Wisdom Builder
Takeaways
Topic:
Wisdom Mode
Timeless ideas at the intersections of science, philosophy, critical thinking, and history.
MODE:
~
6 minutes
Wisdom Builder.
10 random takeaways.
1.
Journalism is about public truth. Fiction is invented. But Philosophy of Fiction helps clarify the boundary between fact, imagination, myth, satire, propaganda, mistake, and lie. To understand truth, we must also understand non-truth. That makes Philosophy of Fiction a useful neighbor under Philosophy of Journalism.
2.
Quote:
- William James.
- 1902.
When stress starts running your mind, take control. Notice the thought, decide whether it is useful, and choose what deserves your attention next. Deal with what you can act on. Let the rest pass. Your mind will wander, worry, and react, but you do not have to follow every thought where it wants to go.
3.
From History: 635 to 590 Million Years Ago
Proto-brain; Pre-brain memory; Presentient.
If the bilateral split was underway by about 580–600 MYA, then primitive nervous-system precursors were likely emerging somewhere in that broader animal story. But we still should not automatically assign a proto-nervous system to every Ediacaran organism we depict.
4.
Humans likely began speaking around 700,000 years ago with Homo heidelbergensis. Earlier species, like Australopithecines, probably didn’t speak, while Homo habilis and Homo erectus might have had some form of communication. Evidence strongly suggests that Homo heidelbergensis had the ability for complex speech.
5.
Quote:
- Laozi.
- circa 550 BCE.
The Unknowable Dao is the idea that our ideas about the material world are not the material world itself, but a reflection or description of it. Our ideas are always incomplete. Therefore, the material world is always unknowable. This is the “split” in my Idea of Ideas and Kant’s phenomena versus noumena.
6.
From History: ~1.9 Billion years ago (+/- 100 million)
Bacteria are added to eukaryote ancestor cells
By 2.4 billion years ago, bacteria are added to cells and within the archaea group and eukaryotes emerge. You are a walking ecosystem. A Chimera, a hybrid creature made of an Archaea host and trillions of Bacterial power-plants. Without that theft 2 billion years ago for the massive energy boost needed for muscle and brains, life would likely still be just a thin layer of slime on the ocean floor.
7.
Every major technology—from writing to printing to the internet—forced society to renegotiate its social rules. AI is no different, except faster. The danger isn’t that AI will reshape society. It’s that we’ll let it do so using assumptions we never bothered to examine.
8.
Quote:
- David Hume.
- 1739.
From History:
When a factual claim suddenly becomes a moral rule, slow down and look for the missing value. What assumption turns the is into an ought? Making that step explicit does not end the debate—it improves it. Hume’s lesson is simple: when reasoning about values, show your work.
9.
From History: ~550 Million Years Ago (+/- 25 million)
Diffusion and body-cavity circulation
A solution that works perfectly at one scale may fail at another. Bigger bodies created new physical constraints, and evolution responded with new systems. This is useful far beyond biology: when situations grow in size or complexity, do not assume the old solution will keep working. Reevaluate the problem.
10.
TST uses the Harm Principle as a common floor for protecting personal freedom while limiting harm. Borrowed from John Stuart Mill, it says people should be free to live in ways others dislike unless they harm others or the shared world. It is also a hook into utilitarian thought.
The End. Refresh for another set.