Collection of scattered quotes & ideas from Thomas Sowell. "If the government took over the Sahara Desert, there would be a shortage of sand."
Why it's bad to hate builders: B/c you attack the people who are creating the most wealth, not only for themselves, but society. Ppl don't get wealth exploiting. They get wealth b/c others pay them b/c they are getting value in return.
Ppl like to put down billionaires & say they are exploiting the poor But if you compare the data there are more billionaires in the U.S. than in Africa & the Middle East put together & yet the standard of living for the poor in the U.S. is higher than that of ppl in Africa + ME
Higher Ed Why has cost been rising? Gov't. If tuition is over a certain amount, you get more gov't funding. Thus it incentivizes unis to charge more One reason professors cost more is that their opportunity cost is higher bc they could get paid more to go into other industries
When you think about the university of the future, what comes to mind? Or asked differently, if you could wave a wand and change anything about universities for the next 10 years, what would you change?
People have difficulty acknowledging that individuals are not equal in abilities but equal in moral worth. Reconciling that fact is the core challenge of a democratic capitalistic society—so that you expand the overall pie to its fullest but also make sure everyone has enough.
COVID investment thesis: "Your loneliness is my opportunity". e.g. consumer social, education, communities, mental health/coaching
When recruiting someone great, your instinct is to have them customize their role. But what great recruiters do is paint a picture of the role they can play, the impact it'll have, & how it'll set them up for long-term success—better than the candidate could imagine themselves.
The secret to happiness is turning off all notifications.
What's the best online course you've ever taken?
It's amazing how these psychosocial forces homogenize people’s thinking It's not new 90s - internet bubble 2000s - housing & finance 2010 - gov't bubble All characterized by a lack of critical thinking & assuming that other people had figured things out & deferring to them.
Wisdom of Crowds vs Madness of Crowds: if you're 51/49 majority, that's probably more right than wrong: Wisdom. If it's a 70/30 majority, well, that's even better. It's even wiser But if you have a 99/100 to zero majority, you're North Korea: Madness.
In a hyperconnected world, it's harder to be eccentric (as a scientist, thinker, anything) b/c there's nowhere to hide. We're all mad. Nietzsche said that madness is rare in individuals but in nations & crowds of people, it’s the rule. That was before Nietzsche himself went mad.
Originality is hard. It goes against our instincts: Already in the time of Shakespeare, the word ‘ape’ meant both primate and to imitate. There is this imitation aspect to human nature that runs very deep. It’s how we learn language as kids, it’s how culture gets transmitted.
A summary of Stephen Hicks' book "Explaining Post-modernism" 👇 amazon.com/dp/B005D53DG0/…
Of the five major features of Enlightenment reason—objectivity, competence, autonomy, universality, and being an individual faculty—Kant rejects objectivity. Once reason is so severed from reality, the rest is details—details that are worked out over the next two centuries.
Post-modernists are the new sophists. The Sophists taught rhetoric not as a means of advancing truth and knowledge but as a means of winning debates in the rough-and-tumble world of day-to-day politics.
Duchamp's post-modern art was a urinal, meaning art is something you piss on Post-modernism is that idea applied more broadly. Not only is art shit, everything is We couldn't turn to God or nature, but we were supposed to turn to socialism Now that it failed...burn it all down
The Rise of Positive-Sum Thinking: eriktorenberg.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-…
What is Nietzsche's lasting influence on Nazi Germany? Brief summary of Stephen Hicks' "Nietzsche and the Nazis" amazon.com/dp/B003XVYHRU/…
Thinkers associated w/ revolutions: Communist in Russia & China - Marx French - Jean-Jacques Rousseau American - John Locke Nazi - Hegel, Fichte, some Marx, but mostly Nietzsche.
The Nazis stood for collectivism. The opposite of that is a philosophy of individualism that recognizes individual rights. The Nazis stood for instinct as one’s basic guides in life. The opposite of that is a philosophy that has a healthy confidence in the power of reason.
Who are the best community builders in their field who are also practitioners in their field? For example, who's the best community builder for designers who's also a designer? Same w/ product, sales, VCs—across any position/sector I want to work w/ these ppl over the next yr.
You should start a podcast if: - you want to build a strong network and/or showcase your strong network - you want to build expertise and/or showcase your expertise - you want to promote a specific topic or way of thinking - you’re insatiably curious and love asking Qs twitter.com/eriktorenberg/…
Decentralized movements are more powerful because, being decentralized, you can't attack any central leadership. Also they can deny their intent, structure, or even existence, pointing to their decentralization as an alibi
Peter Thiel on stagnation: eriktorenberg.substack.com/p/the-world-ac…
An irony of the “college teaches you how to think” meme is that in some ways college teaches you *not* to think— Don’t think about the lack of viewpoint diversity among profs, don’t think about why costs keep rising, don’t think abt why you enrolled w/o considering alternatives.
Multiple ways to build a social network: - Come for the tool, stay for the network (e.g. Instagram, Musical.ly) - Come for the network, stay for the tool/data the network creates (e.g. LinkedIn, Product Hunt, Quora, On Deck) Either way, the wedge has to be amazing twitter.com/david__booth/s…
You can tell that something is LARPing by the low body count. Real communists & fascists kill millions of people. Much of the war takes place on Twitter. Twitter makes you think it's the French Revolution. Even the worst of cancel culture is a cake walk in comparison.
Maybe virtualism is just the end-result of liberalism. Makes sense that in a true marketplace of ideas, you'd end up with a long-tail of realities. Liberalism & capitalism created an opening, & social media fanned the flame, effectively creating a stock market of realities.