Mastodawn

Growth: Stay curious -- never dismiss an idea before you understand it; don't be satisfied with what you think you know. Stay critical -- don't blindly accept an idea because it has been around for a while or because lots of people believe in it. Go back to first principles.
-- François Chollet (@fchollet)

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #FranoisChollet #Certainty #Growth #Skepticism

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #Sand #Tracks #Iowa

Hublai (charismatic megafauna)May 15

#Opinion becomes #belief becomes #certainty becomes #identity becomes #genocide. And it's time to abandon every #believer to the worst fate they wish on others.

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:mpqyj4hyl7bfv53cmprqimor/post/3mluexrddjk2y

Wisdom in Space May 8

Men insist most vehemently upon their certainties when their hold upon them has been shaken. Frantic orthodoxy is a method for obscuring doubt.
-- Reinhold Niebuhr

⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #ReinholdNiebuhr #Anxiety #Certainty #Doubt #Orthodoxy #Religion

⬇ #Photography #Panorama #BWCA #RoseFalls #Minnesota

The Skeptic's Kaddish May 4

What wounds, or: Finds welcome

A Sijo

mother still speaks in certainties each word sealed shut against replies; I turned and threw the doors wide let every voice enter and stay; now even harm finds welcome— I often don’t turn away what wounds

Reena’s Xploration Challenge 428

For Reena’s RXC prompt, she invites us to compose poems inspired by any of the following words:

Dogmatism — emphasizes rigid, unquestioning adherence to one’s beliefs, often despite counter-evidence.
Solipsism — the philosophical view that only one’s own mind is certain to exist; more loosely, a state of being confined within one’s own perspective.
Monologuing — highlights one-sided communication, where one person speaks at length with little engagement from others.
Cognitive rigidity — a psychological term for inflexible thinking patterns and difficulty adapting to new information or perspectives.
Doctrinaire mindset — stresses strict, often inflexible adherence to a doctrine or ideology, sometimes applied without regard for nuance or context.
Echo-chambered consciousness — a metaphorical phrase suggesting thoughts circulate within a closed system, reinforced without meaningful exposure to outside perspectives.

Sijo?

A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical. The first half of the line contains six to nine syllables; the second half should contain no fewer than five. Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure. Modern sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.

Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.

–Ben Harper (b. 1969)

Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!

#Boundaries #Certainty #Influence #Openness #Poem #Poetry #Reaction #Sijo #Uncertainty #Vulnerability

Don Curren 🇨🇦🇺🇦May 2

When a website asks me to “Verify you are #human,” what degree of #certainty do you think it requires?

✿ Kamila Murkowska Apr 26

I used to think the right relationship would feel like constant intensity. Like something that keeps you on edge, always slightly unsure, always needing to be maintained.

But the real thing feels different.

It feels like alignment. Like two lives that don’t compete, don’t destabilize each other, don’t require constant adjustment to keep working. It feels calm in a way that used to confuse me, because I was used to chaos being mistaken for depth.

Sitting there, watching the light disappear into the ocean, I realized I’m not searching anymore.

Not for direction.
Not for meaning.
Not for someone.

I already found it. And the quietness of that realization is exactly what makes it real.

Some things don’t need to be dramatic to be right.
They just need to be true.

#love #alignment #certainty

Futurist Jim Carroll Apr 13

"Chase the BIG things!" - Futurist Jim Carroll

--
Futurist Jim Carroll is writing a series, The Art of the Infinite Pivot, based on 36 lessons from his 36 years as a solo entrepreneur, working as a nomadic worker in the global freelance economy. The series is unfolding here, and at pivot.jimcarroll.com.
--

When big, bold opportunities are unfolding, do you chase the big ideas or keep doing small things?

The art of the infinite pivot involves the former, obviously, not the latter.

Big trends involve big opportunities, but only come around so often. So why would you wait?

Think of it this way: the biggest pivot of your life won’t start with a spreadsheet or a market report.

It starts when you finally choose to listen to the quiet, internal voice inside you telling you to leave the safety of "certainty" for the risk of something bigger.

When I quit the corporate world in 1990, I didn't have a 50-page business plan. What I had was a gut feeling that something massive was happening with global networking. I just knew I had to be a part of it. I had no idea where it was going to take me, what I might do, or how I might shape my tomorrow.

But I just knew... so I traded a predictable salary for the unpredictable thrill of the unknown.

I stopped chasing the "safe" path and started chasing the thing I actually wanted to chase.

It worked out pretty well!

Unknown to me at the time, I was deeply caught up in one of the most important aspects of innovation of all - emotional commitment to a bigger trend. And that is the lesson many leaders miss: true innovation requires an emotional investment in a bold future. You'll only accomplish big things if you innovate within the bigger trend.

My early pivot has continued through my career. In fact, throughout my 36-year voyage, the moments of greatest growth always happened after I abandoned the "proven" model to follow a bigger signal that only I could hear.

Look, certainty is comfortable, but being bold takes you further.

Don't wait for the world to permit you to change.

Listen to your internal voice.

Chase the thing you want to chase.

Because it might be in front of you right now.

---

It's no wonder that the title of one of Jim's books starts with Think BIG...!

**#BIG** **#Bold** **#Opportunity** **#Trends** **#Chase** **#Vision** **#Courage** **#Pivot** **#Risk** **#Gut** **#Innovation** **#Emotional** **#Commitment** **#Unknown** **#Growth** **#Future** **#ThinkBIG** **#Listen** **#Internal** **#Voice** **#Certainty** **#Safety** **#Leap** **#Dreams** **#Onwards**