“Software should be written to deal with every conceivable error, no matter how unlikely; sooner or later a packet will come in with that particular combination of errors and attributes, and unless the software is prepared, chaos can ensue.”—Internet Engineering Task Force, “RFC 1122”
Oliver 's Posts
One should appreciate solitude but not drift into solipsism, one should enjoy company but resist the mob; one should be steadfast but not stubborn, one should be open-minded but still have opinions; one should love the world but be ready for death.
You can meet anyone, if you know the right people.
One’s peace of mind comes from three buttons: the “block” button, the “close” button and the “off” button.
Metta (loving kindness) meditation is the practice of loving oneself, people whom we’re fond of, neutral people, then people we find difficult. Social media encourages us to misunderstand difficult people, ignore neutral people, flatter those we’re fond of, and hate ourselves.
We naturally think in network graphs, but (often) computers force us to think in tables; this is like the difference between water and ice: they’re fundamentally similar, but the latter is frozen.
The sage does not need an award; the award needs the sage. The award is valuable because it is esteemed by others; the sage has no need for the esteem of others and is, therefore, valued.
You can’t truly understand how wrong a person or position is until you open your mind to the possibility that they’re right.
Because consciousness itself is invisible, we skip it and focus on what we see; this is like focusing only on the graphical user interface and ignoring the underlying operating system and hardware.
Video: A Short Introduction to the Mechanics of Bad Faith
I read my article on bad faith, and how to encourage good faith conversations.