Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Pop quiz!
Who’s the first person who comes to mind when you think of the word philosopher?
Aristotle, Plato, Socrates … Karl Marx?
If you asked me today, the first person that comes to my mind is Tim Urban. Because a philosopher is someone engaged with the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. Wrestling with the big questions! And sure, lots of folks are doing that. But I can’t think of anyone doing it better right now than Tim Urban.
Tim Urban is co-founder and writer of the popular blog Wait Buy Why, which has over 1.5 million readers per month and scores of big-name fans including Elon Musk. Why? Because Tim has a beautifully simplistic way of distilling big, complex topics like artificial intelligence, picking a life partner, and, say, The Fermi Paradox, into simple language.
He’s an incredible teacher, an incredible philosopher. His TED Talk on procrastination is a great example of this, which has over 30 million views.
Tim’s intellectual curiosity is huge. Despite being a Harvard grad, Tim’s going against the grain of typical Harvard grads and spending his days writing long blog posts using simple words to explain big things. And we’re lucky enough to get a glimpse into how Tim’s brain works in Chapter 22.
We discuss breaking convention, retaining curiosity, Stitches vs Band-aids, why you should let your children wear shorts in the winter, the difference between cooks and chefs, and much, much more....
Join us over avocado toast in the corner of Ludlow Coffee Supply in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
For show notes, quotes, and more information on this podcast, visit: 3books.co/chapters/22
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
Pop quiz!
Who’s the first person who comes to mind when you think of the word philosopher?
Aristotle, Plato, Socrates … Karl Marx?
If you asked me today, the first person that comes to my mind is Tim Urban. Because a philosopher is someone engaged with the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. Wrestling with the big questions! And sure, lots of folks are doing that. But I can’t think of anyone doing it better right now than Tim Urban.
Tim Urban is co-founder and writer of the popular blog Wait Buy Why, which has over 1.5 million readers per month and scores of big-name fans including Elon Musk. Why? Because Tim has a beautifully simplistic way of distilling big, complex topics like artificial intelligence, picking a life partner, and, say, The Fermi Paradox, into simple language.
He’s an incredible teacher, an incredible philosopher. His TED Talk on procrastination is a great example of this, which has over 30 million views.
Tim’s intellectual curiosity is huge. Despite being a Harvard grad, Tim’s going against the grain of typical Harvard grads and spending his days writing long blog posts using simple words to explain big things. And we’re lucky enough to get a glimpse into how Tim’s brain works in Chapter 22.
We discuss breaking convention, retaining curiosity, Stitches vs Band-aids, why you should let your children wear shorts in the winter, the difference between cooks and chefs, and much, much more....
Join us over avocado toast in the corner of Ludlow Coffee Supply in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
For show notes, quotes, and more information on this podcast, visit: 3books.co/chapters/22
SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/2HHWPYg
Hey there,
I'm Neil and I spend a ton of time thinking, writing, podcasting, and speaking about living intentionally. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of six books including The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation. I've been lucky to speak at places like TED, SXSW, and Google. And I host a huge passion project called the 3 Books podcast.
Want to read more of my stuff?
https://www.neil.blog/archive/
Want to check out my podcast?
3books.co
Want to learn about my live events?
globalhappiness.org/speaking
Want my monthly book recos?
1000awesomethings.com/reading-club
Want my articles on intentional living?
https://www.neil.blog/newsletter/
I am also on the following drugs:
Facebook: facebook.com/NeilPasricha
Twitter: twitter.com/neilpasricha
Instagram: instagram.com/neilpasricha
Lastly, thanks so much for watching this vid.
👊,
Neil
neil@globalhappiness.org
