Abstainer or Moderator I was surprised I had never come across a concise explanation of two different methods for maintaining good health. This very brief article talks about how people would approach any habit or behavior (most relevant for the unhealthy ones). If your office had a huge box of donuts sitting out, how could you best resist overindulging? Would…
Optimizing Your Immune System The human immune system does not yield to easy explanation. We have multiple different defenses against foreign intruders, and must limit attack on self. This desired golden mean of immune response illustrates why we can suffer from viral and bacterial infections or from lupus and psoriasis. The immune system is generally divided into innate and adaptive…
Think Deeply • Do statements have to be true or false? Could they be neither, or even both? This piece in Aeon explores ancient Greek logic, ancient Buddhism, and modern philosophy/mathematics. If you start here with this quote, “The nature of things is to have no nature; it is their non-nature that is their nature. For they…
How to Live • Check out this cool article from Ryan Holiday, reviewing several famous sayings on how to approach life. You’ll find Carpe Diem of course, and one of my favorites, Amor Fati. But he includes several I was not familiar with. Fatum Ingenium Est (Character Is Fate), Per Angusta Ad Augusta (Through Difficulties To Honors). • Most provide a lens through which to…
Hey everyone! Hope you had a fulfilling 2019. Did you spend time with the people and the practices you value? This is a good time to reflect on priorities. What do you want to change in your work or home life? Take an inventory and get started now. The best time to plant a tree is 20…
Let there be light • Anyone else sad when the Sun starts to go down at 5pm? Check out this blog post from a guy who decided to install a fake Sun in his home office. 35,000 Lumens for about $120. He notes better productivity. Certainly some mood enhancement for folks who get the Winter Blues.• I…
Stretching • We have covered Gabe Mirkin’s newsletters on prior PWellness segments. This new one of his was tough. He rips apart the entire enterprise of stretching. • Folks who have looked into the exercise literature may know that static stretching prior to competitive sport does NOT prevent injuries and may even increase them. Before your game or…
Zero to One: • Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal, wrote Zero to One in 2014 based on lectures notes from his student at Stanford. I usually stay away from business books, too many claim to have the secret to making us all millionaires. But this book dove into philosophy, macroeconomics, common sense, and futurism. • I was a…
Mix it up: • Looking for a way to entertain your kids, or keep your own activity level up? Check out this thing I wish I had invented. Dice (or die) that you roll to determine what exercise you will perform. My kids were fighting over who got to roll it next, didn’t even realize we…
• Hope everyone is coping well with July in an academic hospital. The ER has been very busy, but our residents are rising to the challenge. We have been impressed with all of the new faces of consultants in the ER. Everyone has been sticking to Mama’s Rules. Check out the article, it is from a…
