“If you want to create the common sense that comes from twenty years of being in the world, you need to devote twenty years to the task. You can't assemble an equivalent collection of heuristics in less time; experience is algorithmically incompressible.” WisdomExperienceCommon SenseSci FiSfExhalation Book:The Lifecycle of Software Objects Source: The Lifecycle of Software Objects
“Forgive me, Lord, for being sharp to a man who sought only to assist me. I ask for your help in being patient with those who believe women helpless.” MenWomenPatienceGenderSci FiHelplessnessSfGender BiasExhalation Book:Omphalos Source: Omphalos
“I told Wilhelmina I would have to speak to her parents about what she had done. She seemed unconcerned. “I won’t apologize for bringing people closer to God. I know I’ve broken rules in doing so, but it’s the rules that need to be changed, not my behavior.” I told her that people couldn’t simply disobey rules just because they disagreed with them, because society would cease to function if everyone did that. “Don’t be silly,” she said. “You lied when you sent that mailgram as Mr. Dahl. Was that because you believe we should all be free to lie? Of course not. You thought about the situation and concluded that lying was justified. You’re prepared to take responsibility for what you did, aren’t you? Well, so am I. That’s what society needs us to do, not to follow rules without thinking.” SpiritualitySci FiSfExhalation Book:Omphalos Source: Omphalos
“But there was a shift in behavior that, while falling short of a mass outbreak of criminality, was readily discernible by social scientists. Edgar Allan Poe had used the phrase “the imp of the perverse” to describe the temptation to do the wrong thing simply because you could, and for many people the imp had become more persuasive.” Sci FiSfExhalationMultiverses Book:Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom Source: Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom
“And I think I’ve found the real benefit of digital memory. The point is not to prove you were right; the point is to admit you were wrong. Because all of us have been wrong on various occasions, engaged in cruelty and hypocrisy, and we’ve forgotten most of those occasions. And that means we don’t really know ourselves. How much personal insight can I claim if I can’t trust my memory? How much can you? You’re probably thinking that, while your memory isn’t perfect, you’ve never engaged in revisionism of the magnitude I’m guilty of. But I was just as certain as you, and I was wrong. You may say, "I know I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes." I am here to tell you that you have made more than you think, that some of the core assumptions on which your self-image is built are actually lies.” MemoryMistakesSci FiSfExhalation Book:The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling Source: The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling
