"Willingness to be wrong"

spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/linux-at-25-qa-with-linus-torvalds

Agreed.

Except....

Note: 
Only more important than a willingness to be wrong is moving quickly enough out of the wrong.

Do you really care about the people who come after you?

I find that I have two answers.

1. Empathy

Of course I care! Empathy is nice. But one can only do so much. How do you know when to stop? How to cope with having to stop?

Empathy goes both ways.
Perceptions of others projected to oneself, and perceptions of self projected onto others.

2. Apathy

In the absence of empathy, I don't care.


The end result of transcending both answers is realising that one always has a choice, if he has enough brainspace to consider it.

Total flexibility. In a world in constant flux, that is the key to peace.

Empathy may appear to give you peace, but with care comes its own stresses.
Apathy makes me stressed about those who do care.

Taoists talk about the middle way. Sam once talked about "staying neutral" I think what they mean is exactly this. Be the superposition of all states. Do whatever you want to do and then think whatever you want about it.

Cheers!

Thought of the Day #45: Bros Before Hoes and Jobs

I was searching my mind for beliefs I held deeply, and I realized something.

No matter what, friends always come first.

Good friends are there for each other no matter what.
We may all change jobs, locations, women, but good friends always stay.

I once saw this documentary on Japanese longevity (of women). The Japanese women lived long because their friends lived long, and the community stuck to each other, all their lives.

Thought of the night #44

I see a lot of people in their local maximums.

-

The thought of being part of the universe is actually scary at times.

Thought of the Night #43??? - Frog and You

We have all heard about the little story about the frog that slowly gets boiled alive. Or the slippery slope arguments.

Well, it turns out this is actually a wonderful and powerful way to change oneself, whatever reason you may wish to do so.

Eg. I remember you said that you were afraid of mummies.

1. Start with a person. Say, you. Are you afraid of yourself? Probably not.

2. How about a rotten apple? It might be disgusting, but is it fear you feel?

3. How about a dead monkey? Dead monkey descendant? Dead monkey descendant wrapped in bandages?

What is it about it that really makes you afraid?

The closer you narrow it down, the closer you get to finding something new, but probably not unexpected, about yourself.

And reducing fear without really having to push your comfort zones in the usual, masochistic-sounding ways.


Note: This stuff can be worth significant money. People have been known to pay loads of money to learn things like this. I guess the money makes them more attentive and motivated, while making them believe that they'll be more committed. 

Thought of the Day #42 - ARC Theory of Motivation, (or how to manipulate the heck out of people in a moral way, and get them to love you for it)

How to make a human feel motivated

Autonomy

Good:
Provide choices, choices and more choices.

Machiavellian:
Make people think they have choices. When people figure that out, they will feel manipulated.

Relatedness

People like to feel connected in the areas that matter to them.

Dealing with how your people feel.
If they feel sad, make them happy.
If they feel happy, make them happier.
If they feel happier, make them feel happiest they've ever been.

Competence

Providing with opportunities to demonstrate competence, whatever they may be (the area doesn't matter).

When any one need is not met, people can feel incomplete, unsafe, insecure. The needs are just about universal, from monk to engineer to executive.

Provide these things and people will feel good around you.
Provide these things to yourself and you will feel better about yourself.

Thought of the Day #41 - Possibilities

There is always an infinity of possibilities. It's just that to create something, we need to close off some of those possibilities to make one possibility come true. But we also cannot close off too many, because then we wouldn't see reality.

Thought of the Day #40 - How to tell, very early on, if a startup is likely to work or not?

There are a lot of people talking about startups but only a few that can really do it.

And one can readily tell if they can do a satisfactory implementation.

The Rule

Are their people already operating at or above that level that the implementation requires?

In other words, how close are you from your intended goal?

Analysis

The people most likely to achieve their goal are those who are already operating at a level beyond that of the level. Of course, these people would probably be doing something else, so it is logical to get them to help, or find someone at the level required.

Example

If you are going to develop software, you want teams that have skilled people who have done almost the exact same thing, and are at the frontier of technology - using the most suitable tools.

Exceptions

On the other hand, many very talented people have tried and failed too. 

So this is not the only factor. 

This is all pretty self-evident "common sense".
But common sense in new contexts are often not common.




Continued on Thought of the Day #41.

Thought of the Day #39 - How much contraband is there?

There's something I wonder about.

Just how much contraband actually exists in "drug-free", "gun-free" nations, areas? 

It's pretty well-known that contraband always exists in prisons. Would such data be somewhat useful for estimations in the general population?

Thought of the Day #38 - Child Support

What's the worst thing that could happen to a man?

Having to pay child support for a kid that isn't even his.

It just occurred to me how hard it actually is to guarantee that a child is really your own. Paternity tests for sure.

On "Human Consciousness alone does not offer an advantage in the modern world."

Human Consciousness alone does not offer an advantage in the modern world. Everything is data. Consciousness itself doesn't offer anything to the world.

Consciousness is integral to the self. One cannot be a self without consciousness.

At the psychological level, the concept of the self is critical to self-consciousness, self-awareness.

Consciousness is integral to society - a group of individuals, with self-interests, interacting with each other. (Have you ever been in nature for a long time, and just felt like you became consumed by the world, losing your own self-awareness?)

Unless I want AIs to be individual beings like human beings that will have a society, a human-like consciousness does not appear to offer a survival advantage.

However, self-knowledge is important. It leads to consciousness of a certain part of one's self.

Thought of the Day #37

The devil
is in
the details.
But god
is in
the grand scheme of things.