Thoughts

Knowledge might turn out to be false. That's why I question my knowledge. In the spirit of Karl Popper and the philosophy of fallibilism, I continuously develop, clarify, or delete my writings as new insights emerge or previous assumptions are challenged.

Ecology

Compensatory measures don't work. There is bound to be a net loss of biodiversity. No one can recreate a forest of centuries-old trees, or a thousand-year-old peat bog.

The best insect hotel is nature.

Investments and Risk

Easy money leads to stupid investments.

Qualitative decision-making is rooted in good physical and mental health.

Creating something with skill and passion doesn't necessarily mean you can make a living out of it.

In most cases, you don't have to be rich to start or stop doing something.

If you're worried about someone damaging it, don't buy it.

Take on entrepreneurial risks that will help you develop in-demand skills. If you succeed, you will achieve financial independence. If you fail, you will have value on the job market.

Dress too poor, they disrespect you. Dress too rich, they resent you. Dress average, they leave you alone.

Humility without lucidity is submission.

Technology and Innovation

As we search the universe for signs of life, we create new life forms in petri dishes and computers. It's possible that we will merge with our new inventions before we discover alien life.

Attention economy: Notifications are not designed to help you, but to make you spend more time in the app.

Whether it's humans or artificial intelligences, don't take their word for it.Free markets, like science, originate from human nature, refined by invention into systems that drive efficiency and discovery.

"What did you ship this week?" is acceptable for a team. But individuals can be bolder and ask themselves, "What did I ship today?"

Unless content requires it, complicated visual effects and editing signal shallowness.

Even before AI, proving you're the author of a text was a problem because ghostwriting has always existed.

Health and Longevity

Heal your trauma before you have children, or they will suffer from your suffering.

By defeating aging, humanity could benefit from the brightest minds for the longest time ever.

Never make decisions when you're in a mental crisis.

You won't get back the health you sacrificed for wealth in retirement.

My mental health was so terrible that it drove me to move several times in search of a new place, new friends, a new job, better weather, new hobbies. But moving was not the answer. I was sick. Psychiatry, medication, daily exercise, and Buddhism eased my suffering.

The most successful human of all time is probably a diplomatic cavewoman who prevented a few murders and allowed millions of descendants to be born as a result.

Surfing

Comparing yourself to other surfers takes all the fun out of surfing.

Copying someone's style makes you look like a dork. (A conclusion inspired by a quote from the late Andy Irons).

Your progress will come to a complete halt if you try to ride waves at the lineup without first mastering all the maneuvers on a longboard in the white water. Switching from a longboard to a shortboard only makes matters worse. It's like trying to ski a black run when you haven't even mastered the blue run. Everything's going too fast. You're not making any progress. At the lineup, you'll catch ten waves and fall off most of them. In the white water, though, you can catch a hundred in a single session. This is where you analyze your mistakes, start again, and make much faster progress.

Humor, I guess.

Let us think in eternities and remember that the bakery closes at noon.

Got ignorance amputated; it grew back.

On ne s'improvise pas écrivain. Montaigne a essayé.

Insult as compliment: "You would do great on an IQ test."

Yogi-isms:

I'm not going because I was invited.

I am impartial. Especially when my enemies are losing.

Miscellaneous Insights

The concept of the habitable zone works for campfires. Too close and you burn. Too far and bears will attack you. Only in between can you survive.

Society, Politics, Philosophy, Culture

Productivism is so ingrained that idleness is considered a pathology.

We remember those who went to the Platonic Academy, not those who went to the Games of Ancient Rome.

Prig conformists fixate on spelling and miss the point.

Two ways to feed pigeons: birdseed and the news.

There are some books we can't really choose not to read: the ones children want us to read to them.

Always speak out against the people who share things out of context.

Drug-war is politician-electing theater; ignores psychiatric drivers; entrepreneurs must solve.

Flaubert, Nietzsche and Montaigne claimed that walking helped them think better. Long walks alone (without music nor podcasts) solve many problems.

Avoid where masses go; tourism kills soul.

Having an audience is the easiest way to become a know-it-all.

Self-labels like erudite/savant/polymath/intellectual = narcissism; only centuries will tell.

You don’t truly know someone by clocking hours with them . You know them by situational stress. Share an office for a decade and learn nothing; take a trip or start a venture together and you'll uncover their real character in a week. It's not time that reveals people. It's variance.

When we accumulate, we bury what’s important; when we reduce, we find it.

Apologizing gets easier the more we do it.

Prosperity = being satisfied; wanting more reduces it, worse if hard to get.

Worried about your home on vacation? Your belongings own you.

Infinite red flags; if you wait for green you’ll never have children.

Most hopes and fears won’t happen; if anticipating, you’re not living. Buddhism, Seneca, Epicurus: same conclusions.

You don't need to be or have anything to accept yourself.

Forcing unwanted things leads to low use and waste of public funds. E.g: cycling path in a hilly city, cultural events contrary to locals' taste.

Level 0: I want to change A. Level 1: I realize that I can't change A, but I don't accept it. Level 2: I accept that I can't change A. Level 3: What can I enjoy about A? How can I get the most out of it?

Even when it's a journalist telling them not to waste time on news, people still waste time on news.

Reality TV gives you a sense of superiority, documentaries make you feel smart, and the news makes you feel informed. But all three make you dumber.

To spare farm animals, photogenic vegan recipes beat protesting at fast-food.

Restricting kids’ roaming creates a negative feedback loop: fewer kids outside means they're more at risk.

Aphorisms aren't very helpful for solving domain dependence.

The Reputation Fallacy: taking your years in a field and your peers’ approval as evidence that you’re right.

Education

Don’t explain complex things in dumbed-down language. Explain them clearly. Especially when talking to kids.

Those who want to limit their learning demand diplomas.  They think they know because they graduated. They lecture others because they believe that their credentials give them credibility. We all have limits to our knowledge. Good ideas can come from anyone.

Daydreaming in class is resistance to institutional brainwashing.

Unschooled kids brim with curiosity and guts. Schooled kids graduate as obedient, timid bureaucrats. School doesn’t teach. It conditions. ‘Sit down, shut up, don’t think unless told.’ Education? No. That’s behavioral neutering.

Do not study anything solely through government-approved books.

Universities have more silos than farms.

You can't force children into education and then complain that they lack initiative, creativity, agency, critical thinking and autonomy.

Bullying is a power phenomenon. Schools institutionalize it. You trap children in an artificial bureaucratic system, remove optionality, inject status hierarchies, and call it 'education.' Of course cruelty metastasizes. The problem isn’t just bullies and mean teachers. It’s that the victims can’t exit. You want to end bullying? Abolish compulsory education.

L'abus d'école est dangereux pour la santé. A rule of thumb inspired by the french slogan: "L'abus d'alcool est dangereux pour la santé." (Alcohol abuse is unhealthy).

Teenagers aren't incapable. They're made that way. The modern school system treats children like IKEA furniture: mass-produced, flattened, lifeless, needing an instruction manual. It rewards obedience, not curiosity; memorization, not understanding. Then the same bureaucrats wonder why 17-year-olds can’t fix a sink or argue coherently. Apprenticeship? That scares them. Because real learning requires taking risks and suffering the consequences. The fix isn't to tweak the curriculum. It's to kill the system. Abolish compulsory education. Let people learn by doing and failing. That’s how we got civilization, not by sitting in rows waiting for a bell.

Art schools clone people. Clean, conceptual, sterile work to please institutions.

Tell your kids that if a homeless person doesn't have worn-out clothes, it doesn't mean they're doing fine.

Faith

Faith is thanking God when good things happen to me, even though He is never responsible for them. Faith is not blaming God when bad things happen to me, because He is never responsible for them.