14 Ocak 2018, Pazar
saat: 23:45
What's the most interesting/counter-intuitive thing that you learned in 2017?
1- There are a staggeringly large number of otherwise free, intelligent, decent people so desperate for meaning and belonging in their lives that you can set them on fire and they’ll thank you for the heat, and blame others for the pain.
2- Simple is easy. Simple feels good. Simple can be very satisfying. Too satisfying, seductively satisfying. There’s a reason why the road to perdition is an eight-lane highway with excellent pavement and lots of rest-stops and snack-shops along the way.
3- Beware of anyone who wants to erase the past and start anew. They’re probably not going to succeed, and they’re not going to learn much, either.
Simple history and restarting the calendar make me nervous. History shows that bad things came along with the last groups who tried that. And I do not care to be along for the ride when people who try to ignore the past make the same mistakes and cause so much unnecessary suffering. There’s a reason we have laws and governments. It isn’t because private property is tyranny, or because of a conspiracy by the owners of the means of production, or the Patriarchy. When you eliminate the laws, the weak and the few are the ones who suffer first, then the many. When you relearn the lessons of the past the hard way, everyone suffers.
If I live in the past, it’s because I’d rather learn from other people’s errors and disasters. I’ve learned enough the hard way on my own, thank you very much.
