Ron and Ed once again share entries from their "One Thing" journals, so this episode is a bit random, but contains nugget after nugget on curated wisdom for the reading and listening habits of the hosts.
Use these show notes to follow along with audio…
Segment One:
Ron: Writing a book is more risky than having a child. You can always disown a child.
Ed: “The juice is not worth the squeeze.” Not sure I like this metaphor.
Ron: What’s your unpopular but good idea or cause? (Asked when Peter Thiel interviews for nonprofits)
Ron: Also from Peter Thiel: “Tell me something you believe that most people don’t”
Ed: “The time for debate is over!” is almost always code for, “Shut up and do what I say.”
Ron: Jonah Goldberg — “Libertarians are like the Huns. You want them on your side, just not in charge.”
Ed: “I can’t help but feel like you’re trying to intimidate me into pretending to agree with you." One of the thoughts that economist Bryan Caplan keeps to himself.
Ron: It doesn’t take a dead man to build a coffin (mechanic doesn’t need to drive BMW)
Segment Two:
Ed: In 100 years, what will I be wrong about?
Ron: Liberty is the absence of oppression. Freedom is the act of commitment: a choice. Peter Block
Ed: ‘We are free to choose, we are not free to choose not to choose.’ - Peter Kostenbaum
Ron: The problem with the gene pool is there’s no lifeguard, Steven Wright
Ed: One of my favorite political fables concerns Dwight D. Eisenhower and his tenure as president of Columbia University. The campus was undergoing an expansion, and Ike was presented with two very different plans for laying out new sidewalks. The architects were irreconcilable, each insisting that his plan was the only way to go and that the other guy had it all wrong. Ike, sensible fellow that he was, had grass planted instead, telling the architects to wait a year and see where the students trod paths in the turf, and then to put the sidewalks there. - Kevin Williamson
Ron: If we evolved from apes, why do apes still exist?
Ed: “If the slave eats the food provided by the master, does that mean the slave consents to slavery?” - Mike Munger response to the "Muh roads" argument.
Segment Three:
Ron: An American is an Englishman left Alone. Alexis De Toqueville
Ed: Principle of “non worst-ness.” Not hiring someone to clean your house because you think it is demeaning to them only make the have to take on another customer who will likely be demeaning.
Ron: Argue with conviction, listen as if you were wrong
Ed: What have I said “Yes” to that I no longer am truly committed?
Ron: I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned. Richard Feynman
Ron: JFK was asked what he was most worried him? 30-40 nations with nuclear weapons. We have 9 with America’s leadership
Ed: A man tries to park his car in the Congressional lot. Security comes over and explains that he should not park there because Congress is in session. The guy replies, “It’s okay, I locked the doors.”
Ron: Eric Idle: wanted biography title, “Say no more,” but that’s for his Tombstone
Segment Four:
Ed: It is an established fact of social science that any bad idea can work for a time in Sweden.
Ron: GK Chesterton: Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
Ed: The system will reveal true purpose in spite of the stated vision and mission statements or in the absence thereof.
Ron: St. Thomas Aquinas: Envy is the only one of the seven deadly sins that isn’t even fun
Ron: All models are wrong, some are useful
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