Psychiatrist, philosopher, and author—aka the more popular @blindtasters. The deepest truths often emerge where disciplines meet. Find out more: https://nitter.cf/t.co/pAlhowere2
Oxford, England
Joined September 2011
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Spent the summer revamping my website. I’ve organised my favourite essays around book hubs, and linked each essay to its closest companions—to reveal some unexpected connections!
neelburton.com
Every time I try to help someone, they run away.
Why Socrates Thought Us Fools
neelburton.com/2026/11/05/wh…
Viking poets referred to gold as 'the leaves of Glasir'—the tree of solid, shimmering gold that stood directly outside the doors of Valhalla. This Ginkgo, however, is Chinese.
If wisdom is lacking, appeal to love; if love is lacking, appeal to duty; if duty is lacking, appeal to ambition; if ambition is lacking, appeal to fear; if fear is lacking, appeal to punishment.
Surely Spanish has the best verb for 'to purr': 'ronronear' psicologiahoy.com/ar/blog/po…
My take on the philosophy of wine—and what people who don't drink it might be missing. neelburton.com/2026/07/10/wh…
A writer's function, more and more, is not to tell people what to think, but to remind them what thinking looks like.
If I were not a king, I would be a university man; and if it were so that I must be a prisoner, if I might have my wish, I would desire to have no other prison than that library [the Bodleian], and to be chained together with so many good authors and dead masters. —King James I
New BBC documentary, Escaping Idi Amin. In 1972, some 80,000 Ugandan Asians were given 90 days to leave Uganda, and allowed to take only one suitcase and £50.
One of the four living witnesses in the documentary passed away during production.
theguardian.com/tv-and-radio…
In Chinese mythology, when writing was invented, grain rained from the sky, while ghosts wept in the night.
My essay on cats is actually on Kant, but I used cats as a Trojan horse. Most popular on @psychtoday !
Read it here: psychologytoday.com/us/blog/…
The whole of this article only came to me in the last two hours, out of nowhere. It's nice when that happens. neelburton.com/2026/10/26/wh…
My mythological boxer shorts have arrived. I can see Athena's owl, the labyrinth of Knossos, Pegasus... Should bring considerable luck and protection.
I recorded a little video the other day, about wisdom. Please overlook the interruption halfway through. youtube.com/watch?v=QFZ8LZJ8…
Late lunch: baby octopus stir-fried with Calabrian chilli, tamarind, garlic, ginger, and soy, served over basmati rice. An improbable marriage of Italy, Korea, and India. What the hell, it was delicious. #writerslife
I try a cup and all my concerns become remote.
Another cup and suddenly I forget even Heaven.
But is Heaven really far from this state?
Nothing is better than to trust your true self.
—Tao Yuanming (365-427), Drinking Alone in the Rainy Season #ancientwisdom
