Things I think I know

The following is a list of strong opinions that I weakly hold. I like to reflect on these ideas and change, adapt, and add to them as I hurtle through space on this crazy rock. More than anything, I love to discuss them with others, hence the public availability of this list. Fight me on Twitter.

Here are the things I think I know:

• It is impossible to be happy all the time, but you can always be curious.
• Smile and the world smiles with you. You can remind yourself of this at any time by smiling at a stranger.
• Cats know something that humans don't.
• Reason is a human invention. Everything we know about the universe suggests no deeper meaning to our existence, so you get to make up your own. There is no Why.
• There’s no difference between not being able to prove something and it not being true. Lack of evidence is not proof of anything.
• We can only ever know how things work, not why they work. And that's fine. Understanding how gravity works has enabled us to land robots on Mars. Why does gravity work? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Nihilism is not the end, it’s the beginning. We only build enlightened reasoning once we let go of reason.
• If your parents are still around you should phone them now.
• Everything matters and nothing does. This is the great dichotomy of our existence and the only fundamental truth we have.
• You may do whatever you want so long as it does not harm others. This is the only fundamental rule.
• You have no right to suggest something is wrong if it does not harm others. Life is weird and we all have our own ways of dealing with it. Deal with it.
• Hurting someone’s feelings does not qualify as harming them.
• Homeopathy doesn’t work.
• Human beings are omnivores. Our bodies have evolved to accept any non-toxic calories as food. Don't eat too much. Make sure most of it is plants. Appreciate how awesome it is that you don't rely on multiple stomachs that are only capable of slowly digesting grass.
• Extreme positions are wrong. If ideas are presented as binary they are false. This is true of politics, diets, religion, and everything else. It's all a spectrum and the truth is always more complicated than first meets the eye.
• Things can only be funny if they are true.
• Laughter is the best medicine.
• The world doesn't get better, you get better in the world.
• Plans are irrelevant, but planning is everything.
• Following what seems to have worked for someone else is like replaying last week’s winning lottery numbers. It’s no guarantee of anything and is unlikely to work as well for you.
• Success is dominated by luck. We cannot predict or control when the waves will come, and only practice will make us better surfers.
• No one succeeds in isolation. We do things together.
• Anything that enables a few to manipulate many is bad. Things that enable mass consensus are good. This is a reliable gauge for judging desirable technologies, politics and laws.
• Your vote should count for more than other's in relation to things that will impact you more than it impacts them.
• Your opinions are not as important as other people's knowledge.
• Abrahamic faiths are boatloads of bad ideas being smuggled in with some good ones. These are psychological plagues.
• The Oxford comma is one of mankind's greatest achievements.
• Life is not a zero-sum game. We can all win.
• There are enough resources in the world for everyone to thrive. We do not have a problem with scarcity, we have a problem with balance.
• Your brain is a story-telling machine that builds narratives from pure chaos. If you don't like your story, tell a better one.
• Purple is a spectacular colour.
• Whether or not we live in a simulation has zero bearing on what we could or should do about it. It's a meaningless discussion.
• There are no rules in language, only common use. You may spell and pronounce words any way you like, and make up new ones if you want, but don't be surprised if others don't understand you.
• Free will is an illusion. You are atoms falling through space that would fall in the same way again if we reset the universe to any prior state. Give yourself a break. More importantly, give others a break.
• The language of choice is important, even if choice doesn’t exist.
• Saying the word trebuchet out loud feels good. Say it. Trebuchet.
• Time is not a horizontal line with a beginning and an end, it just feels like that. Each moment is its own infinite reality.
• It is always now and this is all there is.