Wobbly Tables and the Problem with Futurism

Just like in Minority Report, people still catch colds

In Minority Report, despite Maglev cars and floating user interfaces, people still catch colds. Similarly, I believe that a hundred years…

Why the Economy Isn’t Growing Like It Used To

Secular stagnation is here to stay for the developed…

The Problem with Self-Improvement

Method and Method Abuse

Hi, my name is I’m Philip Dhingra, and I’m a recovering self-help addict. I’ve read hundreds of self-help books since I was 14, from authors like Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie, and Steven Covey. When I was…

How to Decide Whether or Not to Be Cryogenically Frozen

In 2012, I struggled with whether or not to sign up with Alcor, the leading company that freezes people. I had just attended the Alcor 40 conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, and while I loved the idea of waking up in the future, I…

The Problem with PTO

PTO, or paid time off, is a progress trap created by the invention of personal palliatives such as Advil and DayQuil. These medicines were supposed to make life easier for us, but since everybody takes them now, everybody is expected to show up to work all the time. Before the existence of…

The Cure Who Cried Wolf: Cancer and the Quest for Honesty in Reporting

The Cure for Cancer is really…

The Wisdom of Bored Inquiry

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”

―Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)

“There’s as many atoms…

How Small Town U.S.A. Is Changing the Game for the Creative Class