During a visit to a Hong Kong children’s welfare home, I met a 12-year-old girl I'll call Kylie. She had suffered a severe illness that left her blind, deaf, non-verbal, and nearly immobile, yet no identified damage was done to her brain. The staff described her, without hesitation, as “always...
Sounds like a good tradition to keep for this year and going forward.
A/N: I have corrected wording which were't accurate previously, but I still stand by the post. Would appreciate comments on areas you don't agree with or propose counterexamples.
TL;DR: One can't be nice, comparatively intelligent and demanding all at once (in an interactional context; 3 adjectives are defined below). At any moment, the best you can do is two of the three.
In my finance career I’ve met many individuals who are usually not nice or simply rude, and whom I often observed to be highly intelligent individuals. What surprised me though, was how some of these same people became warmer and compassionate when speaking off-work. I realized what was... (read more)
During a visit to a Hong Kong children’s welfare home, I met a 12-year-old girl I'll call Kylie. She had suffered a severe illness that left her blind, deaf, non-verbal, and nearly immobile, yet no identified damage was done to her brain.
The staff described her, without hesitation, as “always cheerful,” and indeed she smiled the entire time I watched her on the standing frame.
We can't objectively verify Kylie’s internal state, but her case crystallized a puzzle: if the absence of sight, hearing, or mobility doesn't preclude happiness, and neither wealth nor fame can guarantee it, then what truly determines our level of happiness?
Brickman & Campbell (1971) called this... (read 628 more words →)
Some suggestions for a rationalist study / entertainment room:
I happened to have my newborn circumcised just last week. Meticulous research was conducted before the decision was made, as any rationalist would do for a surgery. My finding from medical studies (results have varied so take them as indicative ranges): 1) 5-10% of male have congenital conditions that for sure need circumcision, but identifiable only after puberty, 2) ~50% uncircumcised male encounters medical conditions that may or may not be relevant to foreskin, e.g. infection or cancer, evidence is not significant, 3) father with those 5-10% congenital conditions may increase son's similar conditions 2-3x, evidence is not significant.
However, I'm the unfortunate 5-10%. I'm not from a culture where circumcision is common... (read more)
I'd like to flag a few points - even though this was the most amazing reading I've had in a long time:
He is a PC, and they are wallpaper.
This line is legendary.
Comed-Tea is officially my favorite drink in all fictional works
I'm new to LW and simply surprised to find INFJ here (also reached this far in this novel), I'm having the impression LW users are exclusively INTPs... Time to update my understanding of the world a bit
Bring in a ton of silver, change to Sickles (and pay 5%), change the Sickles for Galleons, take the gold to the Muggle world, exchange it for more silver than you started with, and repeat.
As econ major I've thought out the arbitrage plan habitually before reading this. Laughed out loud when seeing it's actually written out here. It's brilliant
Thanks. I believe this trichotomy works better in the Asian finance circle which I've stayed probably too long. Recent LessOnline experience revealed a much diverse possibilities in personalities of intelligent people, and I no longer endorse this shortform.