Societal expectations are great Societal expectations are underrated Let’s bifurcate societal expectations into a 2×2 grid of categories: –positive, desirable values, qualities –negative, stifling dogmas -clear, explicit, known, indisputable –tacit, hidden, Chesterton’s fence In a thriving society — you can expect it’s MOSTLY positive That’s why it outperforms other societies And that’s why …
AI is Intelligent AND Makes Us Super-Intelligent
AI is of course intelligence — “artificial” intelligence It’s not human intelligence yet, of course It exceeds us at some domains — and is utterly helpless in others (it exceeds either when: -there are clear rules — it can then “play with itself” and figure out optimal strategy (e.g. chess) -or when there’s mountains …
You’re Not Courageous
Being stubborn is not courage Having strong opinions about something is not courage Having contrarian opinions, saying “what you believe”, is definitely not yet courage Believing is not courage NOT fearing something is not courage Courage is plain and simple, ACCEPTING the risk What is the risk? It’s the risk …
Why Some Super-Successful Go Conspiratorial
Genius is indeed madness When you’re super brilliant — you risk sometimes being super crazy. That’s the price of trying new, crazy things. But if you pull it off — you’re a genius. Not everyone can be a genius. And likely the genius knew EVERYTHING there was to know — BEFORE he transcended it, pushed …
UNLEARNING
Which hand do you brush your teeth with? Try switching to the other hand It’s not so comfortable, is it Now, imagine that the other hand is actually your stronger hand, It ought to perform this task better, But you’re not going to believe it, are you? You trained your other hand to brush your …
Always Remember How Stupidity And Evil Are One
Stupidity and evil are one and the same At worst, our system is stupid, flawed — therefore it fails to prevent evil But otherwise we, as individuals, harm others and ourselves and this world — out of ignorance We could have made this place more wonderful for ourselves and others, but we’re too stupid …
Patriotism Is an Outdated And Dangerous Meme
Patriotism is but religion And religion is but delusion Useful delusion, mind you If it was completely useless — we would have evolved it away Question is — how useful? Or rather — is it still the most USEFUL mental model to hold, around those matters? It’s probably not, is it Because …
Build Great Business or Help Altruistically — No Middle Ground
There are mostly only two modes: –You help yourself and others by BUILDING something that they will VOLUNTARILY pay you for — because it benefits them.. and you benefit from the revenue -Or you just want to help others — therefore you… just do There’s VERY LITTLE gradient in between those two The first …
Should You Reward Others Even If It Cost Them Nothing?
I often write that you should: -give and give more -make sure you give more in a relationship — so that you GUARANTEE that you keep it -…and thus continue, selfishly, benefiting from that relationship Here’s another puzzle: Should you reward others EVEN IF it cost them nothing? Answer is — obviously yes …
Extreme Urgency Is A Form Of Creativity
Extreme urgency is a form of creativity It’s creativity applied to SOLVING the problem… faster We get more creative when the problem is more hard We create a solution That’s what creativity is for, as far as I’m concerned We don’t customarily think of speeding something up as a CREATIVE process We think …