Santa doesn’t know zoology
“Both male and female reindeers grow antlers. But all male reindeers lose their antlers in the fall, well-before Christmas. So Santa’s reindeers, which all sport antlers, are therefore all female, which means Rudolf has been misgendered” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
Simple ideas are attractive. A moment of insight, a feeling of understanding or knowing something is joyful. Nevertheless, it is easy to slide down a slope where one beautiful solution answers another complex idea. It makes the world sometimes look so simple. Boiling down every problem to a single cause (which we must all be against) or every answer to a single solution (which we must all be for), makes us completely misunderstand the world. Sometimes the opposite is true: a global pandemic can only be solved by group immunity which is only possible with a working vaccine. A broader concept such as the beautiful idea of equality can also give the first thought that all problems are caused by inequality, which we should always oppose, and that the solution to all problems is therefore the redistribution of resources, which we should always support. Even though the latter idea is beautiful, it is too simple. It saves a lot of time to think about it, yes. Opinions can be formed without having to look at a problem from scratch and you can get on with using your brain for other tasks. Always being in favour or being against a certain idea is a bad strategy. Certainly when your goal might be to understand reality.
Therefore, constantly test your favorite ideas for weaknesses. Let curiosity drive you when new information doesn’t fit or comes from other fields. Stay humble on the extent of expertise. And rather than talking with people who agree with you, or collecting samples that your ideas, see people who contradict you and disagree with you. A great resource to understand the world is to get forward with different ideas. If that means you don’t have time to form so many opinions, so what? Wouldn’t you rather have a few opinions than many that are wrong? Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
Happy holidays my dear readers,
Thank you for the 5,000 unique reads since the start of this newsletter,
Enjoy the start of the new year,
See you next week,
Laurent
