“Have you ever noticed when you're driving that anyone who's driving slower than you is an idiot and anyone driving faster than you is a maniac?”
—George Carlin in a live performance
Carlin had a way with words. This is a great observation, and it's about much more than driving. Whether we're talking about politics, religion, work, hobbies, or anything else, it's easy to criticize those who don't behave exactly as we do, with exactly the same level of enthusiasm. It's easy to excuse our imperfections by making them out to be the bad guys.
“In the beginning, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers; later on, mountains are not mountains and rivers are not rivers; and still later, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers.”
—Zen saying, as written by Daizui Macphillamy, Rev. Master
There are many versions of this saying out there, some with dubious attributions. Again, the source doesn't really matter.
Here's my version: don't overthink it.
“Quitting social media is the most finely targeted way to resist the insanity of our times.”
—Jaron Lanier in Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now
Throughout history, every single time something's gotten better, it's become somebody has come along to say, “This is stupid. We can do better.” It's the critics that drive improvement. It's the critics who are the true optimists.
—Jaron Lanier in The Social Dilemma
Simplistic is easy. Simple is hard.
This is a slight rewording of something Alex Limi once said during an internal presentation at Mozilla. The point is not about usage, but rather creation. Building something simplistic is easy, but building something simple is hard. The observation stuck with me, and I think it's a great little maxim.
Think about it in product design. Picasa was simplistic, but Instagram is simple. eBay is simplistic, but Facebook Marketplace is simple. IRC is simplistic, but Slack is simple.
To be clear, I'm not saying Picasa, eBay, or IRC are incapable. On the contrary, they're too powerful. I prefer the designs of Instagram, Facebook Marketplace, and Slack for what they can't do. Of course, whether anyone should use Instagram, Facebook, or Slack is another question. Even cigarettes can be thoughtfully designed.
“You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards… Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.””
—Steve Jobs in his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
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Don't trust others' plans for you. You'll soon discover they don't have very much planned at all.
I'm not sure where I first heard that advice, but it appears to be derived from a quote which is, accurately or not, attributed to Jim Rohn:
If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.
I tend to prefer the shorter version, but they both have their strengths. In any case, I think the advice is sound, and I hope to remember it.
“If you take on a role that’s beyond your capabilities, you not only disgrace yourself in that one, but you’ve also passed up the role that you were capable of performing well.”
—The Enchiridion of Epictetus, as newly translated by Robin Waterfield in The Complete Works