Psychology
Fools Think in Words (Skin in the Game)
> My lifetime motto is thatmathematicians think in (well, precisely defined and mapped) objects and relations, jurists and legal thinkers in constructs, logicians in maximally abstract operators, and…fools in words. Words have ambiguous meanings – this is bad for decision making.
My lifetime motto is thatmathematicians think in (well, precisely defined and mapped) objects and relations, jurists and legal thinkers in constructs, logicians in maximally abstract operators, and…fools in words.
Words have ambiguous meanings – this is bad for decision making. Philosophy was born out of the need for rigor in discourse – Socrates asked people what they thought they meant about what they said. This is in opposition to the sophist’s promotion of rhetoric.
Belief can be epistemic or procedural. Some beliefs are decorative, others are functional and aid in survival, while others are literal.
When one of these fundamentalists talks to a Christian, he is convinced that the Christian takes his own beliefs literally, while the Christian is convinced that the Salafi has the same oft-metaphorical concepts that he has, to be taken seriously but not literally—and, often, not very seriously. Religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and, to some extent Shiite Islam, evolved (or, rather, let their members evolve in developing a sophisticated society) precisely by moving away from the literal. The literal doesn’t leave any room for adaptation.
THE EVIDENCE
The idea of belief without sacrifice is new in history. The strength of a creed does not rest on the evidence of the power of its gods, but on how much skin in the game its worshippers have.
Love without sacrifice is theft (Procrustes). This applies to any form of love, particularly the love of God.
RELIGIOUS IN WORDS
An atheist is defined by their deeds, by how different their actions are from those of a theist, not his beliefs and other symbolic matters.
Let us take stock here. There are people who areatheists in actions, religious in words (most Orthodox and Catholic Christians)and others who arereligious in actions, religious in words (Salafi Islamists and suicide bombers)but I know of nobody who is atheist in both actions and words, completely devoid of rituals, respect for the dead, and superstitions (say a belief in economics, or in the miraculous powers of the mighty state and its institutions).
YARPP List
Related posts:
- Habit 1: Be Proactive (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)
- Habit 4: Think Win-Win (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)
- Rhonda Perciavalle Patrick (Tools of Titans)
- Rational about Rationality (Skin in the Game)
Keep Reading
Related Articles
Psychology
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Part II, Chapter 3: The Transformations of the Hero)
# Part Two: The Cosmogonic Cycle *Charlemagne* Chapter 3: Transformations of the Hero ### 1.
Psychology
Chapter 11: The Syrian Conflict (Introduction to Middle East Politics)
The Syrian uprisings started in 2011 and led to civil war that continues until today in 2019, and has been the cause of one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the century. Syria turned into a warzone for Islamic militant groups like ISIS and regional and global powers.
Psychology
Law 36: Disdain the things you cannot have: ignoring them is the best revenge (The 48 Laws of Power)
### Law 36: Disdain the things you cannot have: ignoring them is the best revenge *Sour grapes* You should never make it apparent that you have been unable to attain something that you want. It is much wiser to treat what you secretly want with disdain, as this will bring it closer to you.
Psychology
The Commercial Promise of Goodenough’s Solid Battery Invention
In 2017, 94-year-old John B. Goodenough made headlines with his invention of a solid battery that could be charged and discharged hundreds of times without degradation. The new battery was not only more stable and less flammable than today’s lithium-ion batteries, but it was also cheaper to produce.