Why Smart People Hold Stupid Beliefs – by Gurwinder:

It’s an explanation so idiotic only an intellectual could think of it.

[...] the problem of runaway rationalization is not just a disorder of today’s woke intellectuals, but of educated people of any persuasion and any time. And that includes you. Since you’re reading about intelligence right now, you’re likely above average in intelligence, which means that you, whatever you believe, should be extra vigilant against your intellect being commandeered by your animal impulses.

There is only one thing that can motivate us to put our intelligence into the service of objective truth, and that is curiosity. It was curiosity that was found by Kahan’s research to be the strongest countermeasure against bias.

Curiosity is essential to directing your intellect toward objective truth, but it’s not all you need. You must also have humility.

Anyone who’s sure they’re humble is probably not, so I can’t say whether I’ve succeeded in becoming humble. But I can say that I always try to be humble. And, well, there’s little difference between trying to be humble and actually being so.

In the end, rationality is not about intelligence but about character. Without the right personal qualities, education and IQ won’t make you master of your biases, they’ll only make you a better servant of them. So be open to the possibility that you may be wrong, and always be willing to change your mind—especially if you’re smart. By being humble and curious you may not win many arguments, but it won’t matter, for even losing arguments will become a victory that moves you toward the far grander prize of truth.

I wonder if the author plays any Persona game.

This also helps to explain why changes are hard in the field of software engineering, a field in which includes a lot of smart people.

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.

― Vince Lombardi

You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It’s easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally.

— Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig.

Hiring future perfects - Jason Fried:

Some people have the potential, but they haven’t had the opportunities. Their portfolios are full of mediocre work, but it’s not because they’re mediocre designers. It’s because they’ve been given mediocre opportunities.

I think I know what Jason is referring to. Here is an alternative explanation for football fans: There are people like Kante and Mendy, eight years ago they may be unemployed, but given the right opportunity, they can become Champions League winners. Heck, for Kante, he can even win this year Ballon d’Or.

Roman Abramovich: See? This sacking thing really works!

The Tragedy in Small-Town China by The New York Times:

Every once in a while, I stumble upon a great story. A very long time ago is Fanboys by The Verge. Now is this piece from the Times.

Both of them are great for similar reasons, the visuals are eye-opening, the reportings are phenomenal, and the problems they reported are real.

The Making of a Goal Machine - The New York Times:

Robert Lewandowski scored his 41st goal of the season, breaking the Bundesliga record, in the 90th minute of Bayern’s final game, a win against Augsburg on May 22.

Extraordinary story from The New York Times on the making of Robert Lewandowski. I wish all members of the Vietnamese national team could read it before playing in the upcoming World cup qualification, heck, the U22 team too.

In that fraction of a second, the 32-year-old Lewandowski still noticed the following things: where Marwin Hitz, the Dortmund goalkeeper, was positioned on his line; when and how Hitz set himself to react to his shot; which of Dortmund’s defenders closed him down and which backed away; and the complex interplay of angles that accompanied their movements.

He took all that in, computed it and reached a conclusion. “I thought that next time, maybe it would be possible to score either between the legs or to go for the far post,” he said. He logged it for later.

Continuous learning is his recipe for success, as with many other successful people. Try to be great by sucking less everyday.

Active? Away? How about neither - Jason Fried:

Everyone’s status should be implicit: I’m trying to do my job, please respect my time and attention.

For me it is very simple:

• I will turn off my availability and status on instant messaging apps.
• We should choose asynchronous communication over synchronous communication whenever possible.
• If you want to know when I’m available, ask nicely.
• If you don’t trust my ability to design my own work schedule, why bother hiring me at all? We better not working together.

In general, if you treat someone like a 13 years old, she will behave like a 13 years old; if you treat a 13 years old like an adult, she will try her best to behave like an adult.

Just finished reading REWORK by Basecamp’s founders Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH), Don’t scar on the first cut is the part that stuck with me for some reason:

The second something goes wrong, the nature tendency is to create a policy. “Someone’s wearing shorts!? We need a dress code!” No, you don’t. You just need to tell John to not to wear shorts again.

Policies are organizational scar tissue. They are codified overreactions to situations that are unlikely to happen again. They are collective punishment for the misdeeds of an individual.

By the way, what’s wrong with wearing shorts to work?

I have been a Chelsea supporter for a decade, but since they are one of the “founding clubs” of the Super League, even though they withdrew, I’m done with them and any of their sponsors.

The same with the remain 11 clubs:

• Arsenal
• Liverpool
• Manchester City
• Manchester United
• Tottenham Hotspur
• Inter Milan
• Juventus
• Milan
• Atlético Madrid
• Barcelona
• Real Madrid

I know for FIFA and UEFA it’s about money too, FIFA is the dictionary definition of corruption, but at least they are being investigated and under their ruling the poor get a dime or two.

The Super League: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

In the meantime: UEFA Champions League theme song (acapella)

Daring Fireball: Least Vaccinated U.S. Counties Have Something In Common: Trump Voters:

Think about how many lives Donald Trump could save if he barnstormed the states where he’s most popular to encourage everyone to get vaccinated. He could do it Trump style, taking personal credit for the existence of the vaccines, and I’d gladly thank him for it. He could save tens of thousands of lives and keep millions, perhaps, from getting sick.

The thing is, in order to save people, you have to care about people other than yourself.

That is what separates heroes from ordinary people, or worse - villains.

John Oliver on Racism in America:

John is right (as usual) - there is nothing “un-American“ about this.

Bodhisattva mentioning ethics (the Magical Cassock) from Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng−en:

Whoever wears this cassock of mine will not sink into the mire, will not fall into Hell, will not be ensnared by evil and will not meet disaster from tiger or wolf.

How the Monkey King escaped the underworld - Shunan Teng:

Wonderful animations and story telling (as usual) from TED-Ed. Journey to the West is my absolute favorite among Chinese’s classics.