J.B. Watson, Jr., Ph.D.

Neuroplasticity doesn't have an expiry date. Go learn that new thing.

Writing is the superpower of humankind. It is our truest form of magic. Writing allows you to conjure up something of value where nothing previously existed. It costs little for you to write down the lessons of your life and yet those few minutes spent writing can be life-altering for the right reader. As I once saw it put: "there is someone out there with a wound in the exact shape of your words." Furthermore, writing is the foundation of nearly every technology and innovation because we have to record what we know before we can build upon it. And these innovations are passed down from generation to generation, allowing our children to inherit a richer intellectual fortune than what we were born into. The world is richer because we write and nobody is made poorer in the process.

Victor Davis Hanson reveals how Donald Trump’s rally strategy activates the MAGA base. Democrats mock the rallies. Hanson says they’re watching the wrong audience: “So all of these rallies are not intended for the Democratic party. They’re not intended even as much for the independents. They’re intended for the Republican MAGA base, which traditionally has not come out in midterm elections.” The math: “if the MAGA movement turns out about 75% or 80% as it did in 2024, the Republicans can stop this blue wave.” Democrats can mock the rallies all they want, but they're not for them.

Walter Kirn: Everything that happens before the election is a PSYOP. KIRN: “Everything that happens, the polling, the rumors, the word of mouth, the social media posts, the trends, the little anecdotes that get repeated and go viral. Everything is subordinate to that election. And none of it is true in and of itself. It's all instrumental.” “Not only don't I trust the polls, I do trust the polls. I trust them to be nudging people in all the ways that polls can for all the people who can pay for polls.” “The news now is all about behavior modification. It's not about truth.” For the next week, every poll or viral story you see, don't ask if it's true. Ask what it's trying to get you to do.

Seneca on why reading deeply is more valuable than reading widely:

Praise God for @JohnPiper. His preaching kept me from drifting into theological liberalism. I remember listening to a sermon on suffering and thinking, “I want what that man has.” It awakened me from an edgy flirtation with liberalism driven more by a desire to be transgressive than by serious theological reflection. His preaching helped anchor my theology in the glory of Christ.

Forecast is updated.