It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. And the greatest souls are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.
2mo ago
If you could go back in time and tell the 2001 version of me that the President's allies are talking on national news about shrimp consciousness, I would have laughed out loud. (Until you told me who the President was, of course.) Not only that, but you have the New York Post talking about Effective Altruists' sex lives, and op-eds debating EA philosophy in top blogs and the Washington Post.
1mo ago
2mo ago
The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, because in arithmetic there is knowledge, but in theology there is only opinion.
3mo ago
It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. And the greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as the greatest virtues.
3mo ago
It is a truth very certain that, when it is not in our power to determine what is true, we ought to follow what is most probable; and even if we cannot discover which of the alternatives is the more probable, we must nevertheless choose one of them.
4mo ago
To live without philosophizing is in truth the same as keeping the eyes closed without attempting to open them; and the pleasure of waking up is so much more beautiful than that of dreaming, that it must never be desired to have the eyes closed.
4mo ago
It is not what the man of science believes that distinguishes him, but how and why he believes it. His beliefs are tentative, not dogmatic; they are based on evidence, not on authority or intuition.
5mo ago
Underscored — save the words that stop you in your tracks.
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