Category: Thought
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Marcus Aurelius Quotes
I’ve been working on a website that shows random sections from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations: aurelius.co So far I’ve only added my favorite passages, the ones I’ve read over and over again. As of tonight, you can submit your own passages using this Google Docs form and I’ll add them to the website. I appreciate your […]
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John Stuart Mill on truth and debate
I just discovered this quote from one of Jordan Peterson’s videos: He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if […]
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Clever
Lacan, Seminar II chapter III, addressing his students: In other words, the only criticism I have to make of you, if I may, is that you all want to appear too clever. Everybody knows you are. So why do you want to appear as such? And, in any case, what is so important, either about […]
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Kwame Anthony Appiah and others on hierarchy
The entire article is very good. Apart from their civic importance, hierarchies can be surprisingly benign in life more broadly. Hierarchy is oppressive when it is reduced to a simple power over others. But there are also forms of hierarchy that involve power with, not over. Daoism characterises this kind of power effectively in the […]
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A new machine learning journal
From Chris Olah, it’s called Distill: As people rush out new discoveries without putting effort into communication, they produce research debt. The field becomes noisy and energy draining to follow. In such an environment, I think it’s extremely valuable for there to be people focused on human understanding, clarity, and communication — a kind of […]
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Memetic selection
A short review of Dennett’s new book, From Bacteria to Bach and Back. And a quote explaining the main theme of the book: Yet, as Dennett and others argue, genetic evolution is not enough to explain the skills, power and versatility of the human mind. Over the past 10,000 years, human behaviour and our ability […]
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Past times
A quote I dug up in my notes from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Complete Sherlock Holmes He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me, for I […]
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How do you read advanced math texts?
How do you read advanced math texts? “Slowly.”
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Edward Tufte keynote: “The Future of Data Analysis”
Edward Tufte keynote: “The Future of Data Analysis” The presentation starts at 2:30. The news article is here Bulletpoint take-aways from the end of the presentation: Numbers on the screen are representations of the real world. Look at the real world, not just representations. Walk around what you want to learn about. In doing creative […]
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Maps of the world
Six maps that will make you rethink the world. Not only are the maps beautiful, but the interview is pretty interesting too.