Tag: justinwehr

Wehr in the World: 30+ hours of TV later…

~ Mark

Justin Wehr on how Community is awesome and so is TV but…

I don’t mean to be another pretentious I’m-above-TV guy, because I’m not. TV is above me. It dominates me, it makes me want to do nothing but sit in front of its glowing glory. In a real way, it scares me, because it shows me how powerless I am. […] The danger of TV and of passive entertainment more generally is not just that it takes time away from better things. The real danger is that it makes better things seem harder.

A couple months ago I set aside Sunday mornings as a sacred, no-interference-allowed time for books and nerdery. It’s a guaranteed 3-5 hours of learning. No regrets whatsoever. And then on Sunday afternoons I watch/play sports because that’s what you do.

Wehr in the World: 30+ hours of TV later…

Wehr in the World: The importance of family and such

~ Mark

Family first? This is one of the best things I’ve read recently.

I can think of a few questions to gauge what is important to someone:

If you could only achieve one thing in your life, what would it be?
If you could only spend your life doing one thing, what would it be?
If you could only know one person in your life, who would it be?
How do you want to be remembered?
How do you want to be perceived right now?
Whose respect do you most hope to earn?
Whose admiration do you most hope to earn?
Whose love do you most hope to earn?
What ideas/principles are you willing to die for?
Who are you willing to die for?
What is the most meaningful thing you can do with your life?
What is the best way you can spend your time?
What is the best way you spent your time today?
If you knew you had only weeks to live, how would you spend your time?
If you knew you had only hours to live, how would you spend your time?
If you knew you had only minutes to live, how would you spend your time?
Of all the things in your life, which would you be the most sorry to lose irrevocably?
What would you most like to gain in your life?

Solid gold. By all means, read the whole thing.

Wehr in the World: The importance of family and such

~ Mark

Maybe one of the single best things a person can do for themselves is to shift from their default self-worth goals (seeking to prove self-worth and to avoid proof of worthlessness) to learning goals.

Wehr in the World: Squibs.
~ Mark

Because growth curves are asymptotic, I am convinced it is better to get pretty good at a lot of things rather than investing your scarce time in becoming marginally better at a couple of things.

Wehr in the World: Squibs. It may also be easier/more efficient to maintain a state of pretty-goodness than a state of mastery.

Wehr in the World: Controlling your emotions

~ Mark

The important point is this: Evolution seems to have favored inaction over action. E.g., don’t get too close to those people — they might be dangerous! Don’t do that — they might laugh at me! Our limbic system — the emotional center responsible for an embarrassingly high percentage of our behavior — has yet to learn that in the industrial age with market economies and unprecedented levels of absolute wealth, people aren’t so dangerous.

Wehr in the World: Controlling your emotions

~ Mark

A book needn’t be an author’s life work; a squib of novel insight with supporting evidence is sufficient. If you are going to have something be your life’s work, let it be a book of your life’s wisdom. Some people have 300 page books devoted to trivial topics and blog posts devoted to their life’s wisdom; that seems ironic to me.

Justin Wehr