About

What?

This show explores the question— can we explain everything in this world in one unbroken story?

I see knowledge as a giant jigsaw puzzle. When I learn something, I'm primarily interested in how this new idea fits in with everything else I know. This way of looking at the world helps me see which pieces of the puzzle I know I have and which I know I don't have. Frankly, I care less about each piece in and of itself. But I care very much about those pieces I don't know I don't have.

So, if you prefer to minimize unknown unknowns more than maximizing known unknowns, this show will be your jam. We'll map different scientific and philosophical concepts into a unified framework. So, there will be less textbook definitions and more creative compression of different ideas.

Why?

Each field of knowledge is described in a language specific to that domain. For example, Poems by Rumi, Feynman diagrams, and Jung's metaphysics all have their own unique, complex grammar. And for good reason. But, I've long suspected that if we can remove all the jargon and abstract all the ideas enough, we'll find that all bodies of knowledge are trying to describe the same underlying phenomena.

It's a language problem. Perhaps we'll see the interconnectedness more clearly if we can translate it all into a new language. A simple language. One that's focused on meta descriptions—that is, describing ideas from the outside.  

Who?

I'm TJ. The one and only. I'm an engineer by training, an entrepreneur by trade, and a philosopher by hobby.

From as early as I can remember, I've had a compulsive need to categorize and organize the things around me. As a child, I would spend hours arranging my toys into different formations. My idea of fun was tearing it all down and rebuilding it whenever I thought I had a more optimal configuration.

Needless to say, I had trouble fitting in. I longed for belonging but was too anxiety-stricken to be a functioning human. It became unbearable. As a survival instinct, I started to reverse-engineer the world around me so I could predict it better. And thus began the obsessive model building.

Physics, economics, computing, and evolutionary biology helped me better understand our physical reality. But, I could only quell the existential dread within after diving into philosophy, spirituality, and religion. The journey to understand myself and my relationship with the world has been no cakewalk. And the path ahead is still long. But I'm glad I stuck with it.

That's what this show is about. It's an attempt to codify some of the ideas and mental models I've accreted over the years. My lived philosophy.

Huh?

I'm a hobbyist and not an expert. This will be a stream-of-consciousness type show filled with assertions and anecdotes. I invite you to join me in this exploration, but I also urge you to think independently and critically.

Caveat Lector, always.