today i learned
Occam's Razor
- When considering two competing theories or explanations, you should prefer the simpler one over the more complex one
- The term razor refers to distinguishing between two hypotheses either by "shaving away" unnecessary assumptions or cutting apart two similar conclusions.
Lessons of History
Summary by James Clear
- The imitative majority follows the innovative minority. History is largely the battle of a few minorities, the winner of which is then lauded as the victor by the majority.
- Out of every 100 ideas, 99 will likely be inferior to the traditional alternative it was proposed to replace.
- As time wore on, philosophers became the driving forces behind societal changes rather than the church. And then, eventually science stole that job from philosophy.
- The men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things and the men who can manage money manage all.
- Liberty is possible when security has been achieved, but until that point you are facing competition. It is only because of competition that we developed the ability to create liberty.
- It is clear that freedom is made possible by boundaries of some sort. If we cross those boundaries, we have chaos not civilization.
- Do not be an optimist or a pessimist. Instead, be a realist. Accept that life is composed of difficulties and delights. The difficulties are a natural price of existence. The delights are goodies you don't necessarily deserve.
- "History is philosophy teaching by examples." -Henry St. John
- When everybody owns everything, nobody takes care of anything.
The Right Kind of Stubborn
By Paul Graham
- To keep trying things, you have to keep thinking of things to try.
- The way you don't give up is completely different. Instead of merely resisting change, you're driven toward a goal by energy and resilience, through paths discovered by imagination and optimized by judgement.
King Oedipus
Birth and Prophecy: Oedipus was born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta of Thebes. A prophecy foretold that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. To prevent this, Laius and Jocasta ordered that their newborn son be abandoned on a mountainside.
Adoption and Youth: The infant Oedipus was found and adopted by King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. Unaware of his true parentage, Oedipus grew up believing Polybus and Merope were his biological parents.
Fulfillment of the Prophecy: As a young man, Oedipus learned of the prophecy and, believing Polybus and Merope to be his real parents, fled Corinth to avoid fulfilling it. On his journey, he encountered and killed an older man during a confrontation, not knowing the man was his biological father, Laius. Oedipus continued to Thebes, where he solved the riddle of the Sphinx, freeing the city from its curse. As a reward, he was made king and married the widowed queen, Jocasta, his biological mother.
Discovery and Downfall: Years later, Thebes was struck by a plague. Oedipus sought to find the cause and learned the truth about his origins. Upon discovering that he had indeed killed his father and married his mother, Jocasta committed suicide, and Oedipus blinded himself in despair.
Socratic Irony
Socrates forced people to use their common sense by playing ignorant. He pretended to be dumber than he was.
Anticipatory Socialization
The process of preparing for future roles and situations by learning and adopting the behaviors, values, and norms associated with them. It's an important part of human socialization that can occur throughout life, and it can help people fit into new social groups more easily.
Hamartia
A flaw in character that brings about the downfall of the hero of a tragedy: tragic flaw. Examples: Greed was the hamartia that ultimately brought down the protagonist.
Why do we act good?
You can't exist without causing damage
You're afraid that if this person dislikes you, they'll hold a grudge against you, and one day you might need something from them, and then this mistake you made years ago will come back and haunt you.
This is you: running around, frantically catching butterflies, with the hope that you'll prevent a tornado.
What's the most good I can do, given the inevitable harm that will result from my actions?
Resentment
By Jordan Peterson
Resentment tells us 2 things:
- Immature - You aren't willing to take the responsibility
- People are trying to enslave you - breaking of a boundary, → take action to stop it
If something makes you resentful, do not do that thing.
Jevon's Paradox
The Jevons paradox, also known as the Jevons effect, is an economic concept that states that increased efficiency in resource use will lead to increased resource consumption over time. This is because the lower cost of using a resource leads to increased demand, which can offset the lower rate of resource use.
Why do women like when men remember dates?
Devotion & respect is a core need for love in women. Goddesses are worshipped on special days and if you remember important days and events, it means you are devoted to them, which makes them feel special.
- Thought this insight while reading Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.
99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice
By Kevin Kelly
My Favs:
- If something fails where you thought it would fail, that is not a failure.
- In all things — except love — start with the exit strategy. Prepare for the ending. Almost anything is easier to get into than out of.
- Compliment people behind their back. It'll come back to you.
- Writing down one thing you are grateful for each day is the cheapest possible therapy ever.
- When someone tells you something is wrong, they're usually right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they're usually wrong.
- Being poor is an advantage in innovation.
- Don't treat people as bad as they are. Treat them as good as you are.
- It is much easier to change how you think by changing your behavior, than it is to change your behavior by changing how you think. Act out the change you seek.
- You can reduce the annoyance of someone's stupid belief by increasing your understanding of why they believe it.
- The greatest teacher is called "doing".
- Many backward steps are made by standing still.
- No rain, no rainbow.
- You don't marry a person, you marry a family.
- Always give credit, take blame.
- Be frugal in all things, except in your passions splurge.
- Be a good ancestor. Do something a future generation will thank you for. A simple thing is to plant a tree.
- Be nice to your children because they are going to choose your nursing home.
Not Everywhere…
शैले शैले न माणिक्यं मौक्तिकं न गजे गजे
साधवो न हि सर्वत्र चन्दनं न वने वने
The art of letting go
By Vikas Divyakirti
तआ'रुफ़ रोग हो जाए तो उस का भूलना बेहतर
त'अल्लुक़ बोझ बन जाए तो उस को तोड़ना अच्छा
वो अफ़्साना जिसे अंजाम तक लाना न हो मुमकिन
उसे इक ख़ूब-सूरत मोड़ दे कर छोड़ना अच्छा
Hegelian Synthesis
In the dialectical philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, synthesis is the stage of a three-part structure that resolves the tension between a thesis and an antithesis:
- Thesis: The status quo or viewpoint that is currently accepted
- Antithesis: The problems with the thesis, or the "negative"
- Synthesis: A new viewpoint that resolves the problems, or a modified thesis
Acceptance Prophecy
How some friendships last — and others don’t
Psychologists find that when people expect to be well-liked, they often unknowingly come across as warmer and friendlier. The more new people you meet, the more confident you'll likely feel.
Wit's End
"At one's wits' end" is an idiom meaning to be so confused, worried, or annoyed that you don't know what to do next. Example: "I don't know how to help him. I'm at my wits' end."
Pantheism
- The belief that the universe and God are the same, or that everything is God.
- The word comes from the Greek pan ("all") and theos ("god").
- Pantheists believe God is present throughout the universe and everything is interconnected.
The Rashomon Effect
A phenomenon that describes how people's perceptions of an event can differ based on their individual experiences.
Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning
Classical conditioning refers to learning that occurs
- when a neutral stimulus (e.g., a tone)
- becomes associated with a stimulus (e.g., food)
- that naturally produces a behaviour.