Regular Reveries 23: The Rational Optimist
I’ve tried mountain climbing for the first time this weekend. Although it was somewhat dangerous, I’ve enjoyed it. Stepping out of the comfort zone always takes some effort, but it always feels good.
This week’s article
I’ve read The Rational Optimist, so I wrote a summary of key lessons from the book. It’s a great read, and I recommend it if you want to become more optimistic about the future.
Content candy
I’ve recently discovered the concept of “concept handle”. It’s a memorable noun phrase that represents a more complex topic. One example of this is “Prisoner’s Dilemma”.
“I’m not too likely to discover some entirely new social phenomenon that nobody’s ever thought about before. But there are a lot of things people have vague nebulous ideas about that they can’t quite put into words. Changing those into crystal-clear ideas they can manipulate and discuss with others is a big deal.
If you figure out something interesting and very briefly cram it into somebody else’s head, don’t waste that! Give it a nice concept-handle so that they’ll remember it and be able to use it to solve other problems!” — Scott Alexander
Something to think about
“On what principle is it, that when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us?” —
THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, Review of Southey’s Colloquies on Society
Question for you
What’s your top priority?