Maxims for a happy life: Difference between revisions
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{{m}}{{t|Maxim}}s for a happy life. | {{m}}{{t|Maxim}}s for a happy life. | ||
===Don’t be giddy=== | ===Don’t be giddy=== | ||
*[[This time is different|This time ''isn’t'' different]]. The laws of physics, finance and economics still apply. Even | *[[This time is different|This time ''isn’t'' different]]. The laws of physics, finance and economics still apply. Even to {{strike|[[blockchain]]A|[[ChatGPT]]}}. Just as they did before, during and after the dotcom boom, the [[global financial crisis]], [[Brexit]] and [[COVID]]. | ||
*[[Be skeptical]]. The internet has | *[[Be skeptical]]. The internet has given every person on the planet the power to publish whatever pops into her head, to the whole world. See? ''The [[JC]] is doing it now''. There is no bullshit filter anymore. Assume everything you hear and read to be nonsense until you have good reason to believe it is not. | ||
*[[The Dead Poets’ Society|The ''Dead Poets’ Society'']] Rule: [[There’s no machine for judging poetry]]. | :''Subrule'': The more ''recent'' it is, the more ''likely'' it is to be bullshit, since [[Evolution by natural selection|natural selection]] hasn’t had a chance to weed it out: better ideas withstand scrutiny. Scrutiny comes with time. ''See'': {{maxim|Disdain fashionable things. Especially ideas.}} | ||
*[[It’s okay to generalise]], but ''[[beware of shorthand]]'': Experts use [[heuristics]] to exploit knowledge they gave already acquired. Charlatans use heuristics ''instead'' of it. | *[[The Dead Poets’ Society|The ''Dead Poets’ Society'']] Rule: [[There’s no machine for judging poetry]]. | ||
*[[Technology has only transitory value]]: The value of solving problems falls the fewer humans are needed to solve them. No-one made money out of email. | |||
*[[It’s okay to generalise]], but ''[[beware of shorthand]]'': Experts use [[heuristics]] to exploit knowledge they gave already acquired. Charlatans use heuristics ''instead'' of it. See: {{br|Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed}} | |||
*[[Talk is cheap]]: Judge people by what they do, not what they say. | *[[Talk is cheap]]: Judge people by what they do, not what they say. | ||
===Contrarianism=== | ===Contrarianism=== | ||
*[[ | *[[It’s lonely being a contrarian]]. Be a contrarian, but be prepared to stand in the cold. If you challenge a popular, bad idea that happens to be “liberal” that doesn’t make you a conservative, or ''vice versa''. Just ask {{author|Helen Pluckrose}} or {{author|Kathleen Stock}}. | ||
*Corollary: When you challenge a popular, bad idea, be wary of the company you keep: bad people whose bad ideas happen to align with yours might seek to bring you in. Don’t let them. Stay aloof. ''[[It’s lonely being a contrarian]]''. | |||
*[[Don’t join in]]. From the pages of the contrarian handbook. ''It’s okay not to be joiner-inner''. It's ''best'' not to be a joiner-inner. If you’re the guy from BlackRock who ''didn’t'' post an #iam message ... ''good for you.'' That took a ton more courage. | *[[Don’t join in]]. From the pages of the contrarian handbook. ''It’s okay not to be joiner-inner''. It's ''best'' not to be a joiner-inner. If you’re the guy from BlackRock who ''didn’t'' post an #iam message ... ''good for you.'' That took a ton more courage. | ||
*{{maxim|Disdain fashionable things. Especially ideas.}} | *{{maxim|Disdain fashionable things. Especially ideas.}} |