Most of us believe that bad things happen to bad people, and good things happen to good people. We call this the 'just world hypothesis.' The problem is that it's not true — and our commitment to this belief can lead us to blame victims of misfortune, rather than help them.
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We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are. And what we are is largely what we have consented to become, through the daily, unremarked choices that accumulate into a character — and finally a fate.
Anaïs Nin — Seduction of the Minotaur
The best time to buy a house is always five years ago. The best time to start a company is always five years ago. The best time to invest is always five years ago. Waiting for certainty is just a sophisticated way of opting out.
Paul Graham — Y Combinator office hours transcript
As journalists, it can feel like the incentives of our tribe are almost always to ask: what's bad about this? But it is a particularly hollow and timid kind of journalism that finds itself unable to also ask: what could go right?
Casey Newton