some things I believe or that are interesting to explore
psychology
our moods don't believe in each other
people should think less about what they think they should think, and just think at all
empathy is a measure not a target
ideas aren't things you are. they're things you have and can play with
people are insecure and fickle because evolution is insecure and fickle
disgust responses don't map directly onto reality, but they do reveal territory
the idea that we are a collection of several agents seems fake, but seems slightly less fake than the idea that we are a single agent
change of perception is not the same as perception of change
if your plan requires that people "just" do something, the plan will fail
people will do what they know until they know what to do
social
some worldviews are their own punishment
all interesting people are disagreeable, but not all disagreeable people are interesting
the world is made up of artists, autists, and everyone else
nuance isn't fungible, and you can have too much of it
don't resent others for your own limitations
it's easy to make a new status game out of hating old status games
people want most the information they will learn the least from
it's better to be cute around smart people than it is to be smart around cute people
empathy is the necessary ability to be manipulated by others
teenagers know something children don't know, and adults end up forgetting
courage is in shorter supply than genius
people tend to be communists in the same way that they're bisexual
some people generate more heat than light
people can't be convinced by lies or by truth, but only by what they want to believe
people are communists because they hate the rich not because they love the poor
don't stand at the top of the bell curve and look down on the lower parts
philosophy
happiness = someone to love, something to do, something to look forward to
it is more important to learn meanings than definitions
happiness is orthogonal to success which is orthogonal to potential
sometimes more flowers means less roots
don't judge a book by its cover, but by the shop it's sold in
the purpose of freedom is to make others free
depth is not free
if it's not a "hell yeah" it's a "hell no"
if you can't fix your brakes, you should at least make your horn louder
my beliefs do not require others to also believe
it's better to violently disagree than to disagree violently
nothing human makes it out of the near future
relationships
women have a sense of the world looking in that they fail to dissolve, and men have a sense of the world looking out that they fail to dissolve
there is no such thing as an unobserved woman
men have to qualify themselves, women have to disqualify themselves
guys ask "what does she look like?", girls ask "what does he do"
"young love" isn't about the age of the people, it's about the age of the love
speed dating used to be a weird last resort, and now it's the norm
brothels aren't for single people, they're for married people
don't end up with someone who used to be pretty but was never interesting
the more invested into the wedding, the less invested into the marriage
some people know each others passwords because they trust each other completely. other people don’t know each others passwords because they trust each other completely
culture
its not less shallow to replace material objects with experiences
the frequency of something in your environment shouldn't dictate whether you like it or not
religion is a system composed of deep denials of shallow truths, and secularism is a system composed of shallow denials of deep truths
as negatives dwindle, they dominate; as positives swell, they diminish
intolerance can’t be impure; tolerance can’t be pure
if there's something that needs to be done first thing monday, do it friday night
people don't want to make better choices, they want to make shit choices and then complain about shit outcomes