21 Inspiring Ideas I Came Across In 2021
I collect notes. Thousands per year.
Whenever I listen to podcasts, read a book, engage in discussions or think through challenges at work I open my notes file and start typing.
Below, you will find the 21 most thought-provoking ideas I wrote down throughout 2021.
Enjoy and share!
ONE
The best way to live more self-determined is to self-determine the environments you find yourself in.
TWO
(an idea by Daniel Schmachtenberger)
On being, doing, becoming:
- Being: appreciating the beauty of life in the moment
- Doing: adding to the beauty of life and helping others appreciate it (science, art, creativity, protection)
- Becoming: getting better at both of them
A meaningful life means combining all three effectively.
THREE
Not experiencing discomfort is not a human right.
FOUR
Democracy can exist only when you are willing to tolerate some views that oppose your own.
FIVE
(an idea by Daniel Schmachtenberger)
The difference between humans and apex predators is that we take out a lot more prey at once than any other animal could (an Orca hunting one big fish vs. humans using driftnets).
This creates an asymmetry that is not sustainable and can only work for so long.
SIX
Freedom of speech doesn’t mean you have a right to be heard, understood and agreed with (that requires someone else).
Freedom of speech means that your not wanting to hear something doesn’t mean it ought not be said. That would be oppression.
Hate speech is not when you don’t like what’s being said.
Freedom of speech is the core liberty from which almost all other liberties spring.
SEVEN
(from the book “Finite & Infinite Games”)
For the finite player in us freedom is a function of time. We must have the time to be free.
For the infinite player in us time is a function of freedom. We are free to have time.
A finite player puts play into time.
An infinite player puts time into play.
EIGHT
(an idea by Alain de Botton)
The danger of our times: Believing that the only way to be good enough is to be extraordinary.
In a world where you believe you can achieve everything, nothing is good enough.
We feel inadequate with our ordinary lives as a result of the expectations placed upon us. We expect our lives to be stellar and when we find it to be ordinary, we get depressed.
NINE
Being good at things is not the point of doing them.
When you collect different experiences and interesting skills you become a different and interesting person.
Winning is not the point of playing.
TEN
Where some of our negativity bias comes from: Bad news come suddenly and unexpected, good news more gradually (everyday, 100k people get lifted out of poverty).
ELEVEN
The act of loving is built upon an effort to help someone else be who they want to be, not who we want them to be.
TWELVE
(an idea by N. Taleb)
Our view of history is biased by the availability heuristic and the fact that we think of the Via Positiva a lot more than the Via Negativa.
Absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence.
For example, history is peace punctuated by war, not war punctuated by peace.
THIRTEEN
Fear of failure is higher when you’re not working on the problem.
FOURTEEN
The difference between satisfying a desire and being released from desire is the difference between pleasure and joy.
In our culture we’re conditioned to prefer and pursue pleasure.
FIFTEEN
The difference between satisfying a desire and being released from desire is the difference between pleasure and joy.
In our culture we’re conditioned to prefer and pursue pleasure.
SIXTEEN
Attention or status is locally non-zero sum (if I get attention no one loses) and globally zero sum (there’s only so much attention to distribute).
Capitalism is locally zero-sum (in a trade someone gets one and someone loses one) and globally non-zero sum (quantity and quality of goods and services increases for all).
SEVENTEEN
Layers of a free society (if the lower ones aren’t there, the upper ones don’t mean anything):
- Free speech
- Free grouping of interests (actors, stamp collectors, …)
- Sharing of power
- Elections
EIGHTEEN
Even if you strictly prioritise the things that matter most in your life — you will never have enough time do fit all of them.
Trying to “accomplish” everything you think is worth accomplishing won’t lead to success.
NINETEEN
Your habits construct the person you’re going to be in the future in real time.
TWENTY
Hustling and working hard isn’t the problem. It’s working hard in a context where you’re not fulfilled by what you do and what you create as a result.
It’s the context in which we work hard that makes the difference.
TWENTY-ONE
Moments of achievements are only single dots along the line of life. In contrast, the experiences we make along the way account for everything else.
The process is what makes our life, not its result.
