Wisereads Vol. 66 — How to Think Like Socrates by Donald Robertson, Casey Neistat on hard things, and more
Last week, we shared L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, an imaginative fairy tale for all ages. This week, we're sharing How to Think Like Socrates by Donald J. Robertson, a deep dive into the life of one of history's greatest thinkers.
Keep reading to add to your Reader account below 👇
Most highlighted Articles of the week
How the Ivy League Broke America
Because graduates of top U.S. universities often ascend to leadership roles, David Brooks envisions a future where they prioritize dedication and curiosity over raw intelligence. "In 1910, the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands wrote a book in which he said: 'The Spirit of America is best known in Europe by one of its qualities—energy.' What you assess is what you end up selecting for and producing. We should want to create a meritocracy that selects for energy and initiative as much as for brainpower."
A Chance to Build
In his latest essay, Ben Thompson analyzes how looming tariffs could both constrict the software market and enable U.S. businesses to develop a niche in hardware manufacturing, despite decades of outsourcing production to China. "The symbiotic relationship between Silicon Valley software makers and Asian hardware manufactures is one of the most potent economic combinations in history, and it may be impossible to compete with; if it’s ever going to work, though, the best opportunity — absent a war, God forbid — is probably right now."
Principles
Stealth startup founder Nabeel Qureshi reflects on his guiding principles in a listicle, sharing wisdom like: "Doing things is energizing, wasting time is depressing. You don’t need that much 'rest,'" and "The most valuable feedback usually hurts a lot."
Most highlighted YouTube Video of the week
DO HARD THINGS
Join YouTuber Casey Neistat on his ninth attempt to conquer his "hard thing": running the NYC Marathon course in under three hours. "The thing about hard things, especially the hard things you don't have to do but choose to do, is that you can just bail any time. That's when you start to question, 'What even is this? Does it really matter?'"
Most highlighted Twitter Thread of the week
The Harvard debate guy is a genius
Ghostwriter Willie Chou distills the wisdom of Bo Seo, two-time world debating champion and author of Good Arguments, into bite-sized tips. "Don’t settle for arguing against a weak or flawed statement. When you address their strongest point, you create real progress. Build up their case if needed. Sell your truth to the listener."
Most highlighted PDF of the week
Generative Agent Simulations of 1,000 People
A team of researchers found that using interview data instead of demographic and survey data enhances models that predict human behavior—achieving 85% of the accuracy of people's own answers two weeks later. "How might, for instance, a diverse set of individuals respond to new public health policies and messages, react to product launches, or respond to major shocks? When simulated individuals are combined into collectives, these simulations could help pilot interventions, develop complex theories capturing nuanced causal and contextual interactions, and expand our understanding of structures like institutions and networks."
Hand-picked book of the week
How to Think Like Socrates
To get to the heart of Stoicism and Western philosophy, it helps to look back at one of history's greatest thinkers: Socrates. In How to Think Like Socrates, psychotherapist Donald J. Robertson transports readers to 5th-century BCE Athens, transforming ancient philosophical wisdom into practical lessons for the modern era.
"From 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread' to 'He who hesitates is lost,' we have many proverbs that offer conflicting advice. The truth, of course, is that sometimes it is good to rush in; other times it is better to pause for thought. We must learn to adapt to circumstances. Wisdom requires being able to identify when a rule no longer holds true, and good advice becomes bad advice."
We're thrilled that Donald is sharing Chapter 4 with Wisereads readers, introducing the Socratic method. If you enjoy the preview, How to Think Like Socrates is already available here to purchase. 🎉
Handpicked RSS feed of the week
Sentiers
Every Sunday, Patrick Tanguay sends out his "futures thinking observatory" newsletter, offering thoughtful commentary on a handful of curated reads. From issue No.329: Conceptual models of space colonization: "I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Shannon Mattern that I didn’t love and the streak is still alive with this one. Here she writes about trees, property, boundaries, and 'historical ‘metes and bounds’ methods.' It might not sound fascinating at first, but as usual Mattern goes deep and broad, and unpacks the history."