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PaperclipPerfector  11d ago (text post)   2520 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 8, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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You have the oppprtunity to give each person on earth the same advice and rules. You wish to improve the world as much as possible. What would be your universal set of advice and/or rules which ensure the most Good? Presume that each person will listen intently, not magically assent and obey immediately.

Many religions already have done this. I'm not sure what could move me to think I could be any better at this than God.

  1. Listen to your elders, because learning things which can’t be taught is not a one step process.

  2. Different people are different, especially between men and women. Don’t expect everyone to think or act the same way you do, and don’t expect yourself to bridge the gap right away. You will probably have to come somebody else’s way, just as much as they will yours.

  3. Treat everyone you run into respectfully, even if their station is beneath you. Pick role models that you can be like, and avoid the company of ne’erdo wells.

  4. Work hard and live below your means if possible. Don’t be proud, and listen to the people around you.

  5. Love your family and stick close to them. Don’t be afraid of expressing it, and remember love is an act, not a feeling.

  6. Be mindful of your duties in life, and adhere to them strictly. Take care of those that depend on you first, before yourself.

While I was nowhere near as big a fan of Hlynka as many of you were, he once wrote "Never write anything down which you wouldn't want to have read out at your funeral" which strikes me as remarkably good and universal advice.

A few thoughts that came immediately to mind (as opposed to a deeply thought out reply):

  1. Taking good care of your mind and body is absolutely the best use of your time, because it influences everything else.
  2. Taking good care of your mind and body is at least a decade-long learning process (and probably more), because (a) even minor changes can take months to show whether they’re working, (b) there are always multiple confounding factors over any short term period, and (c) all long term improvement comes from small changes that compound over time.
  3. The whole point of taking good care of yourself is that you can take good care of other people. We are effectively nothing without the closeness of family, friends and the countless people who might benefit (directly and especially indirectly) from our care-taking.
  4. Time and money are usually seen as the most important resources but energy is the foundation resource that sits beneath both, because without energy, time and money are worthless. Therefore, studying energy in all its forms, from calories to coal, psychology to sunshine, physiology to physics (and investing time and money to do so!) is a rest-of-life pursuit that will positively impact every moment of your life.
  5. The best and most important things in life might not be free, but all are intangible. They include love, respect, beauty, wonder, truth, awe, poetry and art. (Michelangelo’s David and Velazquez’s Las Meninas might be tangible but their vitality is profound and spiritual / metaphysical / intangible.)

That’s my back of the envelope answer. Thanks for the question.

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