Philosophy cannot resolve the question ‘How should we live?’
The meaning of life is not a puzzle that can be solved once and for all. Asking ‘How should we live?’ defines our humanity
More from Aeon+Psyche
Slow down, it’s what your brain has been begging for
It’s no small task to live a life of sustained attention. So slow down, and give your brain a break to do its work
«Paying attention to the moment during a walk shifts focus away from the internally generated, anxiety-provoking scenarios, creating much-needed space.»
How to know what you really want
From career choices to new purchases, use René Girard’s mimetic theory to resist the herd and forge your own path in life
«These are people whose desires are in some sense intertwined with your own – they can affect your desires, and you can in turn affect theirs»
You May Also Like
The meaning of life in a world without work
As technology renders jobs obsolete, what will keep us busy? Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari examines ‘the useless class’ and a new quest for purpose
Academic Philosophy and the Meaning of Life: Part Four
This is the final column in a four-part series by Helena de Bres on academic philosophy and the meaning of life.
What Happens When Modern Society Rebrands an Ancient Philosophy?
Everyone from Silicon Valley billionaires to self-help enthusiasts is repurposing Stoicism for our modern age, with results that are good, bad, and highly indifferent.
«Things like “wake up early,” “go for a walk,” “journal,” “eat well,” “read,” and “get active” are good pieces of advice, but surely not specifically Stoic behaviors. »
The Milky Way, the Pond, and the Meaning of Life: Thoreau on Solitude, Sympathy, and the Salve…
“There can be no very black melancholy to him who lives in the midst of Nature and has his senses still.”
«People are drawn to the easy and to the easiest side of the easy. But it is clear that we must hold ourselves to the difficult.”»
How to Live on 24 Hours a Day: Arnold Bennett on Living a Meaningful Life
Arnold Bennett’s How to Live on 24 Hours a Day explores a meaningful life by addressing the age-old question: how can we make the best use of our time?
«What you learn today becomes the scaffolding to solving tomorrow’s problem.»
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks 5 links from around the web for every user, tailored to the user’s interests. Picking only a handful of links means focusing on what’s relevant and useful. We favor timeless pieces—links with long shelf-lives, articles that are still relevant one month, one year, or even ten years from now. These lists of the best resources on any topic are the result of years of careful curation.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets 5 links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, add to reading list, save to «Made me smarter», «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
200k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.