“Highly readable and thought-provoking ...

A very
pleasant and creative work.” – Dr. Larry Sanger

ECONOMY
OF TRUTH
Practical Maxims
And Reflections

VIZI ANDREI
ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Practical Maxims and Reflections

VIZI ANDREI
 Copyright © 2019 by Vizi Andrei

All illustrations: Purchased from Canva

Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for
complying with the copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning
or distributing any part of it in any form without the written
permission of the author. Clearly, you may nevertheless
distribute some parts from this book as long as you abide by the
principle of “fair use”. In other words, you may, for instance,
share short excerpts from this book on your Facebook, Instagram
or Twitter account as long as you clearly state that you got them
from this book. In fact, Vizi even encourages you to do that! It
could help him a lot.
I wrote this book out of ambition, pragmatism,
intellectual confusion, a bit of naivety, and, above all,
a will to offer a helping hand...
VIZI ANDREI
Romania, 2019
 Table of Contents

A Greco-Roman World ......................................................... 3

Appetizers............................................................................ 13
Seduced by Rationality ........................................................ 21
On Happiness & Misery ..................................................... 31
The Hidden Curses of Modernity ....................................... 43
The Fool & The “Educated” ............................................... 59
An Artist Among Robots ..................................................... 69
On Ethics & Friendship ...................................................... 79
Drinking Wine With Seneca ............................................... 89
Don’t Forget Your Dessert .................................................. 99
Facta, Non Verba .............................................................. 107
Acknowledgements ............................................................ 114
 Prologue

A GRECO-ROMAN WORLD
 PROLOGUE

A Greco-Roman World

L
et me introduce you to my dear friend, Antisthenes. He
was a Greek philosopher – an Athenian, although he was
said not to be a legitimate Athenian. In his youth, he
bravely fought in the battle of Tanagra, which led Socrates to
believe that his genes are not pure. He argued that the son of two
Athenians could not be so brave, as Athenians would rather
theorize about courage than be courageous.*
As he became older, Antisthenes slowly left the battlefield
behind. He got drawn to the study of ethics, logic, and literature.
He spent the rest of his life by nurturing his education and
cultivating his mental faculties. He became an accomplished
orator and is credited with the authorship of over sixty titles. His
writings became timeless – they can teach any modern man how to
live a happier, more virtuous, and thoughtful life. Antisthenes
founded the Cynic School where he taught his students how to

*
Socrates was right: Antisthenes had a Thracian mother.

3
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

nobly reject luxuries, social status, and the acquisition of wealth

and unnecessary material objects.
Not very far from Athens*, there was a different man – a man
respected by all, admired by many, loved by a few, and matched
by nobody. His name conveys wisdom, strength, power yet
humility: Marcus Aurelius – one of the most competent Roman
emperors that ever lived.
While Antisthenes was studying, Marcus was on the battlefield,
organizing his army. Or maybe he was training, wrestling with
his comrades. Or maybe he was in his room, preparing his
strategy for the next battle. While the professor was teaching
philosophy, Marcus was embodying it. Despite his constant
challenges and responsibilities, what’s surprising about this man
is that he always found time to write, to reflect, to meditate – to
think. He wasn’t into poetry; nor was he working on a novel. He
was writing directly applicable, practical, and philosophical
teachings that could foster a clear mind and encourage pensive
actions. He was writing in order to think; and he was thinking
in order to act. Marcus Aurelius wasn’t only a king; he was also
a philosopher – but, he first became a king and then a
philosopher.

*
And in a slightly different period!

4
 A GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

Good philosophers start with theory and end up with action.

Great philosophers start with action and end up with
theory.

In general, the Greeks were mostly concerned with theory and

the Romans with action. The Greeks’ morning routine meant
thinking about ethics, courage, and happiness so that they can
grasp how to act later in the day; the Romans’ morning routine
meant being ethical, courageous, and happy so that they can
grasp how to theorize later in the day. Some preferred to
postpone action and focus on theory; others preferred to
postpone theory and focus on action. Some lacked knowledge;
others lacked experience.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

By deciding to read this book, you agree to be part of a Greek

boat heading toward the Romans. You agree that theory will meet
action; that a Greco-Roman world is to be created.

As soon as the Greeks start hanging out with the Romans,

theories will become more practical and actions will become
more thoughtful. As soon as they start going out, the Romans
will learn how to seek the truth and the Greeks how to
domesticate, and even dominate, its limitations.
Let me now prepare you for the first meeting, as we consider the
notion of “economy of truth.”

6
 A GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

Let’s Sign the Contract

We – humans – naturally face limits of knowledge. These limits

are the product of everything which we cannot observe, explain
or solve. In other words, the world we happen to live in is
complex. But, homo sapiens do not enjoy unorganized habitats.
We naturally seek structure, guidance, and predictability. We
need these things – in moderation!
But, how do we get them?
Here’s when maxims come to the rescue. Maxims represent crisp,
well-decorated, rhetorical, and seemingly universal rules which
help us conduct ourselves in the world.* They are compound
ideas distilled into a few words. They do not exhaustively match
the reality – but rather render it bearable. They are framed in
such a manner that they maximize utility while advancing or at
least not degrading the truth. Simply put, maxims foster an
economy of truth.

The notion of “economy of truth” is a compromise between

wisdom and knowledge, truth and utility, argument and
action, and science and meaning.

*
Warning: it can become pathological if we truly regard them as
universal.

7
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Economy of truth is a contract between the Greeks and the

Romans – a contract you are going to read slowly, and hopefully
enjoy wholly.

8
 A GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

Instructions & Disclaimer

Whenever you come across a maxim that causes you to grimace

with dislike or disagreement, pause for a moment. It was not
meant to be a universally applicable truth. Such creations are
virtually alien to human beings.

Instead of expecting maxims to resonate with you, develop a

state of mind so that you seek to resonate with them.

This work is the architecture of my creative thought exercises. I

spontaneously came up with many of them; I conducted research
to produce some of them; and I simultaneously did both to
generate the rest of them.
Although this book happens to be a work of philosophy, I am no
philosopher; and the Romans made it very clear that they have
no time for philosophy. There was an accident – I gave full power
to the Greeks to prepare it for launch. In other words, if you
don’t consider this book to be a work of philosophy, sue the
Greeks, not me.
I will provide further excuses in the Epilogue.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Notice

It took me roughly three years to write this book – so I,

foreseeably, advise against aiming to read it in one sitting!* Take
your time. Reflect. Ponder. Critically – yet kindly – assess my
thoughts. Do it slowly. Do it twice. Take notes. Highlight. Aim
to read my book again – and again, and again; only in case you
enjoyed it, of course. And what I mean by enjoying it is not that
I expect you to agree with the cognitive projects I infused it with
– but, simply, that you came to consider them useful.
This book was an endeavor to find out who I am and who I want
to be. Many maxims and reflections do not describe my virtues
per se – but what virtues I aspire to develop.
I hope my writings will resonate with you. I hope this book will
make you a better thinker – a critical and creative one – and,
above all, a better action-taker.
Let’s get started.

*
20 pages per day – this is the absolute max!

10
Chapter I

APPETIZERS
 CHAPTER I

Appetizers

Intelligence without risk is wasted talent.

*
The man who’s gathering knowledge for the sake of it is like the
sailor who's dying of thirst on the ocean.
No matter how much he drinks, he will always be thirsty.

*
The reason Seneca and Marcus Aurelius were such great
philosophers is that they weren’t, in fact, philosophers – they
were practitioners.
Seneca was a statesman, fervently involved in politics; and
Marcus Aurelius was a prominent Roman emperor.
Philosophy gathers vitality as soon as it develops a loving
relationship with action – and vice-versa.

13
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

We tend to like only the books that reinforce our convictions.

We rarely like the books filled with arguments that contradict
them, no matter how adequate or well-documented they are.
As long as those arguments are at odds with our beliefs, one thing
is certain: we find it hard to like these books.

*
If you want to have a calm discussion about a hot topic, use an
arsenal of cold phrases.

*
Make a deal with yourself – never confuse correlation with
causation; law with ethics; money with wealth; notoriety with
value; muscles with strength; or information with knowledge.

14
 APPETIZERS

Every opinion is insufficient. In philosophy and in everything,

one cannot express something that is universally applicable, but
only subjectively or locally applicable.
No matter how good a writer is – he’s human. He’s naturally
unable to produce ideas that can resonate with all of us; but only
with some of us, or, in best cases, with many of us.
If a writer doesn't resonate with me, my first instinct is to
pigeonhole him as “weird”. Or, to consider what he expressed to
be “false” or “nonsense”. I thus judge him. That's why, when this
occurs, I sometimes decide to pause for a moment, drink a cup
of coffee, maybe even take a walk, and then read his “nonsense”
again. And, this time, I try to read to understand – and not to
judge. This time, I strive to get psychologically attached to the
writer – to enter his mind; to become his mind. Otherwise, how
can I have any chance at grasping the subtle truth he may have
formulated?

*
Carl Jung brilliantly noted: “Everything that irritates us about
others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
And, Hermann Hesse beautifully stretched a similar thought: “If
you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself.”
Thanks to both of them, it is now very clear to me why I can’t
stand lazy and arrogant people.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Don’t worry: you can leave your books unsupervised in any

public space* – because thieves don’t read and readers don’t
steal.†

*
Conscious decision-making vs. unconscious decision-making: you
can't say you have a habit of going to the gym if you have to tell
yourself “let's go to the gym” – but, to develop it, you need to.

*
Kindness without truth comes across as flattery.
Truth without kindness comes across as disrespect.

*
Disclaimer: I am not liable in case your books get stolen. Thanks.
†
Al-Mutannabi Street, Baghdad.

16
 APPETIZERS

Those who manage to find the sweet spot are the most
persuasive.

*
Ideas are not situated within the books we read, but within
ourselves. That’s why we consider many ideas to be evident once
we read them. We read a book, and, after we finish it, we
consider what we’ve read to be “common sense”
The expression of ideas, and not the ideas in themselves, is what
we seek when reading books. Most ideas are latent components
of our soul – and the soul can hardly make an agreement with
the brain to encourage language to produce a nuanced and clear
expression of those ideas. Those who succeed in making that
kind of agreement are the writers – the good writers. And we need
to thank them. And we can automatically do so if we buy their
books.

17
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Any practical maxim you come across can be attributed to you

once your actions reflect its teaching; even though you aren’t the
author of it.
The intellectual property rights are not given to those who merely
thought about it or wrote it, but to those who practice it.

18
Chapter II

SEDUCED BY
RATIONALITY
 CHAPTER II

Seduced by Rationality

Those who worship logic don’t think outside the box; they
squeeze the world in a box.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

We call “open-minded” only those people who agree with what

we agree with and dislike what we dislike. Rarely do we attribute
it to people who reject what we believe.*

*
The human mind doesn’t seek truth and accuracy; it seeks
meaning.†
Our minds didn’t evolve to be scientific tools; they evolved to be
survival tools.
In other words, nature didn’t design them to be truth-seekers –
it designed them to be useful for our emotional, mental, and
social fitness.
It’s a shame no one‡ dares to develop a criterion for rationality
based on meaning, since that’s what our intellectual diet is
fundamentally based on.

*
The denser the argument, the easier the job to dismantle it – way
too many sentences translate into a declaration of insecure

*
Inspired by Alan Jacobs, American scholar.
†
Inspired by Daniel C. Richardson, experimental psychologist.
‡
Some exceptions: Daniel Kahneman, Rory Sutherland, and Nassim
Taleb.

22
 SEDUCED BY RATIONALITY

reasoning; hence strong evidence that there are many gaps and
cracks ready for you to reveal.*

*
Ignore the charlatan who pretends to hold objective facts about
difficult topics.
“Objective facts” – that's a fairytale.
The more difficult or delicate the topic, the larger the army of
theories, doctrines or biases that revolves around it.

*
To develop solid arguments, aim for simplicity – be both clear and
concise.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Logic, if used as the main instrument for thinking, frustrates the

functions of the mind – it doesn’t improve them.
Great ideas are like sophisticated cocktails: they require some
civilized feelings, a large dose of imagination, forty grams of
curiosity, and merely two drops of logic.

*
Once I make a decision, I decide to ignore any type of counter-
arguments, no matter how reasonable they are. I have a strong
personality, or, in other words, I’m an authentic imbecile.*

*
In life, if you aim to be “rational”, you can’t be dangerous.

*
Inspired by Nietzsche.

24
 SEDUCED BY RATIONALITY

You’re weak – because, by definition, you’re predictable.*

*
If you can’t appreciate science and religion at the same time, your
life must be scary.

*
Contrary to popular opinion, what is correct in practice, but
cannot be proven in theory, doesn’t become useless or false. It
should be common knowledge that what we can see, explain, and
understand is not everything that indeed exists.

*
To win an argument, rely on logic. To win in life, reject logic.

*
Inspired by Rory Sutherland.

25
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

If you’re not willing to often take actions that don’t make much
sense, having a mediocre life will make perfect sense.*

*
To be perfectly honest, most of my so-called “reasoning” consists
in finding arguments for going on believing as I already do.†
I, unwittingly, fabricated myself a puerile identity – one filled
with various values. These values are deeply rooted in my
personality…I can't make the difference between an argument
based on reason and one based on my values; anyway, is there
any?
Once my values get attacked, my feelings get disturbed. They
desperately start sending e-mails to my “rational” mind, asking
for protection. Then, my rational mind proceeds by deploying a
mechanism that can make any opinion look handsome. This
mechanism includes some well-chosen words too.

*
Many successful people became successful precisely because they
decided to take actions that don’t make sense: think about figures such
as Rafael Nadal, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, but also Ryan Holiday
or Tim Ferriss. Against all odds, they made it – had they relied on logic
to make all of their important life decisions, they wouldn’t have been
where they are right now. Logic may help an engineer perform his job
well (narrow context), yet what makes humans so successful in life (a
much complex setting) is a set of skills that require way more
sophisticated tools than merely reductionist logic.
†
Inspired by James Harvey Robinson.

26
 SEDUCED BY RATIONALITY

You've just witnessed how that mechanism works...

My rational mind is a sly lawyer hired by my guilty instincts,
feelings, and values to prove them innocent. This fellow is forced
to work in order to protect my identity from change, from
damage – to conserve it, thus. It needs to be austerely protected
– for, if destroyed, I lose myself.*

*
Most “intellectuals” can’t reason any longer because they are too
arrogant when it comes to the limits of their reason.

27
 Chapter III

ON HAPPINESS & MISERY

 CHAPTER III

On Happiness & Misery

Happiness consists in being able to understand yourself and the

reality around you. If you try to do so, you’re on the way to being
liberated from suffering and misery.*

*
Whenever you feel anxious or overwhelmed, look up.
It’s hard to feel obsessed with yourself and your “problems” when
you are watching the beauty and majesty of the sky, of something
much bigger than yourself.

*
A heuristic for a fulfilled life: don’t take yourself too seriously;
take your family, friends, and work very seriously.

*
Inspired by Yuval Noah Harari.

31
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

If you feel miserable, go to the mountains. Eliminate

distractions. Leave your urban habitat behind for a while.
Go swim. Hike. Catch some fish. Eat like a caveman; exercise
like a caveman.
Forest bathing allows humans to become aware of their deeply
natural inclinations. It leads to the highest level of personal
understanding.
Connecting with our genes cures misery better than any amount
of modern drugs, psychotherapies or meditation sessions.

*
The bored-of-life teenager thinks he’s a nihilist.

32
 ON HAPPINESS & MISERY

He argues that, since everything in life is meaningless, there's

anyway no reason to be a faithful life partner, to become either a
great lawyer or a scientist – or to simply be a good person.
He fails to perform a simple trick, to flip the coin upside down:
precisely because there's no reason – and thus no pressure – to
be a good person, that's exactly why he should do so!
There’s nothing to lose, only to gain, idiot.

*
It's a revelation: when we sleep, we experience an extraordinary
state. We're unconscious; we're dead – yet alive.
In fact, life is bearable only because of this bizarre activity. A
human is too weak to be constantly sane for twenty-four hours.
Sleep offers him an immediate strength to resurrect some part of
that sanity.
Sleep offers you fuel to continue your life adventure. It interrupts
it for seven-ten hours, and, then, you're perfectly good to go.
If you feel miserable, chances are, you need to go to sleep: your
sanity has just run out of fuel.

*
The fact that a child who was born rich tends to become
surprisingly more depressed than a child who was born a little bit
above the poverty line; that showcases the counter-intuitive
software program our human nature is running on.

33
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

What we call curse “she” calls opportunity; what we call

opportunity “she” calls curse.

*
Try to live far below your means for at least one month, and
watch how you’re slowly starting to taste freedom.

By learning how to limit our desires, we can paradoxically

idealize ourselves.

*
The biggest accomplishment of a human, a busy primate, is to
be able to spend hours and hours without doing anything – to

34
 ON HAPPINESS & MISERY

enjoy inaction and monotony without feeling any boredom or

remorse.

*
Easterners get excited if the train arrives on time. Westerners
deem such an event implicit. What for some represents a trivial
circumstance, is for others a festival.*

*
Inspired by Andrei Pleșu, Romanian philosopher.

35
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

If you don't remember an event nostalgically, it means you didn't

really enjoy it.

*
Misery is easier to scale than happiness. What's “bad” tends to
be more concrete for humans.

*
The more you overthink a problem, the larger the debt your
actions have to suffer.

*
Even though you’ve been through a lot, even though you’ve
suffered a lot, the truth is, the world doesn’t owe you anything.

36
 ON HAPPINESS & MISERY

Never feel entitled to good times – even if, or especially if, you
had it tough: the universe doesn’t care.

*
Happiness is about frequency, not impact or intensity.
Happy people cultivate stable, positive feelings; they don’t crave
euphoric moments.

*
He who prefers to suffer goes on believing his stressful thoughts.
He who prefers to suffer less starts questioning them.

*
I feel happy when my ambitions disappear; when they fall asleep
for a while. As soon as they wake up, stress starts to kick in again.

*
Nature programmed us to seek pleasure and avoid pain – but
what if we attempt to hack it rather than follow it? What if we
attempt to choose our pain, instead of waiting for life to choose
it for us?

By choosing our challenges, we infuse our life with predictable

pain – and, predictable pain is more bearable than random
pain. We thus also allow happiness to surprise us, which in turn
carries more dynamism than if it were predictable.

37
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

To hack the chemistry of your happiness, remember that the

reaction is counterintuitive: you must pour challenges, rather
than pleasure, over your life choices.
To hack your human nature, be strategic about your pain and
spontaneous about your happiness; the results might surprise you.

*
We don't need to attach any meaning to our goals and objectives.
We don’t need to affiliate any grandiose purpose to our actions.
Frankly, they anyhow don't have any.
If we come to grips with the fact that they don't matter, we can
go all in, calmly. If they don't matter, we can't fail. There's thus
no pressure – there's nothing.

If everything is indeed meaningless, why take it all so seriously?

If everything is indeed meaningless, why throw it away?

Once you try to give life a meaning, there's an existential danger.

But if you don't, you're detached; you're free – you are alive.
You can easily cope with your existence once you realize there's
nothing you should cope with.

*
Learn to be happy before you become rich.
Contrary to popular opinion, wealth doesn’t turn misery into
happiness.

38
 ON HAPPINESS & MISERY

Wealth turns misery into more misery and happiness into more
happiness.
Wealth merely amplifies your current state; it doesn’t change it.
It feeds with whatever you bring to the table.
Don’t seek wealth if you’re unhappy; or else you’ll attract even
more misery.

*
Contrast: to grasp both how fortunate and ungrateful you are,
compare what “suffering” means to you with what it used to
mean to your grandparents.

39
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

*
Keep in mind: the human race – and thus all of its goals and
problems – might all vanish tomorrow; and the Universe would
blithely smoke a joint, steadily continuing its journey in the same
carefree manner.
I genuinely wish that we could all go to the moon and, from out
there, take an existential look at our problems and goals. They
could be thus finally thrown into perspective. We could finally
see them for what they really are: tiny, pointless, trivial – and
therefore deeply laughable!

40
 Chapter IV

THE HIDDEN CURSES OF

MODERNITY
 CHAPTER IV

The Hidden Curses of Modernity

The difference between a workaholic and a slave is merely

psychological: a slave is forced by society to work hard whereas a
workaholic is primed by society to choose to work hard. The
alchemy lies in giving the man a sense of independence about his
decisions.

43
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

*
In an abundant world, productivity is about eliminating bad
habits; then adding good ones.
In an abundant world, knowledge is about filtering, rather than
gathering, information.
In an abundant world, discipline is the new freedom.
In an abundant world – less is more; and more is less.
*
Law and religion are fictions, but they are not lies. Fictions bring
utility to societies and cultures. Lies bring damage and harm.
When what we know doesn’t help us that much, the principle of
“utility” shall come to the rescue. To fill a gap in knowledge,
some fictions may be generated.
The more useful the fictions, the higher the chances that they
will be regarded as “truth” by the masses.
*
We are often incentivized to discuss issues such as pollution,
poverty or corruption from a global perspective; but we fail to
consider them locally – in our city, neighborhood or even family.
We are thus infused with irresponsibility: the more we think and
talk about the issues which we can’t control, the more we neglect
the ones which are in our control.*

*
The lower the scale, the bigger the chances that we can fix the
problem. Thinking and talking about large-scale issues only makes
ourselves feel responsible, whilst, in fact, being totally irresponsible.

44
 THE HIDDEN CURSES OF MODERNITY

*
Many fellows encourage the development of “modernist
architecture” – yet, they somehow happen to regularly wake up
in Prague, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Budapest or Vienna.

*
The “meaning of life” is a very abstract and paradoxically deeply
reductionist notion. Although it exists in our human language,
it doesn’t mean it should refer to something concrete in the real
world – because it doesn’t.
What’s not concrete unsettles humans; hence why we tremble
when we ask ourselves the most notorious question of the 21st
century: “what’s the meaning of life?!”

45
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

You cannot squeeze the meaning of life into a crisp form of

wording – or any form of wording at all.
The purpose of living is the very act of living. In other words, life
is more about action rather than meaning.

*
Experiment: investigate a recent political dispute from your
country.
Try to form your opinion about it.
During your investigation, pay attention to your mood. Watch
how often your emotions change sides, get troubled or lose
temper.

In politics, the truth is far from straightforward. It’s generally

nuanced – way too nuanced for our instincts, emotions, and
biases to cope with.

Nuances render our feelings and values confused, and

consequently our argumentative algorithm unsettled and
perturbed. As soon as it becomes perturbed, it starts craving
emotional debates.
Any dispute that involves nuances naturally generates tension;
and, when it comes to this sport, politics easily holds the leading
position.

46
 THE HIDDEN CURSES OF MODERNITY

Contrary to orthodox belief, bureaucracy is designed to be a

complex system not because it’s difficult to build a simple one,
but because what’s complex keeps people away from
understanding; therefore questioning or challenging authority.

*
It's a trend to conflate capitalism with corporatism – many who
claim to be against capitalism can't grasp that they, in fact,
oppose corporatism.*

*
It’s a travesty to argue that modern humanity made tremendous
progress in knowledge in the last few decades or so.
Knowledge barely advanced.
Modernity is boasting myriads of long papers roasted and packed
in academia, and libraries are restocking their shelves with fresh
books every single day – yet, Herodotus, Machiavelli, Plato,
Darwin or Pascal already said it all, hundreds or thousands of
years ago.

*
When dealing with a scarcity of information, the best mental
model is to keep your mind open.

*
Corporations function through a system that excuses the people in
charge (who make mistakes) of accountability and liability.

47
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

When dealing with an abundance of information, the best

mental model is to keep your mind closed – by openable windows.

*
For many convinced atheists, science is, in fact, the modern
version of religion.
They don’t question it – they have faith in it.

48
 THE HIDDEN CURSES OF MODERNITY

For them, science is thus more about meaning rather than truth.*

*
Imposed diversity is the illusion of freedom.

*
Don’t pay attention to what a politician says; focus on what he
does.

*
Atheists think that “an absence of belief” means a lack of meaning –
but this type of nihilism is, by definition, a form of meaning. In
practice, there is no such thing as “no meaning”.

49
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Ditch the news – go analyze his projects, not his language.

You’ll soon start to live in a different world.

*
Amazon, the company, is way more appreciated by humans than
Amazon, the river.
We are living in an age where fictional (rather than objective)
realities dominate our existence.*

*
The fact that a modernist building is no longer new in fifty years
represents the best evidence that humanity has regressed, rather
than progressed, when it comes to architecture, beauty,
aesthetics, and design.

*
You’re free only if you use your freedom.†

*
We need to risk both being offensive and offended if we long, as
a culture, to stipulate a social contract so that free speech

*
Inspired by Yuval Noah Harari.
†
Source: The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation,
Preamble.

50
 THE HIDDEN CURSES OF MODERNITY

represents a dominant norm. The more capable we are to bear

this risk, the stronger this norm will be.*

*
Celebrities: fellows whose only “competence” is cracking the
code of getting media attention.
Don’t let these people fool you: they want you to mistake the
particular for the general. Their skill is, in fact, extremely
domain-specific and it doesn’t apply to other settings – being
famous and entertaining doesn’t transfer to solid political views,
high intelligence or strong moral values.

*
Inspired by Larry Sanger, Ex-co-founder of Wikipedia, now CIO of
Everipedia.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Fame creates illusions; everyone should be naturally very

skeptical when it comes to what these guys have to say about
politics, ethics, happiness, and basically anything.

*
Contrary to orthodox belief, science is much more about having
clarity on what we don’t know than what we do know.
It is much more about identifying uncertainty rather than the
accumulation or validation of facts.*

*
In an age of manipulation, give people high hopes: tell them that
they can become “free” thinkers!

*
Paraphrased from Joe Norman, Applied Complexity & Data Scientist
– jwnorman.com

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 THE HIDDEN CURSES OF MODERNITY

As soon as they buy into that, their mental faculties go bankrupt.

Biases become stronger; cracks in the “logical” thought processes
wider; and doubts drop to a minimum.

To truly internalize that you can think for yourself renders you
vulnerable to incur incompetence in installments – the process
is slow but certain: it irreparably results in intellectual death.

When people praise someone for “thinking for herself”, you

should laugh.
You can’t think for yourself. No one can. We cannot think
independently of other human beings.
Our thinking process is the product of what we read, watch,
experience and whom we socialize and hang out with.

One should be able to swallow nuances: you can't think for

yourself, but you may very well not think like others – yet, you
do think with others. It's about correlation, not causation.

Any (reasonably plausible) idea someone puts in your mind is

likely to have an effect on your thinking. If I make you read “On
Liberty” by John Stuart Mill and then I ask you “What values
should a good society be based on?”, you are going to end up
offering me a slightly different answer than if I make you read
“The Sovereign Individual” by James Dale Davidson. Even
though you may enjoy neither of them, they nevertheless
influence you.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

The reasoning you’re going to develop in the evening will be

correlated with the books that you read in the afternoon. So, if
you’re having dinner with a friend and you start discussing “big”
ideas, and you tend to think “Wow, this guy really thinks for
himself”, what in fact happens is that you don’t have a complete
picture when it comes to whom he hung out with, what books
he read and what he experienced this month or this year.
Experiment: have a coffee with a lawyer and then go for a beer
with an engineer. Discuss a topic that may interest both – let’s
say, cyberspace. The lawyer may start implicitly rambling about
privacy, liability or (this is rare though) ethics; whilst the
engineer will possibly tend to talk more about the technical
aspects. It’s not necessarily that they will only talk about their
field of expertise, but their reasoning will be correlated with that.

We don’t think for ourselves, we don’t think like others – yet

we do think with others.*

*
Some time ago, cities used to be walled. Building these walls was
practical – in a sense that no one could come in.
The same situation applies to a radically conservative person's
mentality. He builds spectacular walls around his mind – so that

*
Inspired by Alan Jacobs, American scholar.

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 THE HIDDEN CURSES OF MODERNITY

it becomes fully closed; so that nothing and nobody can render

him willing to change his opinions.

On the other hand, a radically liberal* person builds no walls at

all around his mind – so that it becomes fully open. He blithely
allows every possible perspective to enter his mind.
What shall I personally decide to do?
Shall I be a liberal person: build no walls at all around my mind?
No way.
Shall I be a conservative one: fully enclose my mind by gigantic
walls?

*
Disclaimer: in this context, liberal & conservative are literal
constructs, not political ones.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

No way.
But, then, what shall I do?

The best approach would be to indeed build walls around my

mind – but I shall equip them with many regulated gates! And,
these gates shall be opened only for those opinions that obtained
visas; only for the ones who meet a reasonable standard.

These opinions can stay, first, only for a defined and relatively
short period of time; and then, only if – only if – they proved to
me that they are indeed reasonable, can stay longer within my
mind – and perhaps even apply for citizenship.

56
 Chapter V

THE FOOL & THE

“EDUCATED”
 CHAPTER V

The Fool & The “Educated”

Physicists who only study physics generally happen to be clumsy

physicists; as well as philosophers who only read philosophy
happen to be foolish philosophers.*
You can’t bring out the flavor of your intellect if you don’t try to
establish relations with disciplines that are not at all related to
your specialization.
My friendly advice is that politicians should study biology;
scientists should read poetry; lawyers should study morality; and
economists should study economics.

*
Only a fool never changes his mind.

*
Only a fool always changes his mind.

*
Inspired by Emil Cioran, Romanian philosopher.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

*
Politics: an ideology is a hammer and not every problem is a nail.

*
Many universities brag about teaching “critical thinking” – yet,
the students who follow their curiosity can barely pass their
exams; and those who learn the material by heart ace them.

*
It's impossible to have a fruitful argument with someone who,
prior to the beginning of the discussion, already made an

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 THE FOOL & THE “EDUCATED”

unconscious decision to disagree with whatever you are going to

argue.

*
Wisdom beats “knowledge”: if someone conducted a study on
something humans have been doing for more than 400 years
(say, fasting or eating meat), and the results are negative, ignore
it: the study is either biased or limited.*

*
The uneducated fools generalize when they need to particularize;
the educated ones particularize when they need to generalize.

*
Inspired by Nassim Taleb.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

A: Plato never said that. Socrates did!

B: I disagree. But do you have any evidence to support this

claim?

If often amuses me when people argue over whether a certain

philosopher is the author of X or Y.
Philosophers speak and write to guide action – not to get credit.
They are concerned with whether ideas are practiced, not said.
Why argue over whether Montaigne or Voltaire expressed a
certain quote when they would both rather apply it than debate
about their intellectual property rights?

*
“Write your books so that any idiot could understand them.” –
this is such a doltish piece of advice.
Whilst I agree that, for instance, a refined idea shall not be
expressed in a verbose manner, but as concretely and clearly as

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 THE FOOL & THE “EDUCATED”

possible, I also violently disagree to go the extra mile and

formulate it so that even the foolish can get it.
By conveying any possible idea so that even the foolish can get
it, we will perpetuate the evolution of “mental prostitution” – an
awful phenomenon which contaminates the fascination of great
ideas.
If a writer aims to express a difficult idea so that any fool can
grasp it, its actual value gets diminished – actually, extirpated.
The act of eradicating its delicate and nuanced aspect, so that
any idiot can get it, degrades it. And, this banishes exactly those
people who are qualified to appreciate that idea!*

*
A nerd is someone who favors arguments over actions, intentions
over results, and education over experience.

*
Those who argue to win arguments always lose them – even
though they win them.

*
When a professor says “you don’t need to agree with me”, she
means “convey my own ideas so differently that I can’t recognize
them as mine.”

*
Inspired: “Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the
Appetite for Wonder” – book by Richard Dawkins.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

*
It's perfectly normal – even a sign of a civilized person – to hold
opinions and perspectives; but not convictions. That's a disease –
a contagious one. Once I meet a patient infected with it, I'll be
sure it's the last time we see each other.

*
If you happen to meet a fellow who has a habit of producing
imbecile opinions, don't debate or insult him.
Just drop an occasional “why” after each of his moronic
statements and unapologetically watch his decay.

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 THE FOOL & THE “EDUCATED”

*
The difference between the uneducated fools and the educated
ones is that the latter worked really hard to acquire their
intellectual impotence.

*
Never get easily persuaded by arguments which bombard you
with statistics or empirical studies – the larger the bombardment,
the weaker the logic behind the arguments.

*
Excessive debates are for s##kers.
Excessive actions are for winners.

*
Don’t confuse political correctness with politeness.
Politeness is about speaking as you wish; political correctness is
about making the others speak as you wish.
One allows you to enjoy your freedom of speech; the other
“allows” you to breach others’ freedom of speech.

65
 Chapter VI

AN ARTIST AMONG
ROBOTS
 CHAPTER VI

An Artist Among Robots

The battery for creativity is a diamond placed somewhere deep

under the sea.
Struggle to find it, and you’ll trouble the water. It will get blurry
– you won’t be able to see anything.
Swim patiently, and the water will become calm and clear. You’ll
see the diamond shining before you know it.

*
I produce my best ideas spontaneously, when I don’t try to get
much done: when lying in bed, taking a shower, after a workout
or during a long walk in the park.
Yet, I finish my projects only actively: forcing myself to focus and
generate deep, uninterrupted work.
In other words, creative work represents a contract between my
subconscious mind and my conscious one – and I’m the lawyer who
has to close the deal.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

*
An artist is someone who favors beauty over efficiency,
imagination over logic, curiosity over obedience, and, above all,
action over thought.

*
The road to job security is paved with quicksand. It seems to be
safe and smooth on the surface, but the risks are hidden under
the road.
In your career, you don’t want to choose any road, but to find
your own way through the wild. Here’s where the strongest
species like to hang out; here’s where the most stunning plants
want to grow.

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 AN ARTIST AMONG ROBOTS

*
A: What do you do for a living?
B: I write.
A: So, you're a writer!
B: No.
A: But you've just said you write – so you're thus a writer,
correct?
B: Well, I do write, yes, but I am not a writer.
A: I'm confused, what do you mean?
[...]
You're not a lawyer. You're someone who helps people deal with
legal matters. You're not a doctor. You're someone who saves
people's lives or gives them the right advice to improve their
health.
Add a verb to your identity – it keeps you sane; not a pompous
noun – which may only boost your ego; it may distract you from
your purpose, from the actions you need to regularly take.
Your job is to do something, not to be something.

*
A good writer chooses his words carefully.
A great writer lets the words choose him.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Your “life calling” emerges as a result of trial and error rather

than predetermined desire or choice.

*
I write because, well, that’s what I do – not because that’s what I
want to do. There’s no desire, no willingness – but rather a
natural necessity.

*
Quite often, my mind doesn’t get tired, but bored. I usually lie
to myself by taking breaks, to apparently get “some rest” –
however, they are not breaks, but engagements in other activities
that do not bore me anymore.
Some call this “procrastination” – and many well-intentioned
figures demonize it; they tell us to stop procrastinating for keeps.
Procrastination may often be harmful, but, if practiced and
understood well, it may also be the gateway to truly creative
work.
More than half of this book is not the result of discipline or
motivation, but of procrastination. I was quick to start, yet very
slow to finish – in this way, I allowed my mind enough time and
energy to ruminate and become creative.

“Procrastinating is a vice when it comes to productivity, but it

can be a virtue for creativity.” – Adam Grant

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 AN ARTIST AMONG ROBOTS

Evolutionary speaking, we are hunters, not machines. Dear

modern humans, stop craving organized and predictable
habitats.* Your vitality revives only if you immerse yourself in
environments filled with uncertainty – only if you decide to face,
even dominate, what you don’t know, understand or can’t
foresee.†

*
Some examples: stop craving classrooms, gyms, corporations,
economic models or political ideologies.
†
Inspired from “Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder” – book
by Nassim Taleb.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

If fame is a curse, successful people – by definition – can’t be

seen.*
Almost every person I admire has a quiet life at home with
someone they love, working on projects they love – designing
their life as they love.

*
Imagine you're a judge. And you need to solve a terribly complex
judicial case. It entails problems that no judge whatsoever has
ever had to face before. And you need to come up with a solution
in 48 hours. What do you do?
Firstly, of course, you need to formulate what the problems at
stake are and what type of law you need to refer to. This will take
you quite a while. However, the purpose of all of this is, frankly,
only to organize the thinking process, and not to provide any
solutions.
In order to solve a complex case, creativity shall be exploited. It's
a new type of case, there's no precedent –you only have one
option: you have to become creative.

“Only the ideas gained from walking have any worth.” –

Nietzsche

*
“Being famous in your industry is not a bad thing (because it brings
you more business), but being famous among the general public is a
curse.” – by @LifeMathMoney from Twitter

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 AN ARTIST AMONG ROBOTS

There's a paradox when it comes to creative work: the harder you

try to be creative, the less you shall succeed. If you continuously try,
for 6 hours, to find the solution to that case, you will most
probably fail – and, as an extra gift, also get extremely frustrated.
Why? Well, when a solution to a certain problem seems to be
impossible to discover, the last thing you want to do is to use all
your energy to solve it. You cannot make your conscious mind
grasp what the case profoundly involves. Its intellectual resources
are limited.
You may be better off to take a break, drink some wine or play
tennis for one hour. And, then, the solution to that complex
judicial case may come naturally. You will simply, inexplicably,
come up with it. And this happens due to your unconscious mind:
the greatest source of creativity any human being possesses. The
unconscious mind is a hidden treasure. It’s a complex algorithm
which, once delicately activated, does wonders. If you make it
work properly, it may be able to solve virtually any type of
complex issue.
When we're facing an intricate issue our mind needs to firstly
experience stillness if we want to have a chance at solving it. If,
prior to the thinking process, our mind is clear, calm, and still,
the chances of solving our difficult problems increase
substantially.
That's how you come across creativity: you focus on anything but
being creative; you focus on anything but your thoughts. Prior
to the thinking process, your mind needs to be still. Prior to the

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

thinking process, meditate. Take a walk in the forest. Run. Go

to the gym. Or do anything that can render your mind still.

Creativity is not something we can acquire systematically. The

most we can do is to foster a state of mind so that creativity may
come to us.

76
 Chapter VII

ON ETHICS & FRIENDSHIP

 CHAPTER VII

On Ethics & Friendship

He who is preaching about the need for collective responsibility

is trying to conceal his individual irresponsibility.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

If you’re often too kind in your relations with other people, they
will start mistaking your remarkable attitude for common sense.
When you’ll then display, at times, a behavior that shows
common sense, they won’t appreciate it any longer – on the
contrary, they will pigeonhole you as either rude or uneducated.

Humans are not sophisticated creatures; they are contrast

monkeys. Be strategic about your acts of kindness.

*
There's no guarantee that by using the same language and
phraseology we can understand each other. As long as we deploy
these tools to explain different experiences, we are at odds with
each other.

*
In politics, there are no ethical deeds. What renders an event
ethical is merely a well-argued interpretation or an insufficient
perspective.

*
There are only two people who can tell you the truth about
yourself: an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who
loves you dearly.*

*
Note: by Antisthenes.

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 ON ETHICS & FRIENDSHIP

One intends to hurt you; the other intends to help you. Confuse
their intentions, and you will successfully mistake your friends
for your enemies – and vice-versa.

*
If angels are indeed willing to reduce the suffering that
contaminates the world, they should organize themselves – not
as well as, but – better than the Mafia!*

*
Inspiration: “The Sirens of Titan” – novel by Kurt Vonnegut.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

The insults coming from your enemies carry more truth than the
flattery offered by your “friends”.

*
Elections: don’t go vote because you wish to change the balance
of power; go vote because you wish to change yourself.
Those who avoid taking a moral stance are slowly cultivating
indifference and irresponsibility in their hearts – the most
shameful vices of any democratic society.

*
The most dangerous vices are the ones we don’t recognize any
longer.

*
Don’t be tolerant of the intolerant even if, or especially if, you’re
a tolerant person.

*
If you wonder why most lawyers – people who, in theory, should
wield justice – have no integrity, remember that ethics is not part
of the law school curriculum.

*
A generous act is generous only if you intend to get nothing out
of it, not even a positive feeling. Experiencing pleasure after the
act should be a natural side-effect, not a conscious objective.

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 ON ETHICS & FRIENDSHIP

Good friendships are bittersweet.

They need both kindness and honesty; both fun and
pragmatism; both arguments and understanding.

*
Patriotism: you don’t have a duty towards your country to
improve it; you have a duty towards your country to improve
yourself.

*
Colonialism consists of theft, genocide, and slavery. Whilst
international law separately constructs these three actions as
“crimes”, colonialism is not constructed at all.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

So, politically speaking, colonialism is not a crime. In fact, it’s

national pride. Have a talk with some Spanish, Portuguese,
French, British or Dutch fellows about their historical
achievements; they will gleefully brag about their colonial era.

*
Courage: the ability to act well not necessarily in extraordinary
circumstances – but in our daily challenges.*

*
No matter how much we lionize culture and education, these can
never be more effective than religion when it comes to developing
a moralistic mindset.
A lecture about Kant or John Stuart Mill is meant to offer us
some information, whereas a sermon is meant to change our

*
Stoic principle.

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 ON ETHICS & FRIENDSHIP

lives. After all, you get on your knees and repeat a specific moral
lesson every day, for the rest of your life – of course, it sticks with
you!*

*
Virtue is not about suppressing your vices – but about
domesticating them.
Only those who have the capacity for evil stand a chance at
cultivating a virtuous character.

*
Inspired by Alain de Botton.

85
 Chapter VIII

DRINKING WINE WITH

SENECA
 CHAPTER VIII

Drinking Wine With Seneca

Information is like alcohol – you can either drink it quickly to

get drunk and become foolish; or you can drink it slowly to enjoy
yourself yet remain sober.
In other words, you can either use information to further develop
your biases; or you can use it to train your mind.

*
Only read the books written by action-takers, so that you won’t
have to study any theory for the rest of your life.*

*
A large argument means insecure reasoning; a short one means
lazy reasoning.
The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle.

*
You want to read to gather knowledge about reality – you want to
know how the world works, not how it “should” work.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

*
Doubt is necessary – but making a goal out of it is insanity; in
fact, it’s stupidity.
Skepticism may be the elegance of wisdom, but it may also get
you drunk with impasse – it may bring a halt to your thinking
progress.

*
To genuinely consider yourself a “realistic” person is intensely
arrogant and naïve. If you do so, you claim that you are capable
of understanding reality. And, is there a more silly and arrogant
person than the one who claims such an impermissible thing?

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 DRINKING WINE WITH SENECA

*
Reading makes you travel in time; love allows you to stop it;
meditation teaches you to feel it; and employment “helps” you
squander it.

*
Show your anger when needed. People need to know what
irritates you and what doesn’t.
But, crucially, remain internally calm.
Your anger is only a tool. Don’t become its puppet.

*
Since the notion of “family” is the primary pillar of any civilized
society, I’m naturally very skeptical when it comes to any social
models constructed by philosophers who had no real experience
of family life or what it takes to make it work.*

*
Locke never had children. Neither did Hobbes, Spinoza, or Kant.
Rousseau had children but gave them all up for adoption.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

If one couldn’t even establish a family, what can possibly give

him the competence to reorganize an entire nation?*

*
If you’re experiencing contradiction, confusion, or even
frustration in your thinking – that’s good news. Your intellect is
having some brutal workouts.
As long as in the moment of action you’re bold, don’t worry
about your intellectual tensions.

*
(Some) philosophers worth listening to: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca,
Epictetus, Machiavelli, Montaigne.

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 DRINKING WINE WITH SENECA

Never get fooled: what’s urgent may feel important, but it isn’t;
and what’s important may not feel urgent, but it is.

*
Wisdom: what we lack in knowledge we make up for in
experience.

*
One of the best indicators for narcissism is excessive paranoia –
constantly making (false) connections that people are conspiring
against you.

*
To disarm hate, don't take it seriously. Casually laugh at it.
Acknowledge that the game they are playing is laughable.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Learn from Epictetus: “If anyone tells you that a certain person
speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but
answer: He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have
mentioned these alone.”

*
If we attempt to learn about ourselves according to someone else,
we learn about them, not ourselves.*
You are your best teacher.
The road to personal understanding is thus instantly short; you
only need to travel on the inside. Yet, it’s strenuous to obtain a
passport. Even the wisest of the wise barely convince their soul
to offer them one.†

*
What I consider to be the biggest question in theory generally
barely matters in practice.

*
In life, we either prefer addiction or abstinence – rarely
moderation.

*
Kudos to my friend, Andrei Hristescu (@HrsAndrei on Twitter), for
this great insight.
†
Marcus Aurelius got one – his famous book, “Meditations”, easily
provides strong evidence for that. Montaigne and Nietzsche also
managed to get one; and Emil Cioran, although he failed, he was very
close. Crucially (and sadly), most people never even try.

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 DRINKING WINE WITH SENECA

*
Don’t conflate skepticism with nihilism.
Skepticism is about doubt, but the presence of opinion. Nihilism
is the opposite: there’s no doubt, yet an absence of opinion.

*
Once you share your knowledge, you start regarding it as “boring
common sense”. In other words, knowledge is valuable as long as
it remains untold – once shared, its worth gets heavily
diminished.

*
Never listen to any philosophers who offer practical advice as a
result of what they merely thought about.

*
For us, humans, actions are nothing else but words too. We don’t
care about actions per se, but what they mean to us. We interpret
them by using words; without words, what would their meaning
be, if any?

*
To thrive, read all the practical books that have survived more
than three hundred years.*

*
The longer a book has survived, the higher its quality.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

The more often you return to such books, the more you amplify
your chances of internalizing their teachings.
And the better you internalize their teachings, the more capable
you become to turn them into practices.
Devour the perennial sellers; read them again, and again, and
again.
Repetitio mater sutiorum est.*

*
Repetition is the mother of all learning.

96
 Chapter IX

DON’T FORGET YOUR

DESSERT
 CHAPTER IX

Don’t Forget Your Dessert

Dream big – but in scope, not in scale. You want to be an outlier

– you don’t want to be the rat that wins the rat race; you want
to escape the race.

*
We shall bear in mind that, while philosophy can make us better
people, it can very well turn us into incalculably worse people.
Just take a moment to think about Lenin or Stalin who studied
the writings of Karl Marx.

*
I often find myself having more authentic discussions with the
kids than with some “mature adults”.
Kids still listen. They ask you a question and they are genuinely
interested in your response. And they ask good questions – very
good ones. They never aim for small talks. They either ask you:
“Why do we die?”; or: “How is Santa Claus able to deliver

99
 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

presents all over the world so quickly”; or: “How can I become a
superhero?”. These are serious life questions – and I mean it.
Kids also don't judge – they are prepared to understand. And
they are so clever and surprisingly Machiavellian. Steal a kid's
toy. It will be too late until you notice that he has already set up
a conspiracy against you.
It's so unfortunate that these splendid creatures are to evolve into
selfish, judgmental, rude, and cretinous fellows…

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 DON’T FORGET YOUR DESSERT

Politics/Systems: the larger the population, the lower the trust

among its members.
Since socialism is based on an immense level of trust*, it can thus
only work at the family level.
You’re a lunatic if you trust your central government as much as
you trust your mother.

*
If you want to become civilized, forget about your mind. Focus
on your feelings – on cultivating them.
Cultivate higher pleasures and avoid lower ones.
Go to the theatre rather than the cinema; read poetry instead of
watching the Simpsons; study Hamlet instead of playing video
games.

*
Humans have creative thoughts in the shower because it’s such a
low-level activity that their mental flow barely gets occupied. It’s
one of the only places in modern life that allows their
imagination to be free from distractions and thus produce
original cognitive projects.†

*
The right to property is a fundamental right. Socialism requires that
everyone gives his property to the state.
†
Inspired by James Clear, American author.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

In an abundant world, include intermittent fasting in your daily

routine.
Don’t apply it only to your body.
Fasting can also be mental, emotional, and spiritual.
Go meditate, write, read, swim or fish.
Turn off your phone; avoid social media; ditch the news.
Defy modern humanity.

*
Thought experiment: I wonder if the successful men who on
their deathbeds say “I wish I had more fun” would have become
successful men if they indeed had done so.*

*
Inspired by @cryptoseneca from Twitter.

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 DON’T FORGET YOUR DESSERT

School is a game – to succeed, there are some rules you have to

follow.
Life means wilderness – there are no rules; it’s all about survival.
One habitat is predictable and organized; the other is uncertain
and chaotic.
As soon as you leave school, get ready to exchange obedience
with curiosity, logic with psychology, risk-management with
risk-taking, and theory with experience – otherwise, you won’t
survive.

103
 Epilogue

FACTA, NON VERBA

 EPILOGUE

Facta, Non Verba

I
f you’re reading this right now, it means your journey is
about to end. It means it’s time to rest for a while, and then
get ready for yet another journey, be it intellectual or actual.
But, before you go, I have a confession to make.
I need to talk about something I’d be a hypocrite not to address
– something I should have probably told you already.
You need to know that, this book was not written by a pure
Roman, but rather by someone who aspires to become one. I’m
more like a Greek who lost his passport during his journey
towards Rome. Besides being an artist, I’m also a law student* –
a law student who is about to – dying to – graduate and get into
the real world full-time. I don’t know where I’m heading, but I
know where I’m not. I’m deeply sick of most academics, their
narrow theories, their ethics (the absence of them), their
arrogance, their biases, and lack of creativity and humor. I’m sick

*
I’m quite young. Right now, my calendar says I’m 22.

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

of library rats; of people who tell you that a bureaucrat is a

practitioner; of people who tell you that Marcus Aurelius wasn’t
a philosopher. I’m sick of anyone who thinks he’s able to
understand our complex world via reading papers.*
To be clear, while I’m yet to become a full-time action-taker;
while I can’t possibly boast a great life experience, this book is,
in any case, not about theory. It’s about my life. It’s how I see it
so far. It’s a provocation. It’s my first draft toward practice. No
thought from this book is merely the result of some article or
book I read. My maxims and reflections represent a menagerie
of experiences, wisdom, and knowledge. They convey what I felt
and lived. If you found any ideas that crossed the line; if you
found any thoughts which you tend to believe are merely
theoretical, please forgive me. I hope they are only very few, and
I hope to improve in the years to come.
I want to give you some notes to keep in mind about this book
and myself:
 Why is this book short? In an abundant world,
knowledge grows by elimination, rather than by
addition. It’s more about recycling rather than
consuming or producing. This book is knowledge-
friendly.

*
These people only claim to be Greeks. They are charlatans.

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 FACTA, NON VERBA

 If you didn't like or if you disagreed with certain

paragraphs, maxims or ideas from this book, I
understand you. I am aware of my limits of knowledge,
but, unfortunately, I don't know where they lie.
 While I take full responsibility for all of my opinions
from this book, I won’t hesitate to disagree with my
writings in the future. I’m trying to remain flexible – or,
in other words, mentally sane.
 Most of my writings are merely the product of a few
fleeting moments of rationality and creativity; they only
represent some snapshots of who I am. Besides these
snapshots, I like to spend my days pushing doors which
should be pulled, parking my car poorly, and often
being socially awkward. If you do the maths, I’m a very
normal fellow.

Let me finish this book with a quote from Julius Caesar, the
emperor who played a critical role in both the demise and the
rise of the Roman Empire. If this quote doesn’t become your
mantra, I at least hope it inspires you to develop one:

“Without training, they lacked knowledge;

without knowledge, they lacked confidence;
and without confidence, they lacked victory.”

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 ECONOMY OF TRUTH

Dear kind reader,

This is the end of your journey.
Thank you for reading my book.
Thank you for being so patient and thoughtful.
Now, it’s time to aspire, take risks; and, above all, learn to fail.
I wish you the best of luck.
And I hope to see you soon.
Best,
Vizi

110
 FACTA, NON VERBA

What Should You Read Next?

I have prepared a list with all of the great books that have
influenced the content of this book.
In case you want to receive more book recommendations, I’d like
to invite you to subscribe to my more-or-less weekly newsletter
– “Monday Meditations.”
Go to www.viziandrei.com – you should figure out how to sign
up. You’ll also get the most practical things I learn every week
directly in your inbox.
I hope to see you there soon!

111
 Selected Bibliography

 Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

 The Essays by Michel de Montaigne
 The Enchiridion by Epictetus
 Beyond Good And Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
 On The Shortness Of Life by Seneca
 The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
 The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
 Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
 Skin in the Game by Nassim Taleb
 Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
 Alchemy* by Rory Sutherland
 Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon
 The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
 The Art of War by Niccolò Machiavelli
 Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

*
The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense.

112
 FACTA, NON VERBA

 Factfulness by Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Hans Rosling,

and Ola Rosling
 Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
 Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society
by Nicholas A. Christakis
 On the Genealogy of Morality by Friedrich Nietzsche
 The Architecture of Community by Leon Krier
 How To Change The World by John-Paul Flintoff
 Influence by Robert Cialdini
 The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
 Atomic Habits by James Clear
 The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene
 Deep Work by Cal Newport
 100 Truths You Will Learn Too Late by Luca Dellanna
 Originals by Adam Grant
 Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal
Reasoning by Frederick Schauer
 1984 by George Orwell
 On Angels by Andrei Plesu
 The Trouble With Being Born by Emil Cioran
 Range by David Epstein

113
 Acknowledgements

I
’m a guilty man. Many of you will credit me for all of the
clever ideas from this book. The truth is, they were inspired
by people who are way smarter and way more successful
than I am.* So, keep in mind: whatever you found valuable,
consider it their product; whatever you found silly or boring,
consider it my fault.
I want to thank my parents for their constant support and for
never discouraging me from pursuing unorthodox goals. I want
to thank my girlfriend†, who was a dedicated editor and reader
of this book and for always believing in this project. I want to
thank my friends, Andrei Hristescu and Dragos Cordos, for
providing early critical feedback and valuable marketing tips. I
want to thank my Dutch friend, Jesper Vaarwerk, for
encouraging me to launch the paperback version.

*
Think about figures such as Ryan Holiday, Alain de Botton, Daniel
Kahneman, Nassim Taleb, Larry Sanger, Naval Ravikant, Luca
Dellanna, Jonathan Haidt, Robert Greene, Joe Norman, Rory
Sutherland; but also Montaigne, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus,
Nietzsche, Antisthenes, Emil Cioran or Julius Caesar.
†
You can find her at @geanina_cristina on Instagram.

114
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It would be deeply unfair not to thank Larry Sanger, Jack Peach,

and Ruben Chavez for their positive feedback about this book,
which gave me a much-needed dose of confidence. I admire each
of them, and I’m lucky to be able to collaborate and think with
them. In this category, I want to also thank Joe Norman and
Luca Dellanna for their contribution to this book and their kind
words about my work.
Finally, I would like to thank each of my readers, including you,
because, without them – and without you – this book would
have no vitality. Without you, this book would not be alive. You
are the one who adds fuel to the fire. I deeply appreciate your
time and support.

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Did you enjoy this book?

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Send me an e-mail at MaximsAndReflections@gmail.com & you

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How To Think In A Complex World”