Fanaticism is always a sign of repressed doubt.
Quote of the Week 43 “ Fanaticism is always a sign of repressed doubt. ” ― Carl Gustav Jung
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Stupidity is causing harm to others without benefiting oneself.
Quote of the Week 10 “ Stupidity is causing harm to others without benefiting oneself, even potentially incurring losses in the process.” ― Carlo M. Cipolla (3rd Law of Human Stupidity) Triggered by a reference to the law by Prof. Gunter Dueck in a recent interview (@22:27 mins): “ Dummheit ist die Attitüde, anderen zu schaden, ohne sich selbst zu nutzen.” This is the essence of stupidity : actions that are not merely self-destructive but harm others irrationally. The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity is an essay by Italian economist Carlo M. Cipolla, originally published in 1976. It humorously yet incisively outlines five "laws" that describe human stupidity and its impact on society. Here's a summary (created by X/Grok3): Law 1: Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation. Stupidity is more widespread than people assume, and it catches us off guard because we tend to overestimate rational behavior. Law 2: The probabi...
Thinking is difficult, that's why most people judge.
Quote of the Week 3 “ Thinking is difficult, that's why most people judge.” ― Carl Jung ( misquoted ) True quote according to Wikiquote : “ Thinking is difficult. Therefore, let the herd pronounce judgement.” Source: reddit Related : “ When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. ” ― Wayne Dyer
If human beings are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.
Quote of the Week 51 “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn © Verhoeff, Bert / Anefo published in Quote.org
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Quote of the Week 8 " The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. " ― Attributed to Edmund Burke Triggered by the following tweet : #Navalny 's appeal to Russians in case of his death 🎥 Excerpt from the movie "Navalny" by Daniel Rohr, 2022 pic.twitter.com/QET6hQ122V — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 16, 2024
He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.
Quote of the Week 7 " He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past. " ― George Orwell (1984) Triggered by the following tweet : "He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.” George Orwell in 1984. Me in the Kremlin to @TuckerCarlson . — Darth Putin (@DarthPutinKGB) February 10, 2024
The demand to give up the illusions about its condition is the demand to give up a condition that needs illusions.
Quote of the Week 2 "The demand to give up the illusions about its condition is the demand to give up a condition that needs illusions." ― Karl Marx " Die Forderung, die Illusionen über seinen Zustand aufzugeben, ist die Forderung, einen Zustand aufzugeben, der der Illusionen bedarf . " ― Karl Marx Triggered by reading up on " Religion is opium of / for the people ". From his 1843 Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right: Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. ___ Da...
They get the facts wrong but often get the feelings right.
Quote of the Week 40 "They get the facts wrong but often get the feelings right." ― Naomi Klein ( commenting on conspiracy theorists) See also: On with Kara Swisher podcast.
The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false.
Quote of the Week 34 " The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false. " ― Harry G. Frankfurt (" On Bullshit ") Triggered by the ongoing discussion of trustworthiness of Large Language Models' (LLMs) output. Under this definition LLMs are bullshitters, not liars. But liars can use them to amplify their lies. Full quote : "The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn't care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether or not their listener is persuaded." Related : „It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction.“ „Bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstance require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about.“
The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.
Quote of the Week 30 " The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers. " ― Peter F. Drucker Triggered by a discussion about leadership on Wednesday last week where I claimed that "Someone is a true leader when people follow the person voluntarily." just to find out that Peter Drucker has expressed a similar thought well before I ever did: " The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers. To gain followers requires influence but does not exclude the lack of integrity in achieving this ."
The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible.
Quote of the Week 28 " The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible. " ― Stephen King (variation of a quote by Oscar Wilde) " The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable. " ― Oscar Wilde Triggered by King's tweet last week reflecting on the positive consumer reaction to Meta Thread vs. X Twitter. Musk vs. Zuckerberg reminds me of what Oscar Wilde had to say about fox hunting: the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible. — Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 7, 2023
Just because chatbots can't think doesn't mean they can't lie.
Quote of the Week 18 " Just because chatbots can't think doesn't mean they can't lie. " ― Maria Bustillos Triggered by the title of the article in The Nation covering the Internet Archive .
Nukes don't make stronger nukes. But AI makes stronger AI.
Quote of the Week 16 " Nukes don't make stronger nukes. But AI makes stronger AI. " ― Aza Raskin (The A.I. Dilemma) Triggered by the use of the quote in the thought-provoking (and controversial) talk " The A.I. Dilemma " by Aza Raskin and Tristan Harris : BTW, I was not able to find another reference of the Yuval Harari quote they used in the presentation. [ LinkedIn ]
Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept.
Quote of the Week 51 "B e conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept . " ― Jon Postel (Postel's Law) Triggered by the reference to Postel's law in a presentation on " API Definition and Test with Consumer Driven Contracts (CDC) " by Werner Eberling last week. A variation of the Robustness Principle : "Be conservative in what you do, be liberal in what you accept from others." See also: "Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself." — Marcus Aurelius — Daily Stoic (@dailystoic) December 15, 2022 [ LinkedIn ]
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
Quote of the Week 42 " Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible. " ― Frank Zappa Triggered by the use of the quote in a discussion of "normality" in the WDR 5 "Philosophical Radio" podcast .
Proximity does breed creativity within a group of people.
Quote of the Week 28 " Proximity does breed creativity within a group of people." ― Kara Swisher Triggered by Kara's claim in a recent Pivot Podcast episode: . @karaswisher explains that there are some real advantages to working in-person in the office: “Proximity does breed creativity within a group of people.” Stream Pivot here, presented by @Salesforce + 👉 https://t.co/wo1l2mMrMP pic.twitter.com/coSLj8xTsS — Pivot Podcast (@PivotPod) June 3, 2022 Unfortunately, I could not yet find a research study that fully backs this opinion. While the creativity myth "Creativity tends to be a solitary activity" has been challenged, " face-to-face verbal interaction is typically not an effective way to tap the creative potential of a group " according to Alone versus together: Finding the right balance for creativity (researchgate.net) . [Update: July 17, 2022 Proximity does indeed cause contagion within a group of people. ]
They lie to us, we know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them.
Quote of the Week 19 " They lie to us, we know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them. " ― Elena Gorokhova ( A Mountain of Crumbs ) Triggered by the use of a variant of the quote attributed to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn : "We know they are lying. They know they are lying. They know that we know they are lying. We know that they know that we know they are lying. And still they continue to lie."