Author: Reality Laughs

Something I realized after accidentally falling on a long, ranting, blog post. Long paragraphs, complex sentences, multi-syllable word.

The realization? Lots of words are bad. Long words are bad.

Be honest, be brief, and be seated. That’s my motto.

If you understand, you can explain. Simple words will do. Short sentences will work.

If you don’t understand, strive to understand before you explain.

Sometimes I have to write a giant stream of thought vomit to exhaust my bullshit and reveal the simple idea that is struggling to reveal itself. There is one such stream of bullshit sitting in drafts right now. It will never see the light of day, but the idea will.

Maybe that’s something to consider about authors and people I admire. Don’t take what they wrote as Godwords. Maybe that book they wrote was just wordvomit on the way to uncovering an idea in their head.

The principle? Write simply, because it’s likely to lead to clearer thinking, which means better ideas. Reality is simple. Reality doesn’t need a PhD to be lived well. And it doesn’t need a PhD’s prose either.

The kingdom of God is within.

Even the Stone Roses knew that. Listen to Breaking Into Heaven.

A feeling of unsatisfied yearning is a sign you’re looking for answers in the wrong place.

Even Johnny Lee knew that. Listen to Lookin’ for Love.

You are already home. You never left.

A quick read of a website on my Freedom blocklist and I’m off to the races. My thoughts go straight into the ditch. “Them son of bitches”.

A man’s gotta know his limitations. I am learning mine: I am not so mentally strong.

But the brief detour to hell brought an interesting realization. The article that I read, taking my brain straight to hell? Glenn Greenwald’s resignation from The Intercept. He perceived Biden-friendly censorship from that publication.

The realization: that I am uncomfortable with inferences he draws from facts he sees. I simultaneously admire his work and feel deep discomfort because he doesn’t think the same thoughts that I think. He doesn’t see the same facts that I see, either.

This discomfort is in the “within my control” region. Why am I uncomfortable? And so what if I am?

There is no finish line. Let go of the discomfort. That’s within my control.

It is also within my control to be fearless and clear-eyed. Reality seems to reveal itself in the face of fearlessness.

A series of improbable events led to me sitting right here living the life I live.

Don’t try to impose a narrative on top of that, a “just so” story. The narrative would be a lie to yourself and others, because who could, in advance, engineer these events to occur in sequence? And what result would be expected if you could? Life is not a replication experiment.

The best you can do is see some deep principles in action. Those seem to produce good results. Hold true to those principles.

Ask Lindy to reveal the principles. Or look for the obvious, the boring and slightly uncomfortable. “Tell the truth”. “Keep trying”. “Be loyal”. Stuff like that.

It’s simple, but it’s not easy.

On the other hand, when do you go for the gusto?

Edit: the universe solved the problem for me. Also I realized it wasn’t mine to have, and never was. I just thought it was mine to have.

I know I keep saying “All the good things in life happened because I met a stranger.” Marriage, new friends, new books, new ideas. All of that and more.

There is a corollary.

All the good stuff hasn’t happened yet. The good stuff will happen because I do something new, something that I hadn’t done before. (Well, yes, the good stuff could also happen because I do the same thing for the 1,542nd time, at which point the payoff occurs.)

The principle is to keep an open mind and don’t be a scared or lazy son of a bitch. Open mind because you can’t know the payoff until you have the experience. You can’t know the joy of talking to a new person until you talk.

Prejudging and saying “I won’t do this because it is a waste of time” creates a known payoff: stasis. Maybe you’re right. Equally possible? You’re wrong.

“Yeah, maybe. What the hell. Let’s give it a shot.”

Do lots of that.

If you wish to make progress, lay aside your alibis.

Sam Torode’s “The Manual“ (Enchiridion), Chapter 12

Epictetus is talking about lying to yourself.

Let’s say your car breaks down. You say “it happened because the car is yellow.” Or, “it’s running just fine” when quite evidently there may be a lurking issue. How will you properly respond to the event? Or learn from it?

Today’s skirmish was a victory.

After a good-sized lunch I successfully resisted the frozen yogurt/ice cream/other sweet item temptation and walked.

And walked and walked. I will hit 10,000 steps again today.

My brain was noisy. I kept walking.

What did I learn? I learned about things within my control (a seemingly irresistible urge for something sugary and the purchase/consumption of same).

And I exercised control over my thoughts and actions.

Meanwhile, the thing that is outside my control (how and when my body sheds that roll of fat around my waist) did not haunt me.

Every tiny victory builds strength. Get momentum and keep it.

Start from the assumption that you’re probably wrong.

It doesn’t matter why you’re probably wrong. Lack of information is an ego-stroking reason: I’m smart, sophisticated, and as soon as I get more data I will be able to nail this decision. (This is also probably the worst place to be, because your arrogance will not let you understand that you will always have insufficient data to make a bulletproof decision).

That you’re several pistons short of a functioning engine is a bit harder to accept. Actually this is pretty good. If you’re dumb and you know it, you will make good, careful choices within your self-admitted constraints.

That you lack training is the arrogance of the midwit, the A student. Just as you can never have sufficient data, you can never have sufficient education. In fact, the education is likely to blind you to ideas or information or both.

Smart, well-educated. That’s a perilous place to be when you’re trying to decide what’s real and what to do.

Or, to be more precise: believing you are smart and well-educated, and allowing those beliefs to blind you? That is the danger zone.

It’s better to understand that you are dumb. Not in all situations. For some things you are dumber, and for others you are smarter.

It’s better to understand that you are ignorant and illiterate in some areas, and informed and educated in others.

Intelligence, education, and information are not transitive. Being well-educated in particle physics doesn’t make you an excellent salesman. Knowing all about Shakespeare doesn’t make you an expert on tort law.

The takeaway: know yourself. Know that in every field of human endeavor you are likely to be stupid, lack sufficient training, and misinformed.

That’s a good starting point for making a decision.