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Chess training routine

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Routine (5-6 days a week, rest on Sundays): (1) Start the morning with a long nature walk (2) Then, solve puzzles (3) Finally, choose between playing and reviewing games or working on a target area Analysis: (1) serves many purposes. For one thing, it helps increase BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) so that you retain more information or insight from your learning. Also, it chronobiologically helps you stabilize your sleep schedule so that you can stay fresh during chess tournaments. Last thing that comes to mind is it helps you take time away from the screen so that you can later consume electronics guilt-free.  Long nature walks have other benefits that I did not mention, and benefits that don’t immediately cross my mind. But these are the most chess-related benefits. (2) is the most important activity. Nothing will help you more than solving puzzles, except for personalized review of your own games with a world-class chess coach. (3) becomes more important as you get stro...
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Healthy Eating

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In writing this post, my aim is to give myself a mental compass that guides my shopping and my food choices. My personal trainer taught me a simple principle: every meal should contain four food groups: A fiber-rich food (fruits or vegetables)  A starch (e.g., potato, sweet potato, or whole grains) A protein (legumes, tofu, seitan, or other plant proteins) A healthy fat (e.g., avocado, olive oil, walnut, flaxseed, or chocolate) I love this advice because it is simple and practical. Below is a list of some of the healthiest foods in each category, along with their typical seasons when applicable. What are the healthiest fruits? Goji berries (year-round) Strawberries (spring and early summer) Wild blueberries (summer; frozen year-round) Blackberries (summer) Raspberries (summer to early fall; frozen year-round) Pomegranates (fall) Frozen berries are excellent alternatives when fresh berries are out of season. What about the healthiest vegetables? Cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccol...
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A Summary of Political Ideologies

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Left wingism is defined as the endorsement of political equality. Right wingism is defined as the rejection of political equality. Left wingers include but are not limited to: communists (of many kinds), socialists, democratic socialists, social democrat, neo-liberals, left-libertarians, and Eastern mysticists: Communists want a moneyless, classless, stateless society that proportions a person's quality of life relative to their behavior; Socialists are similar to communists, but they are satisfied with a society having some sort of monetary system, class, or state. The USSR was a state of Socialism that was trying to achieve a state of Communism; Democratic Socialists (DemSocs) want socialism through voting; Social Democrats (SocDems) want capitalism with welfare; Neo-liberals want democracy, but they also want to correct for the lingering echoes of historical oppression against minorities; Left-libertarians are socially left winged people that want property ownership, small gover...
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Improving Your Chess

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If you are just starting out in chess, focus on playing many enjoyable games and developing your board vision. Otherwise, read on! Most players waste time studying things that rarely decide their games. The goal of training is simple: work on the things that affect, or are expected to affect, your results. How do you know what those things are?  Review your games. They can be slow games or blitz games. Personal game review is the foundation of a chess education. In fact, chess improvement largely comes down to playing games and reviewing them. If a recurring weakness appears, train for that weakness specifically. In this sense, your games write your training program. How should you review your games?  By following  GM Noël Studer's 3x3 method . First, use a chess engine (e.g., Stockfish) to identify up to three of your own game-changing mistakes. Then—for each mistake, ask yourself three questions: What was my idea? Why is my idea wrong? How is the alternative better? Onc...
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Correct Religion?

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The correct religion is either Karaite Judaism or Conservative Mennonitism, depending on the nature of God's agency. Because my core axiom is that induction works, I look to historical precedents to determine which systems consistently produce reliable, trustworthy results. Karaite Jews are followers of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) that reject the oral traditions of the Talmud (and the New Testament). Conservative Mennonites are Christians that follow their local Ordnung and the teachings of Menno Simons. There are several historically robust religions: Calvinism (e.g., Presbyterianism and the Dutch Reformed Church), Mormonism, and Classical Islam. By Classical Islam, I mean the religion of the Islamic Golden Age—Islam before it banned the printing press and fractured into movements like Wahhabism, late-stage Sufism, Ash'arism, and Mu'tazila. These religions are valuable because they share a strong lineage of nominalist scientists, critical thinking, and values that help socie...
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Debate is Pointless

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Debate lacks a mechanism for resolution, making it pointless. There are two kinds of assumptions: starting assumptions (axioms) and auxillary assumptions. All belief systems require axioms. To deduce something about reality, you need to start with assumptions about reality. Where do assumptions come from? The answer is our subjective experience. One chooses axioms based what best fits with the nature of one's mind. By implication from definition, an axiom does NOT require logical justification.  Axioms are subjective and therefore non-negotiable. That is to say: nobody can evaluate anybody else's axioms. Since debates are inherently formatted to compare peoples axioms against each other, it follows that debates are pointless. There is no point in negotiating things non-negotiable. What can in fact be negotiated is how strongly or weakly a person's statement is supported by said person's axioms. However, the way that debates are formatted lack this capability. A more com...
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The Problem with Catholicism

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Catholicism has a strong lineage of philosophers that comprise today's frontier of academic Christian philosophy. As a truth relativist, I do not attack Catholic theology. While Catholicism affirms absolute truth, its theology is internally coherent—meaning it can easily coexist with my worldview. Since my truth relativism views truth as relative to paradigms, my critiques focus on behavioral norms rather than coherent ideas.  I reject modern culture. Catholicism has a strange conviction to negotiate with modern culture, and does a poor job of resisting its vices. So, I reject Catholicism. I reject modern culture for a reason: it ruins almost everything it touches. This is an evidence-based observation and not prejudice. Negotiating with modernity has damaged Catholicism much. The most reliable metric for foreseeing societal decay is a high out-of-wedlock birthrate. Unfortunately, specific data on Catholic out-of-wedlock births is scarce (though it roughly mirrors modern Protestant...
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