On Solid Ground – Latest Blog Posts
ITEC: Objective Standards for Nonfiction Writing
If you want to write powerfully, embrace objective standards. Over my thirty years of writing and editing, I’ve developed a set I call ITEC.
Politics and Living Your Best Life
Too much politics is bad for your mental health. But if we want to live lives based on rational values, we must engage in politics—in a certain way.
“Speaker for the Dead” by Orson Scott Card
Speaker for the Dead uses some bizarre sci-fi concepts to explore important moral issues—hitting the nail on the head on some, but muddying the waters on others.
Why I Used to Skip School Every Day
A podcast episode has helped me finally understand why I used to skip class every day and go exploring instead.
LevelUp 2025 Is for You!
“First, think. Second, dream. Third, believe. And finally, dare.”
This was Walt Disney’s advice. And he took it—which is why his dreams became reality.
Mark Knopfler: Sultan of Song
“The thing is,” Mark Knopfler says of his craft, “if you’ve energized somebody . . . or you’ve sensitized somebody, you’ve made a difference.”
Objectivism and Leadership
Here’s a wide-ranging conversation I had with the good people at the Institute for Leadership Training, in Brazil.
Are Your Ideas Your Own?
It's not where you got an idea that matters, but how you came to accept it.
On the Relationship of Logical and Conceptual Fallacies
I elaborate on the similarities and differences between logical and conceptual fallacies.