Judge Policies by Their Results – Milton Friedman
“One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”
Milton Friedman
Author Archive for: Jan
Entries by Jan
Critical Thinking and Counterarguments – Quote by Milton Friedman
“You cannot be sure that you are right unless you understand the arguments against your views better than your opponents do.”
Milton Friedman
The Three Functions of Government – Milton Friedman on State Role and Freedom
“Government has three primary functions. It should provide for military defense of the nation. It should enforce contracts between individuals. It should protect citizens from crimes against themselves or their property. When government– in pursuit of good intentions tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.”
Milton Friedman
Holistic Worldview and Beliefs – Quote by Rich Lusk
“As Quine has said, ‘Our statements about the external world face the tribunal of sense experience not individually but only as a corporate body.’ Quine has uncovered an important feature of human thought here, one that the analytic-synthetic distinction overlooks. Beliefs are not held or tested atomistically, in a one-by-one fashion. Rather beliefs come in clusters, forming a worldview, which is then used to interpret experience. One’s worldview as a whole confronts the data of language and experience. Simple appeals to language (analyticity) or observation (syntheticity) do not reveal whether or not our beliefs will be altered when challenged. People will grant revisionary immunity to certain core beliefs not on the basis of linguistics, but on the basis of an overall worldview. Those beliefs that are held most dearly and form the hearts of one’s conceptual scheme will be the hardest to let go and the last we let go. Indeed, all of us have beliefs we will cling to regardless of almost anything! Only a revolution in our conceptual framework will alter these most central beliefs. These beliefs often appear to be almost insulated from testing; indeed, they are the standard by which everything else is tested…This is not to say that all human beings think in consistent systems, or even that most are aware of the nature of their own thought. It is virtually certain that everyone holds to some incompatible or inconsistent beliefs. Most people do not reflect on their own thinking enough to notice these inconsistencies or to notice the ‘worldviewesh’ character of their thought.”
Rich Lusk
Ian Smith Jr. on Government and Society
“Everything the government is doing right now is designed to make you fat, weak, stupid, depressed, lazy, and reliant on crumbs they wipe off their plates. Health replaced by pharmaceuticals. Education replaced by programming. Hard work replaced by handouts. These people hate you.”
Ian Smith Jr.
Future Models and Optimism – Hans-Peter Dürr
“We need models for the future that don’t paint everything as bleak and gloomy, but rather set worthwhile goals. I would like human society to take a more optimistic approach to planning for the future. We should encourage individuals to use their imagination to make even small changes. That, in fact, is the concept of the future.”
Hans-Peter Dürr
Quote by H. L. Mencken about Politicians and Honesty
“A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.”
H. L. Mencken
Erich Fromm Quote about Thinking and Happiness
“Well now, I believe we are much less stupid than it seems. We are trained not to think. Formulas are drilled into us, which we parrot.
But I believe that if the desire for true happiness, for true knowledge were to fully awaken among people in society – what the Enlightenment called with Kant’s words: Sapere aude! Dare to know! – and not to consume canned wisdom that someone else has cooked and served, and then even experienced oneself as if I had thought such a thing…
I believe that tremendous change could be achieved.
People are not that stupid at all. But it is dangerous not to be stupid. Because if you are not stupid, you contradict, criticize, express unpopular opinions. And for safety reasons, it is better to appear stupid.”
Erich Fromm
Distinction Between Lying and Half-Truths by Alexander McCall Smith
“There was a distinction between lying and telling half-truths, but it was a very narrow one.”
Alexander McCall Smith
Eddie Adams Quote on the Power of Still Photographs
“Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them, but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths.”
Eddie Adams