Wellsbaum.blog

Writing about life and arts

daily prompt

  • The pointlessness of constant self-grading

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    1 min read

    We obsess with gauging the temperature of our present reputation. The numbers are public, ticking up and down like stock prices. The internet is the grandest stage of them all, where we endeavor to present our best selves. We strive to prove our self-worth by using likes and followers to gauge our fame and pepper our…

  • Bounce back

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    1 min read

    Why does every new passion start off with a rush of positive energy and excitement and then die? Alacrity lives for the short-term. What’s new becomes old. Boredom strikes, a new and superior product emerges that we have to have. We also give up on our passions. The work involved outweighs the sticktuitiveness to achieve…

  • Be brave, clench fists

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    1 min read

    The quietest people have the loudest minds. That’s why introverts are more active than extroverts on social media. It’s easier to speak through screens than it is face-to-face. But showing up offline is the only way to get anywhere. No one’s going to marry or hire you because you speak well on screen but not…

  • Nassim Taleb: ‘The best way to verify that you are alive is by checking if you like variations.’

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    1 min read

    “The best way to verify that you are alive is by checking if you like variations.” Nassim Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

  • Are you an egg person or an onion person?

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    2 min read

    Introverts are egg people. They’re not hiding anything (per say), they are mostly reserved. And once they start to get comfortable, they are as open and talkative as anybody else. “Don’t think of introversion as something that needs to be cured,” writes Susan Cain in her book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World…

  • ‘Everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance’

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    2 min read

    “Another flaw in human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance,” said Kurt Vonnegut. Everybody’s wants to start something, but rarely do they want to maintain it. The problem in growing at no costs is that it obviates purpose and integrity. Instead of leading by example, the race to…

  • The effect of expectation

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    1 min read

    The placebo creates a ceremony of expectation. It builds off novelty and reinvigorates confidence in the possibility of recovery. We all fall victim to the soft mental implantation of a placebo, the oldest medicine in the world. One simple belief kickstarts a chemical revolution. But in reality, the answer just needed to be poked from dormancy.…

  • Beware the algorithms

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    2 min read

    Six hundred red years ago, there was no such thing as personal identity. Only when people owned mirrors did they start seeing themselves as individuals. One hundred years ago, all fighter pilot seats were the same size until there became unnecessary deaths. The US Air Force adapted and customized its seating options. The mass markets ushered in by…

  • A plethora of unconsumed content

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    1 min read

    Movies, books, magazines, music, and podcasts. There’s too much content and too little time. We can try to keep up and multitask or listen to podcasts 2x their speed. But it’s a zero-sum game. The internet never ends. There will always be another Netflix show to catch up on. Yet we mustn’t fret. We only…

  • Fearing a loss of mind

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    1 min read

    There are very few moments in the day when we pause. Instead, we latch onto the sugary obsession of tech and its distractions, awaiting the next shock of dopamine. But we can have tea with ourselves, going through what our worries and wishes are in the quest for ever-fleeting presence. Man is more versatile than…

  • Henry Rollins: The One Decision that Changed My Life Forever

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    2 min read

    Talent is overrated. Hard work, discipline, grit, and consistency are attributes that increase your chances of getting what you want. Luck is a matter of being specific about your goals and two, putting yourself in a position for good things to happen. It is the accumulation of small and steady risks that make the biggest…

  • The simple technique that boosts your short and long-term memory

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    1 min read

    Want to remember more of what you read? Give your brain a 10-15 minute rest. No phones, no distractions, just pure boredom, a quiet room and dimmed lights. Why do we need to reduce interference? It takes longer for new information to encode and simply consuming more or squandering time on social media will make…