Introduction
Welcome to The Human Owners Manual. Each of you reading this is the proud owner of exactly one human: yourself. This manual, like any other owners manual, is designed both to help you understand how your human works, to explain troubleshooting tips and necessary maintenance, and generally to help you learn how to operate your human to the best efficacy and efficiency - to achieve the best results possible given the available resources while expending the least necessary amount of effort or time. This manual is primarily mentally focused rather than physical (though not exclusively) - understanding how your mind works, what practices or habits may be handicapping you unknowingly, and what approaches you can use to maximize your own achievement. We will discuss how you can strengthen the abilities you were born with, mitigate or otherwise avoid those things which weaken your position, and help you better understand - and in so doing, better interface with - other humans that exist around you, whether that is business or personal relationships, romantic or platonic, family or nemeses (or both).
This is not a self-help book. Nor is it an entrepreneurs’ business course, though the truths presented here are likely to help you in those and countless other areas. In short, this is about how to operate your own self at the highest levels of skill and aptitude because your self is your only tool for influencing the world around you or for making a better life for you or your loved ones. Succeeding at any of your goals or relationships depends firstly and unavoidably on operating your self at your highest capacity: understanding how your mind works and the various parts that contribute to how you think, feel, and believe; understanding the limits of your influence and power, and using every bit of the real estate up to that boundary, but not over; and helping you better understand your surroundings and the forces at play, and thus better predict and navigate outcomes and obstacles.
As to my bio or bona fides, all I claim is that these lessons, instructions, and explanations are the work of decades of my own study, experimentation, and wrestling with often large and scary questions. I am not licensed by any official field. If this concerns you or gives you pause, consider this: if these truths were to help you understand yourself better and live a happier life, then would my qualifications matter? And if these truths were unhelpful or untrue, then would my qualifications matter? I offer these concepts, ideas, and understandings on their own merit, and ask that you evaluate them on the same criteria.
Format
I’ve chosen to present this body of knowledge in the form of a wiki-style interconnected set of articles ranging over a both a wide and deep series of topics. It was originally intended to be a book, but in trying to outline the basic structure of some of these concepts, I found that each explanation would require deeper understanding of other, not necessarily common-sense ideas, and chasing each one down the rabbit hole would result in a very difficult and convoluted narrative arc. My goals in presenting it this way are both to allow the reader to do either a high-level sweep or a deep dive on supporting premises, further researching the reasoning behind and beneath some broader conclusions in a way that would be difficult or cumbersome in a traditional book format, and also gaining the advantages of a living body that can be amended or corrected as my own understanding grows and matures.
As such, you are welcome to explore however your interest leads you. You can pick a starting article and follow the links to deeper or related concepts. Tags and categories offer different ways of my attempts to classify each article, and allow you a cross sectional view that can give you new places to explore. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, try clicking the Random button.
Pricing
This website is not free to use, but I leave the pricing up to you, the viewer. If you feel that this information holds no value to you, then pay nothing. But then again, if that’s the case, why are you still here? If you find my content valuable, I humbly request that you offer what you feel is fair by way of remuneration. Please see the Tip Page for how you can easily contribute.