Science: Oh, you found a study? How nice for you!
On Facebook, my friend Joe Duarte, a grad student in positive psychology at Arizona State University, asked why I’ve been so scornful of science and clinical trials lately. (For those who don’t know,...
View ArticleReflections on science, materialism, and near-death experiences
Curious to hear thoughts from others who walk the fine line between materialism and spirituality, I posted this article about near-death experiences to Mudita Forum. (I also included links to a...
View ArticleStressed out? A creative visualization from Eckhart Tolle
Marsh brought the following passage to my attention, from Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. I remember it from my days of listening nonstop to Tolle’s audiobooks. I like this passage a lot. If at any...
View ArticleToward a better relationship to sex … and porn
Here are some choice quotes from a recent Q&A in The Guardian with Alain de Botton, author of the book Religion for Atheists. Ideally, porn would excite our lust in contexts which also presented...
View ArticleMindful habits and voluntary simplicity
I enjoyed Brandon Rennels‘s list of aspirations for 2012. His first two: 1. Mindful habits. Reciting a 4-line gatha to myself each morning, taking my first bite of food for my friends and family,...
View ArticleMeditators more aware of ‘uh-oh’ moments
An article summarizing a new paper from the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience begins: For psychologists, self-control or “executive control” is the ability to pay attention to...
View ArticlePeter Thiel: Find a frontier and go for it
This year PayPal founder and visionary entrepreneur Peter Thiel offered a new class at Stanford called “Computer Science 183: Startup.” It was intended to provide entrepreneurs with a high-level...
View ArticlePromoting selfishness and greed: Ayn Rand’s strategic error?
Russ Roberts at Cafe Hayek has a lovely piece titled “Motives vs. Results,” exploring the motives of those who promote liberty, and how they compare to those who might instead promote big government. I...
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Flow with whatever may happen
Thanks to Michael Strong of FLOW for bringing this lovely graphic to my attention. He writes: “Although this is Buddhist, it is similar to the Taoist usage of ‘Flow,’ which was one of our original...
View ArticleKirsti Minsaas on Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged
Tonight I read Karen Reedstrom and Thomas Gramstad’s excellent 1997 Full Context interview with Norwegian literary critic and scholar Kirsti Minsaas. I enjoyed many of the exchanges. Here are some...
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Tasty paleo snack: Coconut oil rounds
I just made this snack for the first time, and it’s surprisingly good, as well as ridiculously easy to make. The trick is to simply cool the coconut oil, which turns it into a creamy dessert-like...
View ArticlePointing to the reality
I wrote this in answer to a friend, a relative newcomer to Ayn Rand’s philosophy, who inquired about my interest in spirituality and why I would say something like “The divine is all around us.” Why...
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The skyscraper and the cherry blossom: Why Objectivism needs secular...
After my “Pointing to the reality” post, my intelligent Rand-loving friend was rubbed the wrong way by my suggestion that cherry blossoms are on the same level with skyscrapers: Skyscrapers give us an...
View ArticleReset the toner sensor on your Brother printer HL-2270DW
My Brother HL-2270DW printer refuses to continue printing, once the toner gets sufficiently low, even though the toner cartridge still contains enough toner to print many more pages. The toner light...
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Recipe: Creamy chocolate tea
I love sipping chocolate tea in the winter. I’ve been fiddling with this particular recipe for a couple weeks. Yesterday’s batch was a winner. I’ll no doubt refine it further, but this version is worth...
View ArticleA personal statement on Ayn Rand
The topic of Ayn Rand’s personal life, how it could have affected her philosophy, and whether her overall philosophy is truly valid, has come up regularly lately on my Facebook timeline. And for good...
View ArticleDefining integrity
I am in the process of creating a new site for zader.com. It will be an online magazine devoted to the theme of living with integrity. I’ll publish new essays periodically, eventually folding those...
View ArticleOstracism: What does civility require? The case of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich
Here are my thoughts on the forced resignation of new Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich. I ultimately believe the differences of opinion on this topic come down to the question of civility. The uncivil...
View ArticleEd Snowden’s public appearances
If you find a recorded public appearance by Ed Snowden not listed here, please e-mail the link to me at joshuazader at GMail. Please also notify me if any links below have expired. Below is a list of...
View ArticleWater fasting: What it is, why it’s good, and how to do it
Over the past fifteen years I have completed perhaps ten fasts, during which I drank only water. They varied in duration from five days to twelve days. This post summarizes what I’ve learned. I find...
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