May 21, 2009

The simple rules.

Via Metafilter. Via Jac.
Posted by Ann Althouse at 8:34 AM
Tags: , , , , , ,

8 comments:

Hoosier Daddy said...

What are the simple concepts that have most helped you understand the world?.

Most of the folks in the world are decent people but there are always a few assholes that need to be wiped.

So to speak.

5/21/09, 9:09 AM
Big Mike said...

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Amen, sister, amen.

5/21/09, 9:41 AM
Bissage said...

The planet Earth is like a giant jar of fermenting kimchi soon to be harvested by a super-advanced race of space aliens.

No. Just kidding.

We're all lab rats living in a Skinner box.

5/21/09, 10:03 AM
traditionalguy said...

Birth onto our Planet is a death sentence. But a full lifespan is a blessing to be thankful for. We are therefore thankful that the Christmas card from the 82nd Airborne is "Peace on Earth and Good will to man, or else we will kill you." The American experience has always been that Guns are the Peacemakers.

5/21/09, 10:33 AM
TMink said...

Another good JAC post.

There are 4 types of people: People who get things done; People who watch things getting done; People who are too confused to know if anything gets done; and Complainers.

Trey

5/21/09, 11:28 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Economics: You can predict the behavior of large groups by assuming people are selfish.

Political Science: People have to be restrained by rules. Without law and tradition, a few bad apples remake society in their image.

History: Wars won and lost have the largest consequences. There is no trend that can't be reversed by a war.

Sociology: Some crap about Guatemala and US fruit companies. Stopped paying attention when I realized I wasn't actually going to learn any science.

Economics (again): Economic growth makes the pie bigger. If you have enough growth, almost every problem becomes easy to fix. It's when there isn't growth that politics gets really, really nasty.

Writing: Coolest shit ever. We're hard wired to appreciate narratives. If our brains were different, we wouldn't even understand the concept of writing. Instead, we have this amazing ability to imagine things that aren't happening.

5/21/09, 1:25 PM
Anonymous said...

Making quite good decisions under uncertainty is extremely easy, bordering on trivial.

5/21/09, 3:37 PM
Anonymous said...

The relationship among mathematics, strength, and beauty is not accidental.

5/21/09, 3:40 PM

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