I began lifting weights about 10 years ago now. When I first started lifting weights, I was told that creatine was essentially a steroid. That, if I took creatine, I’d look bloated because I would retain water, and that I would start to lose my hair. These are very uncommon potential side-effects of creatine, I later learned.

Now, creatine is one of the most well-regarded dietary supplements on the market. This is because not only is creatine the most effective and safe supplement on the market; it is also the most well-researched — over 200 high-quality studies have been published…

In the Zhuangzi, there is a tension between pluralism/skepticism and the preservation of one’s inborn nature –which is often read as individualism. Can Zhuangzi’s skeptical pluralism (which seems open to the external) be reconciled with the significance placed on the preservation of one’s inborn nature (which seems closed to the external)? This essay, through interpreting the Zhuangzi, intends to establish such a reconciliation. I shall argue that, despite the seeming incompatibility between protecting the inborn nature (which entails some negation of the external) and developing a skeptical and plural approach to the world (which entails an openness to the external)…

Although we are now — hopefully — at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, getting sick still sucks. When you are sick, your quality of life substantially drops. Research shows that even getting sick with a cold can reduce our productivity, keep us out of the gym, and make us feel sad.

In light of this, it's good for everyone to keep in mind that our immune system is not fixed in its ability to function. We can improve our immune system, and we can hinder our immune system. What determines our ability to do either is largely determined…

Almost all of the schools of ancient Chinese thought placed significance on the term “Dao.” Yet, these schools of thought fundamentally differed on what the meaning of the Dao actually is. Such is the case between Taoism and Mohism. This essay intends to compare these two disparate conceptions of the Dao in a new light: a light that will attempt to draw an explicit line between these two conceptions. Specifically, this essay will contend that the difference here can be characterized by Martin Heidegger’s notion of the “ontological- difference.” Namely, that the Dao for Taoists is wrapped up in concerns…

Writing, in terms of voice, per the writer in question, is by definition amorphous. Or, at least that is the ideal. Why? Shouldn’t it just be ‘my’ voice? As if there were a singular thing — there is, but only when it is forced. That is, there is only, as a predicate to the author, a single voice in bad writing.

But what is it that makes the writer’s voice multifaceted, rather than one-dimensional? First and foremost, what makes a writer’s voice multifaceted, as opposed to one-dimensional, is freedom. Constraints placed upon the author from external sources are the antithesis…

Over the past decade, universal basic income (UBI) has been growing in popularity. Especially since the advent of our current pandemic, the notion of giving direct cash payments to citizens is an idea that has become increasingly compelling to politicians and constituents alike. As with any political or economic idea, that which grows in popularity is also accompanied by a growth in criticism.

A common criticism of UBI is that it is “un-American.” The idea is that UBI would simply be another example of the “welfare state” overtaking America, making our citizens lazier and less likely to be ambitious. …

In deciding to become a freelance writer, one has to come over an unsettling hurdle: namely, the prospect of sending out pitches. But where should one pitch to? How can one write the pitch that will land?

On the former question, there are various resources you can default to. Generally speaking, I use two:

Sonia Weisner’s Weekly Newsletter

Write Jobs +

There are other ways, of course. One is simply cold pitching to places you know of.

But now that you have found where to pitch, how can you craft the perfect pitch. My main answer to this is to…

Self-help books and pop psychology hope to serve a purpose. This purpose, as I see it, is to give people practical advice. In some of its manifestations, philosophy does the same thing. Philosophy, however, isn’t always quite as straightforward as self-help and pop psychology. Philosophers who are straightforward are, indeed, rare. One must sift through a lot of unclear non-sense in philosophy in order to get to the good stuff.

At this point, I’ve been studying philosophy rigorously for 6 years. Throughout this process — which is forever ongoing — I have (hopefully) gained insights which I believe are profound…