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Have a philosopher in your life.
I spend my days reading, writing, teaching and getting lost in philosophy. Some people join me.
We explore interesting thinkers, question things we’ve always taken for granted, follow unexpected connections and see where the conversation takes us.
Sometimes we begin with something important happening in your life. Other times we spend an afternoon exploring an idea neither of us knew existed a week earlier.
You don’t need a problem to solve or a particular destination in mind. Curiosity is quite enough.
1Academia (dismantled)
I spent fifteen years in universities, teaching and researching how people learn, think and develop judgement. I left in 2021, because I’d lost faith in how education was being treated.
I still love teaching, though. Give me an interesting question, a good book or someone who wants to understand an idea, and I can happily lose an afternoon finding a way in. I usually come away with more energy than I started with.
Still on the map: PhD in Social Learning, MPhil, PGCert, BSc in Sports Science, and a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.
1,635 citations · h-index 20
Mostly about how coaches learn, which turned out to be about how anyone learns.
Ten of them, most cited first
See more on ResearchGate and Google Scholar.
2Syntropise
I set it up with my friend David Priestley. If you’re interested in a wider philosophical community and a year-long membership, that’s where you’ll find us both. It’s also where we work with organisations.
The name comes from syntropy, entropy’s less famous opposite: things coming together rather than falling apart.
4The Gallery
Some of my favourite thinkers, painted by me. It’s the slowest way I know of reading someone. None of them sat still for it.
5Syntropology
Leave a cup of tea and it goes cold. Leave a patch of bare soil and within a month something’s growing on it. Physics is mostly the story of the tea. I’m more interested in the soil: how living things gather themselves together against the drift, and what that might mean for how we live. I’ve been working on a philosophy of it, called syntropology.
6Viewpoint
The view from here changes with whatever I’m reading.
You can spend ten minutes staring into a fire and achieve absolutely nothing. Bachelard thought those moments might be among the richest of our lives. I’ve rather taken to him.
Meet Bachelard on the compass
We’re fond of talking about finding ourselves, as though there’s a finished person waiting to be discovered. Deleuze offers a rather stranger possibility: perhaps we’re always in the process of becoming something else.
Meet Deleuze on the compass
We spend hours hitting little balls into holes, inventing complicated rules and getting annoyed when things don’t go our way. Fink thought play could tell us something surprisingly profound about existence itself.
Meet Fink on the compass7The Allotment
Where syntropy’s easiest to see. I battle the elements here in pursuit of perfect fruit and veg, supervised by Dudley. From bare soil to harvest, one photograph at a time.
8The record shop
A mix asks the same question as everything else on this walk: what comes next, and what does it make possible? Press play and the mixes spin right here if you want to kick the vibe up a notch.
9The café
Every good café on a walk has a board by the counter. These were left by people who’ve walked with me, for whoever comes next. Tap a photo to read their note.
John guides you in making sense of your present and exploring possible futures. I’m always enlightened by our time together. If you’re seeking a peek into the real world beneath the noise, he’s the go-to person.
Kurt Lindley Business owner
John is a brilliant philosopher, tailoring his insights to my needs and creating an engaging space for growth.
Yatra Forudi Head of Enterprise Planning
Blown away by John’s depth of knowledge and the positive, lasting impact this will have on my work and personal life.
John Szymik Founder and CEO
John has been an integral part of my learning and development and has had such a positive impact on my life. I couldn’t recommend him more.
Conor Class Global Talent Lead
Throughout my time with John, I realised the nuance and shades of grey in life. I’m grateful for his role in changing how I perceive the world.
Sarah Nickless Partnerships Lead
John is excellent in his research and delivery and a fascinating storyteller. He never forces his opinion on you, but gives you what you need to make up your own mind.
Nick Matthew OBE Three-time World Squash Champion
John has transformed my perspective on both my profession and the world. Through his guidance, I now find greater joy every day.
Nick Davey Director
John helped me gain deep insights on what I shall become. I am very grateful for the connection.
Tobias Assman Founder and Managing Director
Question of the week
Something to chew on over your coffee. A new one goes up every Monday.
10Lichtung
Lichtung: German, for a clearing in a forest.
Heidegger borrowed the word for the open space where things can show up as they are. He thought that’s what being human amounts to: a clearing, where the world gets a chance to show itself.
It’s also the best description I know of a good conversation.
Sheet 287 · A notice to the curious
for hazardous thinking
Small certainties. Constant questions. Safe return to your old views doubtful. Honour and recognition unlikely. Good company very likely.
No qualifications needed. An appetite for ideas will do.
Printed at the Clearing Press, Sheet 287. Post no bills.
That’s where the map runs out. There’s plenty more ground beyond it.
If you’d enjoy spending some time with a philosopher, come and have a conversation. Bring something that’s been on your mind, or we can start with whatever I’ve been reading lately.
Radio mast · Sheet 287
On air
A podcast with my friend Danny Massaro
Conversations about concepts that rarely fit into a meeting agenda. Thirty-four episodes, from January 2022.
No. 287Price: a moment of your attentionWeather: changeable, like everything (Heraclitus)
A walker asked a machine to explain Plato’s Cave and had an excellent answer before the kettle boiled. He then wondered what to do with it. Continued on page 2
A local dachshund has denied relieving himself at the Viewpoint, despite a photograph. “Woof,” he said, before trotting off. Enquiries continue.
Allotment holders report that the courgettes are winning. “We had a plan,” said one. “The courgettes had a better one.”
A walker who stopped to consider a question near the Clearing on Tuesday has yet to move on. Friends say he seems happier.
FOR SALE: one certainty, barely used.
LOST: train of thought, near Rabbit Hole Wood. Sentimental value.
WANTED: a better question. Will swap for a perfectly good answer.
A personal philosopher?
What on earth would I need one for?
That’s a very good question.
The philosopher’s
“Only thoughts reached by walking have value.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
Information · Sheet 287
Have a philosopher in your life.
I love reading philosophy, finding ideas I’ve never come across before, and trying to make sense of them. I enjoy it even more when there’s somebody to share them with.
Some people come to me with a question that’s been bothering them for years. Others are at a crossroads, or wondering whether there’s another way of looking at their lives. And some simply love learning and fancy spending time with someone who’s spent rather too much of his life reading philosophy.
We might begin with something happening at work and end up discussing Nietzsche. Or I might introduce you to a little-known philosopher whose ideas take us somewhere neither of us expected.
I teach, explain, question things, and occasionally disagree. You bring your experiences, curiosity, and ways of seeing the world. Over time, we get to know each other, and the conversations develop a life of their own.
Sometimes something important becomes clearer. Sometimes we discover that what looked like a straightforward question is rather more interesting than we thought. And sometimes we have a fascinating ninety minutes that doesn’t need to justify itself beyond that.
There’s no syllabus to complete, no particular destination, and no expectation that you’re working towards a better version of yourself.
It’s simply an opportunity to make philosophy part of your life, with someone who loves doing it.
We meet regularly, mainly online. You pay fairly for my time, knowledge, and attention, and we continue for as long as we both enjoy and value it.
Wondering why anyone would want one? Read the essay. Why not just ask AI? I’ve written about that too. What people say about it is pinned to the board at the café.
I also co-founded Syntropise with David Priestley. If you’re interested in a wider philosophical community and a year-long membership, that’s where you’ll find us both. It’s also where we work with organisations.
I’m a bit Marmite. If you’re after quick answers or someone to tell you your next move, there are plenty of people who do that well.
The Syntropist, paperback. One careful owner. Heavily underlined, a few arguments in the margins. Will swap for a better question.