Thoughts

Ecology

Compensatory measures don't work. No committee can replace what took centuries to grow.

The best insect hotel is nature.

Investments and Risk

We're less likely to risk the money we've worked hard for than the money we've been given.

Take risks that will yield something even if you fail.

Humility without lucidity is submission.

When you lose interest in yourself, you become a slave to entertainment.

Listen to those who are risking something to speak out.

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

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

Surfing

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

You keep falling on green waves because you haven't quite mastered white water yet.

The best spots are packed; it's the perfect place to risk a collision, get into arguments with other surfers, and catch only two waves in two hours.

A versatile surfboard will make you happy. Having too many boards creates anxiety: what if you choose the wrong one for the session?

Society, Politics, Philosophy, Culture

Two ways to feed pigeons: birdseed and the news.

Drug-war is politician-electing theater; it ignores mental drivers.

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. It's not time that reveals people. It's variance.

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

Forcing unwanted things leads to low use and waste of public funds.

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?

You don't convince someone to embrace change by criticizing them, but by showing them the benefits of the alternative.

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

Degrees didn't invent good ideas.

Use school; don't let it use you.

They force children into education and then complain that they lack autonomy.

School replaces the desire to create with the fear of failure.

School is the only place you have to go back to when you're bullied.

Over-specialized schooling narrows minds.

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

Feu mon arrière-grand-mère, Marie-Thérèse Weidig, disait qu'il y a les bêtes intelligents et les intelligents bêtes.

Reading more doesn’t make you smarter. It just inflates your confidence. Epistemic rigor is subtractive: less noise, more clarity. Cut the crap. Ignore the crowd. Find where you're wrong. Again and again.