NYTimes on conversation openers: “If you know someone fairly well, Dr. John said, swap ‘How are you?’ for ‘How are you feeling?’ Including that one word can make the conversation richer, Dr. John said. “That gives the person an opportunity to say something a little less rote, and they’re going to pause and consider their answer,” she said. Dr. John told me that she and her husband often ask each other this question when they get home from work. It opens the dialogue, because “there are so many different ways you can respond,” she said: “You can be snarky, or safe, or talk about something that’s bothering you.””
Arnold Kling: “What I like about democracy is that it facilitates the peaceful transfer of power. Monarchies and dictatorships create a succession crisis whenever the king or dictator dies. Murder and civil war can easily ensue. I lament that few others see the peaceful transfer of power as the primary virtue of democracy. Instead, we have come to believe in a “will-of-the-people” theory of democracy. We have grown accustomed to having elections and a Federal government that have major consequences for our lives. The “will of the people” ends up as Fear Of Others’ Liberty, justifying promiscuous government intervention in markets and local communities.”
Jet Li on punctuality: “When we were late for training as kids, the coach would punish us, make us run 400 meters in a circle, around 20 times. Every time you were late, you ran. So that became stuck in my mind when I was a little boy: You cannot be late. Show your pride and respect people. If you tell me eight o’clock, I will be there 10 or 15 minutes before and wait.” More: “People know how to train their body — be healthy, exercise — but not so many understand how to train their mind. For the past 30 years I’ve been training my mind to figure out the meaning of life and be happier. I say: Relax. Appreciate life, appreciate your teacher, parents, partner, whatever you need to appreciate.”
FT reviews Prophecy: “Véliz’s polymathic survey of prediction from the ancient world to the digital age is well timed. In the era of machine learning, we rely on algorithmic forecasting to guide decisions not just in engineering, but in public policy, corporate governance and our own personal lives as well. There is a core problem with this imperial advance, Véliz argues: the human practice of prediction is not about discerning truth, but exercising power. Predictions are intrinsically probabilistic, but are accepted as statements of determinate fact because they fulfil the psychological function of assuaging humanity’s innate anxiety about an uncertain future. As a result, they are also inherently wishful — motivated reasoning, rather than objective science.”
