There’s science Then there’s a guess, a conjecture, a possibility, an attempt And then there’s “beyond science” Or so am I told Do you know what’s “beyond science”? That which is UTTERLY unknown for now anyway, but much of it forever, surely The rest is SCIENCE, or SCIENCE-TO-BE If it’s measured, …
Month: April 2025
How We Became So RELIGIOUS, Again
There’s nothing easy in championing reason It was progress enough when we managed to at least resist deluding ourselves, beguiling ourselves with lies and fantasies, Perhaps big part of it was just laughable unattractiveness of religion, as compared to actual progress of human ingenuity. Even if you yourself were useless — it was still in …
If You Want It Gone, You Must FORGET It Utterly
When you want something gone, You can’t simply think: “I WANT IT GONE” Obviously If you want it gone entirely — it must also be gone from your thoughts Well, when you think how much you “want it gone” — you’re thinking OF IT Therefore it’s NOT gone from your thoughts quite a paradox …
Why New Toys Are Exciting (And Your Life Is Not)
Toys are new = novelty. First they are new by the very fact that you don’t have them Second they are new because toys are continuously updated, to keep you enthralled Toys benefit from memetic value Which itself benefits from scarcity We want that which others want. The more we don’t know what we …
Stubborn When It’s Cheap, Weak When It Counts
Isn’t it fascinating? We’re so stubborn and recalcitrant and combative — even when we KNOW we’re wrong And yet, When we actually believe something, and for once for good reason, and for once it’s the RIGHT THING — we’re still too WEAK and PATHETIC to STAND for the truth, to stand for ourselves This …
Mediocrity More Scary Than Failure
What do you fear more? failure? or mediocrity? Both are a social construct Alone in the woods — it’s annoying when you are building a small shed, and the structure collapses somehow It’s annoying, but You’re not a “failure” You’re not a “mediocrity” Those terms exist only in the society Now what do …
Brand Destruction and Accountability
The times where you could “destroy your brand” are gone Therefore the times of accountability are gone too First we devalued “brand destruction” with cancel culture We cancelled people for nothing So reaction to this action was devaluing of the cancelling, Devaluing of the brand destruction Second we no longer agree on anything …
The FAKE Prophets
“A broken clock is right twice a day” Perhaps you’ve heard this phrase Have you heard about survivorship bias? Survivorship bias is when you come to a conclusion about the whole — drawing only on limited data which has passed certain selection process, i.e. “survived” Now it’s time to combine the BROKEN CLOCK …
From Same Obvious Principles to Divergent Outcomes; You Don’t Even Know How Wrong You Are
Consider following situation You are playing chess Both of you apply a set of principles, to find the best move Both of you essentially apply the same set of principles, e.g. you read the same books, practiced the same concepts, etc. There’s NO DISAGREEMENT there, But One of you decides that Bxf7+ is the best …