The other day I was reading Albert Camus' classic The Rebel. His exposition of Nietzsche's philosophy pretty much sums up my state of mind amidst these turbulent times - think in terms of an apocalypse to come, not in order to extol it, but in order to avoid it and transform it into a renaissance. To… Continue reading The Beginning of the End
Tag: Nietzsche
Bitcoin as a Portal of Ideas
As a polymath and Bitcoin maximalist, I see Bitcoin as a portal to ideas of great thinkers of which I'm a student: Gustave Le Bon's crowd psychology, Eric Hoffer's fanatical mass movements, Nassim Nicholas Taleb's antifragility and skin in the game, Friedrich von Hayek's distributed knowledge and monetary competition, Jorge Luis Borges' illusion of reality,… Continue reading Bitcoin as a Portal of Ideas
On Art Forms and Literature
I like lasting beauty. Of all art forms, my liking is limited to literature. I loathe music, live performance, or flower arrangements. These things fade and vanish instantly. Even architecture and paintings decay. Of all literature, I love those written with blood. I suppose they don't want to be read, until by readers a century… Continue reading On Art Forms and Literature
My Notes from the Underground
Come, gentle night I run away from the Crystal Palace, and aspire to be a sick man, a spiteful man, an unattractive man. Greedily storing up impressions, one day I, too, will emerge from the underground, and master the path to chaos.
Philosophy the Day after Tomorrow
I like people who are clever and arrogant. I like it best when Nassim Nicholas Taleb displays a dose of Nietzschean arrogance. Taleb on why today's readers can be ignored, in Incerto: As an essayist, I am not judged by other writers, book editors, and book reviewers, but by readers. Readers? maybe, but wait a minute…… Continue reading Philosophy the Day after Tomorrow
On Ignorance
Who has one voice and yet becomes three-footed and two-footed and four-footed? Sophocles' Oedipus, the most suffering figure of the Greek tragedy. Oedipus crawled on three as a baby (because his ankles were pinned together by his parents who abandoned him), limped as an adult, and walked on four legs as an old man (blinding… Continue reading On Ignorance
The Age of Strong Faith
Many religions promise a reward in the afterlife. Many "religious people" expect a reward in their current life. Their strong faith commands my respect - they do not lose their faith in spite of the hypocrisy.
Andy Yee 