We do not want thinkers ruling, or even rulers thinking.
Jan 182024
Thinking
Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle — they are strictly limited in number, require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments.
—Whitehead
Jan 112024
The novice with only a hammer thinks everything looks like a nail. The expert sets about turning everything into a nail.
Dec 282023
More tears are shed over world-views than worlds.
Dec 252023
The mind has no immune system, and can be cured of a virus only by another virus, or by a stronger dose of what infected it in the first place.
Nov 232023
To be a danger to oneself is a contradiction, for ethical hedonists, or a tautology, for everyone else.
Nov 172023
The proponent of an idea must be more ruthless than the Mongols. No conquest is permanent; every mind-territory is forever up for grabs.
Nov 152023
Induce, and the world induces with you; deduce and you deduce alone.
Nov 142023
The specialist reviews the generalist: “A thorough and knowledgeable overview… regrettably full of errors on my particular subject.”
Nov 092023
We infer the future from the past because the past is all we have: our generalizations, like our generals, are always fighting the last war.
Nov 072023
Never philosophize with a hammer when you can use a scalpel.