## You A free-thinking persons beliefs are very unlikely to closely align with their political parties beliefs. And yet they nearly always do. That's because they're not free-thinking. They adapt their beliefs to the party, rather than the other way around. Let's say your party has 100 core beliefs/stances. What are the chances that you would agree with 90%+ of them if you were free from groupthink? Very low. Yet plenty of people do. ([[2025-01-22]]) --- The smartest, most talented and otherwise kind men throughout history – who have overcome hurdles beyond imagining to save lives, get rich and get us the moon – still totally failed when it came to not giving in to their sexual desires. They groped people and cheated on the partners they love, again and again. It’s not discussed enough, but as a man one of your hardest battles is to not give into your sexual appetites that cause harm. And you must resist. It’s morally wrong, and it can spread misery through multiple generations. Many men succeed at everything but this one. You’re already better than most if you can succeed at it. [[2025-01-06]] --- If you’re a non-conformist and actually want your out-there ideas taken seriously, dress like a conformist. You need to off-set your non-conformity. I don’t care how unimportant fashion is to you, just do it – if you want your ideas to be actually taken seriously. Charlie Munger said he was nonconformist enough in his behaviour and opinions that it made sense to chart a very straight course in attire. If you're a conformist, feel free to dress 'out there'. It might even help you. [[2025-01-03]] --- At any given point in time there are dozens of things in the world you can point to as why it’s ’messed up’. The world's always on the brink. And it’s always been that way. Don’t use that as an excuse for despair. [[2024-10-07]] --- Life as a whole doesn’t live up to the expectations you had for it as a youth. It’s disappointing. But if you can’t get over that and learn to find joy and fulfilment in small moments and wonders then it becomes doubly disappointing. [[2024-09-23]] --- [[Ran Prieur]] said (September 5, 2024) that motivation is a human problem. Because we don’t fit our environment. Wild animals don’t have this problem. Think of it like this. There’s bears in the wild, who require no prodding to hunt for salmon. And then there’s depressed circus bears, who need constant prodding to ‘wave’ to an audience, because it’s not their natural environment. Most of us are circus bears. [[2024-09-07]] *** > Honesty without kindness is brutality. --- It’s a mind-numbing cliche, but your health is truly the most important thing. [[2024-09-04]] --- If you’re overly worried about being cringy or embarrassing you’ll never live fully. You need to get over it. And accept that, yes, every now and then you may be cringe, but that’s the risk you take to exist with joy. [[2024-09-04]] --- Make sure you listen to your favourite music regularly. Your soul needs it. It's a happiness cheat code. ([[2024-08-16]]) *** > The lazy person works twice as hard. *** Sex is overrated. Sex with someone you love is underrated. *** The opinion of the person who rarely offers it is listened to more closely. Reserve your judgement for the times when it matters. *** Default to kindness. But know when to be firm. *** Expect no applause for telling the truth. It's a rightful, but often thankless task. And sometimes doing the right thing carries a heavy price – whether it be violence, awkward moments, or lost friendships. But it’s a price you have to learn to pay without question. *** There are parts of ourselves that are changeable and parts that are unchangeable. So much unhappiness is caused by not knowing which is which. People are often bad at *knowing* what they like and dislike. Let alone then *doing or not doing* those things. Find what makes you happy and what makes you miserable and fight hard to do one and not the other. Desired self image, family pressure or societal norms often makes that fight harder. *** You're likely either too self-aware or not self-aware enough. Being prone to the former can burden you more than others. Lack of self-awareness does the opposite. So ask yourself and those around you which of the two you are and then work on being just *aware*. *** Curiosity is a superpower. *** Seek not just knowledge, but the wisdom to question it. Challenge what you read; think, debate, and write to refine your beliefs. Learn to recognise biases and errors in thinking. Opt for reasoned understanding over mere information consumption. *** Think of each of your beliefs as a brick wall. Ideally, your collection of beliefs (bricks) should be organised like a short, wide wall. This way, if you find that one belief is incorrect, you can easily remove and replace it without affecting the overall structure. But many people structure their beliefs like a tall, narrow Jenga tower. In this case, removing a single belief might cause the entire structure to become unstable, as each belief is heavily dependent on the others. So they are reluctant to change any belief, knowing it might topple their entire belief system. ### Health Humans are almost as impulsive as dogs. Don't have a cupboard full of snacks. Single use only. ([[2025-01-22]]) --- Youth is the most valuable thing you own. Ask any older person. Of all the advice I can give, one of my biggest is to constantly sit back and be mindful of your youthful blessings. I get it, it’s tough. “But I’m having a miserable time at school right now.” “My parents are stressing me out.” “I don’t know what I want to do for a career.” “Girls/boys don’t like me.” *But*, if you can be one of the very few young people who appreciates their youth for the wonderful thing it is your future 60-year-old self will thank you. 99.9% of people don’t appreciate youth until it’s gone. Speak to older people around you. Ask them if they miss their youth. Live their old age through them, so you can understand what you have. Seize your youth. --- One day – somewhere between 28 and 38 – you’ll wake up and just feel ‘off’. You’ll feel a bit sore and tired. And that feeling will never leave you. *Be grateful and useful of your youth.* --- Improving your health is about focusing on the simple things. Just get good sleep, regular exercise (or move around a lot), a balanced diet and have a vibrant social life. That's 90% of a healthy life. All the rest are distractions until you’ve totally nailed the simple things. *** Don’t eat too much. Eat food that a human has made. Avoid sugar and processed food. Focus on having lots of vegetables, plenty of fruit, fats from non-mammal flesh, wholegrain carbs, and make meat part of the meal, not the whole. Alcohol is far worse for you than you think. Aside from that, all the rest is just details and only worth worrying about unless you’re doing the above *very* well. But if you are then you can start to also focus on including nuts, lots of fatty fish, legumes often, as much fermented food as you can take, a tiny bit of daily dark chocolate, a high variety of vegetables, and drink all the coffee you want (only decaffeinated after 6 hours of being awake though). Also aim for 50g of fibre a day and consider intermittent fasting (if it suits your body). ### Money You’ll lose money playing the individual stock picking game. Maybe not right away. But you will. Treat it as gambling. Do it in small amounts, for fun. The stock market is the best passive thing to enhance your wealth (especially in your pension). But you should only invest in low-cost index trackers. --- Your private pension should be in 100% stocks until 5-10 years away from retirement. ‘Risk’ just means volatility. It’s not the risk of you losing all your money. Look for a fund that is an all-world index tracker, and is not ‘actively managed’. [[2024-07-04]] --- Start contributing to your (private) pension as soon as you get your first ever pay cheque (no matter how small). And at the very least contribute what your employer matches. But you should be contributing even more. 10% minimum. Adding a decent amount to your pension is likely the best financial decision you’ll make in your life. --- Getting a great deal on something you don't need is far costlier than overpaying for something you do need. *** The wealthy utilise debt to make more money. The poor abuse debt to lose money. Taking on debt can be a useful tool, but outside of large essential purchases likes homes and cars or for sensible business investing, it’s best avoided. --- Be extra wary when interest lates are low. Because of the differences in how classes use debt, times of low interest rates can cause huge divides in equality and even lead to national/global financial issues or societal issues. ([[2024-03-20]]) ## Others Don't take criticism from people you wouldn't take advice from. ([[2025-01-29]]) --- People carry out some of their most honest communication via jokes. Pay attention to them. *** Adults make a lot more sense when you realise they’re just children in bigger bodies. Expecting them to not be liable to viciousness, lies and nonsensical behaviour is a mistake. *** People are naturally peculiar and often their actions defy explanation. Unless they're harming themselves or others, learn to accept their inherent oddities. Trying to get to the bottom of quirks is maddening. *** There are some among us who are deeply damaged and profoundly broken, often due to life's harsh trials. Tragically, they carry a burden that can make the lives of those in their orbit miserable. Unless you possess a saint-like capacity to withstand the stress and enormous emotional toll of their troubles, you should not let them enter your life. Or if they're already a part of it then give yourself permission to cut off or limit contact. Healing their profound pain often necessitates enormous self willpower and years of professional intervention. Far beyond what well-meaning friends and acquaintances can offer. *** If you’ve been tasked with breaking down a conspiracy – and time is not of the essence – start at the lowest point of the ladder. If you go straight to the highest it will spook everyone below and get the high ups to ‘tidy up’ and also give away you’re onto them. And starting low makes everyone think you’re not onto much. (Triggered by a passage in [["Grant" by Ron Chernow]], p799-800). *** Voltaire said that ”those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” Be wary of the followers of ideologies, political groups or religions who have them buy into the absurd. Most religions by definition require belief in the absurd. So don’t be surprised by their predisposition for atrocities. [[2024-01-13]] ## Morals Eating meat is quite clearly immoral. Unless it will be detrimental to your health, eat as little as possible. ## General Avoid war, high-level corruption and economic recessions at all cost. Because without those three things, society is remarkably resilient to all of the other endless awfulness, and does get better, year by year. [[2025-03-01]] --- I don’t care how ‘advanced’ your society is or how many decades of relative peace you’ve had, a large or world war is always potentially just around the corner. Act accordingly and don’t take life for granted. --- One of the biggest takeaways you’ll learn from reading history is the constant cycles and repeating patterns. You’re unlikely to be experiencing anything new. By reading history you learn to spot these past patterns in your own time and react accordingly. --- If a war every breaks out, take what the general consensus is on how long it will last and times it by 25-50. [[2024-08-25]]