The hottest Human nature Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Philosophy Topics

thinking about time horizons

Midnight Musings • 39 implied HN points • 03 Oct 22
📖 Philosophy Human nature Cultural critique Mental health
  1. Short-term thinking can lead to poor decision-making and bad predictions about the future. It's important to be aware of how the media and news might shape our understanding in a narrow way.
  2. People often feel pessimistic because they focus on immediate negative events instead of longer-term progress. Expanding our view can help us see the brighter side of things and be more hopeful about the future.
  3. Understanding human nature and historical perspectives can improve our ability to strategize and make decisions. Looking deeper into ancient wisdom might provide better insights than current trends.

Aristotle's Practical Philosophy (part 1)

Logos and Liberty • 19 implied HN points • 07 Nov 22
📖 Philosophy Ethics Virtue Friendship Contemplation Human nature
  1. Aristotle's practical philosophy aims at discovering a way of life that enables individuals to use their highest faculties and communities to support this way of life.
  2. The key components of 'Eudaimonia' according to Aristotle are virtue, love, and the contemplative life.
  3. Human happiness, for Aristotle, is strongly influenced by the quality of human relationships and the social context surrounding those relationships.
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Understanding human stupidity in a post-truth era

Klement on Investing • 9 implied HN points • 05 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Human nature Reasoning Social influence Education Satire
  1. Human stupidity involves a temporary inability to properly reason, plan, or learn.
  2. Stubbornness often accompanies stupidity, making people hold on to disproven beliefs.
  3. In a post-truth era, combating human stupidity requires strong institutions, satire, education, and sometimes allowing people to face the consequences of their beliefs.

The Haves and the Havents: Interlude

Carefree Sketches • 19 implied HN points • 22 Jul 22
📖 Philosophy Love Valuation Understanding Human nature
  1. When we say 'I like you' to someone, it involves a certain conceit and value judgment based on rational parameters.
  2. Liking someone involves weighing various values such as amenity, rank, purpose, and affinity, and assigning them a value.
  3. Contrasting 'I like you' with 'I love you,' love is seen as irrational, residing in the heart, while liking is a more reasoned and intellectual process.

The Nature of Evil

We're Gonna Get Those Bastards • 9 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Evil Human nature Virtues Success
  1. Evil is not just about extreme actions like murder or destruction, but can also be seen in subtle forms like character assassination.
  2. Hatred of the good for being good is a key aspect of evil - being envious or resentful of someone's success or virtues is a manifestation of this.
  3. Being able to genuinely celebrate and feel happy for someone else's achievements is a mark of goodness, while harboring resentment towards others for their success is a sign of evil.

Taste games

DYNOMIGHT INTERNET NEWSLETTER • 2 HN points • 15 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Taste Art Social Behavior Human nature
  1. Our tastes are influenced by our social context and cultural knowledge, often unconsciously driven by benefits and social hierarchy.
  2. People gravitate towards different types of games based on their mix of economic and cultural capital.
  3. Taste games, like the choices we make in food, fashion, and art, are deeply intertwined with social status, class, and unconscious influences.

Waste Your Time, Your Life May Depend On It

The Convivial Society • 4 HN points • 12 May 23
📖 Philosophy Existentialism Ethics Technology Human nature Society
  1. Beware of falling into the 'tyranny of tiny tasks' that can lead to exhaustion and dissatisfaction.
  2. Question the societal pressure to save time and optimize efficiency, considering what tasks truly elicit fidelity and care.
  3. Embrace a form of life that values meaningful engagement, care, and relationships over productivity and automation.

The Observer Effect

Vic's Verdict • 1 implied HN point • 23 Feb 23
📖 Philosophy Ethics Human nature Education Society Nature
  1. People behave differently when they know they are being observed, leading to pseudo-events.
  2. Allowing individuals the freedom to make mistakes, while punishing those that harm others, creates a positive-sum society.
  3. Building micro-hives of collaboration and curiosity encourages improvement without the negative impact of top-down surveillance.

What the Japanese Toilet Taught Me About Human Nature

David Reis on Software • 0 implied HN points • 19 Oct 24
📖 Philosophy Human nature Decision-making Technology impact Critical Thinking
  1. People often follow the crowd instead of thinking for themselves. It's easier to just do what everyone else does, even if there's a better option available.
  2. Life is complicated, and we tend to rely on others to guide our choices. Like how we trust that if everyone is eating berries, they must be safe.
  3. We should take the time to think carefully about our choices instead of rushing to conclusions. Slow, thoughtful decisions can lead to better outcomes.

Huxley's Vision of a Manufactured Utopia: A Review of "Brave New World"

Wayne's Earth • 0 implied HN points • 11 Oct 23
📚 Literature Dystopian Human nature
  1. Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' critiques a society overly reliant on technology, drugs, and control systems, warning of the dangers of sacrificing individual freedom and genuine experiences for the sake of stability and happiness.
  2. The World State in the novel represents a utopia with no war, poverty, or disease, achieved through suppression of personal freedoms and the use of tools like soma that hinder authentic emotions.
  3. Characters like Bernard and John in the novel question the values of the World State, illustrating the high cost of trading human essence for artificial contentment and the loss of deeper human connections.

The Power of Human Nature: Goethe’s Words on Motivation and Willpower

Wayne's Earth • 0 implied HN points • 27 Dec 22
📚 Literature Human nature Motivation
  1. Decisions are often influenced by emotions rather than reason, leading to actions driven by a compelling force that is not always clear.
  2. External factors like rewards or punishments, such as food or discipline, can significantly impact our actions, sometimes more than our true feelings or intentions do.
  3. It's normal to sometimes feel lost or overwhelmed, similar to how children wander about without a clear direction. These moments are a natural part of the human experience.

How Adam Smith’s Theory of Human Nature Can Help Us Be More “Lovely”

Wayne's Earth • 0 implied HN points • 18 Dec 22
📖 Philosophy Human nature Kindness Empathy Acceptance Relationships
  1. Adam Smith promoted the idea of being 'lovely' by showing kindness, generosity, humility, and empathy towards others.
  2. To be 'lovely' in our daily lives, we can get involved with our community, understand diverse perspectives, and be mindful of our actions to create positive relationships.
  3. Striving to be 'lovely' according to Adam Smith can lead to more positive relationships, understanding between different groups, and a harmonious society.

Book Review: “Wanting” by Luke Burgeis 4/5

Poczwardowski Notes • 0 implied HN points • 05 Nov 22
📖 Philosophy Desire Happiness Human nature Psychology
  1. Controlling our perception is crucial for happiness. The book delves into the origin of desires and offers strategies to prioritize significant desires over trivial ones.
  2. The book provides insights into human nature, leadership, and psychology. It goes beyond just mimicking desires to explore deeper aspects of desire and fulfillment.
  3. The author's authentic storytelling makes the book engaging and informative. It reveals intriguing facts about cognition and offers a fresh perspective on desires.

Fragments, Chapter 3, pp.53-9 - Reading Club posting 10

Journal of Gurdjieff Studies • 0 implied HN points • 11 Nov 22
📖 Philosophy Human nature Consciousness Evolution Individuality Knowledge
  1. Man is not a singular entity but a collection of changing 'I's, each with its own characteristics and tendencies.
  2. The evolution of man involves conscious struggle and development of untapped potential, rather than a predetermined, mechanical process.
  3. Individual human evolution is possible through self-realization and growth, but mass evolution is not in nature's interest and may be hindered by external forces.

Utopia, Techtopia or Dystopia? None of the Above.

The Digital Anthropologist • 0 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Human nature Technology Society Reality Future
  1. None of the ideas of Utopia, Techtopia, or Dystopia have ever fully happened and are unlikely to ever occur, which is a positive outlook for the future of humanity.
  2. The concepts of Utopia, Dystopia, and Techtopia are philosophical positions used to frame discussions about shaping societies and are often explored in storytelling through books, movies, and other forms of media.
  3. Humans have always advanced in lockstep with technology, and while these ideal states may influence societies to varying degrees, they are not fully realized and are not desired by humans, offering hope for the future.