Kevin Simler is a writer and software engineer currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He's worked for ten years as a programmer, product designer, and engineering director and continues to advise startups about technology, leadership, and recruiting.&nbsp;
Kevin Simler graduated from Berkeley in 2004 with degrees in Philosophy and Computer Science. He started a Ph.D. in Computational Linguistics at MIT but left in 2006 to join Palantir Technologies, working there for 7 years as an engineer, engineering manager, and product designer. He has since published a book on social psychology, The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life (coauthored with Robin Hanson), and joined a very promising biotech startup.

Kevin

Josh Waitzkin is an American chess prodigy, international martial arts champion, and author. He was the basis for the book and film “Searching for Bobby Fischer”, which portrayed his childhood rise to the top of the competitive chess world. Waitzkin has since become a successful author, public speaker, and entrepreneur.
Waitzkin was born in New York City and began playing chess at the age of six. He quickly rose to prominence, becoming the youngest U.S. Chess Federation master in history at the age of nine. He went on to become the National Chess Champion three years in a row, and at the age of twelve he achieved the rank of International Master.
In addition to his success in the competitive chess world, Waitzkin also trained and competed in martial arts. After becoming the National Tai Chi Push Hands Champion and the National Tai Chi Chuan Champion, he went on to win the World Championship of Tai Chi Push Hands in 1997.
Waitzkin retired from competitive chess at the age of sixteen to pursue other interests. He attended Columbia University, where he majored in English and studied philosophy and psychology. After college, Waitzkin immersed himself in the world of poker. He became a professional poker player and won the 2006 World Series of Poker.&nbsp;
In addition to his professional successes, Waitzkin is an accomplished author. He wrote the book “The Art of Learning”, which explores his journey to mastery in both chess and martial arts. He also wrote “The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence” and “The Art of Learning Journal”. Waitzkin has been featured in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.&nbsp;
Today, Waitzkin is a sought-after public speaker and consultant, as well as a business coach. He has spoken at a variety of conferences and events, including TEDx and the World Economic Forum. In addition to his public speaking engagements, Waitzkin is the co-founder of the Waitzkin Institute, which provides consulting and coaching services to individuals and organizations. He also serves as the chairman of the board of directors for the International Chess Federation.&nbsp;
Josh Waitzkin is an inspirational figure who has achieved success in multiple fields. His dedication to excellence, combined with his ability to adapt to new challenges, has enabled him to achieve a level of success rarely seen in any single field.

Josh

Bruno Snell (18 June 1896 – 31 October 1986) was a German classical philologist. From 1931 to 1959, he held a chair for classical philology at the University of Hamburg, where he established the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae research center in 1944.
After studying law and economics at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Oxford, Snell gained an interest in classical studies and finally changed his major to classical philology. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen in 1922.
Snell served as the inaugural president of the Mommsen Society from 1950 to 1954. In 1953, Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, an institution promoting research and postgraduate education in the field of European integration, was founded on Snell's initiative. Since 1989, the Mommsen Society has awarded the Bruno Snell Prize to young classical scholars.
His book, The Discovery of the Mind: The Greek Origins of European Thought (Die Entdeckung des Geistes, Hamburg, 1946, trans. T.G. Rosenmeyer, 1953) argues that the development of Greek literature from Homer to Aristophanes and Plato shows a gradual self-discovery of inner mental life. It argues that the Greek culture developed a unique and individual inner world of thought for humans, before which was not available. This is similar to later psychological theories of the development and evolution of human consciousness.

Bruno

Adam Grant is an American psychologist and author widely known for his work on the science of giving, creativity, and organizational psychology. He is the top-rated professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a former professor at the University of Michigan. His first book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, was a New York Times bestseller.
Grant is a leading authority on the science of giving, creativity, and organizational psychology. He has written or co-written six books, including Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World and Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy. He has also written for The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harvard Business Review, and other publications.
Grant's research focuses on how giving, taking, and exchanging advice affects an individual’s success. He has studied how to maximize the benefits of giving, how to encourage more successful collaborations, and how to foster an environment of innovation and creativity. He has also explored how to assess and develop leadership potential within organizations and how to build workplace cultures where employees are empowered to do their best work.
Grant has received numerous awards and honors, including being named one of the world's 40 most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50 in 2015, one of the world's 50 most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50 in 2018, and one of the world's most influential management gurus by The Observer in 2018. He is a recipient of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Mentoring and was named the Most Influential Thinker of the Decade by Poets &amp; Quants in 2020.
In addition to his academic and writing career, Grant is a frequent speaker for organizations, universities, and conferences around the world. He has presented to audiences of thousands at TEDx events, and he has been featured on television and radio programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes, and NPR’s Fresh Air. He has also served as a visiting professor at Stanford, Cornell, and INSEAD, and he is currently a visiting professor at the London School of Economics.

Adam

Henri Frédéric Ellenberger (Nalolo, Barotseland, Rhodesia, 6 November 1905 – Quebec, 1 May 1993) was a Canadian psychiatrist, medical historian, and criminologist sometimes considered the founding historiographer of psychiatry. Ellenberger is chiefly remembered for The Discovery of the Unconscious, an encyclopedic study of the history of dynamic psychiatry published in 1970.&nbsp;
Henri F. Ellenberger was born in British Rhodesia to Swiss parents and spent his childhood in the British colony of Rhodesia. He was later naturalized as a French citizen and took his baccalaureate degree in Strasbourg, France, in 1924. He studied medicine and psychiatry in Paris. A student of Professor Henri Baruk, he obtained his doctorate in 1934 while working at the famous Hôpital Sainte-Anne alongside such well-known contemporaries as Jacques Lacan (whose flair for self-publicity he early noted).
Subsequent to the emergence of the Vichy government, Ellenberger emigrated to Switzerland in 1941. There he went through a training analysis with Oskar Pfister between 1949 and 1952 before becoming a member of the Swiss Psychoanalytic Society (SSP).
In 1953, in a major career change, Ellenberger became the lecturer at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka (Kansas). At the end of 1958, Ellenberger left Topeka. He obtained a research appointment in the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal. Later (1962), he went on to become a Professor of Criminology at the Université de Montréal in Canada. There he was to do pioneering work on victimology, exploring the psychodynamics between offender and victim.
Ellenberger is chiefly remembered for The Discovery of the Unconscious, an encyclopedic study of the history of dynamic psychiatry published in 1970. This work traced the origins of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy back to its 18th-century prehistory in the attempts to heal disease through exorcism, as practiced by the Catholic priest Johann Joseph Gassner, and from him through the researchers of hypnotism, Franz Mesmer and the Marquis de Puységur, to the 19th-century neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot and the main figures of 20th-century psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Carl Gustav Jung.
Robin Skynner praised the clarity of its presentation of the ideas of the great twentieth-century figures in their socio-historical contexts. Ellenberger's account of Pierre Janet has also been singled out for special mention, while Anthony Stevens has made use of his concept of "creative illness" in his account of Jung. Gay also singled out for mention of Ellenberger's 1972 article on Anna O, which Gay considered "persuasively corrects Jones's misreading and Freud's misremembering of the case". It was, however, only one of the thirty-five or so historical articles Ellenberger published both before and after his great synopsis.
The Resource Center Henri Ellenberger in Paris was named in his honor. During his lifetime, he received many awards, including the Gold Medal of the Beccaria Prize in 1970 and the Jason A. Hannah Medal of the Royal Society of Canada. Ellenberger has been characterized as one of the mid-century, interdisciplinary independents in psychiatric thought.&nbsp;
His unique career path and independent, if moderate, Freudian revisionism made him, at times, an isolated figure, especially with the biological turn in psychiatry at the close of the twentieth century. His own belief in the central importance of the reality of the unconscious never faltered, however, even with the fading of his dream of a synthesis that "would do justice to the rigorous demands of experimental psychology and to the psychic realities experienced by the explorers of the unconscious."
From 1956 to 1959, Ellenberger started teaching the history of psychiatry at the Menninger Foundation (where George Devereux already gave a lecture on psychoanalysis and anthropology). The experience of exile played a key role in explaining Ellenberger's interest in history. Ellenberger has been criticized for modeling his picture of the origins of psychiatry in the Enlightenment clash with Demonology — in the triumph of illuminated reason over the blindness of faith.

Henri

V.S. Ramachandran is the Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition, and Distinguished Professor with the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and an Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute. Ramachandran initially trained as a doctor (MBBS) at Stanley Medical College, Madras, India, and subsequently obtained a Ph.D. from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge.&nbsp;
After that, he received an honorary FRCP, London (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians), and two honorary doctorates (DSc; honors causa). Ramachandran’s early work was on visual perception. Still, he is best known for his experiments in behavioral neurology which, despite their apparent simplicity, have had a profound impact on the way we think about the brain. He has been called “The Marco Polo of neuroscience” by Richard Dawkins and “The modern Paul Broca” by Eric Kandel.
In 2005 he was awarded the Henry Dale Medal and elected to an honorary life membership by the Royal Institution of Great Britain, where he also gave a Friday evening discourse (joining the ranks of Michael Faraday, Thomas Huxley, Humphry Davy, and dozens of Nobel Laureates). His other honors and awards include fellowships from All Souls College, Oxford, and from Stanford University (Hilgard Visiting Professor); the Presidential Lecture Award from the American Academy of Neurology; two honorary doctorates, the annual Ramon Y Cajal award from the International Neuropsychiatry Society, and the Ariens-Kappers medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.&nbsp;
In 2003 he gave the annual BBC Reith lectures and was the first physician/psychologist to give the lectures since they were begun by Bertrand Russel in 1949. In 1995 he gave the Decade of the Brain lecture at the 25th annual (Silver Jubilee) meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. In 2010 he delivered the annual Jawaharlal Nehru memorial lecture in New Delhi, India. Most recently, the President of India conferred on him the second-highest civilian award and honorific title in India, the Padma Bhushan. And TIME magazine named him on their list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Ramachandran has published over 180 papers in scientific journals (including five invited review articles in Scientific American). He is the author of the acclaimed book “Phantoms in the Brain,” which has been translated into nine languages and formed the basis for a two-part series on Channel Four TV (UK) and a 1 hour PBS special in the USA. NEWSWEEK magazine has named him a member of “The Century Club” – one of the “hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century.” He has been profiled in the New Yorker Magazine and appeared on the Charlie Rose Show. His new book, "The Tell-Tale Brain," was on the New York Times best-seller list.

V.S.

Born in West Newton, Massachusetts, Julian Jaynes did his undergraduate work at Harvard and McGill and received both his master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from Yale. After Yale, Jaynes spent several years in England working as an actor and playwright. Jaynes later returned to the states and lectured in psychology at Princeton University from 1964 to 1995, teaching a popular class on consciousness for much of that time.&nbsp;
In addition, he had numerous positions as Visiting Lecturer or Scholar in Residence in departments of philosophy, English, and archaeology and in numerous medical schools. Julian Jaynes was an associate editor of the internationally renowned journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences and on the Journal of Mind and Behavior editorial board. Julian Jaynes published widely, his earlier work focusing on the study of animal behavior and ethology, eventually leading him to study human consciousness. His more recent work culminated in 1976 in his book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, a nominee for the National Book Award in 1978. Articles on Jaynes’s theory appeared in Time magazine and Psychology Today in 1977.&nbsp;
Criticized by some and acclaimed by others as one of the most important books of the twentieth century, it remains as influential, controversial, and widely read today as when it was first published. Expanding on his theory, Jaynes published articles in various journals such as Canadian Psychology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The History of Ideas, and Art/World — most of these articles have been reprinted in The Julian Jaynes Collection, along with other interviews and lectures.

Julian

Jocko Willink is an American retired Navy Seal officer, author, podcaster, and public speaker. He is best known for his involvement in the Battle of Ramadi, his success in the Navy SEALs, and his leadership philosophy, which is based on discipline, hard work, and respect for others.
Willink was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on September 8, 1971. He joined the Navy in 1990 and, after graduating from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, was assigned to SEAL Team 3. During his service in the Navy, Willink completed multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and was eventually assigned to Task Unit Bruiser, the most decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War. During the Battle of Ramadi, Willink and his team helped to clear the city of insurgent forces, and their exemplary performance earned them the Navy Cross.
Willink retired from the Navy in 2010 and soon after began to share his leadership philosophy. He has authored several books, including Extreme Ownership, Leadership Strategy and Tactics, and Way of the Warrior Kid, as well as co-hosting the popular podcast Jocko Podcast.
Willink is also a respected public speaker, giving talks all over the world on topics such as leadership, discipline, and team building. He is a sought-after keynote speaker for both corporate and military events.
Willink is an advocate for physical and mental fitness, often speaking about the importance of proper nutrition and exercise. He also encourages people to push themselves and strive to become the best versions of themselves.
Willink is a highly respected figure in the military and business worlds, and his words have been an inspiration to many. His leadership philosophy is one that emphasizes discipline, hard work, and respect for others, and these values are ones that have served him well throughout his career.

Jocko

Dr. Claudio Naranjo (1932 - 2019) was a Chilean-born psychotherapist, medical doctor, author, educator, Buddhist practitioner, and pioneer in the areas of psychology, psychedelic therapies, and human development. Naranjo was an early practitioner of the “Enneagram of Personality,” which he enriched with his deep understanding of psychology and more esoteric aspects of work with the psyche.&nbsp;
He ultimately created SAT (Seekers After Truth), integrating Gestalt therapy, the Enneagram, contemplative practices, music and art therapy, and other practices designed to provide deep personal insights. In his later years, he expanded his work to explore education and its role in promoting patriarchal worldviews that contribute to our deepening global crisis.&nbsp;
Naranjo is the author of several books, including The Healing Journey: Pioneering Approaches to Psychedelic Therapy (2nd edition), (MAPS 2013), The Revolution We Expected: Cultivating a New Politics of Consciousness (Synergetic Press, 2020), and Dionysian Buddhism: Guided Interpersonal Meditations in the Three Yanas (Synergetic Press, 2022).&nbsp;

Claudio

Arianna Huffington is a Greek-American author, syndicated columnist, and businesswoman. She was born Arianna Stassinopoulos on July 15, 1950, in Athens, Greece. She moved to the United Kingdom with her family when she was 16 and later studied economics at Girton College, Cambridge.
After graduating, Huffington began her career as a writer and commentator and was a prominent conservative commentator in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s. She later moved to the United States, where she continued her career as a political commentator and became a naturalized citizen in 1990.
In 2005, Huffington co-founded The Huffington Post, a news and opinion website, with Kenneth Lerer and Jonah Peretti. AOL acquired the site in 2011 for $315 million. She served as the site's editor-in-chief from 2005 to 2016.
Huffington is also a prolific author and has written several books, including "The Sleep Revolution," "Thrive," and "The Fourth Instinct: The Call of the Soul." She is also a public speaker and has delivered speeches on various topics, including well-being, media, and politics.
In 2016, Huffington resigned as editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post to focus on her health and wellness startup, Thrive Global, which focuses on reducing workplace stress and burnout. She is still the CEO of Thrive Global.
AOL acquired the Huffington Post in 2011 for $315 million. In 2016, she stepped down as editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post to focus on her new startup, Thrive Global, which aims to end the "epidemic of stress and burnout" by offering corporate wellness programs and products. Huffington is also an author, having written 14 books, including the best-seller "Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder."

Arianna

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, and former trader and risk analyst whose work focuses on problems of randomness, probability, and uncertainty. He is the author of several books, including "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable," which was published in 2007 and became a bestseller.
Taleb is a former trader and risk analyst and has worked as a professor of risk engineering at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering. He has a background in mathematics, statistics, and computer science and has published numerous papers in academic journals on topics related to randomness and uncertainty.
Taleb's main area of research is the study of "black swans," which he defines as rare events that have a large impact and are typically not predictable. He argues that traditional risk assessment methods, such as using historical data to predict future events, are inadequate because they fail to consider the possibility of black swan events.
Taleb is also known for his criticism of the concept of "normalcy" in statistics and his skepticism of the use of mathematical models in finance and economics. He has argued that the assumptions made in these models are often unrealistic and can lead to dangerous oversimplifications.
In addition to his work in academia, Taleb is also a public intellectual and has written several books for a general audience. His books have been widely discussed and debated in the media and have been translated into multiple languages.
Taleb is a strong advocate for antifragility, a concept he has developed and popularized in his books. Antifragility is the property of a system or entity that improves when subjected to volatility, shocks, stressors, or disorder and doesn't just remain indifferent to them.
Taleb's writing style is often characterized as provocative and contrarian, and he is known for his strong opinions on a wide range of topics. His work has been influential in the fields of economics, finance, and risk management and has also been discussed in the broader cultural and intellectual conversation.

Nassim Nicholas

Chris Anderson is the Head of TED, a non-profit organization devoted to spreading ideas through short, powerful talks. He is also the founder of TEDx, a program that allows communities and organizations to host TED-like events.
Anderson has been involved with TED since 2001 and took over as Head of TED in 2002. Under his leadership, TED has grown into a global phenomenon, with talks being viewed by millions of people in more than 100 languages. He has also been instrumental in expanding the reach of TED by making the words available for free online and by launching the TEDx program.
In addition to his work with TED, Anderson is also an entrepreneur and author. He is the founder of several successful companies. In addition, he has written several books, including "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More" and "TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking."
Anderson is a firm believer in the power of ideas to change the world, and he has dedicated his career to promoting this idea through TED. He is a charismatic and dynamic speaker and has been praised for his ability to bring together diverse groups of people to share their thoughts and inspire change.
Anderson is also known for his innovative approach to curation, which has helped to make TED one of the most respected and widely-watched platforms for ideas. He has a keen eye for identifying new and emerging trends and is always looking for ways to bring fresh perspectives and voices to the TED stage.
He has also been a champion of using technology to democratize knowledge and ideas, making them more accessible to people worldwide. In addition, he has been an early adopter of new technologies, such as online video and social media, to help spread TED's message and reach new audiences.
Various organizations and publications have also recognized Anderson's work with TED. He has been honored with numerous awards for his contributions to the field of communications and education and has been named one of the most influential people in the world by Time Magazine.
In addition to his role at TED, Anderson is a sought-after speaker and advisor and has been invited to speak at conferences and events worldwide. In addition, he is a regular contributor to various publications, where he shares his insights on the future of technology, business, and culture.
Overall, Chris Anderson is a respected leader and a thought leader in the field of ideas and education, and he continues to inspire and innovate in his role as Head of TED. His work has helped make TED one of the most critical and influential platforms for sharing knowledge and ideas, and his contributions to the field will continue to be felt for years.

Chris

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in the psyche through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Freud was born to Galician Jewish parents in the Moravian town of Freiberg in the Austrian Empire. He qualified as a doctor of medicine in 1881 at the University of Vienna.
Upon completing his habilitation in 1885, he was appointed a docent in neuropathology and became an affiliated professor in 1902. Freud lived and worked in Vienna, having set up his clinical practice there in 1886. Following the German annexation of Austria in 1938, Freud left Austria to escape Nazi persecution. He died in exile in the United Kingdom in 1939. In founding psychoanalysis, Freud developed therapeutic techniques such as the use of free association and discovered transference, establishing its central role in the analytic process.&nbsp;
Freud's redefinition of sexuality to include its infantile forms led him to formulate the Oedipus complex as the central tenet of psychoanalytical theory. His analysis of dreams as wish fulfillments provided him with models for the clinical analysis of symptom formation and the underlying mechanisms of repression. On this basis, Freud elaborated his theory of the unconscious and went on to develop a model of psychic structure comprising id, ego, and super-ego.&nbsp;
Freud postulated the existence of libido, the sexualized energy with which mental processes and structures are invested and which generates erotic attachments, and a death drive, the source of compulsive repetition, hate, aggression, and neurotic guilt. In his later works, Freud developed a wide-ranging interpretation and critique of religion and culture. Though in overall decline as a diagnostic and clinical practice, psychoanalysis remains influential within psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy and across the humanities.&nbsp;
It thus continues to generate extensive and highly contested debate concerning its therapeutic efficacy, its scientific status, and whether it advances or hinders the feminist cause. Nonetheless, Freud's work has suffused contemporary Western thought and popular culture. W. H. Auden's 1940 poetic tribute to Freud describes him as having created "a whole climate of opinion / under whom we conduct our different lives."

Sigmund

Ryan Holiday is an American author, marketer, media strategist, and entrepreneur. He is the author of several bestselling books, including his most recent, Perennial Seller, as well as popular titles such as The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, Conspiracy, and Growth Hacker Marketing. Holiday has written for the New York Times, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He has also been featured in Time, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post.
Holiday is the founder of Brass Check, a creative consulting agency that specializes in marketing, media strategy, and creative consulting. He has worked with some of the world’s most successful authors, entrepreneurs, and public figures, including Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss, Robert Greene, and Tucker Max. His clients also include media companies such as VICE, MTV, and Complex. He has also served as a consultant to brands such as American Apparel, Google, and Gillette.
As an author, Holiday has written nine books, three of which have become New York Times bestsellers. His books focus on topics such as personal and professional development, marketing, and media strategy. His most recent book, Perennial Seller, is a guide to creating and sustaining success in business, publishing, and life.
As a media strategist and consultant, Holiday has helped launch and reinvigorate several brands and campaigns. His work spans from creating marketing campaigns for startups and Fortune 500 companies to working as a creative consultant for media companies and major brands.
Holiday's work has been featured in major publications, including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and The Washington Post. He has also appeared on television shows such as the Colbert Report, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and podcasts such as the Tim Ferriss Show and the Joe Rogan Experience.&nbsp;
In addition to his work as an author, media strategist, and consultant, Holiday is a frequent public speaker. He has been a keynote speaker at events such as SXSW, the World Business Forum, and the Inc. 5000 Conference. He also teaches marketing and media strategy classes at the University of California, Berkeley.
Holiday is passionate about helping others achieve their goals and dreams. He has created several online courses and resources to help entrepreneurs, creatives, and marketers better understand the media landscape, marketing, and creative strategies. He also serves as the Managing Director of the media startup, Contently and is an adviser to several startups and companies. He is also a mentor to many aspiring entrepreneurs and creators.

Ryan

Johnson was born in Portland, Oregon. He studied at the University of Oregon and Stanford University. In 1945, he went to Ojai, California, as a student of Jiddu Krishnamurti, an Indian spiritual teacher. In 1947 he began his own therapy with Fritz Künkel. He later studied at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zürich, Switzerland, where Emma Jung, the wife of C. G. Jung, was his principal analyst. He completed his analytical training with Künkel and Tony Sussman. He established an analytical practice in Los Angeles in the early 1950s with Helen Luke. In the early 1960s, he closed his practice and became a member of St. Gregory's Abbey, Three Rivers, in Michigan, a Benedictine monastery of the Episcopal Church.
After four years in the monastery, Johnson returned to California in 1967. He resumed his career as a psychotherapist and lectured at St. Paul’s Cathedral in San Diego, working closely with John A. Sanford, an Episcopal priest, Jungian analyst, and author. In 1974, a collection of his lectures was published as He: Understanding Masculine Psychology. The book became a bestseller after Harper &amp; Row acquired the rights. He was the first of many books giving a Jungian interpretation, in accessible language, of earlier myths and stories and their parallels with psychology and personal development.
Johnson also studied at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry, India. In 2002 he received an honorary doctorate in humanities and a lifetime achievement award from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Robert

Nir Eyal is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and lecturer on the topics of consumer psychology and behavior design. He is well-known for his book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, which focuses on understanding how technology companies create products that users become addicted to.
Eyal has a background in business and psychology, having received his MBA from Stanford University and a BSc in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked in the tech industry for over a decade and has held executive positions at several companies, including Yahoo and Time Warner.
Eyal has also founded two tech companies, AdNectar and Insightera, and is an investor in several startups. He has been an advisor or board member for numerous companies, including Eventbrite, Product Hunt, and BloomThat.
In addition to his business career, Eyal has written several books, including Hooked, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, and The Business of Habit: Designing Products and Services That Create Loyalty. He also writes a popular blog and hosts a podcast called The Nir and Far Show.
Eyal is a sought-after speaker, presenting to audiences all over the world. He has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes and has been a guest on many podcasts, including The Tim Ferriss Show and The Joe Rogan Experience.
If you are interested in gaining a better understanding of how to design products and services that capture and keep users’ attention, Nir Eyal is an excellent resource. His books, blog, podcast, and talks offer valuable insights into the world of consumer psychology and behavior design.

George

The now-classic Metaphors We Live By changed our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide an understanding of countless other subjects.
Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are "metaphors we live by"—metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without ever noticing them.
In this updated edition of Lakoff and Johnson's influential book, the authors supply an afterword surveying how their theory of metaphor has developed within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how we think and express our thoughts in language.

Matt Mullenweg is an American entrepreneur, web developer, and online community organizer. He is best known as the co-founder of WordPress, an open-source content management system (CMS) that powers millions of websites worldwide. He also co-founded Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, which provides hosting, support, and other services for WordPress users.
Mullenweg began developing WordPress as a student at the University of Houston in 2003. In 2005, he co-founded Automattic and has been leading the company as CEO ever since. He is also the founder of the WordPress Foundation, which supports the open-source WordPress project.
In addition to his work with WordPress, Mullenweg is an active investor and advisor to several technology startups and has invested in companies like Medium, Akismet, Longreads, and others. He's also had several speaking engagements and keynotes on open source, web development, and entrepreneurship topics.
Matt Mullenweg is known for co-founding WordPress and Automattic and is also an active investor in various technology startups. He has invested in Medium, Akismet, Longreads, and others. He is also an advisor to startups; in his ventures, he is particularly interested in investing in companies that align with his values, such as open-source software, decentralized networks, and user privacy.
He is a firm believer in decentralized systems and often invests in startups building decentralized technologies like blockchain. He's also a big advocate for open-source and is interested in investing in companies that incorporate open-source culture into their companies and products.
Overall, Matt Mullenweg has significantly impacted the world of web development and online publishing. His work with WordPress has helped democratize the creation and management of websites for individuals and organizations of all sizes.

Matt

Tristan Harris is a technology ethicist, design thinker, and public speaker known for his work on the impact of technology on society. He is the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, a non-profit organization that aims to align technology with humanity's best interests.
Harris began his career as a design ethicist at Google, where he worked on the design of products such as Google Glass and Google's search algorithms. During his time at Google, he became increasingly concerned about the negative impact that technology was having on society and began to speak out about the need for greater transparency and ethical considerations in the technology industry.
In 2013, Harris founded the Time Well Spent movement, which aimed to encourage technology companies to design products that are more mindful of the way they use people's time and attention. This led to the creation of the Center for Humane Technology, which was founded in 2018 with a mission to shift technology towards a more humane and ethical trajectory by educating people on the impact of technology on their lives, promoting ethical design principles, and investing in research on technology's impact on individuals and society.
Harris has also been a vocal advocate for greater regulation of the technology industry. In 2018, he testified before the US Senate Commerce Committee on the impact of technology on children and teens and has called for greater oversight of tech companies and their practices.
In addition to his work with the Center for Humane Technology, Harris is also a frequent speaker and commentator on the topic of technology and its impact on society. He has given TED Talks and has been featured in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine.
Tristan Harris' work as an advocate of human-centered design and ethical considerations in technology has gained him a reputation as one of the leading voices in the tech industry when it comes to the impact of technology on society. He has been recognized as one of the most influential people in technology by Time Magazine and Fast Company, among other publications.

Tristan

Nick Szabo is a computer scientist, legal scholar, and cryptographer known for researching digital contracts and digital currency. Szabo is known for his early work on digital currency and related concepts. In 1998, he proposed a system called "Bit Gold," which is considered a precursor to Bitcoin. Bit Gold was a decentralized digital currency that used cryptographic proof-of-work to enable secure, trustless transfers without needing a central authority. Although the system was never implemented, Szabo's ideas about digital currency and distributed ledgers were influential in developing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Szabo also coined the term "smart contract" and has written extensively about the potential for digital contracts to automate and streamline legal and financial transactions. A smart contract is a computer program that can automatically execute the terms of an agreement when certain conditions are met. The idea behind smart contracts is to create a way to enforce a contract without the need for intermediaries, such as lawyers or banks. Smart contracts are designed to automate processes, ensure compliance with legal requirements, and reduce the risk of fraud or errors.
Szabo first described the concept of smart contracts in 1994 and has since written extensively about their potential applications in finance, legal, and supply chain management. He proposed that smart contracts could automate financial derivatives, digital assets, and other digital interactions.
Szabo's concept of smart contracts is now being implemented on various blockchain technologies like Ethereum, EOS, and others. His work on smart contracts laid the foundation for developing decentralized applications (DApps) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) based on blockchain technology.
Szabo is also a researcher at Global Financial Integrity in Washington, DC, and has been a pioneer in digital currency and blockchain research. His ideas and concepts significantly influenced the development of Bitcoin and other decentralized systems.

Nick

Steven Pinker

Noam Chomsky

Daniel Dennett

Richard Dawkins

Sam Harris

In 'Metaphors We Live By', George Lakoff explains that metaphors are not just figures of speech, but they are deeply embedded in our everyday language and thought. He encourages us to explore how we use metaphors in our daily conversations and how they shape our understanding of the world.

Understanding Metaphors

Lakoff suggests that our perception of reality is largely shaped by the metaphors we use. He argues that our language doesn't just reflect our reality, it also helps to create it. So, if you want to see the world in a new light, you might want to check how you use metaphors.

Metaphors and Reality

The book shows us that metaphors have the power to influence our actions and decisions. For example, if we see arguments as war, we tend to approach them aggressively. Lakoff's research into this topic can help us understand our own behaviors better.

The Power of Metaphors

Lakoff also digs into how metaphors are influenced by our culture. Different cultures use different metaphors, which can lead to misunderstandings. By understanding this, we can improve our communication with people from different cultural backgrounds.

Metaphors and Culture

One of the most interesting points in 'Metaphors We Live By' is that by changing our metaphors, we can change our minds. If you're looking to change your perspective or mindset, you might find Lakoff's insights very useful.

Changing Metaphors, Changing Minds

Metaphors We Live By

George Philip Lakoff is an American cognitive linguist and philosopher. He is best known for his thesis that people's lives are significantly influenced by the conceptual metaphors they use to explain complex phenomena.
The conceptual metaphor thesis, introduced in his and Mark Johnson's 1980 book Metaphors We Live By, has found applications in several academic disciplines. Applying it to politics, literature, philosophy, and mathematics has led Lakoff into territory typically considered essential to political science.
In his 1996 book Moral Politics, Lakoff described conservative voters as being influenced by the "strict father model" as a central metaphor for such a complex phenomenon as the state, and liberal/progressive voters as being influenced by the "nurturant parent model" as the folk psychological metaphor for this complex phenomenon. According to him, an individual's experience and attitude towards sociopolitical issues are influenced by being framed in linguistic constructions.
In Metaphor and War: The Metaphor System Used to Justify War in the Gulf (1991), he argues that the American involvement in the Gulf War was obscured or "spun" by the first Bush administration's metaphors used to justify it. Between 2003 and 2008, Lakoff was involved with a progressive think tank, the now-defunct Rockridge Institute. In addition, he is a member of the scientific committee of the Fundación IDEAS (IDEAS Foundation), Spain's Socialist Party's think tank.
The more general theory that elaborated his thesis is known as embodied mind. Lakoff served as a linguistics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1972 until his retirement in 2016.

Its publication should be a major cognitive linguistics event and pose a major challenge for cognitive science. In addition, it should have repercussions in a variety of disciplines, ranging from anthropology and psychology to epistemology and the philosophy of science.
Lakoff asks: What do categories of language and thought reveal about the human mind? Offering both general theory and minute details, Lakoff shows that categories reveal a great deal.—David E. Leary, American Scientist

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In 'Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things', George Lakoff explores the concept of cognitive categories. He argues that our understanding of the world is not based on objective reality, but on our mental categorization of experiences. This means that our perception of the world is shaped by our thoughts and experiences, not just by the physical world around us.

Understanding Cognitive Categories

Lakoff digs into the power of metaphors in shaping our thoughts and perceptions. He suggests that metaphors are not just figures of speech, but fundamental structures of understanding. This means that the way we talk about things can actually shape the way we think about them.

The book challenges traditional logic and its limitations. Lakoff argues that traditional logic, which is based on clear-cut categories and binary oppositions, does not accurately reflect our cognitive processes. Instead, he proposes a more fluid and dynamic understanding of categorization.

Challenging Traditional Logic

Lakoff also explores the role of culture in shaping our cognitive processes. He suggests that our cultural background can influence the way we categorize and understand the world. This means that our thoughts and perceptions are not just shaped by our individual experiences, but also by our cultural context.

The Role of Culture in Cognition

Finally, 'Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things' has important implications for our understanding of language and thought. Lakoff's research suggests that language is not just a tool for communication, but a fundamental part of our cognitive processes. This means that the way we use language can actually shape the way we think and perceive the world.

Implications for Language and Thought

Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things

Rafael

This book is about mathematical ideas, about what mathematics means and why. Abstract ideas, for the most part, arise via conceptual metaphor-metaphorical ideas projecting from the way we function in the everyday physical world.
Where Mathematics Comes From argues that conceptual metaphor plays a central role in mathematical ideas within the cognitive unconscious-from arithmetic and algebra to sets and logic to infinity in all of its forms.

Bret Victor is a computer scientist and interaction designer known for his work in human-computer interaction. He began his career as a software engineer, working at companies such as Lucasfilm and Apple. He was part of the team that designed the user interface for the iPad. He also worked at startups and consulted for companies in the technology industry.
In addition to his work in industry, Victor is also known for his talks and writing on the future of computing. He is a proponent of creating more direct and immediate ways for people to interact with computers and has advocated for the development of better tools for programming. He has written several influential essays on the topic, including "The Future of Programming" and "Inventing on Principle."
Victor has also been involved in researching and developing new interaction models and tools for creative codings, such as the "Dynamicland" project, which aimed at creating a new way of interacting with computers through direct manipulation and physicality.
In recent years, Victor has been involved in a " Learnable Programming project," which aims to make programming more accessible and understandable to a broader audience.
In summary, Bret Victor is known for his work in human-computer interaction, particularly for his emphasis on the importance of creative tools for programmers and other digital creators, his writing and talks on the future of computing, and his research on new interaction models and tools for creative coding.

Bret

In 'Where Mathematics Comes From', Rafael Núñez explores the fascinating connection between the human mind and mathematics. He suggests that our ability to understand and use math is deeply rooted in our cognitive abilities. This book will make you see math in a whole new light.

Understanding the Human Mind

Núñez argues that mathematics is not a universal truth waiting to be discovered, but a human invention. This perspective challenges traditional views and invites you to look into the origins and development of mathematical concepts.

Mathematics as a Human Invention

One of the key insights from the book is the role of metaphor in mathematics. Núñez shows how we use metaphors to understand complex mathematical concepts. This will help you appreciate the creative side of math.

The Role of Metaphor in Mathematics

The book introduces the concept of the 'embodied mind', suggesting that our physical experiences shape our understanding of abstract concepts, including mathematics. This theory can change the way you approach learning and teaching math.

The Embodied Mind Theory

Núñez also explores how culture influences our mathematical understanding. He suggests that different cultures may have unique mathematical concepts. This research will make you appreciate the diversity and richness of mathematical knowledge across the globe.

Discover the Best Books Written by George Lakoff

Best author’s book

Metaphors We Live By

Written books

Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things

Where Mathematics Comes From

Metaphors We Live By

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