To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.
~ Lao Tzu
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Realize you do not understand →
Lessons from Sesame Street →
You will get hurt. You will embarrass yourself. You will wish you did things differently. You will forget things that are too important to forget. You will lose things you can’t afford to lose.
~ David Cain from, Secret Lessons From Sesame Street
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Once more. Louder, for those in the back.
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Stem cell research →
Things that are every bit as great happen every day in scientific labs, and no one cares. Maybe as a society we’ve become anesthetized to science — when really, it’s so exciting. We have so much to gain as a country if we invest in science and knowledge and understanding. I don’t blame the public for not understanding, though, or even legislators for sometimes not wanting to invest. They all look so much like my family.
~ Renee Reijo Pera from, In the Ticking of the Embryonic Clock, She Finds Answers | Quanta Magazine
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There are several science-y details in this interview that really startled me; Our knowledge of embryo development is vastly improved since last I looked.
…but mostly I just like the sentiment of wonder she expresses. “When is the last time I learned something new?” is a question I try to update the answer to every day.
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Same purpose, different style →
While I’m worrying in my little apartment about getting my writing done or doing my laundry, it lends me some perspective if I can remember that somewhere out there, precisely as I’m tending to my human to-do list, there are beavers taking down trees, ants hustling to feed their queen, rabbits feasting on backyard gardens, and elephants showing their children where the water hole is.
~ David Cain from, Same Purpose, Different Styles
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Perspective is a wonderful thing.
In the beginning, a few months of summer vacation represents a significant portion of your life’s memories. Years later, each month flies by. In the beginning, the first project you create is the greatest idea the world has ever been shown. Years later, the projects are too numerous to recall, and the next one is considered with a weathered gaze before being sent out into the world. Challenging physical activities are dopamine-fun in the beginning. Years later, the physicality brings only a pleasant, difuse joy.
Perspective is empowering.
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The letting go →
When our mind is tranquil, there will be an occasional pause to its feverish activities, there will be a letting go, and it is only then in the interval between two thoughts that a flash of UNDERSTANDING—understanding, which is not thought—can take place.
~ Bruce Lee from, Artist of Life (Bruce Lee Library) by Bruce Lee
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I’m not sure I’ve experienced the not-thought which is that flash of understanding. I think things are even more simple; Year after year, as I quiet my mind, understand simply expands into the new space.
Regardless, tranquility is key. Pausing is key.
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Courage, part 3 →
Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
~ Erica Jong
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The secret to connecting with people →
Let the other person have the privilege of being the first one to be understood. The biggest distraction to understanding someone else is self-importance. Needing to say something means you have to be thinking about it, and thinking about it means you have very little mental capacity left for empathy. Free up yours, and it will free up theirs.
~ David Cain from, The Secret to Connecting With People
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Empathy is the most useful ability I have ever developed. Sure, I first had to develop my abilities of self-awareness and self-assessment. But at that point, the need for empathy and compassion became plain as day.
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Edinburgh castle →
The malady of content →
When there is communication without need for communication, merely so that someone may earn the social and intellectual prestige of becoming a priest of communication, the quality and communicative value of the message drop like a plummet.
~ Maria Papova from, Cybernetics Pioneer Norbert Wiener on the Malady of “Content” and How to Save Creative Culture from the Syphoning of Substance – The Marginalian
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I find “creative culture” an alluring idea. What have I wrought with my own two hands? I find most competition pointless. I find observing others compete unequivically pointless. But creating—or even just watching others create, or observing the fruits of their labor—provides me endless pleasure and opportunity for growth.
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Nine thoughts worthy of immortality →
Deep in the vast, mostly forgotten (yet immediately accessible) archives of the blogosphere lie billions of touching, hilarious and brilliant thoughts that humankind has been stockpiling for years. Here are nine that moved me, with excerpts. Bookmark this if you don’t have a lot of time right now.
~ David Cain from, 9 Thoughts Worthy of Immortality
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This is not like the think-pieces I’m normally drawn to share. This is literally a list of nine, individual blog posts (from among the billions) which are worthy of being called great writing. These are among the best things humans have ever written.
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