Tim Ferriss – How to Use Philosophy as a Personal Operating System

I’m a big fan of Tim Ferris, the author of The 4 Hour Work Week and The 4 Hour Body.

He gets you thinking.

In a recent interview he describes how you can use Philosophy as a Personal Operating System.

This is something that I have been thinking about lately as I have been reviewing a number of my personal philosophies regarding (amongst other things) :

• Diet
• Exercise
• Possessions
• Living Sustainably

Like Ferris I learned a lot from stoic Seneca’s “On the Shortness of Life” and I’m planning to codify clearly my own philosophies in some key areas of my life.

So far I’ve found questioning some of these key aspects of my life an enjoyable, challenging, revealing exercise that has already resulted in important practical changes.

So I agree with Ferris when he says :

I don’t view philosophy as an idle form of intellectual masturbation. I really view good philosophy as a set of rules that allows you to make better decisions. What Stoicism helps you to develop is a value system that allows you to take calculated risks, which I think is very effective for entrepreneurs.

Anyway – you can read Tim’s full post here  – How to use Philosophy as a Personal Operating System by Tim Ferris