Lately I’ve been revisiting this idea that reason is not the best path to breakthroughs. The core argument is that: we arrive at breakthroughs through intuition and imagination, and then we find our way to a proof or an artifact of that innovation through logic and reasoning. Aha-moments are intuited rather than arrived at procedurally.…
Category: Thinking
I just saw someone on my Facebook timeline proudly shared about how he “made a ruckus” on some online scientific forum because he challenged the argument made by a paper titled “Language is primarily a tool for communication rather than thought” (the article on NYTimes | the paper H/T gwern) (translated) Last Sunday night, I…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI2g8V2uw3w&ab_channel=ElyseMyers Saw this video earlier. Immediately thought, “this is such a good example to use when I want to talk about externalisation”. Yes, externalisation is such a boring technical term. Conveniently, computer people calls it: “rubber ducking”. // leaving a meta-trace here to talk about an underrated magic that human has access to: creating a…
“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein I’ve always taken this to mean I need to extend and enrich the scope of the languages I know. I would acquire new vocabularies, unlock new concepts, and weave new routes of thoughts. But the past 8 months or so, I…
I think short form content has been unfairly demonised and long form overly romanticised Short form is NOT making us stupid and distracted. shorter content != dumbed down content not being able to tolerate or engage with badly written text != illiterate Yes sure, there are short form that lack nuance, substance, or clarity. but…
https://fs.blog/2013/07/understanding-our-need-for-novelty-and-change/ Our ability to respond to the new and different is part of what makes us human. We’re interested in creating more of whatever is outside of that status quo. Generally, this interest serves us well. In an evolutionary context it has likely saved us from extinction several times. At this point in our warp-speed…
I caught myself arguing with reality the other day. I was annoyed that despite having slept for 12 hours in total the day before, and 8+ hours the night before, I still feel exhausted at 12pm. It doesn’t make sense. I thought I have bounced back from the food poisoning. I mean hey all symptoms…
As a knowledge worker, I find that whenever I find myself getting anxious or worried, the causes will fall into one of these categories: uncaptured (fear of dropping the ball, letting anything slip through the cracks) unprocessed (unchallenged, just mental chatter, reinstating personal narrative, reinforcing sense of identity, telling myself what I already believe) unorganised…
Started asking myself these questions more and more lately: how many things can I get if I just ask? how many miscommunication can I avoid by asking? how many problems can I solve more easily if I just ask for help? what questions am I avoiding asking? what wants am I avoiding sharing? what needs…