I don’t remember where I first heard it but this is one of the most thought-provoking things I’ve come across in recent years, often in a very uncomfortable way.
“The output of a system is the purpose of that system”
It made me look at the harmful results of systems not as accidents or imperfections to be fixed but as intended or at least tolerated outcomes.
e.g. An economy that has homeless people is, at least in part, designed to make some people homeless.
One day you’ll find yourself being annoyed by a stranger. Your annoyance may be justified, but keep in mind that we rarely excuse in others what we routinely forgive in ourselves. (e.g., other drivers are maniacs but we only speed because we’re late.)
“I don’t really know many writers. I don’t hang out with writers. I mean, ask yourself, you’re in a lifeboat adrift in the sea about to wash up on an island—which would you prefer to be marooned on an island with, a bunch of cooks or a bunch of writers?”
–Anthony Bourdain: The Last Interview