Timeless Ideas | March 14, 2021
Here’s your weekly dose of timeless ideas to sharpen your mind, make smarter decisions, and live better.
Quotes
I.
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
― Will Durant
II.
Success leaves traces.
—John Templeton
III.
You are right not because others agree with you, but because your facts and reasoning are sound.
—Benjamin Graham
Ideas
I.
I have lowered my identity. I have lowered the chattering of my mind. I don’t care about things that don’t really matter. I don’t get involved in politics. I don’t hang around unhappy people. I really value my time on this earth. I read philosophy. I meditate.
Eric Jorgenson in The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness
II.
People listen better if they feel that you have understood them. They tend to think that those who understand them are intelligent and sympathetic people whose own opinions may be worth listening to. So if you want the other side to appreciate your interests, begin by demonstrating that you appreciate theirs.
Roger Fisher in Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In
III.
Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time—none, zero. You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads—and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out.
Charles T. Munger in Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
Articles Worth Reading
I.
The fence is uncomfortable, but it affords the best view
Iris Schneider | Psyche
You might be wondering how you can take greater advantage of ambivalence in your own life. One way is to learn to become more ambivalent. You can do this by making a list of positives and negatives for issues you’re thinking about. This technique can make decision-making easier, but can also balance out your views on a particular issue. Use this writing exercise to create a habit of seeing the important things in life from both sides, the positive and the negative. Training yourself to have a more ambivalent mindset will allow you to benefit from more cognitive flexibility and less bias in your ideas and decisions.
II.
How to Quiet Your Mind Chatter
Liz Greene | Nautilus
The inner voice is often amazing. It’s a super power. It helps us do a lot of different things. Chatter can be equated with an unproductive state of the inner voice. So once you’re in chatter, thought loops, we’re not talking productivity anymore. We’re talking about the opposite. But that is not to say that the goal should be to silence our inner voice or stop talking to ourselves. The challenge is to figure out how to talk to yourself and use language to weigh in on your problems without getting stuck in chatter.
III.
David Stasavage | Aeon
We will be best positioned to preserve our own democracies if we recognize that the history of democracy is much broader and deeper than is often presumed. People around the world, throughout history, have devised democratic institutions and practiced democracy. We can learn from their experience to see how democracy today might be strengthened.
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