A framework for curiosity, courtesy of Feynman
edition 4.
A few months ago, I carried out an exercise to craft a list of 6 questions that would help me focus my thinking and learning - inspired by Feynman’s 12 favorite problems.
This exercise helped me identify recurring curiosities, realize a few were more important to me than others, and frame those into questions. Feynman’s own questions largely pertained to mathematics and physics, but like all good frameworks, this can be applied to any area that is meaningful to you. The questions themselves are meant to be open-ended and broad, encompassing the parts of life you care about most and are likely to invest in for a long period of time.
I had forgotten about this exercise until now, when I was sifting through what’s been on my mind lately, scrambling to put together this edition. I was surprised to find that everything I’ve been thinking about neatly falls into the first 3 questions I had formulated:
What is the best way to write towards clarity of thought and work through ideas?
Publishing here weekly has forced me to dwell on my thoughts longer than I normally would - allowing me to cement ideas that would otherwise remain as vague notions in my mind.
As a remote worker, how can I find and build community/communities centered around learning, health, and play?
One of the motivations for starting a blog was to find said community - in the meantime I’ve been trying to meet new people based on shared interests IRL.
How do I create a household that fosters open communication, learning, play, humility, and community?
This is something I think about every time I visit and stay with family and friends (like I did this past weekend). The wonderful thing about being an adult is that you get to be intentional about how you want your house to feel. I’ve been learning from different households and making mental (and digital) notes on atmosphere, warmth, and comfort to build on the ideas that resonate with my vision.
What steps do I need to take, apart from writing, to find my sustainable obsession?
What do kids need to learn to navigate the world with kindness, patience, confidence, curiosity, and joy?
What habits do I need to build to produce more than I consume?
The idea behind developing a set of questions is to subconsciously focus the information you consume towards a set of problems. That way every time you learn something new, you can ask yourself if and how it applies to the questions you are most curious about. Does my mind going back to these questions mean they successfully primed me to notice patterns and information I want to retain?
I’m not sure I will ever know, but as I continue to write and learn, I hope to stumble across new questions I’m craving to answer. I also hope the ones listed above grow more specific and nuanced as evidence of context gathered to create the life I want to live.
reading:
I finished The Year of Magical Thinking this week!
I’ve only been reading non-fiction this year and want to pick up some fast-paced fiction for a change - would love some recommendations.
This week’s substack bookmarks:
How to increase your surface area for luck by Cate Hall
I was sooo excited to read this absolute gem of an essay from Cate Hall about luck. It’s crazy how I’ve been thinking about this for a while now.
Advice for a friend who wants to start a blog by Henrik Karlsson
I’m happy to have found this when I did! I love reading lists of advice - this is one I want to re-read from time to time to help me keep writing.
learning:
I took a break from stablecoins and fell into a venture capital rabbit-hole lately.
making:
I’ve been working on an essay about essays :)
On the topic of writing, I’ve been finding it hard to consolidate all of my ideas for essays in one place. My daily notes and ideas go into remnote, some of my essay ideas go into notion and I use google keep to jot down ideas when I’m not around my laptop. I’m currently looking for a better workflow so that all my ideas end up in one place, making sure they can resurface when I need them.
Thank you so much for reading!