Meaning Lab

Meaning Lab

Home
Writing
About
Wait! I think Michael Lewis is right.
An author should be judged on whether they deliver on their promise. Contrary to what everyone else claims, Lewis did what he said he would.
Oct 16, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
111

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
Wait! I think Michael Lewis is right.
41
#108: Humanism and the conversation of the ages (feat. Sarah Bakewell)
The latest book from the author of At The Existentialist Café surveys seven hundred years of humanist thought.
Nov 14, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
18

Share this post

29:44
Americans Applying to UK PhDs: A Guide
What I wish I'd known when applying to Oxford
Sep 6, 2021 • 
Cody Kommers
1

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
Americans Applying to UK PhDs: A Guide
Meaning is post-hoc.
If you think you can predict ahead of time what will be meaningful, then you're wrong.
Jan 20, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
19

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
Meaning is post-hoc.
6
In the Land of Happiness
Bhutan has its own national theory of happiness. How cool is that?
Oct 27, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
12

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
In the Land of Happiness
1
How to read a novel as a theory of behavior
Stories can model the one thing computation never can: experience
Mar 31, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
16

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
How to read a novel as a theory of behavior
10
Great, AI can write essays. Can we stop asking students to do useless writing assignments?
We were never that good at teaching the fundamentals of writing to begin with. This is an opportunity to rethink them.
Oct 13, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
4

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
Great, AI can write essays. Can we stop asking students to do useless writing assignments?
2
Bad is stronger than good
Positive emotions don’t drive the plot. Negative ones do.
Nov 29, 2024 • 
Cody Kommers
7

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
Bad is stronger than good
3
The Off-Policy Theory of Happiness
Why the metrics we use to evaluate decisions are not the ones we should use to make them.
Dec 9, 2022 • 
Cody Kommers
16

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
The Off-Policy Theory of Happiness
3
Meaning is not an unmitigated good
It's the things we love most which can also most hurt us.
Apr 7, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
11

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
Meaning is not an unmitigated good
3
The Meaning Effect
Nathan Hill rebrands placebos in his novel “Wellness”
Dec 6, 2024 • 
Cody Kommers
4

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
The Meaning Effect
2
The biggest recent improvement I've made for an increased sense of meaning
Better sleep.
Apr 21, 2023 • 
Cody Kommers
10

Share this post

Meaning Lab
Meaning Lab
The biggest recent improvement I've made for an increased sense of meaning
2
© 2025 Cody Kommers
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share