Quotes Flashcards
Richard Wright
We’re different…
‘We’re different from what we seem … Maybe worse, maybe better, but certainly different … We’re strangers to ourselves.’
‘We’re different from what we seem … Maybe worse, maybe better, but certainly different … We’re strangers to ourselves.’
Richard Wright
Henry Ford “Thinking is…”
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it.”
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it.”
Henry Ford
Alan Alda “Your assumptions…”
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.
Alan Alda
P. C. Hodgell “that which…”
That which can be destroyed by truth, should be.
That which can be destroyed by truth, should be.
P. C. Hodgell
Above all, don’t ask what to believe—ask what to anticipate. Every question of belief should flow from a question of anticipation, and that question of anticipation should be the center of the inquiry.
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Eliezer Yudkowsky “above all, don’t…”
Above all, don’t ask what to believe—ask what to anticipate. Every question of belief should flow from a question of anticipation, and that question of anticipation should be the center of the inquiry.
Oscar Wilde “to recommend…”
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising man who is starving to eat less.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising man who is starving to eat less.
Oscar Wilde
“The essence of…”
Christopher Hitchens
“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.” — Christopher Hitchens
“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.”
— Christopher Hitchens
Eliezer yudkowsky
belief is…
belief is easier than disbelief; we believe instinctively, but disbelief requires a conscious effort.
Alas, belief is easier than disbelief; we believe instinctively, but disbelief requires a conscious effort.
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Eliezer Yudkowsky “to worship…”
To worship a phenomenon because it seems so wonderfully mysterious is to worship your own ignorance.
To worship a phenomenon because it seems so wonderfully mysterious is to worship your own ignorance
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Robin Hanson Economist FHI: You are never . . .
Robin Hanson:You are never entitled to your opinion. Ever! You are not even entitled to “I don’t know.” You are entitled to your desires, and sometimes to your choices. You might own a choice, and if you can choose your preferences, you may have the right to do so. But your beliefs are not about you; beliefs are about the world. Your beliefs should be your best available estimate of the way things are; anything else is a lie.
You are never entitled to your opinion. Ever! You are not even entitled to “I don’t know.” You are entitled to your desires, and sometimes to your choices. You might own a choice, and if you can choose your preferences, you may have the right to do so. But your beliefs are not about you; beliefs are about the world. Your beliefs should be your best available estimate of the way things are; anything else is a lie. [ . . . ]
Robin Hanson Economist FHI
Yudkowsky (false dilemmas and alternatives) “the best…”
The best is the enemy of the good
The best is the enemy of the good
Yudkowsky (false dilemmas and alternatives)
Norman Maier “Do not propose…”
Maier enacted an edict to enhance group problem solving: “Do not propose solutions until the problem has been discussed as thoroughly as possible without suggesting any.”
“Do not propose solutions until the problem has been discussed as thoroughly as possible without suggesting any.”
Norman Maier
Eliezer Yudkowsky “Living with doubt…”
Living with doubt is not a virtue—the purpose of every doubt is to annihilate itself in success or failure, and a doubt that just hangs around accomplishes nothing.
Living with doubt is not a virtue—the purpose of every doubt is to annihilate itself in success or failure, and a doubt that just hangs around accomplishes nothing.
Eliezer Yudkowsky
What the eyes… — Harry Houdini
What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes. — Harry Houdini
What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.
Harry Houdini
Those who can make you believe…
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
Voltaire
