“Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you are as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?”
-Brian Kernighan
Ability is learned, not fixed
“After forty years of intensive research on school learning in the United States as well as abroad, my major conclusion is: What any person in the world can learn, almost all persons can learn, if provided with the appropriate prior and current conditions of learning.”
-Benjamin Bloom (via Mindset by Carol Dweck)
Comfort zone
“If you don’t work at the edge of your comfort zone, your comfort zone will shrink.”
-Alan Oppenheim
Meta-moderation
I like to say, “moderation in all things — but not too much.”
In other words, keep your moderation in moderation. This sort of sounds like a paradox, but I don’t think it is. Obsessing over moderation is just as unhealthy as obsessing over anything else. You end up worrying about whether your life is perfectly in balance. It shouldn’t be! It should get a little out of whack. Maybe even a lot out of whack, every now and then!
I think this is just the sometimes-overlooked deeper meaning of moderation.
p.s. In chaos theory terminology, I think this concept is related to the chaotic boundary between uniformity and randomness, which is self-similar at all scales. Moderation modulating moderation (modulating moderation, and so on). Uniformity taking hold and then randomly switching to a different uniformity. Randomness that is uniform — usually. But that’s a blog post for another day.
Toleration is not enough
Gandhi’s life confirms that toleration is an insufficient remedy even when practiced by a very exceptional man.
This is from Theodore Zeldin’s excellent book An Intimate History of Humanity. The chapter it came from points out that despite Ghandi’s incredible charisma, intellect, and patience, his mission was ultimately a failure. He wanted English colonialists and native Indians to live together peacefully — to tolerate each other. The peace did not last.
Zeldin finds that tolerance works when times are good. But as soon as there is a shortage or conflict of interest, those who were tolerated quickly become the bad guys. The finger-pointing begins and the conflict escalates.
What is needed in the long run is respect.
The recent movie Invictus shows how rugby symbolized Nelson Mandela’s deep respect for white citizens and their culture. In one scene, Mandela insists that his team of bodyguards should include an equal ratio of white and black officers. This demonstrates to the country that Mandela respects the white officers so much that he trusts them with his life; in turn, the white officers demonstrate their respect for the president by protecting him. Like Ghandi, Mandela led by example. But Mandela realized that toleration was not enough; respect was necessary for lasting peace.
I find this insight surprisingly applicable to everyday life. It’s easy to fall back on toleration when times are good. I’ve seen this (and have sometimes been guilty) with roommates and coworkers. When interaction is minimal or interests are aligned, things go smoothly. But as soon as opinions differ or hard constraints arise, there is escalating conflict and extreme difficulty at reaching consensus or compromise.
Respect is harder than toleration. It requires understanding and empathy. It requires a willingness to embrace truths that are not your own truths. Humility.
The lesson here is to learn to recognize the difference between tolerance and respect, which can often look similar on the surface.