On Logic & Rationality
Quotes and questions from the curious mind of Paul K. Kazadi Zoé — to be updated towards the end of every year, starting with 2021 as the 1st edition. As you scroll or flip the pages, always remember: Yale and Harvard Law loved Paul’s application so much that they forget to read it.
On Logic:
1. Life really puts life in perspective.
2. We live in a society.
3. There’s no such thing as good enough. You should try to get better with each and every thing you do. But, it is as equally important to know when an action is sufficient in accomplishing a goal. Work smarter, not harder.
4. I’d rather run an 8:00 minute mile at 60% then run a 6:00 mile at 100%.
5. If money is the root of all evil, happiness is for sinners.
6. Firmly believe democracies are for themselves. Republics are for the people.
7. Life is a series of equations. Don’t get caught up in solving each one.
8. Remember, humility is its own reward. It’s also the only known thing that’s the consequence of its inaction.
9. I don’t believe in war, only strategy.
10. What happens when you invite a lion into a lion’s den? Wounded pride.
11. Adapting doesn’t always require changing. Sometimes — most times — all it takes is knowing your environment.
12. There is no writing or re-writing history. There’s only shaping history, and watching history shape you.
13. I guess I could say life is like a movie. Still doesn’t mean I have to get caught up on the ending.
14. If you have a low EQ in today’s competitive and cutthroat world, you’re either poor or about to be poor.
15. Never play your best hand too early, because you won’t be able to play it before it’s too late.
16. Soit libre d’être fière des tes accomplissements, même en face des difficultés.
Translation: Feel free to be proud of your accomplishments, even in the face of difficulties.
17. Africa is not a country. End talk.
18. Guilty until proven innocent.
19. Money plus publicity minus money still equals money.
20. Where there’s money over time, there’s bound to be inflation.
21. Presidential term limits should be increased to eight years and Supreme Court justices should not have life tenure. Who’d want to wake up in 2150 to find Donald Trump III outlawed Kid Cudi two days after Barack the Younger posthumously knighted Tupac and Biggie, or Roosevelt Bader Ginsburg was the deciding vote on outlawing the Constitution because the Founders accidentally misspelled “declaration?”
22. Some classical philosophers and thinkers make no sense. Why spend years theorizing pigs could one day fly. I would rather just enjoy the bacon.
23. You can prove anything if you put your mind to it. That’s why falsehoods are explicitly false, while truths are either relative or absolute. And the in between is tentative or bullshit until proven otherwise.
24. All humans are the same, only difference is some let their emotions rule their emotions, others let their thoughts rule their emotions, and the rest don’t think or feel at all.
25. The hardest game isn’t always won by the one who plays the most minutes.
26. Speed kills. Money talks. Lust does both.
27. When the time comes for humanity to reflect on its squabbles, every interaction could arguably be reduced to one party defending a castle and another party attempting to enter the castle.
28. If brevity be the soul of wit, then play on.
29. The only thing worse than those who detest greatness is those who ruin it.
30. If cheating is cheating, then I probably shouldn’t cheat to lose.
31. One compromise today prevents an unnecessary amendment tomorrow.
32. Diversity of thought will rectify diversity in policy.
33. I would much rather have strong currency so civilians can buy more goods and government can avoid catastrophe in light of economic shocks. Weak currencies complicate trade, monetary policy, consumer demand, and supply chain.
34. Nothing is limitless if you’re limited by excess desire. When you start from nothing, you can do anything and go anywhere to make progress. When you have a predisposition to start somewhere, you’re already limited by what you want to do and where you want to go.
35. When you can’t get up, find your north.
36. Au milieu de la vie, vous trouverez une chemin qui connecte le début et la fin. Choisissez judicieusement.
Translation: In the middle of life, you will find a path that connects the beginning and the end. Choose wisely.
37. I don’t shoot to kill. I shoot for skill.
38. I am not voting for Andrew Jackson to tell me if Oklahoma should revert to an American territory or if Space Force should be allowed to have lightsabers in case NASA can’t hold off the Russians. Please retire. No one needs to work until 70 or 80 years of age.
39. Playing at God doesn’t unmake you as anything but. Some games are won, some games are lost, and some games are drawn. Others, others were never meant to be played at all.
40. It’s best to accept yourself for who and what you are, so you’re not burdened by who and what you aren’t. If you’re able and willing to change then change, but be warned it won’t always be for the better.
41. You’re only as strong as your strongest link. You’re also only as weak as your strongest link.
42. You’re only as weak as your weakest link. You’re also only as strong as your weakest link.
43. Ruining one partnership and friendship only means there’s a good chance you’ll ruin the next one.
44. Fool me once, shame on me. There’s the front door — there won’t be a second time.
45. Life begins when it ends.
46. Turn your back on your family and expect a slap in the face. Believe a friend will take their place and expect a stab in the back.
END PART I
On Rationality:
1. Is it appropriate to contend that life exists in equilibrium (e.g #1 long lasting peace culminates in a cataclysmic event, e.g #2 making your bed requires you to unmake your bed, e.g #3 where there is good, there is always it’s equal opposite, and so on)?
2. Is it right that for a group or unit to an reach optimal point of equilibrium, then its components must also be at an optimal point of equilibrium? Why? Because any one thing is the sum of its parts, as is all life. One misaligned part is all it takes to ruin perfect alignment.
3. Is minimalism the perfect go-between between luxury and pragmatism?
4. Money talks, but can it hold a conversation?
5. Do you live to live or are you born to die?
6. How much of the universe has humanity discovered? If we’ve found even 5% and know Earth is habitable, then for every “x” radar, parallax, cepheid, supernovae, etc could we as a species theoretically expect to find other habitable planets, solar systems, galaxies, etc?
7. Is life a zero-sum game, meaning you only live to die and nothing else, or is there a competitive advantage to being happy, sad, confused, and lonely all at the same time?
8. Why do good people sin, and does sinning while classified as relatively “good” make you “relatively bad?” Does instead that knowledge of sin then make you “absolutely bad?”
9. Would you rather live forever with no specific purpose or laugh forever for the sole pursuit of happiness?
10. Cardinal Question 1: Would you rather go to Heaven and eternally give up the seven cardinal sins or forego and pick Hell to eternally indulge in the seven cardinal sins?
11. Cardinal Question 2: Is purgatory transitory Heaven or is it transitory Hell? Can purgatory be neutral good or neutral bad, or can, if it isn’t already, just be neutral all. Is purgatory good or bad? Is purgatory below good or above bad?
12. Two thousand years ago you had dozens of individuals miraculously living to 80, only to find today in 2021 80 is the average lifespan. Does medicine need breakthroughs, or does humanity?
13. Do you think too little or think too much? Think about it.
14. Should you invest $200,000 for a chance at an elite, high paying job or invest $20,000 for a sure-fire job with multiple opportunities for promotion.
15. Judgement Day Hypothesis 1: On judgement day, will the mental inclination to skin an innocent cat and (or) action of mentally skinning an innocent cat be just as punishable as physically skinning an innocent cat? And, subsequently, should it or should it not?
16. Judgement Day Hypothesis 2: On judgement day, will your salvation be salvageable because before or after you had the mental inclination to skin an innocent cat and (or) mentally thought of skinning an innocent cat you physically fed and bathed the homeless? And, subsequently, should it or should it not?
17. Judgement Day Hypothesis 3: Assuming mental sin (i.e. sin committed mentally) is sin, on judgement day will your salvation be lost because before or after you had the mental inclination to skin an innocent cat and (or) mentally thought of skinning an innocent cat you physically fed and bathed the homeless? And, subsequently, should it or should it not?
18. Judgement Day Hypothesis 4: Assuming mental sin (i.e. sin committed mentally) is sin, on judgement day will your salvation still be lost because before or after you had the mental inclination to skin an innocent cat and (or) mentally thought of skinning an innocent cat you physically fed and bathed the homeless? And, subsequently, should it or should it not?
