Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Ho Chi Minh City — officially renamed from Saigon in 1975 — is the business, commerce, and government capital of southern Vietnam. With a population now topping eight million, it attracts more and more residents each year — for jobs, for education, for hope of a better life — as the country, and the world, continue their…

A metal cup, about as wide as it is tall, but small enough to wrap your fingers around, sits between a matching metal saucer and lid. It’s a completely normal looking trio. But strangely, it isn’t resting on a table. Instead, the saucer is perched atop a glass. The glass, with about the same dimensions as the cup above it,…

Look left — one thousand motorbikes rush past me. Look right — one thousand more thunder with equal ferocity. I stand paralyzed, only my neck turning for a complete minute. Look left. Look right. Still hordes of whizzing metal clackers, no end in sight. Sweat drips down my neck — I need to get out of this melting sun. But my…

When I started this blog, I determined to avoid the “and then” trap: “first we did X, and then Y, and then Z”. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that format — it makes sense for personal journals, for example, which are meant to be an intimate memento; a story that you write and later reread, flooding your brain with all…