both are true
on holding two conflicting ideas at once
both are true
nuanced piece by Anthropic CEO
A prominent billionaire gave a graduation speech the other day. The key message? Work hard to be successful.
Another prominent billionaire gave a graduation speech a year later. The key message? Working hard is bad advice. Do what feels fun for you to be successful.
Another prominent billionaire gave a graduation speech a year later. The key message? Working hard is bad advice. Do what feels fun for you to be successful.
Julie Zhuo • The Looking Glass: Our Souls Need Proof of Work
post-truth world
both are true: I hold a lot of conflicting beliefs, and have become happier the longer I’ve sat with them and realized that internal conflicts are a fact of life.
Logic requires that people find universal laws, but outside of scientific fields and once human psychology has a role to play, it is perfectly possible for behavior to become contradictory. A tax rise can cause you to work less because the returns of your labor are lower, or work harder to maintain your present level of disposable wealth. There are... See more
“Life is not like formula fiction. The villain has a heart, and the hero has great flaws.”
— Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Are we idealists or pragmatists? Do we have principles we hold dear, and a vision for the future we want to create? Or are we fumbling along, tinkering, finding what works, and forever allowing contact with reality to rearrange our mental furniture, make a mess on our conceptual floor, and occasionally punch so many holes in the walls that need to... See more
Chris Best • Principles and pragmatism
on pragmatism vs. idealism
Two conflicting perspectives I’m trying to reconcile:
Having a “north star” mission is critical.
Difference between success and failure on everything I've worked on has always been in persisting and getting unsexy details right.