Friday, November 17, 2023

This Is Easily the Most Important Speech Jordan Peterson Has Ever Done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTS57hkAUk&t=65s

I differ from Peterson in that we cannot reliably assume the supernatural.  There are many different opinions on what the divine means, so we cannot reliably assume that a higher power has expectations of us.

We live in a society where we think that people should be good, but not all cultures share this view, or they disagree on what good means.  However, we think that societies work better when people aren't cruel, cooperate with each other, and show compassion.
I don't think that humans should necessarily be sacrificial animals for others.  Taken to the extreme, the individual becomes a slave to power structures.  However, voluntarily caring for others seems to make us better and stronger people.

The best speech I have heard Jordan Peterson give is this one...


He speaks at such a high level, it forces me to pay close attention to keep up.

Friday, November 3, 2023

The Mind

"The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, October 30, 2023

The Making of an Expert

true expertise is mainly the product of years of intense practice and dedicated coaching. Ordinary practice is not enough: To reach elite levels of performance, you need to constantly push yourself beyond your abilities and comfort level.

Saturday, September 23, 2023

Can Physics explain the Purpose of Everything?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgTiMEfWkHE

Science describes how things happen and not why.

There is a joke in an Isaac Asimov robot novel where the students in a class troll their robot teacher by asking the 'why' of something.  When the robot gives an answer they ask 'why' again, and keep repeating the request making the robot go into more and more detail.

Over 20 years ago I was struggling with the meaning of life, and I came to the conclusion that the meaning of life was to find meaning.  The beauty of this is that it will be different for everyone.  For many, it would be family, but for others, it would be something else.  I like the idea of working toward some goal.

Emptiness of space

Our minds do not comprehend the emptiness of space. Huge distances separate the planets, yet this is tiny compared to the distance to the nearest star. These are further dwarfed by the size of the galaxy which in turn is dwarfed by the incredible vastness of the Observable Universe. And what lies between these celestial bodies is a great void. Immense emptiness that we will likely never cross.

Planet Earth is our lifeboat in a nearly infinite ocean of almost nothing.

Thursday, July 6, 2023

10 Taboo Questions About History and Society

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESD2XHeTxjA

I'm not endorsing everything he says here.

It seems very flawed to say that war is a force for good because of the scientific and medical advancements that happened during war.  Those advancements would have happened anyway, perhaps more slowly, but maybe more quickly because we wouldn't be spending most of our wealth trying to destroy each other.  Nobody thinks that we should go to war to advance science.  What creates innovation is a free market.

World War 1 is responsible for the spread of the Spanish Flu that killed at least 50 million people.

Sometimes war is necessary to stop aggression.

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Friday, June 16, 2023