Category Archives: wisdom

222. Of Robots and Humans

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Thor

The threat from robots is already amongst us. It is not that robots are aggres­sive. It is that human beings for the most part are over­whelm­ingly lazy. Humans will kill to claim a park­ing space instead of walk­ing a hun­dred … Con­tinue read­ing →

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221. Find a Problem, Make a Job

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Thor

Give some­one a job to solve a prob­lem and you can bet the prob­lem will never go away. There is, after all, a job at stake. That is why the mil­i­tary is usu­ally a growth indus­try, not to men­tion lawyers, … Con­tinue read­ing →

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217. Articulating Failure

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Thor

It is often said that the path to sta­ble gov­er­nance lies in offer­ing the able a way to suc­ceed. Block­ing the ambi­tions of the most capa­ble, or per­haps the most ruth­less peo­ple is surely an invi­ta­tion to civil unrest. Yet … Con­tinue read­ing →

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211. The High Price of Friends

Posted on July 22, 2007 by Thor

The trou­ble with peo­ple is that they eat, drink and inhale. When you hang out with these crit­ters they get twitchy if you don’t agree to destroy your own body with unwanted food, and poi­son your brain with booze, sug­ary … Con­tinue read­ing →

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194. Why Are You Here?

Posted on January 28, 2006 by Thor

Long ago, when the Inter­net was new (in the early 1990s), I set up a form-mail on my web­site to ask “What is the most inter­est­ing ques­tion in your life, and when do you expect to get an answer to … Con­tinue read­ing →

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192. Leader and Anti-Leader

Posted on January 15, 2006 by Thor

Civ­i­liza­tion is the process of har­ness­ing destruc­tive energies for cre­ative ends. War is the process of har­ness­ing cre­ative energy for destruc­tive ends. A leader is a teacher who per­suades oth­ers to choose civ­i­liza­tion over war. An anti-leader is a preda­tor … Con­tinue read­ing →

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155. Creed Caper

Posted on May 17, 2003 by Thor

What­ever the creed, there are believ­ers. Wherever believ­ers exist, there is the chance for power of some kind. When­ever power can be scented, preda­tors gather like jack­als. That is the human story. What kind of creed? Any at all — … Con­tinue read­ing →

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