Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age

The people you can say heretical things to without getting jumped on are also the most interesting to know.

I admit it seems cowardly to keep quiet. When I read about the harassment to which the Scientologists subject their critics,12 or people branded as anti-Semitic for speaking out against Israeli human-rights abuses,13 or researchers threatened with lawsuits under the DMCA,14 part of me wants to say, “All right, you bastards, bring it on.” The proble

The most important thing is to be able to think what you want, not to say what you want. And if you feel you have to say everything you think, it may inhibit you from thinking improper thoughts. I think it’s better to follow the opposite policy. Draw a sharp line between your thoughts and your speech. Inside your head, anything is allowed.

Although fashions in ideas tend to arise from different sources than fashions in clothing, the mechanism of their adoption seems much the same. The early adopters will be driven by ambition: self-consciously cool people who want to distinguish themselves from the common herd. As the fashion becomes established they’ll be joined by a second, much la

Let’s start with a test: do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your peers? If the answer is no, you might want to stop and think about that. If everything you believe is something you’re supposed to believe, could that possibly be a coincidence? Odds are it isn’t. Odds are you just think whatever you

Misrule breeds rebellion;

Someone who thinks his feet naturally hurt is not going to stop to consider the possibility that he is wearing the wrong size shoes.

When you tread water, you lift yourself up by pushing water down. Likewise, in any social hierarchy, people unsure of their own position will try to emphasize it by maltreating those they think rank below. I’ve read that this is why poor whites in the United States are the group most hostile to blacks.

“no art, however minor, demands less than total dedication if you want to excel in it.”