You were going to scroll anyway.
So make it count. Doomscholar is a feed of the world's most powerful ideas — 451 mental models and primary sources across 38 topics — built not to be read once, but remembered.
How it works
- The Scroll. One idea per card, tuned to what you care about. Swipe when you'd otherwise doomscroll.
- Layers. Each idea opens in three depths — the one-line gist, the explanation, the deep dive — so a minute or an hour both count.
- The latticework. Every idea is wired to the ones it connects to, across disciplines — a mental model to the essays and letters that put it to work. Follow the thread instead of starting over.
- Recall. A quick question after each idea, then spaced review on a 1-3-7-16-35-day rhythm, so what you read is still there next month.
- Listen. Any idea can be read aloud, with lock-screen controls, for walks and commutes.
- Offline. Add it to your home screen and it works on a plane.
Start with one of these
- Do Things That Don't ScaleEarly startups should manually recruit users and do unscalable work; growth comes from effort, not automation.
- Fairchild Semiconductor FoundingEight scientists who walked out on Shockley could build a silicon-device company if anyone would back them; about 35 corporations were approached and every one passed.
- Enron Short ThesisEnron's returns didn't cover its cost of capital and its accounting was opaque; the equity was worthless.
- Buy American. I Am.Amid GFC panic, US stocks are cheap; be greedy when others are fearful.
- The Pricing of Options and Corporate LiabilitiesAn option can be priced by constructing a continuously rebalanced hedge, yielding a closed-form value independent of the investor's risk preferences.
- A Mathematical Theory of CommunicationInformation can be quantified in bits and transmitted reliably over noisy channels up to a hard capacity limit, regardless of meaning.
- Software 2.0Neural networks are a new software paradigm where code is learned from data, not written by hand.
- Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash SystemA decentralized, trustless electronic cash system using proof-of-work to solve double-spending without intermediaries.
Who it's for
People who keep a list of books they mean to read — readers of mental models, the Stoics and long-form nonfiction who want the ideas to stick, connect and be there when a decision needs them.
Questions
- Is it free?
- Yes, during the beta. No ads, ever.
- Do I need an account?
- No. Your progress lives on your device, and nothing you write leaves it. You can export a backup any time. Privacy policy.
- Where do the explanations come from?
- They're written with AI assistance from the original books, letters and essays, and every idea links to those sources so you can read the real thing.
- How do I install it?
- On iPhone, open www.doomscholar.com in Safari and choose Share → Add to Home Screen. On Android, use the Install prompt. Store apps are on the way.
Contact
Feedback, errors, ideas you want added: dean@doomscholar.com. Terms · Privacy · Open-source licences