13 books behind and playing catch-up. The erudition section of this blog is my attempt to chronicle my challenge and galvanize a lifetime of curiosity and learning. If you have read […]

  • Live Dangerously

    “For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is—to live dangerously!” —Nietzsche, The Gay Science (section 283)

  • Brent Pottenger on “Self-Experimentation with Story Systems”

    Brent Pottenger, author of the healthcare epistemocrat blog, asks: How should we invest our intellectual and spiritual energy and capacity? His answer lies within the confines of tradition. Take a look at his m=1 Story Systems example. I’ve been experimenting in an n=1 fashion for quite a while now, but the idea of an m=1 […]

  • Case Study: Two Leaders, One Strategy, Centuries Apart

    The Colloseum in Rome, Italy. (Photo: jonrawlinson on flickr) Gods, epic myths, heroes, and damsels in distress. The history of ancient times fascinates me. Below is one of my favorite stories from Greek history. The story of Xenophon’s mission to return 10,000 Greek mercenaries to their homeland. And for entertainment’s sake—and to display a fantastic […]

  • I think Russell Brand is my new celebrity hero.

    I think Russell Brand is my new celebrity hero. Definitely watch this full interview. The ideas Brand talks about are strikingly similar to what I’ve been thinking or reading lately. It’s exceedingly rare to find a celebrity that can talk like this. Via twitter

  • Christianity and Alcohol

    “—Christianity, alcohol, the two great means of corruption.” The Portable Nietzsche, page 652 “Every kind of faith is itself an expression of self-abnegation, of self-alienation.” The Portable Nietzsche, page 639 The analogy of Christianity to alcohol is interesting to me. The chemistry of alcohol: ethanol is a carbohydrate, the metabolism of which leads to the […]

  • Entrepreneurship Risk

    From Summation by Auren Hoffman: Entrepreneurs tend to be street-smarter than strategy consultants. Entrepreneurs are more practical, more focused on the bottom line, and more attuned to real-world contingencies. A typical strategy consultant job interview might go something like this: “I toss a coin. Heads you win $10,000. Tails you lose $6,000. Do you play […]

  • Arguments in Evaluative Language—Essentially Contestable

    Is it cruel to kill cattle in slaughterhouses where live cattle can smell the blood of the dead? Or to spank children in order to teach them how to behave? The point is not that we couldn’t argue our way to one position or the other on these questions; it’s only to say that when […]

  • Neil Tyson and the Argument From Ignorance

    The frailty of the human mind: just another reason to remain skeptical. I recently found this video of Neil Tyson explaining the fallacious appeal to ignorance. As Tyson explains with his unique humor, the appeal to ignorance pervades all of human nature. The appeal to ignorance, also called the argument from ignorance or argumentum ad […]