The Pocket Philosopher

The Pocket Philosopher

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The Pocket Philosopher
The Pocket Philosopher
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...And Soul

Matt Malcom's avatar
Matt Malcom
Jul 05, 2021
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The Pocket Philosopher
The Pocket Philosopher
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Good morning fellow lovers of wisdom,

I hope you’ve a great weekend (long holiday weekend if you’re in The States).

For my family and I, the extra down time was a much needed and happy respite from a busy summer.

But the extra time had me thinking about a lot of random ideas, as tends to happen with unstructured free time (turns out it’s not just a great practice for the kids).

Strangely enough, the last few days this philosopher named Ludwig Wittgenstein kept coming to mind. Not because his name sounds so epic and demands I say it out loud to my toddlers a few times a week (always gets a good belly laugh if the Germanic accent is exaggerated), but because of the way that Wittgenstein honed his craft.

Some people do philosophy.

Some people study philosophy.

Some philosophers write books.

Some academics posit ideas.

Wittgenstein had—to quote Nassim Taleb—Soul.

The best work happens when folks put skin in the game—that is, they have something to lose, they risk it all, they own their cr…

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