How to live an intellectually rich life

What “intellectually rich” should mean

• Some argue “intellectually rich” is a bad life goal; “intentional” or “deep” life is better.
• Several commenters say the term is never clearly defined in the article; they want concrete examples and roadmaps instead of metaphors.
• Others frame it as having a broad, historically grounded understanding of the world (a kind of liberal arts mindset) rather than mere cleverness.

Reading: fiction, non‑fiction, and canons

• One camp emphasizes reading lots of non‑fiction and seeking overlaps between domains; another insists serious fiction is equally important for empathy and moral imagination.
• Both note that “slop” exists in fiction and non‑fiction; quality and difficulty matter more than genre.
• Many recommend classics, Nobel literature, “Great Books” curricula, and self‑curated canons; others warn against overlong lists and advocate a small set of books known deeply.
• There’s side‑discussion of building 100‑book “essential” libraries, Dewey‑Decimal reading projects, and modern canon lists, with debate over Anglocentrism and omissions.

Philosophy and the Wikipedia-to-philosophy game

• Some see philosophy as “math for the humanities” or a way to compress knowledge; others call that compression dangerously lossy.
• Several push back on claims that philosophy naturally ends in relativism or nihilism, stressing the diversity of philosophical positions.
• Commenters play with and analyze the “first-link on Wikipedia leads to Philosophy” phenomenon, explaining it as moving up category abstractions.

Production vs consumption of ideas

• A major thread: consuming intellectual content can become passive and defensive; producing (writing, building, woodworking, coding, making art) feels more meaningful in retrospect.
• People share tactics for shifting from consumption to creation: start from felt problems, start small, avoid perfectionism, pair making with using (cook–eat, build–play).

Critiques of the essay itself

• Many find it verbose, meandering, and “LinkedIn‑like,” with overloaded metaphors (“axe of satisfaction,” “late‑stage capitalism”) and a self‑help tone.
• Some note it ultimately funnels into selling a newsletter course.
• Others appreciate the passion, find specific sections (e.g., on Erdős or oscillating between fields) helpful, and plan to reread.

Ego, superiority, and the limits of intellectualism

• Several warn that intellectualism can become consumerism or status performance—FOMO, hopping disciplines, and using “rich inner life” to avoid action or relationships.
• Feelings of superiority or sophistication are seen as joy‑killing and curiosity‑killing; the real test is applying ideas in the messy social world.
• Some prefer techne (practical craft, problem‑solving, talking to real people) over pure episteme as the core of an intellectually satisfying life.

Cultural tropes and “simple living”

• The “remote Asian village changed my life” anecdote is criticized as a familiar Orientalist or “noble savage” trope; commenters note similar wisdom could be found in places like Appalachia.
• Others defend the value of being jolted out of one’s cultural frame by immersion in very different ways of living.