Aashay Mody

Philosophy

On doubt and the nature of the self

This week, I’m sharing my final essay of the semester for my Master’s program. It’s about René Descartes’s Meditations on First Philosophy. Since the essay is a textual analysis that may be confusing without some prior knowledge of the book, here’s a summary: Descartes'

Philosophy

On perplexity and learning

This week, I’m sharing an essay I wrote for a class in my Master’s program. We were asked to pick one of the texts we’ve read so far and explore a specific question we want to think more about. I chose to write about Plato’s Meno.

Personal Development

On my philosophy of life

When in doubt, follow your heart. If I had to summarize my philosophy of life into a pithy quote, this would be it. It probably comes across as a tired cliché, but it holds deep wisdom for me. And there’s more to it than meets the eye. When I

Personal Development

On dogs

Every night, Astro and I share a playful ritual in the moments after our walk. As the elevator takes us home, I take him off his leash, activating his excitement. As soon as the doors open, he darts towards our apartment and glances back, inviting a spirited chase. He zips

Philosophy

On the philosophy of skydiving

Two weeks ago, I jumped out of a plane from 13,000 feet above land. This was my third skydive, but the first time I felt no jittery nerves. It was just pure, unadulterated presence. As I jumped from the plane with a gentle nudge from my tandem instructor, what

Sociology

On the power of myths and stories

This week, I'm sharing two essays that will form a part of my application to a Master's program I'm hoping to join. This is the second one. You can find the first one here. Prompt: Select a book that you consider a great book

Personal Development

On the value of formal education

This week, I'm sharing two essays that will form a part of my application to a Master's program I'm hoping to join. Here's the first one. Prompt: Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your formal education and any relevant experience outside of

Psychology

On the overjustification effect

The world of startups is as thrilling as it is relentless, with success often measured by how much capital you've raised or how many users your product has. It can be easy to lose sight of original intentions, as I discovered through my journey with edgi, the startup

Personal Development

On fishing and hunting for information

I recently read an interesting essay about how to find good information. It contains an analogy that stuck with me, cleverly distinguishing between two ways people find information online: fishing and hunting. Instead of attempting to paraphrase, I’ll share the description verbatim because it’s well-written and to the

Philosophy

On exponential technologies and fundamental questions

Philosophy begins in wonder. This Ancient Greek assertion feels even more applicable in our current age of exponential progress and uncertainty. As technology pushes us forward, the philosophical questions that have lingered for centuries and are often taken for granted have been thrust back into the spotlight. It can feel

Psychology

On unlocking the unconscious

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. - Carl Jung Jung’s insightful words reveal how our unexamined inner world can shape our reality. The unconscious mind is a powerful force driving our emotions, decisions, and actions. Its unseen influence

Psychology

On attention

If I told you we live in a world full of distractions, you would probably nod in agreement or roll your eyes and think “No shit, Sherlock.” Take a step back for a second and think about how we’ve become so indifferent to this idea. We’ve been conditioned

Philosophy

On the wisdom of atelic activities

I had a lightbulb moment this week while listening to a conversation with MIT professor Kieran Setiya. I became reacquainted with the terms telic (pronounced tea-lick) and atelic, which helped capture some of my feelings about work and life in a way I had previously struggled to put into words.

Thought Experiment

On the Veil of Ignorance

In a world where socioeconomic disparities are glaringly evident, the foundational principles that guide our societal structures are under scrutiny. What kind of world would you design if you didn't know who you'd be in it? The Veil of Ignorance, a philosophical tool proposed by John

Personal Development

On wabi-sabi and imperfection

In the age of social media-led instant gratification, there’s a near-universal urge to seek perfection, permanence, and certainty. These desires, while seemingly worthwhile on the surface, often lead to a spiral of dissatisfaction and suffering. Against this backdrop, the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi offers a refreshing, much-needed, perspective. It

Philosophy

On Aristotle, eudaimonia, and the Golden Mean

Ancient philosophers attempted to answer a lot of the questions we still grapple with today. Questions about the nature of reality, our existence, and understanding what knowledge is. Aristotle, who is sometimes credited with founding the field of biology as we know it today, had many of the same interests.

Personal Development

On birthday questions

Last week, I turned 35. On the one hand, a lot has changed over the last 12 months. It's been another year of choosing not to drink alcohol. Aleesha and I moved to Miami and made it our home base. I had many ups and downs while working

Philosophy

On death and the existence requirement

So death, the most terrifying of ills, is nothing to us, since so long as we exist, death is not with us; but when death comes, then we do not exist. It does not then concern either the living or the dead, since for the former it is not, and

Philosophy

On meaning and the myth of Sisyphus

"What makes a life meaningful?" This is the kind of philosophical question that people have attempted to answer for millennia, with limited success. Here’s my amateurish attempt at exploring the answer. Consider the myth of Sisyphus: In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the king of Ephyra. He was

Personal Development

On the seasons of life

As I sit here in Seattle, I’m reflecting on the near-perfect weather and the natural beauty that exemplifies the Pacific Northwest at this time of year. It’s a welcome contrast to hurricane season in Miami. I feel privileged to have the option of exploring different parts of the

Cognitive Bias

On action bias

It's the final of the World Cup, and you're the goalkeeper hoping to save the game-deciding penalty. As the opposition player steps up, you have a choice—jump to the right, jump to the left, or stay put. The player doesn't have a history

Psychology

On happiness and social connection

You might assume that we are creatures that are built to be happy. But the sad thing is that we're really not wired for happiness. During a recent YouTube binge, I stumbled upon this video featuring Laurie Santos, a psychology professor at Yale who studies the science of

Psychology

On fear, uncertainty, and doubt

During the 1950s and 60s, the tobacco industry infamously used fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) as a propaganda technique. To protect their cash cow, they not only deliberately sowed doubt about the growing evidence against cigarette use by funding dubious studies, but also brazenly promoted ads like this: These tactics

Thought Experiment

On the Ship of Theseus

Consider the following scenario: According to legend, Theseus, the mythical Greek founder-king of Athens, rescued the children of Athens from King Minos after slaying the minotaur and then escaped onto a ship going to Delos. Each year, the Athenians commemorated this victory by performing repairs on the ship and taking

Psychology

On the paradox of choice

As humans, we have a natural tendency to seek out more options, believing that more choices will always lead to greater satisfaction. However, as psychologist Barry Schwartz points out, too many options can actually lead to a paradoxical decrease in satisfaction. This is what he calls the paradox of choice: