Advice to graduates: Reject the calls to ‘find yourself’ and ‘follow your passion’

Graduation season is upon us, and with it is sure to come a flurry of commencement addresses crammed with platitudes about self-actualization, self-indulgence, and self-fulfillment. Though accompanied by occasional urges to “change the world” and “make a difference,” all will still fit neatly within a much broader cultural aim: “finding ourselves,” “trusting ourselves,” and “being true to ourselves.” Continue Reading...

The virtues of boredom in an anxious age

Today’s parents are fixated on setting their children on strategic paths to “success”— cramming their days with lessons, sports, clubs, camps, and so on. The goal: to enrich their kids’ lives with new knowledge and experiences. Continue Reading...

Huckleberry Finn’s moral conscience

Few authors could spin words as well as Mark Twain, but the image of the chronicler of the Mississippi is perhaps one more of style and storytelling than of depth. We don’t read Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn and expect to find great moral insights or penetrating philosophy. Continue Reading...