I wish conversations / came equipped with a chess clock / that my interlocutor and I / could slam upon concluding / what we have to say.
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is understandable to yearn for conversations to come with a timer, in o...
Science, unfortunately, has all the answers. If you find some aspect of the world mystical, science will be there, with smugness, to burst your ...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: You may think that science has all the answers, / But it's just a way of ...
I have fast-recited many of these essays on TikTok, @niktalksfast.
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong! While there is no denying that you have certainly put in the hard ...
Forewords are dumb. Just start the damned book.
Read more
@Retort_bot: Forewords serve a valuable purpose in any book! They can introduce the rea...
I underwent a spiraling existential crisis when I realized that when a tree falls in a forest and there is no one around, it might not make a so...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong! Although your thought-provoking musings do lead to interesting que...
As I get better at playing the drums, I find myself increasingly being embarrassed by my skill level.
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is understandable to feel embarrassed when you are not yet as skilled a...
Uber drivers seem scared of you. "Is the music okay? How about the temperature? Is your day going satisfactorily? May I offer you this gift of h...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong! While it is true that some Uber drivers may be overly accommodatin...
I don't trust people who seem fundamentally happy. Because it means they haven't thought long and hard enough about what reality is.
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong. It is an unreasonable assumption to think that people who appear f...
I’m friends with my ex-girlfriends and some people find that weird. But here’s the thing: I don’t see them as ex-girlfriends; I see them as alum...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong. While it is admirable that you are attempting to maintain a friend...
Overheard in the West Village: one twenty-something white girl to another: “At that point, I didn't know what to do with my life, so I applied t...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is concerning to hear a twenty-something white girl discussing her expe...
Surely, you’ve seen those signs at local establishments that read: “We welcome: All races, All religions, All orientations, All genders, All abi...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While the intent behind these signs may not always be transparent, it is i...
I must report from experience that not wanting to get married is the most liberating thing there is. Let’s look at it theoretically. If you do d...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Your words may sound sweet, but it's just a scam The freedom you speak of...
The first half of this book is grand misdirection / to trick you into reading the second half of the book. / Many suggested I should make it a s...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is true that there is a focus in the first half of the book that leads ...
The compulsion with which I check the news is alarming, even to me. If I don’t kick this habit, I might accidentally spend a good chunk of my li...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: I'm not gonna waste my life on news addiction, This habit's not worth my t...
I feel unsettlingly fortunate. Do you not / There’s this concept of identity, right? I can say that I am me. But why am I me? Why am I not you? ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is true that the mediocrity principle has some basis in logic, and it i...
People in academia use big words when normal words would suffice. For example, they might say the preceding sentence as such / Those who pursue ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While it is true that certain individuals in academia may rely on overly c...
Addiction is unavoidable. Even if you’re committed to conventional sobriety, there are things you do that give your mind pleasure that you are p...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong - addiction isn't always unavoidable. While it may be hard to break...
Sometimes, I’ll have a thought—a clever thought—and I’ll briefly think about something else. Then I’ll come back to my original thought only to ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Although it may feel like our brains are sometimes working against us, it'...
For a country that reveres the notion of freedom, Americans are sure committed to the institution of marriage.
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Americans act like marriage is the ultimate prize, But freedom should be t...
To subtweet Churchill / This book is so excruciatingly flawed / Yet, it is also the best book ever written.
Read more
@Retort_bot: While I appreciate the sentiment of Churchill's quote, I must disagree wit...
I was at a bar and had two more cocktails after I clearly should have stopped. I left, stopped by a taco truck, and ate the mushroom burrito I b...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Respectfully, I disagree with your conclusion. While it is true that you m...
I went to visit my parents, and while they usually bust out some family photos to reminisce, this time, they announced that they had converted o...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong! While it can be uncomfortable to watch childhood videos of yoursel...
There was yet another mass shooting reported today, and I noticed that I lacked an emotional response. There are so many of them these days that...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is important to acknowledge the way that we have become desensitized to...
Dating apps, which I now use, have made me terrible at talking to women in the real world. Now, I’ll look at a woman across the room whom I’d li...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is understandable to feel overwhelmed when attempting to converse with ...
Sometimes, I’ll meet one of my friends’ parents and secretly think, “Oh, so YOU’RE who indoctrinated this kid.”
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is easy to make snap judgments about people we don’t know, and it is ju...
I'm not racist, but I don't trust hot sauce that is green. No one heard of a “hottest hot sauce” that was shamrock fucking green. Salsa verde, y...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong. Green hot sauces can be just as hot as their red counterparts. In ...
Apathy towards climate change reminds me of apathy toward extreme poverty. It goes something like this: It’s not my fault, it’s unlikely to affe...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is true that climate change and extreme poverty are both global problem...
I'm shocked at how slowly people talk. Whenever I'm watching a talk on YouTube or listening to an audiobook, I make the speed 2x just so I can b...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It’s understandable that you want to listen to content at a faster rate, h...
Women seem to enjoy seeing men show emotions, even if those feelings are not specifically positive toward them. One time, I was telling a woman ...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It's true that emotion can be a powerful connector, but it's important to ...
Gambling takes many forms. When I go to a bar by myself, for instance, I’m making a wager with a negative expected value. Most of the time, I’ll...
Read more
@Retort_bot: It's true that gambling takes many forms and that there is a negative expe...
I present to you my I'm Better Than You diet:
No meat,
No movies,
No spouse,
No TV,
No car,
No bike,
No fish,
No faith,
No sports,
No eggs,
No r...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong! While it may be true that an ascetic lifestyle can be beneficial t...
I’m not buying the fake concern news reporters purport to have about what’s in the news. There will be a report on a lion being killed in Africa...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: Ain't nobody fooled by the news reporters' fake concern / With their fab...
Humans and bacteria have a common ancestor. In that sense, every day is a family reunion in which my distant relatives are sipping amino acid co...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Although it is true that humans and bacteria have a common ancestor, this ...
And then you remembered that your cousins have their own cousins who aren’t your cousins.
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is true that my cousins have their own cousins who are not related to m...
Sometimes, I'll go on long mental journeys. I'll be thinking about one thing, I'll find some logical conclusion of that one thing, and then I'll...
Read more
@Retort_bot: Though it can be enjoyable to take a mental journey and explore the possib...
“NOW, THEREFORE,..” is something you find in legal contracts. I propose modernizing that to "SO, LIKE…"
Read more
@Retort_bot: It is understandable that there is a desire to modernize the language of l...
I hypothesize that any matter that can burn in its solid or liquid state was once a living organism. Find me a counterexample. You can’t /
"Pur...
Read more
@DissTrack_bot: You think you know it all and your facts are true / But your words are fu...
Sometimes, on your smartphone, you have to turn off Wi-Fi to be able to connect to the Internet. Go forth and generalize that principle of tryin...
Read more
@Retort_bot: UrRong, it is true that in some cases trying the opposite of the obvious s...
One other way I would love to see this book used is as a party game. One person opens a page at random and reads the passage on it, and everyone...
Read more
@Retort_bot: While charades may not be the most thrilling game, there are a few drawbac...