This is a quick summary of the public beliefs I find important about
reality, knowledge, ethics, politics, economics, ecology and free speech.
Please share if you think it’s worthy.
Reality.
Reality is a generator of events that we measure indirectly. Perhaps
they are caused by the interactions of little particles and forces
born out of fields, or perhaps by a vast symphony of tiny strings,
who knows? (nobody knows). Assume that’s enough, apply the principle
of parsimony and that’s that. Keep your metaphysics as empty as possible.
No invisible or intangible stuff, no
gods, miracles or anything else supernatural. No magic.
Knowledge.
The beliefs we hold about reality are not reality itself. The map is
not the territory. Molded by natural selection, human brains have a
hard time dealing with complex stuff. Our brains are lazy, they use
many biases and sloppy ways of thinking. We are fuelled by and
hungry for metaphors. Human senses are limited in number, scope and
precision. To prevent these failings, support your beliefs with
evidence, make experiments, put them, and yourself, to the test.
Adapt, adjust.
Most beliefs are not ready for public discussion, so be your own
worst critic. Be an active skeptic: doubt everything you feel you
need to but also search for answers. Stating that a belief is true
is an approximation that might change with new evidence. We always
deal with degrees of belief, certainties and absolutes are ideals
that you should avoid.
Keep your mind open but enforce a strict door policy. Do not just
accept any explanation or prediction, check for coherence with
previous knowledge: demand extraordinary evidence to consider
extraordinary claims. The scientific method has proven to be
quite efficient at producing true justified beliefs: most scientific
core beliefs are already way beyond any reasonable doubt (like
natural selection). But science is not the only game in town: try
always to learn more about Art, Critical Thinking, History, Math,
Philosophy, Statistics. Learning, like exercise, is hard but
healthy.
Ethics.
Refuse violence except in defense of violent acts (please, include
animals). Do not (be the first to) break a promise, think first
before making one. Don’t lie but don’t forget there usually are
gentle ways of telling the truth. When possible, give more and take
less. Be impartial. Consider the perspective of the Universe, not
just your own side. We really are all in this together. Emotions and
thoughts are morally neutral: think and feel what you want. Actions
say more about us than our beliefs and words and, except if you are
famous, they matter more. The practice of virtue make us virtuous,
so practice a lot. Try to live a worthy life, its meaning is up to
you. Be nice.
Politics.
Every person has fundamental rights, but none is inviolable (rights
do tend to conflict with each other). People and their cultures are
more important than any institution, including nations. Ditto for
ecosystems. Fight to live in a society where all citizens are equal
before the law. Only laws without prejudice and discrimination that
promote/defend ethical behavior or fundamental rights might be
worthy of respect. Justice must be impartial, independent,
indiscriminate, with known and limited scope of action (this is the
Rule of Law). Do not accept victimless crimes. Corporativism and
corporations will always promote unjust policies according to their
own agenda. Distrust people with strong interests in any type of
corporation, especially political (like parties and governments),
religious and financial ones. Expect bureaucracy and corruption but
don’t resign with either. Keep yourself vigilant, sometimes
dangerous ideas influence powerful people. Don’t forget that the
right to vote implies the right to be elected (if it doesn’t, you
are not living in a democracy) and that a majority rule doesn’t mean
a tyranny of the majority. As much freedom as possible is a
desirable thing but it increases your responsibility (you can handle
it). Be tolerant except in the defense of tolerance:
tolerance does not mean meekness. Promote the secular education of
every child. Let me say this last one again:
promote the secular education of every child.
Economics.
Economics, like Ethics, is an exercise over limited resources. The
Earth is finite. Exponential growth is unsustainable, only
ideological blindness thinks otherwise. The feedback of our
decisions take time but they will come and many are unpredictable. For
each credit there’s a debt and a due date. Future generations will
gladly receive any benefits we leave but they should not pay our
bills. Energy is not money. There’s no such thing as a rational agent: information and
decision are expensive, values are subjective and people do influence people in strange
ways. Refuse monopolies and avoid centralized governments.
Bankruptcy is nasty but no bankruptcies is nastier. Don’t
underestimate self-organization. However, markets are just the best
solution to specific problems (where information is available,
similar price and quality products, diversity of supply/demand, not
relevant externalities, ...). Without most of these conditions, don’t expect
markets to solve your problem. On the other hand, States do have a
mediocre historical success record (History didn't reset after World
War II). Everything has diminishing
returns, the margin counts more than you think. There’s no miraculous
technological solution ahead, no single straight answer to every
problem. Yes, ideology sucks. Don’t think you can wish away
externalities and risks. Nor Physics. There are no free lunches
(check ‘no magic’ above).
Ecology.
Humans are
just another species, deeply tied together with almost all the
others. This is the ecosystem we evolved into, think twice before
each decision to simplify or destroy it. Every action has unintended
consequences, some of them are costly in economic and ecological
terms. Study nature’s solutions: the ecosphere weeded out lots of
bad solutions over the eons and has a delicate balance that should
be respected before trying to mess with it. Economy is a subset of
the ecosystem. Every decision, every attempt to change and grow, has
a cost and part of it cannot be accounted. You always pay something
to do something else. Both nature's capacity and heritage are
finite. Don’t think the garbage you dump away just disappears.
Free Speech.
Beliefs don’t have rights. When entering the public domain, they are
faced with constant criticism and need of defense, they should never
be imposed on others by force. So if you are not up for it, keep
your private beliefs to yourself (thank you). People should be
respected because they are people, beliefs don’t have that status.
Refuse censorship, dogma, arbitrary prohibitions, personal attacks.
Promote free speech and critical thinking, how to listen, to
dialogue and to question. Be just and impartial when criticizing,
and give the position you disagree the best possible interpretation.
It’s not easy but respect logic when arguing. Make yourself clear
(the world is already full of empty discussions) and don’t get stuck
on words while arguing (taboo them if you must). There’s no right to
not be offended but one should be able to use the judicial system to
answer slander or libel. Never forget the power of humor, of irony and
sarcasm. Ideas have authors, not owners. The public domain is the
source of all human ideas and inventions, of all our achievements.
It truly is more important than any conflicting economic right. A
free Internet is, together with education and voting, one of the
most powerful social and political tools that common people ever had
and should be cherished, fighted for and celebrated.
Cheers!
João Pedro Neto
Mar 2012, Jan 2013