About
I have been punched in the brain by @robbseaton and his amazing blog, do yourself a favour.
—Ben Keenan
Hey, thanks for visiting! My name is Robert Seaton, and I’ve written everything on this website.
I sometimes get this mad urge and I think to myself, “You know, I should really write a ‘philosophy of blog’ page. I’ll lay out everything on it. I’ll tell people all of my ideological assumptions — about how beliefs are probabilities, the importance of evidence, and how I feel about god and ethics and where I fall on the political spectrum and…”
Then that other module of my brain pipes up — the one that’s in charge of The Department of Only Doing Reasonable Things — and this part of my brain says something like, “Pop quiz. You know what a philosophy of blog is colloquially referred to as? It’s a manifesto. Writing a philosophy for your blog is something that bona fide crazy people do. Terrible idea, sport.”
So I never do get around to writing a philosophy of blog. This about page will have to suffice.
About This Website
Here is how the content on this site generally operates.
- I become curious about some real-world problem that concerns many people — stuff like diet, exercise, attraction, optimal goal pursuit, etc.
- I go to Google Scholar and download a bunch of relevant scientific research.
- I read this research and maybe a textbook or two.
- Then I write up everything I learned and how readers can use this information to improve their own lives — the practical takeaway.
This site is all about reviewing all available evidence in the pursuit of building better lives. For a good example of this, check out my article on prolonged eye contact.
I also sometimes write up highly speculative theories about different phenomena, such as my post on what makes something interesting.
If you’re the kind of person who’s interested in this sort of thing, the best way to keep up with the site is by subscribing via email. It’s free, and I’ll alert you whenever new content goes out. Plus, email subscribers receive all kinds of bonus perks: exclusive articles, discounts on any future products I release, and more.
Seriously, join the email list. It’s awesome. There are hundreds of wonderful people on it, and you’re wonderful, too! You won’t regret it. It’s about 2 emails per week. Here’s the signup form:
About Me
Like I mentioned, my name is Robert Seaton, but most people call me Robb — which means that, if you preface your emails to me with “Hey, Robb” you’re more likely to get a response, because I will mistake you for someone I already know. Because psychology. Pretty great, right?
I’m a mostly normal person. I’m not an academic, but I like to joke that I play one on the internet. I’m based just outside of Chicago.
I write the sort of articles that I write because I’ve been burned so many times in the past by forming opinions based on too little data. Whatever mistakes you’ve made, I’ve made plenty of my own, and I’m going to make more. Probably I’m making some as I write this. But I’m firmly of the opinion that, in order to make fewer unnecessary mistakes, you first need to ask yourself, “Who’s giant shoulders can I be standing on?”
Once you’ve answered that question, grab everything that person has written and scale your way up to their shoulders. Once you’re there, you can start making original, worthwhile mistakes.
Seriously: if you have a goal, why wouldn’t you start by gathering all relevant information for achieving said goal?
Exactly.
If that sounds like a reasonable plan, you, yeah, you, should jump onto my email newsletter. It’s awesome. Everyone loves it. If you don’t, you can leave whenever (but I’ll feel bad about it).