Quotes and insights from books and other sources on mind, focus, and ethics.
Mind #
We hope to find meaning by fitting ourselves into some ready-made story about the universe, but according to the liberal interpretation of the world, the truth is exactly the opposite. The universe does not give me meaning. I give meaning to the universe. This is my cosmic vocation. I have no fixed destiny or dharma.
-21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari
Eventually, striving to improve yourself brings diminishing returns and prevents you from accepting yourself and living with what you’ve got.
-F*ck Feelings, Michael Bennett MD, Sarah Bennett
People don’t succumb to screens because they’re lazy, but instead because billions of dollars have been invested to make this outcome inevitable.
-Cal Newport, Deep Work
“If old truths are to retain their hold on men’s minds, they must be restated in the language and concepts of successive generations”
-Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now
Focus #
Tech and Equity #
In order to cope with the unprecedented technological and economic disruptions of the twenty-first century, we need to develop new social and economic models as soon as possible. These models should be guided by the principle of protecting humans rather than jobs.
-21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari