Thoughts

I am a fallibilist, I admit that there are errors in my opinions, judgments,  ways of thinking and points of view.

Ecology

If climate change is man-made, we can fix it while we develop our civilization. Other species won't have to suffer the consequences of our mistakes.

With every species that disappears, it's a library that burns and the biosphere becomes more unstable.

The greenest path is scientific and technological progress.

Compensatory measures are a great hypocrisy. It is impossible to restore a destroyed ecosystem to its original state. There is bound to be a net loss of biodiversity. Who claims to be able to recreate a forest of centuries-old trees? Or a thousand-year-old peat bog?

There's no such thing as too much biodiversity.

Washing a garden salad takes so much time! Hydroponics is much more convenient.

The best insect hotel is nature.

The younger people are, the more they care about nature.

Once you've observed wild horses, you understand that horse riding is the exploitation of animals.

By eating rodents that carry Lyme disease, mustelids (martens, weasels, badgers, ermines...) are our precious allies and are not "harmful" as some hunters would have us believe.

Investments

The easier it was for you to earn money, the more risk you take in investing it.

The market is the best teacher, because its lessons are the most expensive.

Trading is about making the unexpected inexpensive.

Technology

While we search the universe for aliens, we grow new life forms in our computers and laboratories. We'll probably merge with our new inventions before we discover extra-terrestrial life.

The next generation of drones (faster, cheaper, autonomous) will take smuggling out of control.

To surpass face-to-face interaction, develop brain-to-brain connectivity.

People think we'll spend the last years of our lives in a room glued to screens, but it looks increasingly like we'll have exoskeletons to help us stay mobile and travel the world. Unless, of course, we reverse the aging process, which would be even better news.

Notifications are ads designed to make us spend more time on apps. And most apps are designed to get us hooked.

The amazing thing about artificial intelligence is how much it can do without consciousness.

One day we will build rockets as fast as we build cars.

Nullius in verba. Even AGI.

Dying is like a nuclear explosion, because our atoms get scattered all around.

Instead of fragile, scratchy, rusting paintwork, why don't we make bodyworks on which moss and lichen grow by default?

Persons (or knowledge?) are an asymptote to the control of the universe.

The difference between a LLM and a journalist is that the LLM doesn't hallucinate on purpose.

Health

Heal your trauma before having children.

Leonardo da Vinci died at the age of 67. By defeating agism, humanity will benefit from the brightest minds for the longest time ever.

Progress allows us to become like the Elves: immortals with pointy ears.

The rarer death becomes, the more it becomes exclusive news.

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

It is impossible to get out of depression by spending time listening to the dark thoughts it generates. You can spend years locked in your head, withdrawing into yourself, and it won't help. There is no "internal problem" to solve. That is the lie of depression. You are not your thoughts. Every time depression tells you negative things, don't listen and remember that you, and only you, are in control. Medication and the resumption of physical, social, cultural, and manual activities keep the disease manageable.

Surfing

I am still waiting for surfers to release a song about how an airline broke their surfboards.

If you try to copy another surfer's style, you'll end up surfing like an idiot. (A conclusion inspired by a quote from the late Andy Irons).

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

Humour, I guess

When I see how some Americans dress to go to Walmart, I think more of us should go shopping in bathrobes or Pikachu costumes.

Engagement ring vending machine for people who get married and divorced a lot.

100 IQ: paying for Netflix. 200 IQ: watching Netflix using someone else's account. 9000 IQ: reading episode summaries for free on Wikipedia.

(Note: IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle.)

I'm going to grow a long neck and call myself Rodney Mullet. 

(What? You don't know Rodney Mullen?)

Si je me cache toujours au même endroit, est-ce ma constante de planque ?

(En lien avec la constante de Planck)

Comme on dit en Australie, il ne faut pas mettre la charrue avant l'émeu.

Other stuff

The world ocean is 655,6 times the size of mainland France (361,900,000km²/552,000km²). As de Mac Mahon said: "So much water, so much water!"

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

Society

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 have to get rid of it culturally, just like we did with tobacco.

The fact that people wait for their vacations or retirement to read books is a tragedy.

IT knows things about employees that HR doesn't.

An artist's job is to tell conventional rules to fuck off. "Leurs règles ont toutes une tombe, c'est ça qu'ils ne comprennent pas." ("Their rules all have a grave, that's what they don't understand.") - Booba

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

The idiots are not those who make spelling mistakes, but those who focus on them and miss the point.

Two ways to feed pigeons: birdseed and news.

L'abus d'école est dangereux pour la santé. Translation: School abuse is dangerous for your health. There's a play on words in the French phrase, inspired by the French slogan: "L'abus d'alcool est dangereux pour la santé." (Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health).

If you want someone to not learn something, force them to take a class on it.

If the death penalty does not scare criminals, then prison will scare them even less. The question is no longer what would be a real deterrent, but how to create a society where it is less attractive to be a criminal than a do-gooder.

Noise to some, signal to others.

Habits

Are you doing all you can or all you should?

If you want to wake up early naturally, you have to go to bed ridiculously early.

Meditation is shower thoughts on steroids.

Become a minimalist and you won't need Ikea or Marie Kondo's books.

Abstinence is easier than moderation.

Publishing regularly leads to mediocrity.

It is less the time spent together than the variety of shared experiences that makes up what we know of each other.

Happiness is a choice. Then it needs constant nurturing: get rid of what makes you unhappy, do more of what makes you happy.

Don't read the writings of people who boast about being praised by the mass media.

If someone has selflessly helped you, return the favour.

True friends don't push you to drink alcohol.

It's better to have little money and be happy than to earn more and be unhappy.