‘For too long now, humour has been taken lightly’ – Jacques Prévert
tag > Philosophy
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"The map is not the territory. The word (incl. LLM tokens) is not the thing" - Alfred Korzybski
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"Now, you must remember: the enemy has only images and illusions behind which he hides his true motives. Destroy the image and you will break the enemy." - Shaolin Abbott in Enter the Dragon (1973)
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No man is an island
"No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were.Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee."- John Donne, Meditation XVII, 1624
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Perspective: In early 20th-c. Russian "Noosphere" philosophie, humans aren't evolution’s goal but simply a geological mechanism for minerals to reorganize & redistribute themselves across the planet & universe. Minerals play chess. We’re just the pawns that move the pieces.
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"Either mathematics is too big for the human mind, or the human mind is more than a machine" - Kurt Gödel
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“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” ― Theodore Roosevel
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Extraordinary Times
Many think we live in extraordinary times - pointing to imminent doom, the second coming, or the rise of AI. They aren't paying attention: things have been getting weirder for ever, and in truth the ordinary is the extraordinary.
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You worried about death? Don't worry, you will die for sure. Everything is impermanent, incl. nothing. Relax.
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IF YOU USE YOUR MIND TO STUDY REALITY, YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND EITHER YOUR MIND OR REALITY. IF YOU STUDY REALITY WITHOUT USING YOUR MIND, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND BOTH - Bodhidharma
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"You don't need to do everything. Do what calls your heart; effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is enough." ~ Joanna Macy
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Daodejing Chapter 42: the origin of the myriad things
The Dao gave birth
To the one.
The one gave birth
To the two.
The two gave birth
To the three.
The three gave birth
To the myriad things.
Carry Yin on their backs,
And embrace Yang in their arms,
To harmonise these two vital forces.
There is nothing people hate more
Than being orphaned,
Abandoned, and destitute.
Yet kings and princes
Call themselves these names.
Less can be more,
More can be less.
What others teach,
I also teach.
The violent do not die
A natural death.
This is the guiding principle
Of my teaching.「道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物；萬物負陰而抱陽，沖氣以為和。人之所惡，唯孤寡不穀，而王公以為稱；故物或損之而益，或益之而損；人之所教，我亦教之。強梁者不得其死，吾將以為教父。」
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"Six Records of a Floating Life" (浮生六記) - an autobiography by Shen Fu (沈復, 1763–1825), who lived in Changzhou (now Suzhou) during the Qing dynasty (PDF)
