Mixed Mental Arts with Michael Woudenberg

Michael Woudenberg of Polymathic Being has become one of my favorite sources for continuous learning. A writer and researcher who approaches topics from all angles, the man is a cognitive explorer. His professional background, experience, and personal interests make him well-suited to be an investigative writer exploring all aspects of the human condition with depth and breadth. We discussed what a polymath is and how it relates to mixed mental arts, philosophy, emotionality vs rationality, emotions vs feelings, empathy vs sympathy, importance of definitions, resilience vs antifragility, limitations of binary thinking and creating unnecessary tribes, living through agency, embracing challenge, his fascinating science fiction novels, and much more. Polymathic Being is one of the most interesting and dynamic accounts on Substack. Mike demonstrated during this podcast that his mind operates just like his insightful posts. One I’ll be coming back to just to reflect more on his perspectives. Free Giveaway The first book in his novel series is titled, “Paradox.” It is a fictional story that explores humanity throughout the advancement of artificial intelligence. We discussed this book during our conversation and I was excited to hear he weaves his non-fictional posts into this science fiction story. Mike has graciously offered to give away five digital copies of his book in a raffle. Rules for entry: * Like this post * Restack it * Write a comment: What is your favorite takeaway from our conversation? Five names will be randomly drawn from everyone who enters in one week on August 24th. Winners will be announced in the comments and then contacted individually. To purchase or learn more about Mike’s books, visit: For more offerings, visit his website: Some of my favorite posts of his that were mentioned in this conversation: Resilient Mental State is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Resilient Mental State at www.resilientmentalstate.com/subscribe