Thoughts
I'm a fallibilist, which means I question my knowledge. I develop, clarify or delete my writings accordingly.
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
The easier it is to earn money, the more risk we take in investing it.
Do what's fun, not what requires motivation.
Qualitative decision-making is rooted in good physical and mental health.
Free markets, like science, originate from human nature, refined by invention into systems that drive efficiency and discovery.
To create something with skill, passion and love doesn't necessarily mean someone will buy it.
In most cases, you don't have to be rich to start or stop doing something.
Technology and Innovation
As we probe the universe for signs of life, we are growing new life forms in our laboratories. It's possible that we will merge with our new inventions before we discover alien life.
We are constantly expanding our influence over the universe, but our control will never be absolute. In mathematical terms, we are asymptotically gaining control of the universe. (See The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World, by David Deutsch)
Notifications are not designed to help you, but to make you spend more time in the app.
Don't ask yourself which app to install, ask yourself which app to remove.
One day we will build rockets as fast as we build cars.
Whether it's humans or artificial intelligences, don't take anyone's word for it.
Health and Longevity
Heal your trauma before you have children, or you'll transmit it to them.
Leonardo da Vinci died at the age of 67. By defeating aging, humanity could benefit from the brightest minds for the longest time ever.
Progress allows us to become like the Elves: everlasting with pointy ears.
Never make decisions when you're in a mental crisis.
You won't get back the health you sacrificed for wealth in retirement.
If, like me, you have bipolar, moving to another city will not solve your suffering. Your symptoms are caused by the disease, not by your job, your friends, the weather, the people or anything else. See your psychiatrist, take your medication, and exercise regularly. Avoid stressful situations because they make you mentally unstable. In addition to this advice, Buddhism can help you accept your illness, manage your thoughts, and become more resilient.
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. If you try to copy another surfer's style, you will look like a dork. (A conclusion inspired by a quote from the late Andy Irons).
Humor, I guess.
I'm still waiting for a surfer to write a song about how an airline broke her surfboard.
We should make engagement ring vending machines for people who get married and divorced a lot.
I'm going to grow a long neck and call myself Rodney Mullet.
Quand on joue à cache-cache, je me dissimule toujours au même endroit. C'est ma constante de Planck.
Comme on dit en Australie, il ne faut pas mettre la charrue avant l'émeu.
Un seul hêtre vous manque, et tout est peupliers. (Une allusion au vers : « Un seul être vous manque, et tout est dépeuplé ! » du poème L'Isolement, d'Alphonse de Lamartine)
Le sorcier ne met jamais trop de sel, car le magicien dose.
Let us think in eternities and remember that the bakery closes at noon.
I am impartial. Especially when my enemies are losing.
Lorsqu'un Italien tire, est-ce que sa mitraillette fait "buratatatata" ?
If I ever adopt a dog, I'm going to call it "Lightweight Baby" or "Yeah buddy!"
Miscellaneous Insights
The world ocean is 655.6 times the size of mainland France (361,900,000 km²/552,000 km²). As Patrice de Mac Mahon said: "So much water, so much water!"
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 in our societies that if people see you doing nothing, they think you have a problem.
Alcohol abuse is everywhere. Scientists and doctors agree that it's a huge problem for society. We need to get rid of it culturally, just like we did with tobacco.
Waiting for vacation or retirement to read books is a tragedy.
IT knows things about employees that HR doesn't.
We remember those who went to the Platonic Academy, not those who went to the Games of Ancient Rome.
Focusing on spelling mistakes and missing the point is the hallmark of the pedantic conformist.
Nitpickers are either autistic or idiots, or both.
Two ways to feed pigeons: birdseed and the news.
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).
There are some books we can't really choose not to read: the ones children want us to read to them.
Why did you share an image or video without its full context? Denying facts, making things up, lying by omission is wrong. We all need to check sources thoroughly and hold people accountable who use images and videos to lie.
Nazism traumatized people. To the point that they are now so focused on the far right that they forget to also destroy communism (postmodernism, woke, degrowth) and political Islam.
The fight against drug trafficking is not about eliminating it, but about getting politicians elected. It does not address the most common cause of drug use: psychiatric disorders. Since politicians refuse to help the sick, it's up to entrepreneurs to develop the solutions that will cure them.
Is it easier to convince a group of people or a single person?
Flaubert, Nietzsche and Montaigne claimed that walking helped them think better. Long walks (without music or podcasts) solve many problems.
When I hear someone say they've visited a place, I add it to my list of places not to visit. Mass tourism is a scourge.
Having an audience is the easiest way to become a know-it-all.
Getting rich doesn't extinguish passion.
Compulsory schooling forces children to endure the daily beatings and humiliations of their bullies. The bullies or society often prevent the child from calling for help. And even if the child manages to warn his or her parents, they are not listened to by teachers who refuse to acknowledge their mistakes. So, day after day, the law forces children to be beaten and humiliated by their bullies. Some children are traumatized for life. Some children kill themselves. The only solution I found to be left in peace was to hit my bullies. But not every child can! Compulsory education must be abolished. It's the only solution to protect children from bullies.
It is always those who have never been poor who say that money can't buy happiness.
Anyone who calls himself or herself an erudite, a savant, a polymath, is a pathological narcissist. Only the centuries will tell.
Forcing children into education is counterproductive because it destroys children's freedom, critical thinking, creativity, autonomy, and risk-taking.
You learn more about people from the variety of situations you experience with them than from the time you spend with them. For example, you might share an office with someone for ten years and think you know each other well. But the moment you both experience a new situation, like going on a trip or starting a business together, you suddenly discover sides of each other you never knew existed.
There's no such thing as "brutal" honesty. There's only honesty. Otherwise you're still emotionally attached to what other people say.
When disabled people say that they get a government allowance to meet their needs, they are mistaken. In fact, they don't get money from the government, they get it from other people's taxes. The government is just a middleman.