Week 7 - “The over examined life is not worth living” - Jim Harrison

Thoughts of the Week

During a recent conversation with a close friend, we discussed how the proximity of those around us affects our lives. Specifically, we talked about the impact of social media on our connections with people. On one hand, we can learn a lot from people of different cultures and feel closer to those we might never have met otherwise.

However, having a social network of individuals that can be accessed at any time can also provide some challenges. It occurred to me that it's not natural for us to be connected to so many people from around the world at the same time. At a certain point in our evolution, the only connections we would have had are those with the individuals close to us. Along the way, we evolved to be able to form connections with those far and close, which I’ve found has led to more surface-level connections. Because we can access everyone so easily, we overlook the importance of deep connections with fewer individuals and seem to have more shallow interactions with more people.

This made me question the idea that social media helps bring us closer together. I used to always think that being able to see how my friends were doing brought me closer to them, but I now wonder if that still holds. Like all things, I think it comes down to balancing your time spent connecting with others on social media with your time with those around you. I’d be interested to hear your ideas on the topic as it’s something that I feel we all have experienced in some way, whether we’ve noticed it or not.

Something to think about

“The over examined life is not worth living” - Jim Harrison

A trap we often fall into is analyzing almost everything in our life. From the food we eat to the way we talk, there is a way to look at everything in our lives with a magnifying lens. But just because we can examine something doesn’t mean we should. Socrates may have gotten it right when he said the examined life wasn’t worth living, but I think even he would argue that there is an important balance between self-reflection and living in the moment.

What I learned This Week

1. Social Desirability Bias

   Social desirability bias is the tendency of individuals to respond in ways they believe are more socially desirable or acceptable instead of in ways that reflect their true nature. That’s to say, people may be inclined to report what they think others want to hear, instead of the truth. This bias is most prevalent in surveys, interviews, and other forms of data gathering.

2. Wittgenstein’s Ruler

   Wittgenstein's Ruler is a concept that highlights the importance of understanding the reliability of a tool when using it to measure something. According to Wittgenstein’s ruler, if the reliability of a ruler is uncertain when measuring a table, one may end up using the table to measure the ruler instead. This concept can be applied to all aspects of life. For example, the beliefs and values of an individual or source can reveal a great deal about their character and credibility. Similar to how a ruler's reliability is crucial to know before used, understanding the reliability of a source is essential for making informed decisions and judgments.

Interesting content I consumed this week

Unfortunately, I didn't come across anything particularly interesting that caught my attention this week, so instead, here are a few pictures from a wonderful hike I took this week in Olympic National Park.

If you enjoy receiving and reading this series, please consider sharing it with anyone you think may be interested. I love sharing the way I think with others and would love to hear others’ opinions on my ideas. Thanks!

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That’s all for this week! If you have any thoughts or suggestions on ways to improve this newsletter or parts you think could be in or excluded, please let me know! Feel free to comment below or message me on In