I switched from Devuan (Debian without SystemD) to GhostBSD a few weeks ago. Until now it seems a very pleasant travel, even bringing back nice memories of Unix in the 1990 while using all the modern tools.
I suspect English is not your first language based on your profile and I'd like to give a tip: "until now" implies that what follows is no longer true, due to a recent event that changed it. "So far" is probably closer to what you wanted, which expresses that it's still true, but based on limited time / experience.
Wait. There are people who aren't individually educated by private tutors while they accompany their parents on travel, and at their summer, and winter homes throughout the globe? /s
People that think "reading books" generically is anything to be impressed about have been woefully out of touch for well over a decade.
After you've done about 50 or so major classics, selected broadly from different thinkers and authors, it is clear the vast majority of most books have negligible additional value. This can all be done quickly in your late teens to early twenties, after that, there is no real need to read more than a book or two in a year, and even then, it is not usually worth reading those one or two in entirety.
Digital textual sources like the ones you mention have far more continued and sustained value at this point.
I'd say more like 500. There is no end to worthwhile books to read, you just won't find them in the NYT best sellers. The complete works of Shakespeare is like 35 "books" already.
Agreed to your larger point that reading is of itself not worthwhile. Reading great works of literature broadly is.
I waffled on choosing 100-250 initially, thinking similarly as you for authors like Shakespeare, Freud, Nietzsche, etc.
But then I kind of thought, for most people, that is probably overkill. If you stick with just one text from each great author, 50 is still a huge variety relative I think to what was available to people in the past. More is great, but not necessary: there are plenty of other sources of depth in life beyond texts, and text doesn't work well for everyone either.
Fair enough. I'd say there are over 500 "worth reading" but I agree with you too that with 50 or fewer you can have enough. People used to re-read texts dozens of times and that may actually be better in some ways than the constant novelty.
I'd count an audiobook as a book. I'd count something published online in the vague shape of a book as a book (e.g. if you read a story or a book-style non-fiction work published electronically). I would not count "news", though, for instance.
But often NOT deeper than a proper long-form article, technical document(ation), scientific or academic article, autistic blog post, or even proper discussion (e.g. forum, or following a post). Most modern books are padded and loaded with filler, or just entertainment anyway, and have no significant depth to speak of.
Sadly, even if accurate, the exceptions (i.e. mean people who get power) can have an outsized impact because they don't respect norms and boundaries that prevent the worst abuses.
Also some strategies I'd call "mean" can be very effective: predatory pricing, monopolization, regulatory capture, disregarding externalities, lying, fraud, etc.
Thank you. I agree. Paul's general insight is probably true on an 80/20 split, but those who are sociopathic enough can and do wield power without any care for the destruction or disruption they cause. They can even get off on it. See: Trump, Sam Altman, etc.
Considering what lead does to people, there should be jail time for everyone involved. Even store managers should do time if products on their shelves turn up positive.
Big fan of Chandler's art, though "Old Skies" kept the characters on the same plane, never moving away from "camera" POV. So the whole game felt very flat to me. Hopefully his future works will scale the characters.
Christianity had plenty of problems before capitalism became a thing. IMO both need to be heavily regulated, certainly not given special privileges or a blank check to consolidate power.
I want to pay taxes. Just like I want to be paid for my work, and those who devote themselves to public service want to be paid for theirs.
Ideally government work would pay well enough there would be no temptation to accept bribes, or declare bribes legal through awkward loopholes like campaign financing.
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