Quotes

Question 1

Richard Wright

We’re different…

Answer 1

‘We’re different from what we seem … Maybe worse, maybe better, but certainly different … We’re strangers to ourselves.’

Question 2

‘We’re different from what we seem … Maybe worse, maybe better, but certainly different … We’re strangers to ourselves.’

Answer 2

Richard Wright

Question 3

Henry Ford “Thinking is…”

Answer 3

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it.”

Question 4

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it.”

Answer 4

Henry Ford

Question 5

Alan Alda “Your assumptions…”

Answer 5

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.

Question 6

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.

Answer 6

Alan Alda

Question 7

P. C. Hodgell “that which…”

Answer 7

That which can be destroyed by truth, should be.

Question 8

That which can be destroyed by truth, should be.

Answer 8

P. C. Hodgell

Question 9

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.

Answer 9

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Question 10

Eliezer Yudkowsky “above all, don’t…”

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

Oscar Wilde “to recommend…”

Answer 11

To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising man who is starving to eat less.

Question 12

To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising man who is starving to eat less.

Answer 12

Oscar Wilde

Question 13

“The essence of…”

Christopher Hitchens

Answer 13

“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.” — Christopher Hitchens

Question 14

“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.”

Answer 14

— Christopher Hitchens

Question 15

Eliezer yudkowsky

belief is…

Answer 15

belief is easier than disbelief; we believe instinctively, but disbelief requires a conscious effort.

Question 16

Alas, belief is easier than disbelief; we believe instinctively, but disbelief requires a conscious effort.

Answer 16

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Question 17

Eliezer Yudkowsky “to worship…”

Answer 17

To worship a phenomenon because it seems so wonderfully mysterious is to worship your own ignorance.

Question 18

To worship a phenomenon because it seems so wonderfully mysterious is to worship your own ignorance

Answer 18

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Question 19

Robin Hanson Economist FHI: You are never . . .

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

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. [ . . . ]

Answer 20

Robin Hanson Economist FHI

Question 21

Yudkowsky (false dilemmas and alternatives) “the best…”

Answer 21

The best is the enemy of the good

Question 22

The best is the enemy of the good

Answer 22

Yudkowsky (false dilemmas and alternatives)

Question 23

Norman Maier “Do not propose…”

Answer 23

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.”

Question 24

“Do not propose solutions until the problem has been discussed as thoroughly as possible without suggesting any.”

Answer 24

Norman Maier

Question 25

Eliezer Yudkowsky “Living with doubt…”

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

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.

Answer 26

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Question 27

What the eyes… — Harry Houdini

Answer 27

What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes. — Harry Houdini

Question 28

What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes.

Answer 28

Harry Houdini

Question 29

Those who can make you believe…

Answer 29

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
Voltaire