Hi, I’m Maarten.

I want to make people think more about why we live as we do, and why things in society are as they are.

I write to replace the default attitude of blind trust and epistemic modesty with the confidence for understanding-based second-guessing whether the emperor is really wearing clothes. My mission is to change common sense about things that are observably broken.

Specifically, (1) in times of unhappiness and burn-out yet materialistic prosperity, the way we think about success/happiness/work needs an update. We also (2) need to radically ask ourselves what education is actually for and revamp the system accordingly. And, (3) these days, as ‘information’ became ideological, ‘the facts’ can no longer referee disagreements but are themselves contested. How can we make truth and objective reality matter again?

Sounds interesting?

Once a week, I send out an update on what I’ve learned along the way. It can include my best essays for the week, useful resources, hooks for moving the Overton window, and more.