Often it’s not what you see It’s what you DON’T SEE Of course, with knowledge – knowing what you DON’T KNOW is considered a virtue Everyone knows something But mistakes are made when you think you know something – but you don’t If you know you don’t know – you can work around it, …
Tag: Society
About Building Powerful Systems (And Not Ideologies)
System works best when there’s a number of options, fallbacks and safety measures It’s not only robust but also agile. It’s antifragile indeed System is appraised by how it works as a whole How it’s subcomponents work can meaningfully inform how the whole works — or can be profoundly misleading (non-ergodic systems) Competition, …
Obviously The Goal Is Progress – Just Don’t Ruin Everything
The goal, OF COURSE, is progress BY DEFINITION progress is superior, progress is progress What is NOT a goal is REGRESS Obviously That would be the opposite of progress How do we regress? We can go back to status quo ante (assuming that status quo ante was regressive relatively to modernity) …
The Dreaded Societal Expectations
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 …
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Patriotism Is an Outdated And Dangerous Meme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 …
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 …
Social Media Is a Profoundly Unnatural Form of Communication
Let’s say you’re actually using social media with purpose, for instance: -to stay in touch with people in your life -to stay in touch with people that interest you -to stay informed this is probably not so bad, right? Better than mindlessly stimulating yourself with vacuous nonsense and filth But it’s still bad, …
It’s Not Left Vs Right — It’s Order And Reason Vs Populism And Tinfoil
It’s not left vs right (any more) It’s order vs populism Reason vs tinfoil, conspiratorial thinking Obviously the average idiot has no clue about politics They don’t even know the basics Politics is difficult, complicated. You have law, sociology, economy, warfare, psychology, media, even philosophy — all coming together in strange ways And never …
Moral ATROPHY on Social Media
The obvious, known evil of social media is audience capture = overwhelming incentive to please one’s audience and the ALGORITHM, at the expense of one’s own beliefs and integrity and morality. You become a mindless thoughtless zombie of feeding your audience and the algorithm what it wants You also become insensitive and blind to anything …