Author and speaker. New book - How To Live: Rules For People Who Don't Like Rules (Oct 2026).
Seattle, WA
Joined April 2009
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It took a lifetime to write this book. You can read the first chapters for free here in minutes. #howtolive
scottberkun.com/howtolive-ex…
One of the best rules for life (#6 in the book) is that we can choose our own expectations.
If we're constantly frustrated, we can change our expectations of other people or even ourselves.
What was the best class you ever had? And why?
The best class I took in college had no exams and almost no assignments. It was called Psychology of Consciousness, taught by the incredible Richard Mann.
Each week, he'd assign us a book to read. Then we'd show up, sit in a circle, and talk about it. That was pretty much it.
But in those conversations, we were learning how to think, how to put words to thoughts, how to disagree respectfully and stay curious, and how to integrate new ideas into our worldview.
Looking back, that class taught me more about how to be a psychologist than any that covered psychological theory.
I still think about the books we read and the conversations we had in that class. It's a reminder that, especially in the age of AI, learning and practicing how to think should be a top priority for any field.
What was your favorite college class, and why?
I've always wondered where the idea that talking to yourself means you are crazy comes from! We all naturally do it. Or have a narrator describing what we're doing, or debating what we should do, which is fascinating!
We always say "be kind" and then get distracted away or lost in our egos.
Seems so rare to see an honest, vulnerable, empathetic moment like this on video or TV.
How To Live, my tenth and best book, launches next week!
rulestolive.substack.com/p/n…
America teaches us to look down on someone and blame them for their station. It's a cheap way to feel better about our own place, however low. The fantasy of meritocracy is rooted in both judgement and punishment.
Yet we depend on "low" stations more than most of the "high" ones. It's the essential worker revelation all over again.
My day has gone sideways. I've been fighting it all day long but now I'm going with the flow. Wake up! Life is absurd! We are mostly powerless! And it's OK.
This is not the day I wanted but it is the day I have.
Scott Berkun retweeted
A Brief History of Philosophy:
• 375 BC: Plato is wrong
• 323 BC: Aristotle is wrong
• 311 BC: Epicurus is wrong
• 225 BC: Chrysippus is wrong
• 364 AD: Hypatia is wrong
• 413 AD: Augustine is wrong
• 1020 AD: Avicenna is wrong
• 1180 AD: Averroes is wrong
• 1250 AD: Aquinas is wrong
• 1320 AD: Ockham is wrong
• 1641 AD: Descartes is wrong
• 1675 AD: Spinoza is wrong
• 1739 AD: Hume is wrong
• 1781 AD: Kant is wrong
• 1807 AD: Hegel is wrong
• 1843 AD: Kierkegaard is wrong
• 1844 AD: Marx is wrong
• 1887 AD: Nietzsche is wrong
• 1903 AD: Russell is wrong
• 1921 AD: Wittgenstein is wrong
• 1927 AD: Heidegger is wrong
• 1966 AD: Foucault is wrong
Scott Berkun retweeted
Working at a museum taught me that ticket stubs, church fans, and handwritten letters can become precious artifacts. They tell stories that might otherwise be forgotten. Hold on to the ordinary evidence of your life. One day, the people who love you may need it to remember you.
Funny how we act like physical pain is the worst when it's wounds from people we care about that we fear more than anything.
Perhaps the best advice I've received is that all advice is only as good as your ability to apply it at the right time.
Flying cars are what you get when you ask an 8 year old “what’s cool?” instead of “what’s good?”
It's perhaps the dumbest perenial projection of preferring fantasy escapism to improving anything in the real world. #mythsofinnovation
The attention economy weaponized media against our brains. It's not an accident we read less.
Billions were spent to create apps that hijack our brains. It's no accident. Netflix openly said they are competing against sleep (!).
The good news is all of these things have off switches. We can choose to go outside, to pick deep media (movies, books) and talk to other people in person.
Scott Berkun retweeted
one of the highest forms of self-respect is refusing to organize your entire life around avoiding temporary discomfort.
Scott Berkun retweeted
A truly wealthy neighborhood isn't gated; it's interconnected. Imagine a child walking down their street knowing they have a warm meal at one house, a listening ear at another, and safety everywhere. That's the type of abundance we need.
"You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common: they don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit the views, which can be uncomfortable...if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering"
- Doctor Who
