Becoming
Identity, character, habits, choices, meaning, and The Way.
Ideas is David James Rhodes's ongoing exploration of the discoveries, research, people, questions, and changes shaping human life.
Psychology. Neuroscience. Leadership. Longevity. Education. Recovery. Artificial intelligence. Relationships. Human performance. Philosophy. Mental and physical health. Culture. Technology. History. Purpose. Loss. Resilience. Extraordinary lives.
The subjects will vary. The underlying question will not.
What can this teach us about being human?
What should we do with what we learn?
These are not posts written simply to fill a publishing calendar. They are intended to be worth reading.
Each substantial article begins with curiosity and follows the evidence wherever it leads, drawing from research, original studies, books, history, data, experts, lived experience, and competing points of view.
But research alone is not enough. The objective is translation. What does this actually mean? What can we learn from it? What should we question? What might we be getting wrong? Does it change how we should lead, parent, recover, learn, work, love, age, build, grieve, choose, or live?
Every article ultimately returns research to the place where it matters: a human life.
Evidence Before Certainty.
Ideas will distinguish between what is known, what is strongly supported, what remains contested, and what David believes or has observed personally.
Research will be sourced. Important claims will point to primary evidence whenever possible. Competing findings will not be hidden simply because they complicate a good story. Uncertainty will be acknowledged.
David's experience will be presented as what it is: experience, not evidence.
Credibility requires the willingness to say: We don't know yet.
Life After
Loss, adversity, rebuilding, resilience, grief, and transformation.
Recovery
Addiction, behavioral health, treatment, long-term recovery, and Life After Rehab.
Leadership
Decision-making, character, organizations, performance, responsibility, and legacy.
Next Generation
Education, young people, potential, parenting, mentorship, and the future of learning.
Human Performance
Excellence, practice, psychology, pressure, failure, and extraordinary achievement.
Longevity & Health
Living longer, living better, neuroscience, sleep, movement, relationships, and wellbeing.
Relationships
Love, friendship, family, belonging, conflict, forgiveness, and connection.
Global Wisdom
Lessons and observations from cultures around the world.
The Limited Life
Time, mortality, priorities, regret, meaning, and what deserves our days.
The Future
AI, technology, culture, work, science, and the changing conditions in which human beings will become.
Ideas Worth Knowing
Important discoveries, people, books, research, and ideas that do not fit neatly elsewhere.
What does this mean for your life?
- Consider
- A question worth carrying with you.
- Practice
- One thing worth trying.
- Go Deeper
- The most useful research, books, studies, or resources behind the article.
Who are you becoming?
The first articles are being written now.
Ideas launches with a small number of substantial pieces rather than a large number of quick ones. Today's Idea and the full archive will live here.