The Philosophical Investor's Blog

Damn the Negativity

Damn

I was talking to my daughter last week on a myriad of subjects and the topic of A.I. came up. She is a fantastic writer and has produced some incredible poetry, plays, short stories, and countless other amazing content. She was telling me how she constantly uses ChatGPT and it’s her new companion and she loves how she can interact with it and how it’s getting to know her.

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The Myth of Gary - Clarity and Enduring Value

Gary Odysseus Enduring value

Last week I wrote about the power of finding a myth with which to identify. A myth is a dramatic, sweeping narrative that can be quite complex and involve many characters and plot twists. For some people this may be too involved or daunting to find an identifiable myth to help one contend with adversity and to conjure up the energy and motivation to stay the course and take calculated risks.

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The Power of Myth

The Power of Myth Alpine Stone Whisperer

I have been listening to Carl Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections, and it reinforces for me the power of the subconscious in driving human behavior as well as the importance of myths to guide societies, cultures, and individuals. Joseph Campbell wrote The Power of Myth,

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This Is for All the Lonely People - Advice from The Rebbe

Alexander Zverev Lonely People

The third-ranked men’s tennis player is Alexander Zverev. He is a very consistent player who often goes deep into major tournaments but has yet to win one. He has been criticized for getting very tight under pressure and not having what it takes to win one of the four majors (the Australian Open,

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Reflections on Turning 60

Gary Carmell 60th Birthday

Last week was my 60th birthday. In tennis, If you lose a set 6-0 it’s called being bagelled because the zero resembles a bagel. And since 6-0 looks like 60 we decided to have a big bagel birthday bash in honor of this milestone.

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Little Bets -Should Highest Cost Debt Be Repaid First?

debt

I recently read a summary of an interesting piece of research that is somewhat counterintuitive at first glance but upon deeper reflection makes more sense and it’s the cornerstone for one of life’s great metaphors, you’ll see what I mean.

Little Bets -What We Can Afford to Lose vs.…

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An Embarrassment of Success

struggle Tennis

Steve Magness To get better, you have to struggle June 13, 2025

Free will can be quite challenging. We have so many choices and endless options. And like so many things, it can be a double edged sword. We can make choices which improve our lives and those of others or we can make choices that can negatively impact our health and well being as well as others.

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Roland Garros and Fathering

Fathers

I’m still mesmerized by the nearly five and a half hour final at Roland Garros between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Sinner was up two sets and only needed one more to win the tournament, but Alcaraz never gave up and fought back with incredible ferocity.

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To Claim or Not To Claim. That Is the Question

Social Security Benefits

I saw a lot of coverage last week about people taking their Social Security benefits as soon as they become eligible at age 62. This is a typical headline.

Americans are filing for Social Security at record rates June 5, 2025

The thinking is that the much larger than expected number of people filing for their Social Security benefits at the earliest age is due to concerns that program benefits will be cut in the future as a result of DOGE and President Trump’s lack of regard for legacy institutions.

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The Insecurity of Perfectionism

Perfectionism

Besides following news on X, every so often, I am exposed to some real gems when reading threads on that platform. I have learned a lot from some great writers there who are able to take important and complex subjects and break them down into coherent and well thought out threads.

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