Arguing with People Online Allows Them to Burn Your Time

But while some amount of bullshit is inevitably forced on you, the bullshit that sneaks into your life by tricking you is no one's fault but your own. And yet the bullshit you choose may be harder to eliminate than the bullshit that's forced on you. Things that lure you into wasting your time on them have to be really good at tricking you. An example that will be familiar to a lot of people is arguing online. When someone contradicts you, they're in a sense attacking you. Sometimes pretty ove...

 Startups as Toys to Mask Threats and Have Happy Customers

If you give people a tool and tell them it will perfectly solve an important problem, any imperfection in the tool is going to make them angry. If you give someone a toy and say “Look what I made! Isn’t it fun? It kinda does this thing.” then you’ve set yourself up for a positive reaction. It’s much easier to beat low expectations than high ones, so you’ve materially increased your chances at having a happy user. [...] The second thing that goes wrong when you take your toy too ...

 The Way of Chess

The Way of chess: The best place is the middle of the board, The worst is the side, And the comers are neither good nor bad. This is the eternal law of chess. The law says: "It is better to lose a piece Than to lose the initiative. When you are struck on the left, look to the right, When attacked in the rear, keep an eye on your front. Sometimes the leader is really behind, Sometimes the laggard is really ahead. If you have two 'live' areas do not let them be severed; If you can survive as yo...

 Doctors are Always Under Attack

Doctors have been exposed—you always will be exposed—to the attacks of those persons who consider their own undisciplined emotions more important than the world's most bitter agonies—the people who would limit and cripple and hamper research because they fear research may be accompanied by a little pain and suffering.