Oh, most days. I can watch a political programme and think, “That sounds a really good point.” Then someone will argue the opposite and I’ll think, “Yeah, he’s got a point as well.” I am constantly sitting on a fence.

I am so obdurate I do not change my mind.

In one month, two of my old prejudices were reversed. Two things that I was prejudiced against.

When I was younger, I thought that was all you needed. If you understand physics, how hard can it be to run a team? The idea that some skills, like managing people, are not correlated with scientific IQ — in fact some of them are negatively correlated to scientific IQ — took me a while to figure out.

Being willing to listen to my ideas and tell me when they are good and when they are dumb.

The inventor of the modern zarf. “Zarf” is the name of the cardboard sleeve that goes around your coffee cup and keeps your fingers from getting burnt. I love the little masterpieces all around us that we take for granted. By the way, zarfs have a long history — there were gold and tortoise shell zarfs back in ancient China. But the modern zarf was created in 1992 in Portland by Jay Sorensen. It’s called the Java Jacket. Thanks Jay!

I was 13 when this book came out in your country in 1981, and I fell in love with it. It’s one of the books that made me love puzzles.

That is a lesson I try to take to real life. What is the real problem? Don’t just dive in and start trying to go with your first instinct. Step back and say, ‘What am I really trying to accomplish here?’

I like to watch Netflix on double-speed. My wife says it ruins movies, but I love being able to watch twice as many movies in the same amount of time. And sometimes it doesn’t even feel rushed. I recently watched “Manchester by the Sea” on double-speed. I kind of wanted triple-speed for that one. I can’t imagine watching that in normal time.

Well, I’m in the midst of writing 1,000 handwritten, personalized thank you notes to readers of my books. It’s simultaneously a major pain in the butt — it’s taking me several weeks — and also delightful. I feel like I’m getting to know the readers of my books, which is great, since writers often have a solitary existence.