Ask most people to define “writing,” and they’ll tell you it’s the process of putting words down on paper, communicating what you already know. In reality, writing is often how you discover what you don’t know—and so how you learn to think better.
Category: Words, Words, Words
Our Era Is Not “Post-Truth,” It’s “Loyalty-First”
In the history of truth, questions of loyalty came before questions of accuracy. In our current cultural moment, questions of loyalty seem to be ascending again, with some potentially dire consequences.
Read Closely, Listen Actively, Lead Wisely
Do whatever it takes to let yourself fully engage—to read and think and write back. The right people will love you for it.
What My Daughter’s Drawing Taught Me About Words
Language is a maker, not a mirror. And continuing to use it creatively is now more important than ever.
7 Basic Plots and How to Use Them
Stories are ubiquitous in human life, from the time we begin to make sense of the world to our final sentences. So learning how to tell them--and why--is essential.
Public Discourse in a Peekaboo World
All that glistens isn’t necessarily good During a recent vacation, I re-read Neil Postman’s classic of media criticism, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. I found it remarkably relevant on multiple fronts, especially regarding a challenge we all grapple with daily: the deluge of disconnected, decontextualized information. I would …
Beware the Curse of Knowledge
Expertise can be its own worst enemy.
It’s a Wondrous, Marvelous, Maybe Even Miraculous World
Pragmatic people often say they don’t believe in miracles. That itself is arguably miraculous.
Why Words Matter
There's a very real sense in which words have conjured the world as we know it. Which is why we should treat them with care.
Expect to Be Misunderstood
Sometimes it seems like we're speaking different languages. And that's because we are, even when we aren't.
